Cool Hunting
Known for impeccable production values and extensive supplements, the Criterion Collection’s new reissue of Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Seven Samurai is a case-in-point example of what makes an essential addition to any DVD collection. With its epic narrative and spectacular swordplay, the film is both a staple of any film school education and a favorite of the Tarantino-generation alike.
Possibly their most in-depth release in the collection so far, this three-disc set contains not only a beautifully restored version of the 207-minute film, but enough scholarly commentaries, additional documentaries, and lengthy essays to leave you prepared to teach a course on the film. Best of all, the exquisitely designed packging by Neil Kellerhouse makes this a smart-looking addition to any living room. Pick it up from Amazon.
by Michael Talbott
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Issuing their first releases little more than a year ago, the U.K.-based Second Run DVD has rapidly become the most exciting label around. Eschewing the canonical focus of industry giants like Criterion, in just fifteen months this upstart company has managed to release a slew of esoteric but essential works from the around the world. They’re shepherds of the under-represented, releasing films not based...
Another stunning set from The Criterion Collection, this 2-disc release of The Double Life of Véronique marks the DVD debut of one of the seminal arthouse works of the 1990s, and the last of the major films by director Krzysztof Kieslowski (The Decalogue, Three Colors Trilogy) to make it to DVD. Per Criterion’s impeccable standards of quality, a new high-def transfer was created from...
A film of near indescribable weight and richness, The Spirit of the Beehive is the latest essential DVD release from The Criterion Collection. The narrative is deceptively simple: in a small provincial Spanish village in the 1940s, a traveling cinema leaves a small child haunted by the memory of Frankenstein’s monster. While engrossing and endearing as an ode to the power of youthful imagination,...
In a city awash with museums and galleries, navigating New York's rich cultural landscape can be a daunting task, even for the well-versed local. Still, sometimes the weekly choice of what to do is refreshingly simple. The Japan Society, the city's premier institution for fostering education on the artistic, social, and political concerns of Japanese culture, has a brilliant ongoing film series, with this...
Wooden acting and choppy production quality aside (we think it's part of its charm), when "Wild Style" was produced in 1982 the movie-going public was barely aware of the burgeoning hip hop scene sprouting up in the decaying urban centers that had been abandoned by the comfortable classes in the previous decade. “Nothing else comes close to capturing the atmosphere of the early days...
Appealing to my weakness for dioramas and DIY paper projects, these kits also are a mini lesson on Tatebanko, the forgotten Edo-era Japanese art of creating perspectives from paper. They come in either a snowy scene representing a painting by the master Hiroshige or in a version of Hokusai's wave. Designed and printed in Japan by It's a Beautiful Day (the group leading the...
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A Paper Tiger
Von Totebags and T-Shirts
