| It’s no coincidence that the Beijing Olympics begin today, on 8/8/08, at 8:00 p.m. In China, the number eight, which sounds similar to “prosper” and “wealth” when spoken, has special significance. So in honor of the Olympics (we’re particularly excited about tonight's opening ceremonies, for which the award-winning art director of Mishima, Eiko Ishioka, has designed the costumes), we’re offering a special promotion to our newsletter readers: Any film in the Criterion Collection that has a spine number ending in 8 will be discounted an additional 10 percent off the regular Criterion store price. (This doesn’t apply to out-of-print titles or those that can only be purchased in box sets without spines that end in 8.) Click here for a list of the qualifying titles; the promotion will end on August 25. |
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BRAND UPON THE BRAIN! Guy Maddin “Delirious, ingenious, often very funny, and strangely touching.” —Manohla Dargis, New York Times |
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THE SMALL BACK ROOM Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger “Brilliantly made . . . I defy you to find a dull moment.” —Daily Herald
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TWENTY-FOUR EYES Keisuke Kinoshita “One of Japan’s greatest lyrical pictures.” —Donald Richie
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SALÒ OR, THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM Pier Paolo Pasolini “Arresting, thought-provoking, ageless.” —Village Voice
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MORE CONTROVERSIAL CRITERIONS:
I Am Curious—Yellow
The Last Temptation of Christ
Peeping Tom
COMING IN SEPTEMBER
The Earrings of Madame de . . .
La ronde
Le plaisir
An Autumn Afternoon
Eclipse Series 12: Aki Kaurismäki’s Proletariat Trilogy
This month we asked critic Robin Wood—whose books include Hitchcock’s Films and Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan and who recently wrote essays for the Criterion releases The Furies and Le plaisir—to pick his ten favorite films in the collection. Newly retired from teaching, Wood told us he intends to spend the remainder of his life enjoying himself with movies, operas, and concerts on DVD, while writing books and articles on Michael Haneke, Tsai Ming-liang, Satyajit Ray, and others, and spending a happy old age with his partner, Richard Lippe, and their cats.
1. Sansho the Bailiff
2. Playtime
3. The Complete “Mr. Arkadin”
4. Seven Samurai
5. Pickup on South Street
6. The Lady Eve
7. Tokyo Story
8. I Know Where I’m Going!
9. Band of Outsiders
10. Notorious
Click here to read Wood’s thoughts on his top ten.
© 2008 The Criterion Collection