Press Notes

In The Los Angeles Times, Dennis Lim interviews director Alex Cox about Walker, "one of the boldest and strangest political films ever made for an American studio." Cox describes the experience of shooting Walker and his perspective twenty years later: "in the end, it has to stand on its own merit, not because it was made with good intentions, and I actually think it does. It's crazy, it's about a madman, but it moves quickly, many exciting things happen."

Dave Kehr reviews the newest Eclipse set in The New York Times: "Film history books recount how the four musicals directed by Ernst Lubitsch in the early years of sound helped define what talking movies would be. Now all four have been released in Lubitsch Musicals, an indispensable boxed set from Eclipse."

In the Los Angeles Times, Dennis Lim reviews Pierrot le fou: "to go along with its excellent editions of Breathless, Contempt (1963), Band of Outsiders (1964) and Masculin feminin (1966), [Criterion] this week releases Pierrot le fou," "a dazzling, convulsive, richly hued road movie that Godard termed the story of 'the last romantic couple'... The Criterion set is packed with extras, including an interview with Anna Karina and audio commentary by Godard collaborator Jean-Pierre Gorin."

NPR's classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews Lubitsch Musicals (available as an audio stream): "his very first American films were pre-Code musicals, and they already had 'the Lubitsch touch'...airy trifles filled with naughty double-entendres that were too charming and funny to be offensive." Schwartz's review also includes songs and dialogue excerpts from the four films, including "Jazz Up Your Lingerie" by Miriam Hopkins and Claudette Colbert. "If you enjoy ultra-sophisticated romantic fluff, skillful acting, deft writing, and buoyant direction, these earlier films are sheer pleasure."

Lubitsch Musicals is garnering accolades across the board: on his blog, Glenn Kenny of Premiere praises Maurice Chevalier, who stars in three of the set's films, as "the ingredient that made these souffles rise. His asides to the audience send the fourth wall down with only the slightest push, and he makes the willing viewer feel like a co-conspirator in a rather obscure but harmless joke." And Mick LaSalle in SF Gate writes that "these films are some of the most urbane--and in some cases risque--that Hollywood produced at that time." The Love Parade is "a gorgeous, flowing, effortlessly graceful film...good enough to be watched over and over."

Leonard Maltin updates his online journal with an entry on the newest Eclipse set, Lubitsch Musicals: "His first talkies, gathered here, defy the clichés of the period regarding stiff delivery of dialogue and motionless cameras; their charm is ageless." Maltin especially praises The Smiling Lieutenant, which was long unavailable due to rights issues. He writes that "these deliciously smart comedies...exude a brand of chic sophistication and discreet sexuality seldom seen before or since."