The Criterion Collection

STEVEN: “Coming of age in Duplessis' Quebec, amid asbestos but with adventure. The Quiet Revolution's born as a boy grows up in a seemingly placid province. ”

STEVEN: “Leigh lights London's lepers; the metropolis's marginalized. He chronicles Johnny's sociopathic sojourn (he may have such tendencies). I will confirm.”

STEVEN: “Costa-Gavras: A painter of political paranoia. Is THE CONFESSION worthy of his conspiratorial canvas and ominous outcomes? Interlocutor interrogation.”

STEVEN: “I first saw BLOW-UP in college, a new cineaste. I knew it was a key film. Now my mature movie maven will revisit Antonioni's intriguing illustration.”

STEVEN: “Citizenship among Cuniculus with humanistic pulses. A Homeric herald. Family's turned upside (watership) down. Survival isn't the only animated thing.”

STEVEN: “Immigration: A mix of courage and chance. Endeavoring toward a better life and weathering worse conditions. This is the jettisoning journey's opera.”

STEVEN: “A damsel in distress is pained by every day's excruciating drab. Kitchen sink realism's exacerbated by lonely linoleum. Will vinegar turn into honey?”

STEVEN: “A belligerent ode to the Bard? The buffoon of the Boar's Head Inn takes center stage here, alternating between Shakespearean heaviness and lightness.”

STEVEN: “Of insects and individuals. A different kind of anthropology is scrutinized here. Grains of sand. A man and a woman against the grain who want power.”

STEVEN: “TASTE OF CINEMA: The best Spanish film of the '70s. It looks like it juggles childhood innocence and real world strife. Was Spielberg influenced?”

STEVEN: “This looks like a tale of life imitating art. Or is it a juxtaposition? How will the screen and Fowles' novel converge? I look forward to finding out.”

STEVEN: “Finding one's own way, personal and political peril be damned. Letting chance fill the journey. Solidarity wasn't just a group, but individuals too.”

STEVEN: “The lion in cinematic winter. Ozu explores themes of family and a changing Japan. Does he come full circle on this literal and metaphorical narrative?”

STEVEN: “Surreal. Sensual. A circus of life. That is Fellini -- and 8 1/2 -- in a celluloid nutshell.”

STEVEN: “Japan: Business and brutality; medieval and modern. This cruel contrast informs THE BAD. Kurosawa uses this contradiction as a metaphorical tapestry.”

STEVEN: “"Man lives as briefly as a flower," says the subtitle. This savagery with a Shakespearean petal, will, I'm sure blossom and wilt spectacularly.”

STEVEN: “When I was first really introduced to WATERFRONT, I was told it was a metaphor for: Who are your friends? And a parable on human courage.”

STEVEN: “Judging from its trailer, BLUE seems anything but blue. It looks tres French and emotionally, very red, and very hot. ”

STEVEN: “Red and blue are two primary colors. Does Kieslowski feel they are human colors, too -- and metaphors for emotions? I shall see ..”

STEVEN: “Mann's atmospheric allure and love affair with the night (paraphrasing Shakespeare) were born in THIEF.”

STEVEN: “Looks like a blend of history and humanity, and what might've been churning through internal and international veins on that 6th day of June 1944.”

STEVEN: “A mix of detail, darkness and a great cinematic eye: such is the Polanski approach. Does it march on in TESS? I look forward to finding out.”

STEVEN: “Bergman's psychological complexity draws me in, especially with THE SEVENTH SEAL. It is his artwork on the canvas of humanity.”

STEVEN: “This is an extraordinary film. It is raw, so real and so honest in its emotions. WEEKEND proudly wears its heart on its cinematic sleeve.”

STEVEN: “Such an awesome film. Leigh captures so well here the human drama that is art and creativity.”

STEVEN: “I so identified with Truffaut's hero when I first saw this. The wonder, joy and pain of youth is imprinted all over this great film.”

STEVEN: “Anderson's vision is a game visual style and an ultra-intelligent narrative one. I look forward to seeing the birth of his style in BOTTLE ROCKET.”

STEVEN: “Ang Lee captures well America in all of her complexities. The Civil War is no exception. I can't wait to see how Lee meets it in RIDE WITH THE DEVIL.”

STEVEN: “The Key Films of Alexander Korda”

STEVEN: “The extras on this special edition will, I am sure, enhance my already deep admiration for this film.”