Our Own

Dec 6, 2016 — Photo by Janet Pierson In the late eighties and early nineties, American independent film was coming into its own both artistically and commercially, and John Pierson was at the center of the movement. Once described by the New York Times...

Nov 30, 2016 — The Lone Wolf and Cub film series has its roots in Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima’s manga of the same name, which was itself a major influence on Western cartooning and illustration in the 1980s. It felt only natural to...

Nov 18, 2016 — A dazzling mix of folklore, myth, and the director’s own nighttime visions, Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams represents a late-career burst of creativity from one of the masters of Japanese cinema. Over the course of the film’s eight surreal episodes, Kurosawa moves...

Nov 11, 2016 — This week’s Friday Night Double Feature on the Criterion Channel demonstrates how much suspense a superb director can wring from an intriguing premise without resorting to yelling “boo!” or splashing gore.

Nov 10, 2016 — The Gene Siskel Film Center screens Carol Reed’s stark psychological thriller Odd Man Out, which stars James Mason as an ex-convict who plots a robbery to fund his rebel organization.

Nov 8, 2016 — This adaptation of one of the most influential series in manga history is a delirious mix of breathtaking swordplay and pop vulgarity.

Oct 26, 2016 — The tropes of light comedy give way to a Kafkaesque nightmare in this incendiary critique of moral rot in Franco-era Spain.

Oct 26, 2016 — When putting together the Criterion editions of Guillermo del Toro’s films, we assembled a talented group of artists, including Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, del Toro collaborator Guy Davis, comic book creator Becky Cloonan, and Russian artist Vania Zouravliov.

Oct 19, 2016 — In a conversation with German children’s author Cornelia Funke, the Mexican director discusses his fascination with myths and fairy tales.

Oct 4, 2016 — This account of a visit to the Beyond the Valley of the Dolls set is excerpted from an issue of the University of California, Los Angeles, newspaper.