Them

Dec 7, 2010 — In compiling his top ten Criterions, Cronos director Guillermo del Toro had a hell of a time limiting himself. Del Toro humorously bemoaned the “unfair, arbitrary, and sadistic top ten practice,” so instead he decided on ties or rather, “thematic/authorial...

Oct 19, 2010 — The themes, symbolism, and aesthetic forms of Akira Kurosawa’s films owe their origins to the ideas and sensibilities that captured his imagination as a young man.

Jun 16, 2009 — In Tempo di viaggio (1983), the doodle Andrei Tarkovsky and Tonino Guerra made for Italian TV as they prepped Nostalghia, the great struggling Russian answers a question about genre films by saying that his Solaris (1972) is “not so good,”...

Mar 11, 2008 — There’s no real rhyme or reason to explain which Criterion films I end up watching. For example, I saw Breathless over the holiday break after Abbey convinced me to give Godard a chance. Then I watched The Seventh Seal in...

May 22, 2006 — Barbara Kopple’s detailed analysis of a Kentucky mine workers’ strike is a virtual hub of urgent themes, formal tendencies, political debates, and material practices that define post-sixties documentary in America.

Dec 22, 1992 — With a script by Graham Greene, Carol Reed’s thriller plays upon the classic themes of trust, innocence, betrayal, and truth through the lens of a precocious eight-year-old.

Apr 10, 1989 — In the Hollywood heyday of the ‘30s and ‘40s, America was synonymous with rip-snorting action-adventure movies. Audiences throughout the world thrilled to such classics as Gunga Din, The Sea Hawk, and Union Pacific. In the 1950s the Japanese made their...

The actor, screenwriter, and comedian reminiscences about showing Shaun of the Dead to George A. Romero, shares the many reasons why he loves Quadrophenia, and praises the way David Lynch’s films lend themselves to interpretation.

The legendary director, writer, cinematographer, and producer praises Charlie Chaplin as a father to all filmmakers, reflects on casting Jean-Louis Trintignant in A Man and a Woman after seeing Il sorpasso, and shares why love has been the enduring theme...

The writer and director of Girlfight selects films with complex themes of power and ambition; praises women whose work she felt gave her permission to become a filmmaker, such as Martha Coolidge and Joan Micklin Silver; and shares her love...