Lost in Criterion

In 1969 Masahiro Shinoda adapted a 1721 bunraku puppetry play into Double Suicide, a highly stylistic interpretation that, while live action, holds firmly to many of the theatrical elements of the style, and perhaps other styles of Japanese theatre as well. It's hard to describe a story of a murder suicide pact between a man and his mistress as fun, but Shinoda clearly took a playful attitude toward his interpretation.

In Preston Sturges's The Lady Eve (1941) Henry Fonda plays a rich boy scientist with either a really specific case of face-blindness or the intelligence of Buster Bluth, while Barbara Stanwyck plays a con-woman who can't seem to not fall in love with him. It's a classic romantic comedy, and in that the plot doesn't make a lick of sense upon any amount of scrutiny. It's got some funny bits though!

Luis Bunuel's 1972 tale of five upperclass twits trying to have dinner but being interrupted by a series of surreal or otherwise highly unusual events is one of the most ridiculous and wonderfully funny films we've seen

After the delightful non sequitur of last week's film, Criterion throws us back into things with an emotional Bergman that Pat just can't connect with. The surprisingly vivid - for what we're used to from a Bergman film - Cries and Whispers (1972) won a well-deserved Oscar for it's cinematography while playing with themes of faith and redemption and femininity that Ingmar liked so much.

It's Spine 100! To celebrate the milestone Criterion threw us a bone: The Beastie Boys Video Anthology, a collection of videos from the hip-hop trios first two decades. It's also basically the only DVD in history to actually utilize that "Alternative Angle" button on your DVD remote. Yeah, it's fancy and fun.