The Criterion Correction

At long last, we leave the depths of sorrow and head to an unambiguously happy movie. We…don’t really know what to do with this one. You mean there’s no terrible twist of fate? No flawed characters doomed to reap the sorrows of their ills? Grab the popcorn and join us for Aki Kaurismaki’s Le Havre!

Did you love Black Moon but think its mythology could use a little more dark rituals and blood consumption? Or did you like Vampyr but think that it wasn’t filled with enough surreal ambiguity? Then you need to check this one out. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders brings the best of those films together with a little bit of the camp horror-classic House thrown in for good measure. It’s like you get three Criterion films in one!

We’re venturing into the mean streets of East End London in the era of Thatcherism. If you like your economic hardships with a side of skinheads and ambiguity, then do we have a film for you with Meantime.

If you’ve ever longed for the open range and the freedom of the frontier, then you’re in for some disappointment. Rather than celebrating the free spirit of the West, McCabe & Mrs. Miller paints a grim and violent portrait that once again reaffirms Capitalism as the ultimate evil. Join us for this rousing deconstruction of the Western genre.

Do you miss talking about The Piano Teacher? We sure do, which is why we opted to look at another example of the romantic movie subverted. Join us for the film that inspired the NC-17 film rating and taught us the valuable lesson that Romance and Horror are two genres that are sometimes difficult to separate: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

Loneliness is the disease of the modern age, and Certain Women follows three women on the former frontier who are separately grappling with isolation. In the end, you might not find the emotional resonance you desire, but you might find that you’ve gotten insight into the things that haunt us all.

We head down to Texas in this week’s episode, where a nasty love triangle results in a contracted murder that doesn’t go quite as planned. It’s a tale as old as time, and in the end it’s just Blood Simple.

The life of an artist is challenging. First, there are the auditions, when you need to meet the arbitrary expectations of a jury of experts. Then there are the lessons. The endless lessons where you’re forbidden to speak. And then, when you finally think you’ve made it, some jerk puts broken glass in your pocket! The Piano Teacher might be one of the most realistic portrayals of the life of a music major out there.

Okay…maybe it’s got a bit more drama in it…

The political machine is a corrupt, odious, unrelenting march toward the precipice of amorality and lies. And nowhere is that made more clear than in the saga of Tracy Flick—an ambitious high school student who will soon learn that the patriarchy is ever-present and clothed in the sensible garments of a history teacher. Join us for a look at Election.

Oscar season has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean we can’t share our appreciation—and critiques—of one of this years biggest winners. That’s right, we’re heading into the morally ambiguous world of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.