‘Llewyn Davis,’ ’60s Folkies Play for Criterion
DREAMSVILLE’S WEEK IN DVD The Coen brothers’ 2013 hit “Inside Llewyn Davis” gets The Criterion Collection treatment this week and what a splendid release it is. Their film — about a singer barely eking out a living on the peripheries of the flourishing Greenwich Village folk scene of the early sixties — captured the angst […]
‘American Friend’ Gets Criterion Treatment Jan. 12
DREAMSVILLE’S WEEK IN DVD There’s two knock-out releases from The Criterion Collection, headed up by one of the greatest films of the modern cinema: “The American Friend” (1977). Wim Wenders pays loving homage to rough-and-tumble Hollywood film noir with “The American Friend,” a loose adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel “Ripley’s Game.” Dennis Hopper oozes quirky […]
‘Blood Rage,’ ‘Burroughs’ Shake Things Up Dec. 15
DREAMSVILLE’S WEEK IN DVD What do you get if you combine Thanksgiving, American TV star Louise Lasser (“Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman”), killer 80s synths and some of the most gruesome special effects in all of slasher history courtesy of Ed French. Why, it’s “Blood Rage” (1983) of course! Todd and Terry seem like sweet kids […]
Yakuza ‘Battles’ Begin Dec. 8
DREAMSVILLE’S WEEK IN DVD “Battles Without Honor and Humanity” (1973), a violent yakuza saga that has influenced filmmakers from Quentin Tarantino to Takashi Miike. Made within just two years, the five-film series brought a new kind of realism and ferocity to the crime genre in Japan, revitalizing the industry and leading to unprecedented commercial and […]
The Times They Were A-Changin’
DREAMSVILLE’S WEEK IN DVD This week’s highlight is The Criterion Collection’s release of D. A. Pennebaker’s seminal “Don’t Look Back” (1967), which captured Bob Dylan on-screen as he never would be again. The legendary documentarian finds Dylan in London during his 1965 tour, which would be his last as an acoustic artist and marked a […]
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