The Archers (1): Black & Red & Sex All Over

July 20, 2010

Today's release of Criterion's gorgeous new Blu-rays of Powell & Pressburger's Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes is truly an occasion for celebration. None of the previous forms or formats in which I've seen either movie come anywhere near the presentation found on these discs. A couple of months ago, I decided that the best way to celebrate would be the limited run of articles you're reading right now. The burden of proof when recommending a vintage or catalog film to a friend is "why should I care and how will this change my life?"

The Archers: An Introduction

July 20, 2010

Three months ago, I hatched an absurdly ambitious plan that I'm in the thick of on one front (Cinema Ozu), and finally beginning on another. As P&P are the better-known quantity, I elected to invest most of my time and writing into the still-ongoing Ozu series. Starting today and ending on Friday, I'm doing something fun with the fifteen year partnership between Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

44 Redux: Putting The Red Shoes Back On

June 24, 2010

I spent last Friday afternoon luxuriating in the glow of the Criterion Blu-ray of The Red Shoes (20 July). Shoes happens to be one of my favorite films, so take my bias into account when I say that this is one of the few 2010 Blu-rays that really shows the format off handsomely.

Image swiped from DVD Beaver's review of the BFI disc