Happy that the Criterion announcements for December 2026 are landing this afternoon before I am whisked away for the next few weeks of New York Film Festival screenings starting tonight -- fortuitous timing for us all. And fortune ahoy because there are a couple of real thrillers here, including as seen above the 4K premiere of Anthony Minghella's Best Picture winner The English Patient! I know opinions are all over the place on this movie but I love every old-fashioned inch of it -- Ralph Fiennes at his most beautiful and romantic, Juliette Binoche winning an Oscar... how can you not love it? This one lands on December 8th so there will be plenty of time to stuff it in deserving stockings. Speaking of...
... I don't know that Werner Herzog's documentary masterpiece Grizzly Man is exactly "happy holiday" material given what a horror show it is, but I personally am extremely thankful. This doc the true story of the nature-lover Timothy Treadwell, who lived amongst the Alaskan brown bears until they gobbled him up, lands on the same day as The English Patient -- it's only a blu-ray, not 4K, but that's probably as good as we'll get given the source material is mostly old video. If you've never seen this movie good god do you have something in store. (Also that cover is gorg.)
Also ahead is Pietro Germi's 1961 black comedy Divorce Italian Style, which stars Marcello Mastroianni (who else) as a married man who falls in love with his much younger cousin -- oh 1961. Never stop 1961-ing. I've never seen this movie somehow? Those deeply hetero sex-comedies of this time period have never really been my bag but I'm sure it's worth seeing. Then there is December's new entry in Criterion's revived "Eclipse" series of box-sets -- this one tackles Afro-Cuban filmmaker Sara Gómez who made a series of short films (and one feature) in 1960s and 70s Cuba. Anybody familair with her work? Criterion's final two releases of December are two 4K upgrades -- there's Ernt Lubitsch's classic comedy The Shop Around the Corner with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan, and there's a little something called Nashville by Robert Altman. Now that's a movie.
As far as I (and Pauline Kael) are concerned, Nashville is THE masterpiece of the 1970s. It's a brilliant movie you can see again and again and get new things out of it every time. Sadly, Criterion doesn't include subtitles for English language movies, and that's what keeps me from buying them, although I do own a few: Breathless and La Belle et La Bete among them. I've never seen, nor had the desire to see The English patient. How is that Best Picture over Fargo?
ReplyDeleteI also love The English Patient. I don't understand the hate at all. Ralph Fiennes is so hot. Kristin Scott Thomas!! Juliette Binoche!! That music!! Ugh.
ReplyDeleteThe English Patient is one of my favourite 90's BP winner so glad to hear love for it here,Do people dislike it 'cos Fargo is considered the cool choice that year and you know everyone who claims to be a cinefile wants to be seen as cool or cutting edge when real cutting edge is loving Joe Dallesandro movies.
ReplyDeleteI think I ruined the movie for my fellow moviegoers when I went with my husband to see this back in the day. When Ralph Fienes leaps off the train and limps away, the music swelled and my husband raised his hands mockingly like a conductor. And I started giggling. Then it grew and I started laughing. And then I couldn't stop laughing, and I was painfully aware that everyone else around us was in tears. I felt bad but could not control myself. The more ridiculous the film got, the harder it was to hold back laughter, and that ending as he's carrying her out of the cave gave us no relief. A very memorable experience for the wrong reasons.
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