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List Price: $39.95Price: $34.99You Save: $4.96 (12%)Bottle Rocket - Criterion Collection
Actors: Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, James Caan
ASIN : B001EOQCIK
Sales Rank : 1211
Director : Wes Anderson
Studio : Criterion Collection
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0715515030724
UPC : 715515030724
Release Date : December 25, 2008
Publisher : Criterion Collection
Manufacturer : Criterion Collection
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Criterion Collection
Running Time : 91
Product DescriptionWes Anderson first illustrated his lovingly detailed, slightly surreal cinematic vision in this witty and warm portrait of three young middle-class misfits. Fresh out of a mental hospital, gentle Anthony (Luke Wilson) finds himself once again embroiled in the machinations of his best friend, elaborate schemer Dignan (Owen Wilson). With the aid of getaway driver Bob (Robert Musgrave), they develop a needlessly complex, mildly successful plan to rob a small bookstore then go on the lam. Also featuring Lumi Cavazos as Inez, the South American housekeeper Anthony falls in love with, and James Caan as local thief extraordinaire Mr. Henry, Bottle Rocket is a charming, hilarious, affectionate look at the folly of dreamers. Shot against radiant southwestern backdrops, it s the film that put Anderson and the Wilson brothers on the map.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson and director of photography Robert Yeoman
Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
Commentary by director/co-writer Anderson and co-writer/star Owen Wilson
The Making of Bottle Rocket : an original documentary by filmmaker Barry Braverman featuring Anderson, James L. Brooks, James Caan, Temple Nash Jr., Kumar Pallana, Polly Platt, Mark Mothersbaugh, Robert Musgrave, Richard Sakai, David and Sandy Wasco, Andrew and Luke and Owen Wilson, and Robert Yeoman
The original thirteen-minute black-and-white Bottle Rocket short film from 1992
Eleven deleted scenes
Anamorphic screen test, storyboards, location photos, and behind-the-scenes photographs by Laura Wilson
Murita Cycles, a 1978 short film by Braverman
The Shafrazi Lectures, no. 1: Bottle Rocket
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by executive producer James L. Brooks, an appreciation by Martin Scorsese, and original artwork by Ian Dingman
Reviews for the Bottle Rocket - Criterion Collection
List Price: $14.95Price: $9.99You Save: $4.96 (33%)The Red Balloon (Released by Janus Films, in association with the Criterion Collection)
Actor: Red Balloon
ASIN : B0012Z361M
Sales Rank : 1399
Director : Albert Lamorisse
Brand : Image Entertainment
Studio : Janus Films
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0715515028820
UPC : 715515028820
Release Date : December 29, 2008
Publisher : Janus Films
Manufacturer : Janus Films
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Janus Films
Running Time : 34
Product DescriptionNewly restored and available for the first time on DVD, Albert Lamorisse s exquisite The Red Balloon remains one of the most beloved children s films of all time. In this deceptively simple, nearly wordless tale, a young boy discovers a stray balloon, which seems to have a mind of its own, on the streets of Paris. The two become inseparable, yet the world s harsh realities finally interfere. With its glorious palette and allegorical purity, the Academy Award winning The Red Balloon has enchanted movie lovers, young and old, for generations. Amazon.comThe late French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse made this classic, 1956 short work about a lonely little Parisian boy (Pascal Lamorisse) befriended by a large red balloon, which seems to have a will of its own. As with his preceding short, 1952's White Mane, Lamorisse took home a grand prize from the Cannes Film Festival for The Red Balloon, and the latter film also won an Academy Award. There have been some stimulating pieces of film criticism (some pro, some con) written about the aesthetics of this little movie over the years, but there's no question it makes for a touching, allegorical piece always certain to prompt conversations among viewers of any age. --Tom Keogh
Reviews for the The Red Balloon (Released by Janus Films, in association with the Criterion Collection)
List Price: $49.95Price: $28.49You Save: $21.46 (43%)Seven Samurai - 3 Disc Remastered Edition (Criterion Collection Spine # 2)
Actors: Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Yoshio Inaba, Seiji Miyaguchi, Minoru Chiaki
ASIN : B000G8NXYG
Sales Rank : 1117
Director : Akira Kurosawa
Brand : Image Entertainment
Studio : Criterion
Region Code : 1
Format : Black & White, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0715515019927
UPC : 715515019927
Release Date : December 05, 2006
Publisher : Criterion
Manufacturer : Criterion
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Criterion
Running Time : 207
Product DescriptionStudio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 09/05/2006 Amazon.com essential videoHailed as the greatest film in the history of Japanese cinema, Seven Samurai is director Akira Kurosawa's undisputed masterpiece. Arguably the greatest of all jidai-gecki (or historical swordplay films), Kurosawa's classic 1954 action drama has never been surpassed in terms of sheer power of emotion, kinetic energy, and dynamic character development. The story is set during the civil unrest of 16th-century Japan, as the cowering residents of a small farming village are seeking protection against seasonal attacks by a band of marauding bandits. Offering mere handfuls of rice as payment, they hire seven unemployed "ronin" (masterless samurai), including a boastful swordsman (Toshiro Mifune) who is actually a peasant farmer's son, desperately seeking glory, acceptance, and revenge against those who destroyed his family. Led by the calmly strategic Kambei (Takashi Shimura, star of Kurosawa's previous classic, Ikiru), the samurai form mutual bonds of honor and respect, but remain distant from the villagers, knowing that their assignment may prove to be fatal. Kurosawa masterfully composed his shots to emphasize these group dynamics, and Seven Samurai is a textbook study of the director's signature techniques, including extensive use of telephoto lenses to compress action, delineate character relationships, and intensify motion. While the climactic battle against raiding thieves remains one of the most breathtaking sequences ever filmed, Seven Samurai is most triumphant as a peerless example of character development, requiring all of its 2-hour, 37-minute running time to illuminate every essential detail of villagers and samurai alike, including an abundance of humor as Kambei's defense plan unfolds. In terms of its overall impact, Seven Samurai spawned dozens of copycat films (notably the American Western remake The Magnificent Seven) and cannot be adequately summarized by even the most comprehensive synopsis; it must be seen to be fully appreciated, and the Criterion Collection's 2006 DVD reissue is an essential addition to any definitive home-video library. --Jeff Shannon On the DVDs
According to the accompanying booklet, "the picture has been slightly window-boxed (in correct original 1.33:1 aspect ratio) to ensure that the maximum image is visible on all monitors." The two-disc format was necessary "to maintain optimal image quality throughout the compression process," with dual-layered DVD-9's encoded "at the highest possible bit rate for the quantity of material included." The picture and sound quality are simply amazing compared to Criterion's one-disc release from 1998. The all-new, fully restored high-definition digital transfer takes full advantage of HD's clarity and crispness, resulting in picture detail far surpassing the previous DVD. This also applies to the soundtrack, presented in optional Dolby surround in addition to the remastered original mono track. The new transfer "was mastered in 2k resolution from a duplicate negative created with wetgate processing from the original fine-grain master positive" (the film's original negative is no longer available), and "several different digital hardware and software solutions were utilized for flicker, instability, dirt, scratch, and grain management." The complete 207-minute film is accompanied by two full-length commentary tracks, including a new track combining the critical insights of film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Price (author of The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa), Tony Rayns, and the dean of Japanese film experts, Donald Richie (author of The Films of Akira Kurosawa). Each scholar is given approximately 40 minutes of film-time, and their commentaries represent a unique opportunity to appreciate Seven Samurai from distinct yet complementary critical perspectives. The commentary by Japanese film expert Michael Jeck (from Criterion's original 1988 laserdisc release) remains useful as a thorough analysis of Seven Samurai, primarily in terms of visual composition. The 50-minute "making of" documentary, from Japan's 2002 Toho Masterworks TV series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create emphasizes Kurosawa's collaboration with co-screenwriters Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni, including production footage, crewmember interviews, and a reverent visit to the rural inn where Seven Samurai was written over a six-week period of intense seclusion. The two-hour "My Life in Cinema" interview with Kurosawa was recorded in 1993, with fellow filmmaker Nagisa Oshima serving as a gentle admirer, colleague, and well-informed historian of Kurosawa's career. "Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences" is a richly informative documentary that places Kurosawa's classic in both historical and cinematic context, examining its place in the jidai-gecki (swordplay) genre, its accurate depiction of samurai codes and traditions, and its stature as the prototype for many films that followed. The lavishly illustrated 58-page booklet includes eight brief essays on various aspects of Seven Samurai, each written by noted film scholars or film directors (including Arthur Penn and Sidney Lumet). Also included is a reminiscence by the great actor Toshiro Mifune, excerpted from a conversation recorded in 1993. Taken as a whole, the remastered three-disc Seven Samurai ranks as one of the finest DVD sets ever released. --Jeff Shannon
Reviews for the Seven Samurai - 3 Disc Remastered Edition (Criterion Collection Spine # 2)
List Price: $39.95Price: $23.49You Save: $16.46 (41%)Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom - Criterion Collection
Actors: Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, Umberto Paolo Quintavalle, Aldo Valletti, Marco Bellocchio
ASIN : B0019X3ZZY
Sales Rank : 2261
Director : Pier Paolo Pasolini
Studio : Criterion Collection
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0715515031028
UPC : 715515031028
Release Date : December 26, 2008
Publisher : Criterion Collection
Manufacturer : Criterion Collection
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Criterion Collection
Running Time : 116
Product DescriptionPier Paolo Pasolini s notorious final film, Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, has been called nauseating, shocking, depraved, pornographic . . . it s also a masterpiece. The controversial poet, novelist, and filmmaker s transposition of the Marquis de Sade s 18th-century opus of torture and degradation to 1944 Fascist Italy remains one of the most passionately debated films of all time, a thought-provoking inquiry into the political, social, and sexual dynamics that define the world we live in.
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
The End of Salò, a 40-minute documentary about the film s final scene
Salò: Yesterday and Today, a 35-minute documentary featuring interviews with Pier Paolo Pasolini, actor-filmmaker Jean-Claude Biette, and Pasolini s friend Nineto Davoli
Fade to Black, a new short documentary about Salò, featuring interviews with filmmakers Bernardo Bertolucci, Catherine Breillat, and John Maybury
New interviews with set designer Dante Ferretti and filmmaker/film scholar Jean-Pierre Gorin
Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
Theatrical trailer
Optional English subtitles
PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by Neil Bartlett, Roberto Chiesi, Naomi Greene, Gary Indiana, and Sam Rohdie, and excerpts from Gideon Bachman s on-set diary
Reviews for the Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom - Criterion Collection
List Price: $19.99Price: $14.99You Save: $5 (25%)The Royal Tenenbaums (The Criterion Collection)
Actors: Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow
ASIN : B0000640VJ
Sales Rank : 1666
Director : Wes Anderson
Brand : Royal
Studio : Touchstone Pictures
Model : 157
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0786936165425
UPC : 786936165425
Release Date : December 09, 2002
Publisher : Touchstone Pictures
Manufacturer : Touchstone Pictures
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Touchstone Pictures
Running Time : 110
Product DescriptionThe tenenbaum kids were all once child prodigies despite growing up with an ineffective father. Determined to make things right that he has a estranged family. Royal tenenbaum announces years later that he has a terminal illness and moves back into his wifes house where their children are also living. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 09/07/2004 Starring: Ben Stiller Gwyneth Paltrow Run time: 109 minutes Rating: R Amazon.comIn a fitting follow-up to Rushmore, writer-director Wes Anderson and cowriter-actor Owen Wilson have crafted another comedic masterwork that ripples with inventive, richly emotional substance. Because of the all-star cast, hilarious dialogue, and oddball characters existing in their own, wholly original universe, it's easy to miss the depth and complexity of Anderson's brand of comedy. Here, it revolves around Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman), the errant patriarch of a dysfunctional family of geniuses, including precocious playwright Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), boyish financier and grieving widower Chas (Ben Stiller), and has-been tennis pro Richie (Luke Wilson). All were raised with supportive detachment by mother Etheline (Anjelica Huston), and all ache profoundly for a togetherness they never really had. The Tenenbaums reconcile somehow, but only after Anderson and Wilson (who costars as a loopy literary celebrity) put them through a compassionate series of quirky confrontations and rekindled affections. Not for every taste, but this is brilliant work from any perspective. --Jeff Shannon
Reviews for the The Royal Tenenbaums (The Criterion Collection)
List Price: $39.95Price: $31.99You Save: $7.96 (20%)Spy Who Came in from the Cold - Criterion Collection
Actors: Richard Burton, Claire Bloom
ASIN : B001EOQCJE
Sales Rank : 3912
Director : Martin Ritt
Studio : Criterion Collection
Region Code : 1
Format : Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0715515033121
UPC : 715515033121
Release Date : December 25, 2008
Publisher : Criterion Collection
Manufacturer : Criterion Collection
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Criterion Collection
Running Time : 112
Product DescriptionJohn Le Carré's acclaimed bestselling novel, about a Cold War spy on one final, dangerous mission, is every bit as precise and ruthless onscreen in this adaptation directed by Martin Ritt. Richard Burton delivers one of his career-defining performances as Alec Leamas, whose hesitant but deeply felt relationship with a beautiful librarian (Claire Bloom) puts what he hopes will be his last assignment, in East Germany, in jeopardy. An intelligent, hard-edged, and even tragic thriller, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is etched with realism and suffused with genuine political and personal anxiety.
Info
Directed by Martin Ritt (Hud, Sounder, Norma Rae)
Starring Richard Burton (Becket, Who s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Equus)
Starring Claire Bloom (Limelight, Richard III, Crimes and Misdemeanors)
From the novel by John Le Carré (The Russia House, The Tailor of Panama, The Constant Gardener)
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
New interviews with author John Le Carré and cinematographer Oswald Morris
The Secret Center: John Le Carré (2000), a BBC documentary on the author s extraordinary life and work
Acting in the '60s: Richard Burton, a 1967 interview with the BBC s Kenneth Tynan examining the actor's performances
and accomplishments
Gallery of set designs
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic
Michael Sragow and a reprinted interview with Ritt Amazon.comJohn le Carre's classic spy yarn gets a suitably brisk, unromanticized telling in this quintessential Cold War movie. A British agent (Richard Burton) sets up an elaborate cover story for being lured into defecting to the Communists, but he hardly needs to manufacture his disgust and cynicism over spying. The grim business of point-counterpoint espionage has rarely been depicted with less glamour; Burton's great climactic speech on the subject is the definitive take on sinking to the level of the enemy. Claire Bloom is an offbeat love interest, and a bearded Oskar Werner is an East German investigator on Burton's case (the pecking order in the Communist spy hierarchy is a source of black humor). Director Martin Ritt extends his unvarnished approach to the movie's stripped-down look, which means that Richard Burton is constantly in a harsh, unflattering light. He looks terrible, but it's in the service of a fine performance. --Robert Horton
Reviews for the Spy Who Came in from the Cold - Criterion Collection
List Price: $39.95Price: $31.99You Save: $7.96 (20%)Chungking Express - Criterion Collection
Actors: Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Faye Wong
ASIN : B001EOQCK8
Sales Rank : 4307
Director : Wong Kar-Wai
Studio : Criterion Collection
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0715515033220
UPC : 715515033220
Release Date : December 25, 2008
Publisher : Criterion Collection
Manufacturer : Criterion Collection
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Criterion Collection
Running Time : 102
Product DescriptionThe whiplash, double-pronged Chungking Express is one of the defining works of nineties cinema and the film that made Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai an instant icon. Two heartsick Hong Kong cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung), both jilted by ex-lovers, cross paths at the Midnight Express take-out restaurant stand, where the ethereal pixie waitress Faye (Faye Wong) works. Anything goes in Wong s gloriously shot and utterly unexpected charmer, which cemented the sex appeal of its gorgeous stars and forever turned canned pineapple and the Mamas and the Papas California Dreamin into tokens of romantic longing.
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack supervised by director
Wong Kar-wai
Audio commentary by noted Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns
U.S. theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Amy Taubin and excerpts from a 1996 Sight and Sound interview with Wong by Rayns
More! Amazon.comChungking Express tells two stories loosely connected by a Hong Kong snack bar. In one story, a cop who's been recently dumped by his girlfriend becomes obsessed with the expiration dates on cans of pineapple; he's constantly distracted as he tries to track down a drug dealer in a blond wig (played by Brigitte Lin, best known from Swordsman II and The Bride with White Hair). Meanwhile, another cop who's recently been dumped by his girlfriend (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, from John Woo's Hard-Boiled and A Bullet in the Head) mopes around his apartment, talking to his sponge and other domestic objects. He catches the eye of a shop girl (Hong Kong pop star Faye Wang) who secretly breaks in and cleans his apartment. If you're beginning to suspect that neither of these stories has a conventional plot, you're correct. What Chungking Express does have is loads of energy and a gorgeous visual style that never gets in the way of engaging with the charming characters. The movie was shot on the fly by hip director Wong Kar-Wai (Happy Together, Ashes of Time), using only available lighting and found locations. The movie's loose, improvisational feel is closer to Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless than any recent film--and that's high praise. Quirky, funny, and extremely engaging, Chungking Express manages to be experimental and completely accessible at the same time. --Bret Fetzer
Reviews for the Chungking Express - Criterion Collection
List Price: $39.95Price: $23.49You Save: $16.46 (41%)Ran - Criterion Collection
Actors: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryu, Mieko Harada
ASIN : B000BB14YY
Sales Rank : 3363
Director : Akira Kurosawa
Brand : Image Entertainment
Studio : Criterion Collection
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0715515016827
UPC : 715515016827
Release Date : December 22, 2005
Publisher : Criterion Collection
Manufacturer : Criterion Collection
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Criterion Collection
Running Time : 160
Product DescriptionStudio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 11/22/2005 Amazon.com essential videoAs critic Roger Ebert observed in his original review of Ran, this epic tragedy might have been attempted by a younger director, but only the Japanese master Akira Kurosawa, who made the film at age 75, could bring the requisite experience and maturity to this stunning interpretation of Shakespeare's King Lear. It's a film for the ages--one of the few genuine screen masterpieces--and arguably serves as an artistic summation of the great director's career. In this version of the Shakespeare tragedy, the king is a 16th-century warlord (Tatsuya Nakadai as Lord Hidetora) who decides to retire and divide his kingdom evenly among his three sons. When one son defiantly objects out of loyalty to his father and warns of inevitable sibling rivalry, he is banished and the kingdom is awarded to his compliant siblings. The loyal son's fears are valid: a duplicitous power struggle ensues and the aging warlord witnesses a maelstrom of horrifying death and destruction. Although the film is slow to establish its story, it's clear that Kurosawa, who planned and painstakingly designed the production for 10 years before filming began, was charting a meticulous and tightly formalized dramatic strategy. As familial tensions rise and betrayal sends Lord Hidetora into the throes of escalating madness, Ran (the title is the Japanese character for "chaos" or "rebellion") reaches a fever pitch through epic battles and a fortress assault that is simply one of the most amazing sequences on film. --Jeff Shannon
Reviews for the Ran - Criterion Collection
List Price: $19.99Price: $14.99You Save: $5 (25%)Chasing Amy - Criterion Collection
Actors: Joey Lauren Adams, Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon, Dwight Ewell
ASIN : B00003CX9D
Sales Rank : 4182
Brand : AFFLECK,BEN
Studio : Miramax
Region Code : 1
Format : Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780788815485
ISBN : 0788815482
UPC : 717951002372
Release Date : December 13, 2000
Publisher : Miramax
Manufacturer : Miramax
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Miramax
Running Time : 113
DescriptionChasing Amy is the third installment in the "New Jersey Trilogy" from award-winning writer-director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma). Cult comic-book artist Holden (Ben Affleck) falls in love with fellow artist Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams), only to be thwarted by her sexuality, the disdain of his best friend Banky (Jason Lee), and his own misgivings about himself. Filled with Smith's unique ear for dialogue and insight into relationships, Chasing Amy offers a thoughtful, funny look at how perceptions alter lives, and how obsession and self-doubt skew reality. Amazon.comWriter-director Kevin Smith (Clerks) makes a huge leap in sophistication with this strong story about a comic-book artist (Ben Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian (Joey Lauren Adams) and actually gets his wish that she love him, too. Their relationship is attacked, however, by his business partner (Jason Lee), who pulls a very unsubtle Iago act to cast doubt over the whole affair. The film has the same sense of insiderness as Clerks--this time, Smith takes us within the arcane, funny world of comic-book cultism--but the themes of jealousy, deceit, and the high price of growing up enough to truly care for someone make this a very satisfying movie. --Tom Keogh
Reviews for the Chasing Amy - Criterion Collection
List Price: $49.95Price: $28.49You Save: $21.46 (43%)Grey Gardens / The Beales of Grey Gardens - Criterion Collection (2-disc set)
Actors: Edith Bouvier Beale, Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale, Brooks Hyers, Norman Vincent Peale, Jerry Torre
ASIN : B000E5LEVK
Sales Rank : 3906
Director : Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer
Brand : Image Entertainment
Studio : Criterion
Region Code : 1
Format : Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0715515017923
UPC : 715515017923
Release Date : December 05, 2006
Publisher : Criterion
Manufacturer : Criterion
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Criterion
Running Time : 100
DescriptionMeet Big and Little Edie Beale—high society dropouts, mother and daughter, reclusive cousins of Jackie O.—thriving together amid the decay and disorder of their ramshackle East Hampton mansion. An impossibly intimate portrait and an eerie echo of the Kennedy Camelot, Albert and David Maysles’s 1975 Grey Gardens has since become a cult classic and established Little Edie as fashion icon and philosopher queen. Amazon.comAlthough it's typically described as a cult phenomenon, Grey Gardens is something more than that by now. The 1975 documentary by brothers Albert and David Maysles (who filmed the proceedings and co-directed with Muffie Meyer and Ellen Hovde) has been turned into a hit Broadway show, with plans for a feature film in the offing; it's also the title of a song by Rufus Wainwright, and has been referenced on TV shows like The Gilmore Girls, The L Word, and even Rugrats. In the process, Grey Gardens has become part of the cultural zeitgeist, at least in the gay community, a circumstance that no doubt had some influence on the decision to package it with The Beales of Grey Gardens, a 90-minute assemblage of outtakes and other unused material from the original film supervised by Albert Maysles and released in 2006. One wonders if any of this would have transpired had Edith Ewing Bouvier (known as "Big Edie") and daughter Edith Bouvier Beale ("Little Edie") merely been garden variety eccentrics, instead of quasi-celebrities (the aunt and cousin, respectively, of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, nee Bouvier). On the other hand, there's a certain can't-turn-away-from-a-car-accident fascination that comes with watching the two Edies at home in their rundown, squalid East Hampton, Long Island estate (they were ordered to fix the place up before the documentary was shot, but it's still a dump, albeit a large one). With her endless parade of different "costumes," every one of them featuring a scarf, a towel, or some such material wrapped around her head (then in her mid-fifties, she had an oddball fashion sense that's a big part of her now-iconic status), Little Edie is quite a character. Considerably less appealing is her mother, a bitter, poisonous woman who apparently pressured her daughter to move back home and care for her after Big Edie's husband quite understandably abandoned her in the early 1950s. "My whole life, I've been ground down and insulted every minute," Little Edie confides to the camera, but she gives as good as she gets; the two of them squabble endlessly, mostly about past events and the careers they might have had (Big Edie as a singer, her daughter as a dancer and model). There are obviously many viewers who find this sort of terminal dysfunction appealing, even charming. For others, words like annoying and tedious may be more appropriate. And while The Beales of Grey Gardens offers more evidence that the two women actually cared for one another (there's also a good deal more interaction between the Beales and the filmmakers, along with various other visitors), it's essentially just more of the same. --Sam Graham
Reviews for the Grey Gardens / The Beales of Grey Gardens - Criterion Collection (2-disc set)
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