Category: Film

Robert Bresson – upcoming retrospective in LA/what’s available on DVD/Blu-ray

Bresson is one of my favorite directors and I have posted about him before. This retrospective sounds great.

I have seen most of these either on discs on in a retrospective at the Carnegie Institute Museum of Art in Pittsburgh in the early 1970s – see the small poster below. The image is from Four Nights of a Dreamer.

Here’s a list of all of his films and what’s available on discs. This is what is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.

Angels of Sin (1943) – never on US DVD or Blu-ray. It has been on an Asian DVD

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945) – on DVD from Criterion

Diary of a Country Priest (1951) –Criterion DVD now out of print

This is the first Bresson film I saw. It was in a class. Most people walked out and there were about three of us left by the end.

A Man Escaped (1956) – on DVD and Blu-ray from Criterion

Pickpocket (1959) – on DVD and Blu-ray from Criterion

The Trial of Joan of Arc(1962) – never on US discs but has been on TV on TCM

Au Hasard Balthasar (1965) – on DVD and Blu-ray from Criterion

Mouchette (1967) – on Blu-ray and DVD from Criterion

A Gentle Woman (1967) – never on US disc but it was on VHS from New Yorker Films

Four Nights of a Dreamer (1971) – never on US disc

Lancelot du Lac (1974) – out-of-print DVD from New Yorker Films

The Devil Probably (1977) – on Olive DVD, apparently out of print

L’argent (1983) – on DVD and Blu-ray from Criterion

Two animated films from Eastern Europe

I recently watched Blu-rays discs of two animated films from Eastern Europe.

Delta Space Mission (1984) from Romania is a science fiction film. The plot and animation aren’t the best but the colors are wonderful. This would be great if you were on drugs. (The first movie I saw on acid was Fritz the Cat so I know what I’m talking about.)

The Old Man Movie (2019) from Estonia uses stop motion animation. It’s a very funny film about rescuing a cow before the udder explodes and causes a catastrophe.

IndieWire on films by Dario Argento

I agree with their list. I recommend his films if you like horror movies.

Charade was the last film I saw at Radio City Music Hall

I grew up in Manhattan from 1953-1964. My aunt would take my sister and me to Radio City Music hall to watch movies. We usually saw animated films. I distinctly remember seeing 101 Dalmations when it came out and I know we saw old Disney films such as Pinocchio.

Charade (1963) was the last film we saw there. I didn’t know why it was in the public domain now but the tweet below explains it.

The Criterion Collection has released it on Blu-ray and DVD.