John Cassavetes: Five Films
Studio: Criterion
Dec 23, 2013 Issue #48 - November/December 2013 - HAIM
John Cassavetes is as essential to independent film as The Velvet Underground are to independent music. The myriad roads he paved are echoed in canonized filmmakers as disparate as Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, and Mike Leigh. Five Films, originally released in standard DVD format in 2004, has been given a more than welcome Blu-ray treatment by Criterion to stunning results.
From the wanton aggression of John Marley in Faces, the stark contrition of Ben Gazzara in The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, to the repressed grief engendered by Gena Rowlands in Opening Night, this is American cinema at its finest, and these films have never looked better than they do in these glorious Blu-ray renderings.
These aren’t easy films to digest—Cassavetes was morbidly allergic to pandering—but stick with them and you’re with this seminal director on his exhilarating journey through the undeniably vulnerable yet resilient crux of the human condition. (www.criterion.com/boxsets/558-john-cassavetes-five-films)
Author rating: 10/10
Average reader rating: 9/10
Current Issue
Issue #72
Apr 19, 2024 Issue #72 - The ‘90s Issue with The Cardigans and Thurston Moore
Most Recent
- 10 Best Songs of the Week: Nilüfer Yanya, Linn Koch-Emmery, Fat Dog, Crumb, St. Vincent, and More (News) —
- Fat Dog Announce New Album and Tour, Share Video for New Song “Running” (News) —
- The Obsessed, Howling Giant @ Brooklyn Meadows, NYC, April 12, 2024 (Review) —
- Premiere: Slow Joy Releases New Single and Video for “King Cowboy” (News) —
- Premiere: Mackenzie Shrieve Shares New Single “Didn’t I Tell Ya” Feat. Jane Bruce (News) —
Comments
Submit your comment
There are no comments for this entry yet.