Cronos (The Criterion Assortment) [Blu-ray]

Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) produced an auspicious, audacious function debut with CRONOS, a highly unorthodox tale about the seductiveness of the thought of immortality. Kindly antiques dealer Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi) takes place upon an historic golden system in the form of a scarab, and soon finds himself possessor and victim of its sinister, addictive powers, as effectively as the target of a mysterious, crude American named Angel (a delightfully deranged Ron Perlman [Hellboy]). Featuring marvelous particular makeup effects and the unforgettably haunting imagery for which del Toro has turn into world-renowned, CRONOS is a visually rich and emotionally captivating darkish fantasy.Guillermo del Toro’s facility with baroque visuals, gothic horror, and black comedy arrives to the fore in his initial feature (his affection for creepy-crawlies also anticipates the underrated Mimic). A 16th-century prologue reveals the origins of the scarab-shaped Cronos device, which authorized a Spanish alchemist to increase his lifetime by various centuries. In the present day, Mexican antiquities dealer Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi, who reunited with del Toro for The Devil’s Backbone) dotes on his unflappable granddaughter, Aurora (Tamara Shanath). When the device ends up in Gris’s shop, he tangles with the petulant Angel (Hellboy‘s Ron Perlman), whose critically ill uncle, Dieter (Claudio Brook, Exterminating Angel), longs to obtain the relic, but Gris is not selling. Right after the mechanism stings the merchant, he feels more youthful, and becomes addicted to the sensation. His newfound taste for blood, even so, only increases after he morphs into a nocturnal creature, much like Mimic‘s man-sized cockroach. With Cronos, del Toro developed a exclusive vampire-zombie hybrid, given that Gris’s resistance to age blooms just as his flesh starts to wither. In an outstanding commentary track, he describes the movie as a reinvention of the vampire myth in alchemical terms. Other extras incorporate commentary from the producers, a gory student brief, a tour of the director’s incredible offices, interviews with cast and crew (including Luppi and Perlman), a stills gallery (like family members photographs), and an essay by film critic Maitland McDonagh, who praises del Toro as a filmmaker with an eye “attuned to the attractiveness in the darkness.” –Kathleen C. Fennessy

List Value: $ 39.95

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Senso: The Criterion Assortment [Blu-ray]

This lush, Technicolor tragic romance from Luchino Visconti (Le notti bianche, The Leopard) stars Alida Valli (The 3rd Man, Eyes Devoid of a Deal with) as a nineteenth-century Italian countess who, amid the Austrian occupation of her country, puts her marriage and political concepts on the line by engaging in a torrid affair with a dashing Austrian lieutenant, played by Farley Granger (Rope, Strangers on a Train). Gilded with fearless performances, ornate costumes and sets, and a rich classical soundtrack, Visconti?s operatic melodrama is an extraordinary evocation of reckless feelings and deranged lust from one particular of the cinema?s great sensualists.

Checklist Price tag: $ 39.98

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Connected Criterion Films

Topsy-Turvy (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

The globe of Gilbert and Sulliavan arrives to vivid life in this extraordinary dramatization of the staging of their legendary 1885 comic opera The Mikado from Mike Leigh (Naked, Secrets and Lies). Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge, Iris) and Allan Corduner (Yentl, Vera Drake) brilliantly inhabit the roles of the planet-popular Victorian librettist and composer, respectively, who, along with their troupe of temperamental actors, should battle private and expert demons even though mounting this key production. A lushly created epic about the harsh realities of creative expression, featuring bravura performances and Oscar-profitable costume layout and make-up, Topsy-Turvy is an unexpected period delight from one particular of modern cinema’s wonderful artists.

Listing Price: $ 39.95

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Persepolis is one of the best theatrical foreign art films I think I have ever seen in my life. Marjane Satrapi, not only did the drawings for the movie but also for the books, has created a masterpiece.

The tale is about her life as a young girl in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Along with her life during the Revolution, it also revolves around her life away from her parents and life on the street when she finds herself without money in another country.

This is a story of the dreams that were shattered after the Islamic revolution…the families that were broken…. and the collapse of the most ancient civilization on earth…It is a true story of one of the biggest human tragedies in 20 century and the movie very cleverly shows that fact.

Nominated for Oscar. Another 15 wins & 21 nominations. IMDB Rating 8.1/10

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Nikita is young and attractive, but has already gone to the bad. During a hold up of a pharmacy (drug store) with her drug-crazed criminal gang, she deliberately kills a policeman, coldly shooting him in the face.

She is condemned to prison for life, but the French secret services, looking for cold blooded killers, have identified the potential in her. They offer her an alternative future. If she proves herself, she could become a secret agent herself. She accepts and starts a hard career.

Director Luc Besson manages to keep a high level of energy and our interest – from the opening scene – a violent drugstore shootout until the very last moment. A high adrenaline anti-heroine thriller.

IMDB Rating : 7.5 /10

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Driven by fate, Vianne drifts into a tranquil French village with her daughter Anouk in the winter of 1959. Her newly opened chocolatier is a source of attraction and fear, since Vianne’s ability to revive the villagers’ passions threatens to disrupt their repressive traditions.

The pious mayor sees Vianne as the enemy, and his war against her peaks with the arrival of “river rats” led by Roux, whose attraction to Vianne is immediate and reciprocal. Splendid subplots involve a battered wife, a village elder, and her estranged daughter, and while the film’s broader strokes may be regrettable (if not for Molina’s rich performance, the mayor would be a caricature), its subtleties are often sublime. A sweet delightful treat.

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 8 wins & 28 nominations

IMDB Rating : 7.3/10

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A very unique movie which words can not easily tell the highest level of quality!

Pierro escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl, who is chased by hit-men from Algeria.

They lead a unorthodox live, always on the run. One of the best Belmondo classics.

IMDB Rating : 7.5