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Citizen Kane and Pulp Fiction, Two Overrated Classics Coming to a Blu-ray Player Near You

This week in his “Now and Then” column, Matt Brennan — inspired by the re-release of Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) and the upcoming Blu-ray edition of Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994) — tries to explain how a movie becomes a “classic.” Trailers below:To paraphrase the famous saying, some movies are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Citizen Kane and Pulp Fiction fall into the latter category. That they’re stylish, innovative, and spectacularly well made is undeniable. But in the end, claims of their greatness say more about what critics and cinephiles think movies should be than about their intrinsic value. To put it more bluntly, they’re overrated.

By Matt Brennan
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September 19, 2011 1:45 AM
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10 Comments

Brian DePalma is one of those filmmakers whose profile has lost luster over the years along with his commercial studio cred. It shouldn't. Simon Abrams writes about the thrillmeister on a the eve of a BAM retrospective:This weekend, Brooklynites can pump themselves up for the Criterion Collection's forthcoming release of Brian De Palma's Blow Out by checking out the BAMcinemathek retrospective aptly titled "De Palma's Suspense." Programmed by Noah Baumbach, this year’s BAM Cinema Club Chair, the thirteen day-long series showcase is a perfect way to see De Palma's films. It's also a great opportunity to check out Dressed to Kill and Obsession, two of De Palma's best films that are both unfortunately no longer available on DVD.

By Simon Abrams
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April 7, 2011 9:40 AM
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Paul Haggis Talks Scientology to The New Yorker, ABC Videos Cruise

We've been waiting for Lawrence Wright's New Yorker Scientology expose ever since Canadian writer-director Paul Haggis (Crash) denied involvement in writing a tell-all book. That may not be necessary now that The New Yorker has published the 26-page story about the director and his many years spent in league with the religion. Lawrence has said: “I will expand on that material for the book. Both the article and the eventual book will explore the Haggis family’s experience inside the church and their decision to leave it. Haggis has been extremely helpful and candid, but he is certainly not a collaborator."

By Sophia Savage
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February 9, 2011 8:56 AM
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1 Comment

Whatever happened to Insurge, that new micro-budget Paramount division that sought to take an alternative approach to standard studio filmmaking? “We want to find and distribute crazy, unpredictable, and hopefully awesome movies - movies that make you want to line up to see at your local theater with all your friends (and us)," stated the Beta Insurge website. "Movies that a big studio would never release because they’re too risky, too silly, and they don’t star Sandra Bullock.”