It's Movie Watching Time

The coldness of winter has set in, presumably to stay, for the next four months or more. We're close to entering into what I call my "sports free" time of year... of course that doesn't mean that sports aren't happening, it's more that I'm not as involved with tracking my fantasy sports rosters, at least until mid-to-late March when it becomes necessary to prepare for the baseball season. So given the combination of long nights, cold weather and the pleasures associated with huddling up together on the sofa, what better way to spend that time than watching great movies.

And when I say great movies, I mean truly classic and provocative cinematic works. I'm talking about... the Criterion Collection.

Yes, that's where my movie-viewing tastes are running these days. I enjoy going to see the occasional Hollywood blockbuster popcorn muncher, and I'll do what I can to stay current on the films most likely to make a serious run at the Oscars. But if I was stuck on a desert island with a choice of only one theater, I would without a doubt make it an art house indie-movie cinematheque.

I hope you are already aware, to some extent, of the Criterion Collection. If not, visit their website and you should soon get the idea. I'm not going to recap the history of the "movement" or even go into great detail on how my own interests have built up over the years. But suffice it to say that I'm looking forward to getting some additions to my library at Christmas time, and for birthdays, Fathers Days and other special occasions for years to come.

Last night, after we got back from moving Lys out of her dorm at GVSU and back home with, Julie, Lys and I watched Jean Renoir's The River. It's a nicely done Technicolor epic shot in India in 1950-51, just a few years after the nation had secured its independence from Great Britain. The film is a coming of age story, based on novelized reminiscences of Rumer Godden, who wrote "Black Narcissus" (another great Criterion DVD that I watched earlier in the week while Julie was working on wedding flowers.) I'm glad that my wife and daughter watched it with me because it's something of an art-house chick flick than a "guy film." I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if I watched it with only my sons. But some wonderful little moments came out in the portrayal of three young women each coming of age, each facing their own unique dilemmas in the late stages of the colonial era in India - little tidbits of philosophical wisdom and timeless beauty, even in the constraints of a slightly hackneyed 50's style of acting and screenwriting. And I really love watching Technicolor productions! This film took tremendous advantage of the bright colors and (to western viewers) exotic locale, the Ganges river and surrounding countryside, even though most of the action takes place on a colonial estate where the British family lives (echoing the author's own personal history.) Well, enough for that mini-review. That wasn't the purpose of this blog entry.

My aim is to watch a fair number of Criterion films this winter - some for the second or third time from my own collection of DVDs, others from the library, which cuts down considerably on the costs, especially for titles I'm not sure I want to own. I already have Bicycle Thieves, Overlord and The Importance of Being Earnest checked out, with more titles soon to be on hold. Andrei Rublev (from my personal collection, is on the tube right now in the room next to where I'm typing, kind of a visual wallpaper thing to create atmosphere and keep its images fresh in my mind without necessitating the commitment of sitting down to watch the three-hour epic at close attention.

Any other Criterion aficionados out there with personal favorites to recommend?