
The Criterion Closet is hosting a free L.A. pop-up for film geeks this weekend
If you're even a casual film lover, you've no doubt heard of the internet-famous Criterion Closet, a physical closet owned at The Criterion Collection offices that's filled with every movie title distributed by the home-video distribution company. And you've likely seen viral videos of pretty much every celebrity you can name—from legendary directors like Martin Scorsese and Bong Joon-ho to famous actors like Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert—giddily choosing beloved films from the closet's expertly-stocked shelves and gabbing about why they hold those titles so dear.
And this weekend, you can have your own Criterion Closet experience when a mobile pop-up version rolls up to Santa Monica on Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8.
Partnering with the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre (1328 Montana Avenue)—in conjunction with its Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair festival—the Criterion Mobile Closet will be free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on both days. Inside, you'll find more than 1,000 in-print titles from the Criterion Collection, including box sets and releases from the Eclipse and Janus Contemporaries lines.
Each attendee will have three minutes to scour the closet shelves, and up to five guests can share a visit to the closet at one time. Excitingly, you'll be able to make like Ayo Edebiri and others by recording your own Criterion Closet video, where you, too, can publicly and passionately champion your favorite flicks. You'll receive a Polaroid photo featuring your selections, as well as a free Criterion tote bag and a printed pocket guide to take home, while supplies last.
Film lovers will be able to purchase up to three videos at a 40-percent discount, to celebrate Criterion's big 40th anniversary this year. (Of course, we recommend you pick up a copy of one of the movies that most beautifully capture Los Angeles.) There will also be a limited selection of Criterion merch available for purchase.
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The Review Geek
10 hours ago
- The Review Geek
Our Unwritten Seoul – K-drama Episode 6 Recap & Review
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Before all of this though, the Director brings Mi-ji along for the landowner meeting with Gyeong-min. The idiot manager fumbles his words and struggles to hold his own. Mi-ji effortlessly steps up and usurps Gyeong-min though, leaving him with egg on his face. Given how hard she worked on the project, and despite Gyeong-min chewing her out, all of this has helped her shine in the meeting. The misunderstanding trope continues here though after work, when Ji-yun stops by with Ho-su to drop off her bag. Mi-ji is still mulling over what happened that night but through flashbacks, we see that it's a simple case of her falling asleep on his shoulder and him taking her back to his place. There is slightly more to it but we'll wait until the end of the episode for that! Meanwhile, Mi-rae decides to hang in bed after quitting her job at the strawberry farm. Everybody is noticing her downcast behaviour, and both her mother and Gyeong-gu struggle to get through to her. Mi-rae is shying away from the rumours about Se-jin and her dating him, which is partly why she's quit. She's also worried and feeling anxious, which is something she relays to Mi-ji later on when they talk on the phone. In fact, Mi-rae wants to switch back the next week, which catches Mi-ji off-guard. Some of this stems from her work project with the returning Park heading back to the office. Now, it would appear something has happened between them but we don't know what just yet. Instead, Mi-ji is thrown into the fire when Lee Chung-gu arrives wanting to discuss Ro-sa and the HQ Project. He hands over a confidential file, explaining how they're building an LRT station at the new HQ site. This is a big project but she's sworn to secrecy, which only makes things more awkward – especially with the switch-back occurring soon and her own moral compass swaying toward telling Ro-sa the truth. Her inner-turmoil is only made worse when she finds out Ho-su and Ji-yun are going to the wedding that weekend together. Seung-hyeon rings and suggests they go too, and she reluctantly agrees. Ho-su rings though and asks to meet, given he's found her watch that she left at his the previous night. As they sit and talk, Mi-ji discusses the dilemma regarding Ro-sa's building and the confidential planning looking to take place. Ho-su encourages her to drop it when she brings it up, reiterating that she could get in massive trouble and he needs to keep her mouth shut. At work, Mi-ji is awkward and even more so when she believes Ro-sa might be keeping secrets too about her university days. For now, she plays dumb with Chung-gu but this is definitely going to come up in the episodes ahead! Speaking of secrets, the wedding goes ahead and all the guests attend… but there's a problem. No only has Mi-ji been invited, but so too has Mi-rae. And it's here where secrets are revealed. When Gyung-gu 'kidnaps' Mi-rae to get her to tag along, he mentions how he's got them a hotel room together. Mi-rae is livid and points out their boundaries and how it's not right. Of course, Mi-rae is unaware that Gyung-gu is gay, which spills out in dramatic fashion. Not only has Mi-ji known about Gyung-gu's sexuality, but so too has Ho-su. Back in school, Seung-hyeon convinced Gyeong-gu to give a public confession about his feelings to Mi-ji but Ho-su told him not to. Gyeong-gu didn't listen and instead, Seung-hyeon recorded the whole thing so he could make fun of him and get a kick out of the snubbed proposal. Ho-su, ever the loyal man, beat Seung-hyeon down in the classroom. Back at the wedding, Seung-hyeon talks smack about Gyeong-gu and Mi-ji at the table, eventually leading to our titular character leaving the wedding and ringing Ho-su. Funnily enough, when Ji-yun tries to stop him, bringing up how the twins have switched, he shrugs it off and tells her he already knows. Turns out, that drunken night at his place, Mi-ji answered Ho-su with her own name, which explains why he 'figured it out'. Mi-ji has always liked him and his foolish side, and its taken until now to figure that out. While they head home together, Mi-rae goes back to the strawberry farm, where Se-jin is struggling in the rain. We heard about the bad weather earlier in the episode, and she encourages him to head inside with her. He warns that them staying the night together is only going to fuel the rumours between them, but Mi-rae admits this is the only place for her that feels real, at least to her. Se-jin admits he likes the rumours between them, which is as good as a love confession I guess! As they stare at one another, the episode comes to a close. The Episode Review So this week's double bill of Our Unwritten Seoul comes to a close with a movement with both Mi-rae and Mi-ji's romantic endeavours. The swapping lives has been eye-opening for them both, better understanding what the other twin has been through and how difficult their lives are. The toxic work situation that Mi-ji has been thrown into looks like it could get a whole lot worse with this Park character returning, while Mi-rae has felt a bit directionless until she's met Se-jin. The idea of healing, growing and learning by switching lives with someone whom you believe has it better than you (and then eating humble pie when you realize their life is just as hard) is nicely realized and one of the stronger components of this show. The twins have been misunderstood their entire life and the fact their own mother can't tell them apart, but their grandmother can, from one single look at both Mi-ji and Mi-rae speaks volumes. Park Bo-young deserves a lot of credit here too because even without the hairstyles, the way she plays both Mi-ji and Mi-rae is instantly recognizable and distinguishable. 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Time Out
5 days ago
- Time Out
The Criterion Closet is hosting a free L.A. pop-up for film geeks this weekend
If you're even a casual film lover, you've no doubt heard of the internet-famous Criterion Closet, a physical closet owned at The Criterion Collection offices that's filled with every movie title distributed by the home-video distribution company. And you've likely seen viral videos of pretty much every celebrity you can name—from legendary directors like Martin Scorsese and Bong Joon-ho to famous actors like Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert—giddily choosing beloved films from the closet's expertly-stocked shelves and gabbing about why they hold those titles so dear. And this weekend, you can have your own Criterion Closet experience when a mobile pop-up version rolls up to Santa Monica on Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8. Partnering with the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre (1328 Montana Avenue)—in conjunction with its Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair festival—the Criterion Mobile Closet will be free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on both days. Inside, you'll find more than 1,000 in-print titles from the Criterion Collection, including box sets and releases from the Eclipse and Janus Contemporaries lines. Each attendee will have three minutes to scour the closet shelves, and up to five guests can share a visit to the closet at one time. Excitingly, you'll be able to make like Ayo Edebiri and others by recording your own Criterion Closet video, where you, too, can publicly and passionately champion your favorite flicks. You'll receive a Polaroid photo featuring your selections, as well as a free Criterion tote bag and a printed pocket guide to take home, while supplies last. Film lovers will be able to purchase up to three videos at a 40-percent discount, to celebrate Criterion's big 40th anniversary this year. (Of course, we recommend you pick up a copy of one of the movies that most beautifully capture Los Angeles.) There will also be a limited selection of Criterion merch available for purchase.


The Guardian
5 days ago
- The Guardian
‘Allegory for the times we live in': De Niro and Scorsese reunite for Casino at 30
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As the years have ticked by, the gap between the two films comparisons have widened, yet again allowing the viewer to watch Casino not thinking of it as a sort-of follow-up, but a standalone film. 'The idea was to take the last 15 minutes before [Ray Liotta's character] Henry Hill gets arrested in Goodfellas and make that one film,' Scorsese said of the memorably manic sequence during which we see Hill stretched thin with nerves frayed, edited together with a series of quick cuts and a pulsating soundtrack. 'In other words, take it even further and just go to the point where we can sustain that style, which really came from (the rhythm) of storytelling on a street corner. Some of the best actors we ever knew were the kids telling the stories on the street.' As a result, the director and actor spoke about weeks of night shoots, loud casinos and the movie's intense violence (they had to tone down a scene when a man's eyes bulge out after his head is put in a vice). Scorsese also recalled trying to finagle having Rosenthal visit the set while the mobster was listed in the state's Black Book; a persona non grata in Nevada. The director went as far as working with former MPAA president Jack Valenti to use his vast connections at the time to lift the ban. 'Jack called me and he said: 'Martin, I've never had so many doors closing my face so fast in my life,'' impersonating Valenti's Texas drawl. 'This man is a member of the ma-fia.' De Niro was reliably quieter while Scorsese discussed the film, a hallmark of their relationship. When asked about his memorable wardrobe in the film; his flashy suits a trademark of the character, De Niro said an archive of his costumes are stored at the University of Texas at Austin. 'I was collecting all of this stuff for years and it started getting expensive,' said De Niro, who realized that after he filmed Scorsese's musical New York, New York, all of his wardrobe was being pilfered and he realized he should preserve them 'When I was getting fitted for my shoes for Godfather II, I think they were the shoes Warren Beatty wore in Bonnie and Clyde.' When asked about advice to the young film-makers in the audience, De Niro offered rallying words. ' I just say follow through on what you want to do. It might not be easy, but the only person you have is yourself to keep going. You just gotta keep doing it and believing in yourself. God helps those who help themselves.' Scorsese echoed those sentiments, noting it's never easy when it comes to the craft, even at his high level '[People will say:] 'Oh, you have money and everything working for you' and that's never really the case. Often if you get a bigger budget, it's worse in terms of the production. The more money, the more risk and therefore the pressure is on to take less chances aesthetically and artistically.' 'One thing [the director] Arthur Penn told me when I was a young film-maker was: 'Remember, don't lose your amateur status.' He was right. You struggle feeling like an amateur, but it's amator, in Latin, which means love. That's the thing you gotta hold on to.' However, Scorsese left the audience with this: ' The time is now to take advantage of whatever you can say,' said Scorsese. 'Who knows what's gonna happen. You have to really utilize what supposedly is called free speech.'