The Criterion Collection has announced its releases for November and if you were hoping for Steven Soderbergh’s “Che” (which was supposed to hit in the fall), you’re going to have to hope that December also means fall cause that disc hasn’t arrived.
However, there are some good picks and they are as follow.
Michael Ritchie’s 1969 Olympic skier film, “Downhill Racer” starring a young Robert Redford and Gene Hackman. It hits on November 17.
In a beautifully understated performance, Redford is David Chappellet, a ruthlessly ambitious skier competing with an underdog American team in Europe for Olympic gold, and Gene Hackman provides tough support as the coach who tries to temper the upstart’s narcissistic drive for glory.
Leaning towards newer titles (easier to license these days) Criterion will also release Arnaud Desplechin’s 2008 film, “A Christmas Tale” starring Catherine Deneuve, Matthiew Amalric, and a host of great French actors like Anne Consigny, Chiara Mastroianni (the daughter of Deneuve and the late great Marcel Mastroianni), Melvil Poupaud and more. It’s basically a home-for-the-holidays film done French style which means its about a thousand times more brutal and un-Hollywood, but still a bewitching and terrific film (as much as it can be maddening sometimes and you want to kill some of the near-evil characters). No artwork for this one yet, but it’s due on November 10, a perfect holiday gift.
In Arnaud Desplechin’s beguiling A Christmas Tale (Un conte de Noël), Catherine Deneuve brings her legendary poise to the role of Junon, matriarch of the troubled Vuillard family, who come together at Christmas after she learns she needs a bone marrow transplant from a blood relative. That simple family reunion setup, however, can’t begin to describe the unpredictable, emotionally volatile experience of this film, an inventive, magical drama that’s equal parts merriment and melancholy.
November 24 brings us Matteo Garrone’s beloved Italian crime drama film, “Gomorrah” which became a foreign film cause celebre when it was snubbed by the Foreign Oscar comittee last year. We liked it, but didn’t seem to adore it as much as critics did. Still, it’s certainly a film worth watching and still better than 90% of what’s out there from generic cinemaplex offerings.
In this tour de force adaptation of Roberto Saviano’s best-selling exposé of Naples’ Mafia underworld, director Matteo Garrone links five disparate tales in which men and children are caught up in a corrupt system that extends from the housing projects to the world of haute couture.
Happy shopping for Xmas, but we’re still hoping “Che” hits before 2009 is over.