my mother, saint that she is, told me via phone the other night that her and my father, mustachioed stallion that he is, would no longer see films in the theater for any more than the price of their local second-run theater. unless said film was unanimously agreed upon by critics and peers alike to be a truly fantastic film. thus, big budget blockbusters would not be in my parent's future. films like robin hood and prince of persia and all the other shit clogging our screens this summer would be vacant from my parental units evening plans.
strangely, this idea, so distant from someone who gets to see free films, stuck in my mind. i sit in the darkness of the theater at each screening trying to figure out if this film would fit the bill for my parents to fork up the requisite ten-fifty (plus popcorn and soda, a sanders' family tradition) to see the film.
i am love, the new film starring (and produced by) tilda swinton is a film i believe my parents, and your parents, and the whole world should see. set amongst unimaginable wealth in milan and london and san remo, the film follows the slow dissolution of a family. a family built on secrets and lies and mistrust. it is, and this is saying much, as beautiful a film as any i've seen in recent years - part italian neo-realism, part subtly photographed painting, part scenic tour of the amazing imagery that makes up these ancient cities. the criterion conquistador and myself, sat in mute shock, staring at the credits as they limped across the screen. completely taken by this powerhouse of a film.
mom, dad, completely worth your ten-fifty. i promise.
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criterion counsel: it returns. what with the swarms of fellow criterion questers flitting about, i need to get hustling. first to the top gets a bacon-wrapped hot dog! still stuck on my man godfrey (114). but not for long.
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