Round Midnight: Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) by Justin Remer The Movie: Bertrand Tavernier's 1986 film 'Round Midnight is one of the best movies set in the world of jazz music. Legendary tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon plays a fictional amalgam of Lester Young and Bud Powell, in a loosely told story inspired by the journals of illustrator Francis Paudras. Paudras was a Parisian jazz fanatic who helped keep pianist Bud Powell afloat in the late '50s, financially and spiritually.Dexter Gordon so fully embodies his character, called Dale Turner in the film, that numerous reviews over the years assume that Gordon's Oscar-nominated performance here is just the jazzman playing himself in a 1950s context. As the interviews on the Blu-ray make abundantly clear, Gordon does a seamless job of embodying the physicality ...Read the entire review »

Pink Flamingos (The Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray) by Ian Jane The Movie:Probably John Waters' most notorious film, 1972's Pink Flamingos stars Divine as herself, hiding out under the pseudonym of Babs Johnson with her egg obsessed mother Edie (Edith Massey), her son Crackers (Danny Mills), and her friend Cotton (Mary Vivian Pearce). Divine has been dubbed the filthiest person alive, and it is a title she wears with pride as she and her 'family' live their life in a trailer in a remote part of Maryland.When Connie (Mink Stole) and Raymond (David Lochary) Marble hear of Divine's title they set out to prove that they are, in fact, far filthier than she could ever hope to be. They send a woman named Cookie (Cookie Mueller) to infiltrate the Divine camp by sleeping with Crackers (and his chicken in a scene that has to be seen to be believed… unless you're a member of PETA) who returns to them with information on where Divine is hi...Read the entire review »