GreenCine Best of 2006
Giving Thanks: Top 10 Formerly MIA DVDs

By Craig Phillips

Double Life of Veronique. The late, great Krzysztof Kieslowski is probably still most famous for both his stunning Tres Coleurs trilogy (Blue, Red and White), and for the massive achievement that is The Decalogue, but this mysterious 1989 film is a near-masterpiece in its own right. After many years of Kieslowski fans and cinephiles clamoring for a disc, Criterion finally brings it to us on two (bonus features grace the second disc). Appropriate, too, for a film starring Irene Jacob that is about a woman's search for identity and a treatise on duality. Beautifully puzzling.

The Good: Profound story, dreamlike imagery. Jacob is certainly pleasing, too.
The Odd: The elliptical plot might require an upsurge of caffeine + gingko.
The Ugly: Nothing ugly about this one.



Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. Alan Rudolph's uneven but extremely witty film was a showcase for Jennifer Jason Leigh's gift for quick-gab and mimicry (which she'd put to use, too, when channeling Barbara Stanwyck in Hudsucker Proxy); she's astonishing here as writer Dorothy Parker, but the film as a whole is a fascinating glimpse at an amazing and rare, round table of wits.

The Good: Leigh, of course, and the script full of Parker's bon mots.
The Sad: Parker had a depressing, suicidal side, too.
The Ugly: Andrew McCarthy as Parker's nearly invisible hubbie.

Elevator to the Gallows. Previously more familiar in the U.S. for Miles Davis' haunting jazz soundtrack, Louis Malle's pre-New Wave noir finally returned to the public consciousness with this loving edition (thank you again, Criterion). Malle struck cinematic gold with this adaptation of a novel by Noel Calef. Jeanne Moreau leaves a most indellible impression as the bourgeois Florence Carala helplessly wandering the streets of Paris at night in search of her lover. A haunting work.

The Good: Everything Moreau.
The Sad: The usual Gallic tragedies, perfect for noir.
The Great: Miles Davis' soundtrack.


The Naked Spur. As I wrote in my review of the film on Guru, while this 1953 Western is not the best of the Anthony Mann-Jimmy Stewart collaborations - I'd reserve that slot for Bend of the River and The Man from Laramie, and The Far Country (aw, heck, they're all good!), Spur remains a taut, intelligent Western all the same. Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum considers Spur his favorite of Mann's pictures.

The Good: Beautifully shot in luscious color; great supporting cast; story jumps right in.
The Bad: Some melodramatic acting.
The Ugly: An awkward Indian ambush sequence.


A Canterbury Tale. For me, the arrival of any previously unreleased Michael Powell-Emeric Pressberger film is a cause for rejoicing. In the case of this loose Geoffrey Chaucer adaptation, relanded in wartime England, it's also a Powell work I hadn't previously seen in some other format, so viewing this Criterion set was a particular delight. If John Sweet's, uh, natural performance as an American GI takes some getting used to, cut him some slack, he really was a GI, not an experienced actor. And the film is such an enchanting parable that it's hard to find fault with anything. Another masterpiece from one of cinema's greatest.

The Good: The setting, the photography, Sheila Sim; the local kids.
The Bad: Sweet's aw-shuckish acting. Ultimately, not bad; just takes some getting used to.
The Ugly: Nothing, it's all beautiful.