Monthly Archives: March 2020

Nubras SamayeenMarch 23, 2020

"People know what they do; frequently they know why they do what they do; but what they don't know is what what they do does."

Michel Foucault,Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason

Throughout human history, people have claimed and controlled nature and have built empires of civilisations. Today, however, Mother Nature is angry. In a momentary flicker, a new battle has been forced upon the human-race. A bio-device named COVID-19 has become a pandemic, killing and infecting thousands around the globe. It has left us in forced self-confinement. So far, the urban cores have been the viral epicenters from where the disease stretches to surrounding areas at an accelerating speed. Though the genesis of COVID-19 seemingly started from the wrong choice of food (or, to the orthodox, a repercussion of their unfaithfulness), this menace is no insular occurrence. Its global ubiquity is a result of a multitude of entwined practices that includes remote architecture, urban design and planning practices.

It is a boomerang effect. Nature has finally counteracted the long-practiced capitalist systems of spatial production vis-a-vis city formation that have been regarded as progress. Our indifference to natural conditions, ecosystems and sustainability took nature to an intolerable boiling point. So, the question is: are humans and nature friends, or foes? Are we a part of nature or a split?

Cities have been the emblem of human civilisation for thousands of years. Defying ecological growth and natural orders, and more importantly with a deviance from thousand-year-old indigenous building practices, with globalising forces the cities of today are synthetic and picture perfect. World cities such as New York, London, Dubai, Paris, Beijing, Singapore, Shanghai and many others are all in a race to showcase their architecture. Soaring high-rises have become the zeitgeist (spirit of the age) and pride of each metropolis. Consequently, the land endorsing these developments has turned into a commodity, an asset, a lure to humankind. Inherently a part of earth, it has become power and a controlling device.

But land-claims, land-fill and wet-land encroachment for development and urbanisation resist nature's plans. While most rural counterparts follow vernacular systems that are accommodating to natural ecosystems, the city is a product of the capitalist system. Its grids, plots and division help in ownership and urban infrastructure development. Consequently, they proliferate means of human influence.

Megacity Dhaka has become one of the most expensive stretches of real estate in Asia today. Yet with its unplanned development and unforeseen issues, the city faces a sort of schizophrenia and urban stagnancy. Dhakaites from all walks of life are grabbing landeven the wetlandswhich were once the habitat for countless species and wildlife. For instance, Banani, the affluent neighbourhood colloquially meaning "woods," used to have foxes and even cranes on its lake. Dhaka's water and wetland research (2005) reveals that other impressive neighbourhoods such as Ashulia, Bashundhara and others were also built on filled wetlands. Once popular Motijheel was established on a jheel, a quintessential element of Bengal's deltaic landscape which has disappeared. Recent records also show that Dhaka has lost more than 150 rivers in the last five decades and consequently, an even greater number of fish and water-based species. Such land-grabbing has created a deep rift between humankind and nature. Greed and appetite for land, along with a colonial mindset and blind imitation of capitalistic models left behind by the British, are forcing us into unanticipated environmental issues. Theorist Kathleen James-Chakraborty of Dublin University points out how Dhaka's and South Asia's architectural trends are more akin to Western architectural trends and their chronology than to our own heritage. Therefore, she sees a similarity in language yet a rupture in the progression of local building vocabulary that developed from the genius-loci or the spirit of the place.

The omnipresent phenomenon of katcha bazaars (marketplace) and bazaar-like informality is paradigmatic of any South Asian megacity. With huge economic contribution, these informal sectors have become the core of cities like Dhaka. These bostis house a huge workforce that is an absolute necessity for Dhaka. But due to municipal negligence, hyper-density, unrestrained growth and unhygienic sanitation systems and livelihoods, they have become a tumour amid Dhaka's urban landscape and hence are often deliberately ignored. Korail, the largest bosti in Dhaka that serves neighbouring affluent areas, is completely unaware of and unprepared to deal with the COVID crisis. Wuhan's wet-market where COVID-19 germinated is similar to this informal urbanity.

Killing 8,000, infecting 200,000 and affecting the lives of millions, in just a few weeks, the COVID-19 has become the deadliest of all its viral predecessors. Research shows that the COVID-19, the Bird Flu (Avian Flu 2013), the MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus), and the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 2003) all came from animals. AIDS most likely came from chimpanzees, the deadly Ebola from bats. Bats and pangolins also possibly started the COVID-19 in Wuhanone of the largest and most glamorous megacities of central China, populated with beautiful edifices and 11 million people.

A veterinary doctor at the University of Illinois has explained that animals are meant for forestry; it is their habitat. Since we are forcefully taking their homes and turning them into our own, their habitats are destroyed. And so they are moving into human habitatsour cities and even homes, taking refuge in the crevices of urban buildings. The animal and human world are overlapping; food chains are intersecting. Even in Bangladesh, the Nipah-2019 virus was spread from date-juice that was infected by bats and was transmitted via interpersonal contact. Nipah's spread was more limited presumably because it originated in a relatively sparser area and was not as deadly as what we currently face.

Moreover, most buildings across Dhaka open up to next door walls or windows, diminishing the minimum level of privacy or buffer space that is required. Therefore, though most of these edifices successfully emulate Western models, they produce a concrete jungle. They fail to offer anything that complements our distinctively Bengali urban lifestyle. With complete reliance on active cooling systems and glazed facades, they rarely comply with sub-tropical weather conditions.

Meanwhile our bazaars, like Wuhan's fish markets, are an intermediary area where the animal and human world unite. They have become the production zone of recurring deadly diseases. Interestingly, the products of wild animalswhether sold as food or as consumer goodsare predominantly consumed only by the rich minority, yet they contribute largely to the national GDP. This inequality eventually makes policy making more complex and difficult. The recent killing of the rarest white giraffe and its calf in Kenya is an example of such convolution, all of which is bringing forth a reality that we thought existed only on the screen, in movies like Contagion (2011) or Pandemic (2016).

In her book LoTEK: Design by Radical Indigenism (2020), Julia Watson, a faculty member of Harvard and Columbia University, proposes to rethink technology and biodiversity in designing urban environments.She suggests alternative solutions that focus on indigenous building practices from antiquity, in which nature can offer her boons as urban infrastructure. She challenges the one-size-fits-all model of institutionalised, commercial measures of architecture and sustainable practices. One such inefficient model is the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) that is standardised by the US Global Building Commission. Like a few other green institutions, LEED, leading in the market, aims for sustainable building solutions which often end up in superficial plug-ins to make edifices that are just categorically "green" by definition. A number of the buildings in Dhaka, particularly in Gulshan and Banani, also follow LEED without considering sub-tropical needs and cultural influence. Watson says, "We can look to cultures that have been living with natural systems and understand how to develop civilisations with complex ecosystems as a grounding for moving forward as designers." Exemplifying tribal lifestyles of Khasi tribes and even fishermen villages of deltaic Bengal, she further explains, "It's a movement toward rethinking how urbanism interacts with nature."

All through history, humans have lived with germs, recurrent plagues, dire diseases like chicken-pox and consequently, developed immunity. But there might still come a plague with which we cannot coexist. Uncontrolled urbanisation and the resultant climate change that seeps its way through the melting ice, polluting the soils, may release nature's genie from its dormancy. A2005 research reported by the BBC shows that NASA scientists successfully revived a bacteria that had been encased in a frozen pond in Alaska for 32,000 years. The microbes, calledCarnobacterium pleistocenium, were frozen since the Pleistocene period. They began swimming once the snow covering them melted. Scientists also succeeded in revivingan eight-million-year-old bacteriumthat had been lying dormant in ice. These observations and discoveries must push us to think more about our built-environments and force us to ask: how do we build with nature?

What the current situation demands are strong regulatory bodies and laws. Otherwise, our physical and mental healthour liveswill become crippled. We, like a frog, are living in a pot that is being gradually heated. We will stay put and never jump out until we reach the boiling point. But if cautious now, we can perhaps reverse and stop the approaching urban demise and disprove Stephen Hawking, who once said "humankind is greedy, stupid" and that we are the greatest threat to Earth.

Nubras Samayeen is a doctoral scholar of architecture, landscape and heritage at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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An urban demise is on its way: How can we stop it? - The Daily Star

The Criterion Channel announces one-year anniversary lineup

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the launch of The Criterion Channel, the network has unveiled its lineup of programming set to debut in April, which will include the 1978 animated adaptation of the Richard Adams novelWatership Downand an expansion of the Columbia Noir collection from the channels original launch!

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Wednesday, April 1

Toshiro Mifune Turns 100

Featuring a new introduction by critic Imogen Sara Smith and the 2015 documentaryMifune: The Last Samurai.Akira Kurosawa once said, The ordinary Japanese actor might need ten feet of film to get across an impression. Toshiro Mifune needed only three feet. However, the filmmaker certainly gave Mifuneborn on April 1, 1920a lot of space: over the course of sixteen indelible collaborations, the actor and the director created some of the most dynamic characters ever put on-screen, all marked by an explosive physicality, live-wire intensity, and surprising tenderness. Discovered by Kurosawa during an open audition at Toho Studios,Mifune would go on to inhabit a wide variety of rolesfrom gangsters to samurai to salarymenin the directors greatest films, masterpieces likeStray Dog, Rashomon, Seven Samurai, The Bad Sleep Well,andHigh and Low.Further cementing his status as an icon of Japanese cinema with his commanding turns in classics by Kenji Mizoguchi, Keisuke Kinoshita, and Hiroshi Inagaki,Mifune left behind a formidable legacy as one of the most electrifying performers of the twentieth century.

The full list of titles from the collection includes:Snow Trail,Senkichi Taniguchi, 1947Drunken Angel,Akira Kurosawa, 1948Stray Dog,Akira Kurosawa, 1949Rashomon,Akira Kurosawa, 1950Wedding Ring,Keisuke Kinoshita, 1950Scandal,Akira Kurosawa, 1950The Idiot,Akira Kurosawa, 1951The Life of Oharu,Kenji Mizoguchi, 1952Seven Samurai,Akira Kurosawa, 1954Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto,Hiroshi Inagaki, 1954Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple,Hiroshi Inagaki, 1955I Live in Fear,Akira Kurosawa, 1955Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island,Hiroshi Inagaki, 1956The Lower Depths,Akira Kurosawa, 1957Throne of Blood,Akira Kurosawa, 1957The Hidden Fortress,Akira Kurosawa, 1958Muhomatsu, the Rickshaw Man,Hiroshi Inagaki, 1958The Bad Sleep Well,Akira Kurosawa, 1960Yojimbo,Akira Kurosawa, 1961Sanjuro,Akira Kurosawa, 1962High and Low,Akira Kurosawa, 1963Red Beard,Akira Kurosawa, 1965The Sword of Doom,Kihachi Okamoto, 1966Samurai Rebellion,Masaki Kobayashi, 1967Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo,Kihachi Okamoto, 1970Red Sun,Terence Young, 1971Mifune: The Last Samurai,Steven Okazaki, 2015

Wednesday, April 1

Europa Europa: Criterion Collection Edition #985

As World War II splits Europe, sixteen-year-old German Jew Salomon (Marco Hofschneider) is separated from his family after fleeing with them to Poland, and finds himself reluctantly assuming various ideological identities in order to hide the deadly secret of his Jewishness. He is bounced from a Soviet orphanage, where he plays a dutiful Stalinist, to the Russian front, where he hides in plain sight as an interpreter for the German army, and back to his home country, where he takes on his most dangerous role: a member of the Hitler Youth. Based on the real-life experiences of Salomon Perel, Agnieszka Hollands wartime tour de forceEuropa Europais a breathless survival story told with the verve of a comic adventure, an ironic refutation of the Nazi idea of racial purity, and a complex portrait of a young man caught up in shifting historical calamities and struggling to stay alive.SUPPLEMENTAL FEATURES:Audio commentary by Agnieszka Holland; interviews with Holland, Marco Hofschneider, and Salomon Perel; and a video essay by film scholar Annette Insdorf.

Thursday April 2

Kinetta

The first feature for which celebrated international auteur Yorgos Lanthimos received solo directorial credit,Kinettatakes place in a desolate Greek resort town where three tenuously connected people are linked by mysterious, unsettling impulses. A plainclothes cop pursues triple passions for cars, tape recorders, and Russian women; a lonely, lovesick clerk works as a part-time photographer; and a hotel maid aspires to be an actor through unconventional methods. Darkly comic and insinuatingly hypnotic, this tantalizingly cryptic puzzle film finds Lanthimos first working through the themes of power and control that he would explore to increasing renown in art-house sensations likeDogtooth, The Lobster,andThe Favourite.

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Thursday April 2

Three by Yorgos LanthimosThe unofficial leader of the so-called Greek Weird Wave, Yorgos Lanthimos helped put the countrys cinema on the international map with these darkly funny, startlingly surreal explorations of human relationships at their most extreme and unsettling. Establishing his singular vision with the uncompromisingly enigmaticKinetta,Lanthimos gained international notoriety (and a surprising Academy Award nomination) for his disturbingly bizarro family portraitDogtooth,which he followed with the equally outrAlps.Deploying stylized absurdity to reveal cutting truths about the human condition, these singular provocations represent some of the most audacious and thrillingly original cinema of the twenty-first century.

Kinetta,2005Dogtooth,2009Alps,2011

Friday April 3

From the Archive: Raging Bull

With an archival laserdisc commentary featuring director Martin Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker. Arguably the definitive boxing movie and one of the most stunningly visceral films ever made, Martin Scorseses lacerating vision of self-destructive machismo stars an Academy Awardwinning Robert De Niro in an intensely physical, career-best performance as Jake LaMotta, a fighter from the Bronx whose deep-seated anger and insecurities erupt in violence both in and out of the ring. The stunning monochrome cinematography, kinetic editing by Thelma Schoonmaker, and memorable supporting performances from Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty come together in an operatic tour de force of bruising beauty.

Friday April 3

Double Feature: Deep, Dark Welles

The StrangerandThe Lady from Shanghai

Once he had established a penchant for baroquely stylized compositions and striking chiaroscuro inCitizen KaneandThe Magnificent Ambersons,it was only natural that Orson Welles should prove a master of film noir.The Stranger,his first foray into the genre (and only box-office success), suggests hidden menaces lurking beneath the veneer of all-American normalcy via the story of an infamous Nazi hiding undercover in a sleepy Connecticut town. A year later, Welles stepped into the shadows once again withThe Lady from Shanghai,a fascinatingly fractured, visually dazzling puzzle box of a film that has been read as a deeply personal commentary on his own crumbling marriage to costar Rita Hayworth.

Saturday April 4

Saturday Matinee: Captains Courageous

Based on a novel by Rudyard Kipling, this beloved high-seas adventure stars Freddie Bartholomew as a young, spoiled-rotten brat who falls overboard an ocean liner and is rescued by passing fishermen Manuel (Spencer Tracy, in an Oscar-winning performance). Rather than return the boy home, Manuel and the crew whisk him along for an epic voyage full of excitement, danger, and hard-won life lessons. Directed by preeminent MGM craftsman Victor Fleming and featuring an all-star cast that includes Lionel Barrymore, Melvyn Douglas, Mickey Rooney, and John Carradine,Captains Courageousdelivers white-knuckle thrills alongside a heartfelt coming-of-age tale.

Sunday April 5

70s Style IconsWay more than just bell bottoms, peasant blouses, and platform shoes, 1970s fashion was as eclectic as it was adventurous, an explosion of me-generation individualism turned outward in a profusion of head-turning styles that ranged from timeless to funky to far out. This collection brings together some of the quintessential films of the era featuring the stars who defined its most iconic looks: Robert Redfords perfect Ivy League prep inThree Days of the Condor,Diane Keatons tweedy tailored androgyny inAnnie Hall,Donna Summers down-to-disco glam inThank God Its Friday,Jane Fondas boho-chic shag inKlute,Richard Roundtrees badass Black Power cool inShaft,and more.Whether your vibe is more quirky-cute Barbra Streisand inWhats Up, Doc?or rock-goddess Babs inA Star Is Born,the fashions in these films are proof that personal expression never goes out of style.

The full list of titles in the collection include:Performance,Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, 1970Klute,Alan J. Pakula, 1971Shaft,Gordon Parks, 1971Whats Up, Doc?,Peter Bogdanovich, 1972Foxy Brown,Jack Hill, 1974Shampoo,Hal Ashby, 1975Three Days of the Condor,Sydney Pollack, 1975The Man Who Fell to Earth,Nicolas Roeg, 1976A Star Is Born,Frank Pierson, 1976Welcome to L.A.,Alan Rudolph, 1976Annie Hall,Woody Allen, 1977Eyes of Laura Mars,Irvin Kershner, 1978Thank God Its Friday,Robert Klane, 1978

Monday April 6

World Cinema Project: Pixote

Featuring a new introduction by filmmaker Mira Nair. With its bracing blend of unflinching realism and aching humanity, Hctor Babencos electrifying look at lost youth fighting to survive on the bottom rung of Brazilian society helped put the countrys cinema on the international map. Shot with documentary-like immediacy on the streets of So Paulo and Rio de Janeiro,Pixotefollows the eponymous preteen runaway (the heartbreaking Fernando Ramos da Silva, whose own too-short life tragically mirrored that of his character) as he escapes a nightmarish juvenile detention center only to descend into a life of increasingly violent crime alongside a makeshift family of fellow outcasts. Balancing its shocking brutality with moments of tenderness, this stunning journey through Brazils underworld is an unforgettable cry from the lower depths that has influenced multiple generations of filmmakers, including Spike Lee, Harmony Korine, and the Safdie brothers.

Tuesday April 7

Short + Feature: Human Tides

8th ContinentandFire at Sea

These haunting, poetic meditations on the European refugee crisis speak eloquently and urgently to the harrowing human cost of a global tragedy. In Yorgos Zoiss eerily evocative short8th Continent,the filmmakers camera silently surveys a desolate dump on the Greek island of Lesbos strewn with thousands of life jackets that have washed ashorean almost otherworldly landscape that conveys more than words ever could. Then, on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, director Gianfranco Rosi documents the quotidian rituals of life in a place where everyday reality unfolds against the backdrop of a mounting humanitarian disaster in his shattering documentaryFire at Sea.

Wednesday April 8

Columbia Noir

Featuring an introduction by film scholars Farran Smith Nehme and Imogen Sara Smith. One year ago, the Criterion Channel launched with a journey into the dark side of the Columbia Pictures catalog, and were pleased to bring it back with an expanded lineup of classic noir deep cuts. While rival studios like MGM and Paramount lavished money and top-tier production values on splashy musicals and prestige literary adaptations, the notoriously budget-conscious Columbia was right at home in the gritty, slightly disreputable world of film noir. The Columbia lot was where auteurs like Fritz Lang, Nicholas Ray, and Orson Welles realized pulp-poetry perfection in masterpieces likeThe Big Heat, In a Lonely Place,andThe Lady from Shanghai.It was also where resourceful genre specialists could overcome budgetary constraints through sinister, stylized atmosphere and directorial vision in killer Bs like the gothic mysteryMy Name Is Julia Ross,the minimalist-cool hitman thrillerMurder by Contract,and the lurid taboo-busterThe Crimson Kimono. Starring genre icons like Humphrey Bogart, Rita Hayworth, Gloria Grahame, and Glenn Ford, these shadowy gems epitomize the hard-boiled essence of noir.

The full list of titles in the collection includes:Blind Alley,Charles Vidor, 1939My Name Is Julia Ross,Joseph H. Lewis, 1945Gilda,Charles Vidor, 1946So Dark the Night,Joseph H. Lewis, 1946Dead Reckoning,John Cromwell, 1947Johnny OClock,Robert Rossen, 1947The Lady from Shanghai,Orson Welles, 1947In a Lonely Place, Nicholas Ray,1950The Mob,Robert Parrish, 1951Affair in Trinidad,Vincent Sherman, 1952The Sniper,Edward Dmytryk, 1952The Big Heat,Fritz Lang, 1953Drive a Crooked Road,Richard Quine, 1954Human Desire,Fritz Lang, 1954Pushover,Richard Quine, 1954Tight Spot,Phil Karlson, 19555 Against the House,Phil Karlson, 1955Nightfall,Jacques Tourneur, 1956The Harder They Fall,Mark Robson, 1956The Brothers Rico,Phil Karlson, 1957The Burglar,Paul Wendkos, 1957The Lineup,Don Siegel, 1958Murder by Contract,Irving Lerner, 1958The Crimson Kimono,Samuel Fuller, 1959Experiment in Terror,Blake Edwards, 1962

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Wednesday April 8

I Am Not a Witch

FeaturingListen, a 2014 short film co-directed by Rungano Nyoni. The acclaimed debut feature from Rungano Nyoni is a daring, sharply satiric feminist fairy tale set in present-day Zambia. When nine-year-old orphan Shula (Margaret Mulubwa) is accused of witchcraft, she is exiled to a witch camp run by a corrupt and inept government official. Tied to the ground and told that she will turn into a goat if she tries to escape, Shula becomes a star tourist attraction exploited by those around her for financial gain. Soon she is forced to make a difficult decision: resign herself to life at the camp, or risk everything for freedom. Winner of a BAFTA award for outstanding debut,I Am Not a Witchis a visually imaginative, socially incisive commentary on the clash between tradition and modernity from one of contemporary cinemas most exciting new voices.

Thursday April 9

The Two of Us: Criterion Collection Edition #388

A young Jewish boy living in Nazi-occupied Paris is sent by his parents to the countryside to live with an elderly Catholic couple until Frances liberation. Forced to hide his identity, the eight-year-old, Claude (played delicately by first-time actor Alain Cohen), bonds with the irascible, staunchly anti-Semitic Grampa (Michel Simon), who improbably becomes his friend and confidant. Poignant and lighthearted,The Two of Uswas acclaimed director Claude Berris debut feature, based on own childhood experiences, and gave the legendary Simon one of his most memorable roles in the twilight of his career.SUPPLEMENTAL FEATURES:Claude Berris Oscar-winning shortLe poulet;interviews with Berri and stars Michel Simon and Alain Cohen; a 1975 French talk show featuring Berri and the woman who helped secure his familys safety during World War II; and more.

Friday April 10

Double Feature: Dark Desires

Stranger by the LakeandStaying Vertical

One of contemporary French cinemas most fearless and endlessly fascinating provocateurs, Alain Guiraudie had been realizing his spellbinding, boldly transgressive, and unapologetically queer visions for more than two decades when he came to mainstream attention with his mesmerizing erotic thrillerStranger by the Lake.Making no concessions to commercial success, his brilliantly outr follow-up,Staying Vertical,is a surreal, continuously surprising sexual odyssey that, like its predecessor, probes the dark side of human desire.

Saturday April 11

Saturday Matinee: Watership Down

With this passion project, screenwriter-producer-director Martin Rosen brilliantly achieved what had been thought nearly impossible: a faithful big-screen adaptation of Richard Adamss classic British dystopian novel about a community of rabbits under terrible threat from modern forces. With its naturalistic hand-drawn animation, dreamily expressionistic touches, gorgeously bucolic background design, and elegant voice work from such superb English actors as John Hurt, Ralph Richardson, Richard Briers, and Denholm Elliott,Watership Downis an emotionally arresting, dark-toned allegory about freedom amid political turmoil.

Sunday April 12

Starring Gary CooperFor over three decades, Gary Cooper was Hollywoods consummate everyman, a refreshingly sincere, unaffected screen presence who imbued his common heroes with authenticity and simple dignity. Emerging as a star in the late silent era, the lanky, strikingly handsome Cooper established himself as a western hero in Henry Kings hugely popularThe Winning of Barbara Worthand a romantic leading man in the swooning World War I melodramaLilac Time.But it was with the coming of sound that Cooper truly came into his own, embodying all-American decency and courage in classics likeMr. Deeds Goes to Town, Sergeant York,andThe Pride of the Yankeesas well as the spirit of the frontier in definitive westerns likeThe WesternerandMan of the West.His relaxed charm also made him a perfect comic foil to Barbara Stanwyck in Howard Hawkss screwball riotBall of Fire, while his innate gravitas anchored prestige dramas likeThe Fountainhead.It was this ability to play across genres while remaining inimitably himself that made Cooper one of classic Hollywoods most enduring icons.

The full list of titles in the collection includes:The Winning of Barbara Worth,Henry King, 1926Lilac Time,George Fitzmaurice, 1928A Farewell to Arms,Frank Borzage, 1932The Wedding Night,King Vidor, 1935Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,Frank Capra, 1936The Adventures of Marco Polo,Archie Mayo, 1938The Cowboy and the Lady,H. C. Potter, 1938The Real Glory,Henry Hathaway, 1939The Westerner,William Wyler, 1940Ball of Fire,Howard Hawks, 1941Sergeant York,Howard Hawks, 1941* (Starts June 1)The Pride of the Yankees,Sam Wood, 1942The Fountainhead,King Vidor, 1949Task Force,Delmer Daves, 1949Vera Cruz,Robert Aldrich, 1954Friendly Persuasion,William Wyler, 1956Love in the Afternoon,Billy Wilder, 1957Man of the West,Anthony Mann, 1958The Hanging Tree,Delmer Daves, 1959

Monday April 13

Three by Otto Preminger

Renowned for his coolly objective style, daringly ambiguous moral complexity, and willingness to tackle taboo themes, classic Hollywood titan (or tyrant, to many of those who worked under him) Otto Preminger pushed the boundaries of the Production Code to create some of the most sophisticated and provocative films of the studio era. This selection of three of his finestthe luxuriantly bittersweet melodramaBonjour tristesse,the gripping James Stewart crime proceduralAnatomy of a Murder,and the menacing existential mysteryBunny Lake Is Missingshowcases both his range and the singular, relentlessly probing sensibility that unifies his work.

Bonjour tristesse,1958Anatomy of a Murder,1959Bunny Lake Is Missing,1965

Tuesday April 14

Short + Feature: Blowups

NeighboursandDr. Strangelove

Featuring an introduction by Criterion Channel programmer Penelope Bartlett. Norman McLaren and Stanley Kubrick take aim at the appalling carnage of the twentieth century in these visually inspired satires. McLarens riotously inventive, Oscar-winning shortNeighbourscombines live-action photography and stop-motion animation to illustrate the mindlessness of war through the story of two neighbors who come to blows over a flower growing between their houses. Pablo Picasso, no doubt smitten with McLarens ingenious technique as well as the urgency of his message, called it the greatest film ever made. Kubricks deadly black comedyDr. Strangelove,starring an iconic Peter Sellers in three roles, tracks a group of military goons, bureaucrats, and politicians hurtling headlong toward global annihilation, in a vision of nuclear politics as terrifying as it is hilarious.

Wednesday April 15

The Fits

With an audio commentary featuring director Anna Rose Holmer, writer-producer Lisa Kierulff and writer-editor Saela Davis. Eleven-year-old tomboy Toni (a showstopping Royalty Hightower) is bewitched by the tight-knit dance team she sees practicing in the same Cincinnati gymnasium where she boxes. Enamored by the power and confidence of the strong community of girls, Toni spends less and less time boxing with her older brother, and instead eagerly absorbs the dance routines and masters drills from a distance, even piercing her own ears in an effort to fit in. But when a mysterious outbreak of fainting spells plagues the team, Tonis desire for acceptance becomes more complicated. A wash of stunningly visceral images set to a mesmerizing score, the tour-de-force feature debut from Anna Rose Holmer is a transfixing sensory experience and a potent portrait of adolescent turmoil.

Thursday April 16

45 Years: Criterion Collection Edition #861

In this exquisitely calibrated film, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay perform a subtly off-kilter pas de deux as Kate and Geoff, an English couple who, on the eve of an anniversary celebration, find their long marriage shaken by the arrival of a letter to Geoff that unceremoniously collapses his past into their shared present. Director Andrew Haigh carries the tradition of British realist cinema to artful new heights in45 Years,weaving the momentous into the mundane as the pair go about their daily lives, while the evocatively flat, wintry Norfolk landscape frames their struggle to maintain an increasingly untenable status quo. Loosely adapting a short story by David Constantine, Haigh shifts the focus from the slightly erratic Geoff to Kate, eliciting a remarkable, nuanced portrayal by Rampling of a womans gradual metamorphosis from unflappable wife to woman undone.SUPPLEMENTAL FEATURES:An audio commentary featuring Haigh and producer Tristan Goligher; a making-of documentary featuring interviews with the cast and crew; and more.

Friday April 17

Double Feature: Great Heavens!

Here Comes Mr. JordanandDown to Earth

One of the most marvelously inventive comedies of the 1940s, the irresistible romantic fantasyHere Comes Mr. Jordanstars Robert Montgomery as a boxer who, when he is mistakenly sent to heaven before his time, is given a second chance on Earthwith a catch. Its enduring popularity spawned multiple remakes (including the 1978 Warren Beatty vehicleHeaven Can Wait) as well as the delightfully escapist musical pseudosequelDown to Earth,starring Rita Hayworth at her most divine as a Greek muse who descends to Earth and charms her way onto the Broadway stage. It, in turn, inspired its own remake decades later: the infamous cult favoriteXanadu.

Saturday April 18

Saturday Matinee: Little Lord Fauntleroy

The definitive screen adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnetts classic, oft-filmed rags-to-riches tale follows the fortunes of the young Ceddie (the delightful Freddie Bartholomew), a precocious boy being raised by his single mother (Delores Costello) in late-nineteenth-century Brooklyn. When he discovers that he is the heir of a British earl and is sent to England to live with his aristocratic grandfather (C. Aubrey Smith)who despises the boys common motherCeddie must win over the old man in order to unite his family. Produced with characteristic meticulousness by the legendary David O. Selznick and costarring a young Mickey Rooney,Little Lord Fauntleroyis a heartwarming childhood fantasy.

Sunday April 19

Directed by Maurice Pialat

What I mean by realism goes beyond reality, declared French master Maurice Pialat, whose at once raw and rigorous films capture all the intensity, vivid humanity, brutality, and tenderness of life itself. Though he was a contemporary of the nouvelle vague, Pialat stood apart from the movement, pursuing an uncompromising personal vision that had more in common with his artistic forebear Jean Renoir. In masterpieces likeWe Wont Grow Old Together, The Mouth Agape, nos amours,andVan Gogh,Pialatrefined a hard-hitting, elliptical style in which searing emotional realism and cutting human truth are prized above all else. Though he may not be as well known internationally as many of his contemporaries, Pialats cinema has had an incalculable effect on a generation of post-New Wave directors like Catherine Breillat, Leos Carax, Philippe Garrel, and Arnaud Desplechin, who has said, The filmmaker whose influence has been the strongest and most constant on the young French cinema isnt Jean-Luc Godard but Maurice Pialat.

The full list of films in the collection includes:Lamour existe,1960Lenfance nue,1968We Wont Grow Old Together,1972The Mouth Agape,1974Graduate First,1979Loulou,1980 nos amours,1983Police,1985Under the Sun of Satan,1987Van Gogh,1991

Monday April 20

Salesman: Criterion Collection Edition #122

This radically influential portrait of American dreams and disillusionment from Direct Cinema pioneers David Maysles, Albert Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin captures, with indelible humanity, the worlds of four dogged door-to-door Bible salesmen as they travel from Boston to Florida on a seemingly futile quest to sell luxury editions of the Good Book to working-class Catholics. A vivid evocation of midcentury malaise that unfolds against a backdrop of cheap motels, smoky diners, and suburban living rooms,Salesmanassumes poignant dimensions as it uncovers the way its subjects fast-talking bravado masks frustration, disappointment, and despair. Revolutionizing the art of nonfiction storytelling with its nonjudgmental, observational style, this landmark documentary is one of the most penetrating films ever made about how deeply embedded consumerism is in Americas sense of its own values.SUPPLEMENTAL FEATURES:An audio commentary by the directors, a 1968 television interview with David and Albert Maysles, and more.

Tuesday April 21

Short + Feature: Hair Pieces

The Short and CurliesandShampoo

From blue-collar Britain to jet-set Beverly Hills, hair salons provide the colorful backdrops to these trenchantly funny social studies. Mike Leighs dryly hilarious early shortThe Short and Curliesfeaturing his regular collaborators Alison Steadman and David Thewlisoffers a window into everyday life in Thatcher-era England as it teases out the relationships between a garrulous hairdresser, her sullen teenage daughter, and a regular client with a new do for every day of the week. Then, Hal Ashby crafts a wickedly satirical take on late-sixties sexual politics in his zeitgeist-definingShampoo,starring Warren Beatty as a swinging Hollywood hair stylist who offers his clients more than just a trim.

RELATED:New to Stream: Magnolia Selects March Titles & Subscription Discount

Wednesday April 22

Mikey and Nicky: Criterion Collection Edition #957

Elaine May crafted a gangster film like no other in the nocturnal odysseyMikey and Nicky,capitalizing on the chemistry between frequent collaborators John Cassavetes and Peter Falk by casting them together as small-time mobsters whose lifelong relationship has turned sour. Set over the course of one night, this restless drama finds Nicky (Cassavetes) holed up in a hotel after the boss he stole money from puts a hit out on him. Terrified, he calls on Mikey (Falk), the one person he thinks can save him. Scripted to match the live-wire energy of its starsalongside supporting players Ned Beatty, Joyce Van Patten, and Carol Graceand inspired by real-life characters from Mays own childhood, this unbridled portrait of male friendship turned tragic is an unsung masterpiece of American cinema.SUPPLEMENTAL FEATURES:A program on the making oft he film, interviews with critics Richard Brody and Carrie Rickey, and more.

Thursday April 23

Early Douglas Sirk

Before he became known as the king of the subversive, lavishly overwrought 1950s melodrama, German migr director Douglas Sirk made his mark in Hollywood with a string of historical dramas, film noirs, comedies, and musicals. Displaying his sophistication, cutting intelligence, and visual flair, these unsung 1940s worksthe sparkling caperA Scandal in Paris,the offbeat show-business satireSlightly French,and the perversely fascinating noirsLuredandShockproofpaint a fuller picture of one of the studio eras most intriguing and endlessly analyzed auteurs.

A Scandal in Paris,1946Lured,1947Shockproof,1949Slightly French,1949

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The Criterion Channel Announces One-Year Anniversary Lineup - ComingSoon.net

The manner in which sneakers have come to rule the zeitgeist of Indian menis, simply put, uncanny.

In the last two decades, our affinity and love for the footwear have grown leaps and bounds. So much so, that pick any typical Indian millennial who has the spending, and you will see them in some basic pair of sneakers or the other.

Instagram/vegnonveg

Even our celebrities, actors and cricketers alike, are massive hypebeasts, and can often be seen wearing some zany pairor the other.

However, this was not always the case.

For a rather long time, we had no concept of sneakers or them actually being a fashionable piece of footwear. Long before our fascination with sneakers, we had the concept of sports shoes. They differed from the white canvas PT shoes in the sense that they had a chunkier silhouette and had more stylised, but ultimately functional design cues.

Pexels

For a long time, sports shoes were considered to be the shoes of the lower-middle-class working man. Not to sound too reductive, but for a long time, sports shoes were not a part of the arsenal of a man in a respectable position.

You would never see a manager or a senior clerk in the '80s wear a pair of sports shoes to the office. Instead, sports shoes were always a part of a young clerical office worker or someone who has just started with his first job.

Or, as Bollywood would have it, sports shoes or sneakers at this juncture, would be the choice of footwear for the well to do, but ultimately unemployed youth. Take Anil Kapoors portrayal of Sunil Sharma from the 1985 film, Saaheb.

The transition between sneakers and sports shoes is murky at best. The same can be said for our fascination with sneakers, as in when exactly did we start thinking of sneakers, as not mere footwear, but a legitimate fashionable statement piece.

Instagram/amandeepkaur87

To answer that question, we turned to Rahul Anand, the founder of Sneaker Stars India, one of the most widely followed sneaker pages on Instagram.

Globally, sneaker culture started developing around the 80s with basketball and hip hop playing a major role. In India however, both those factors didn't make that big an impact for it to translate into developing a sneaker culture. However, over the past couple of years, the two big drivers for the movement have been the Indian film industry and to some extent cricketers and sporting personalities. That's what we have clearly seen through our page as well. Fans are very keen to know what sneakers their favourite stars and idols wear and then that becomes the seed to make a lasting interest in sneakers, he says.

Viral Bhayani

So, where does Indias sneaker culture stand today? Well, although we have finally arrived onto the scene, we are still a long away from being labelled as thriving and kicking. Says Rahul, The sneakerhead community in India is a small one at the moment but steadily growing.

Instagram/vegnonveg

From the perspective of popular brands though, the sneaker culturehere is still at its nascent stages. That is the reason why, most notable athleisure brands, be it Adidas or Nike have very limited drops of collectable pairs.

Instagram/vegnonveg

This is where outlets like Anand Ahujas VegNonVeg come into play. For Indian sneakerheads, outlets like VegNonVeg are fulfilling a very important gap. Says Rachit Arora, a first-year Economics student from the University of Delhi, It is not always possible for me to get my cousins to send me a pair of sneakers. Unfortunately, for a long time, brands brought the really good stuff (collectable, special edition sneakers) to India very late, if ever. Although this is changing, we still don't get as many pieces as we would ideally like to have. Availability is also a major issue at times. Thanks to multi-brand outlets like VegNonVeg, we have easy access to these pairs.

Instagram/vegnonveg

Most celebrities can actually afford to buy these pieces, well before they show up in India. Sneaker makers too work closely with them, especially if they have been signed as their brand ambassadors. Celebrities would often be given special editions and one-off sneakers to build hype before a new drop is set to arrive.

Furthermore, most celebrities, even if they dont buy the sneakers that they are spotted wearing, have a very strong team of stylists and PR professionals who help their client to get their hands on some rare and zany pairs.

Instagram/varundvn

For the common sneakerhead, this rarity and issue with availability have led to two bizarre situations. First, there is the entire segment of counterfeit sneakers or first copy sneakers. We have come across knock offs quite often. Some are really good knock offs and you really need to look close to find the differences, says Rahul.

Interestingly, even celebrities have fallen for them. When we asked Rahul if he has ever seen celebrities wear knock offs, he said, Oh yes, we have seen quite a few, although, we wont be taking names.

Pexels

The second situation that has come up, are sneaker trades, wherein people trade or sell off their sneakers at a markup. However, not all sneakers are tradeable. Sneaker trades work in case rare or "hyped" sneakers, the ones that are really difficult to get one's hands on. The other kind of sneakers that trade well are the ones that are not in production anymore, says Rahul.

Instagram/sneakertalkindia; Sneaker Talk India organise the DKX, Delhis largest sneakerhead meetup

Depending on the sneaker that is being dealt in, the markups can be exorbitant at times. as Rachit says, We as a community often have meetups, where we exchange sneakers or buy and sell them.

There have often been instances where a pair that would originally for about Rs 30,000-40,000 would resell for double or even triple the price. One guy who I often see in these meetups once bought a pair of Off White Vapormaxs for over Rs 1.25 lakhs, adds Rachit.

Nike

This begs the question when people dole out an amount as big as that for a pair of shoes, are they not afraid that they may end up taking a pair of counterfeits? Well, we have experts who inspect the pairs very closely to see if they are genuine or not before the transaction is made, says Rachit, who considers himself as well the guy who bought the Vapormaxs as quintessential Indian sneakerheads.

Instagram/rannvijaysingha

But how would one describe a sneakerhead today? We again turn to Rahul for answers. He says, It is hard to describe the average sneakerhead today because the segment is growing and evolving through various sections of society and people. For a while, Indian sneakerheads were looked at as people who would skateboard or dress a specific way or play ball etc. But now it has moved passed to encompass a larger audience. This could be attributed to the fashion trend that has evolved to be more functional and focuses on athleisure or street clothing which incorporate sneakers really well. But overall we are thrilled that it is reaching out to a wider audience!

Instagram/ishabhansali

Clearly, Indias sneaker revolution is just getting started. It will be rather interesting to see what is in store for us, and sneakers, and whether internationally-acclaimed brands will be able to capitalise on this rapidly expanding market. But one thing is certain - Indias fascination with sneakers is here to stay for long.

Photo: Instagram/sneakertalkindia (Main Image)

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Heres How India Is Becoming A Nation Of Sneakerheads & Hypebeasts - MensXP.com