Criterion Offers “Something Wild” for January Releases

By Kip Mooney • On • In News News 0

There might be a little confusion at the video store when you ask for the Criterion disc of Something Wild. While the venerable film library has already released Jonathan Demme's 1986 dark comedy starring Jeff Daniels and Melanie Griffith, it's got something different in mind for January. The completely unrelated 1961 film is a lot more harrowing. Carroll Baker plays a rape victim who finds herself in another horrifying situation after being helped by a mechanic (Ralph Meeker). Legendary composer Aaron Copland provided the score and the incomparable Saul Bass provided the title design.

 

On a much happier note, Criterion is also releasing His Girl Friday. The Cary Grant-Rosalind Russell rom-com is one of the greatest movies of all time. Unfortunately, it's never received a quality home video release. Thanks to being in the public domain, prints were cheap and none of the studios ever took the time to properly restore it – especially its sound. Now that will all be resolved.

 

In a movie that sounds fun, but definitely is not, Rainier Werner Fassbender's Fox and His Friends makes its Criterion debut. The drama about a lottery win that only brings the winner misfortune, this is more misery from Germany during the Cold War. Depressing though it may be, it does feature some of the first on-screen depictions of Berlin's LGBT community.

 

Speaking of groundbreaking, the last film Criterion will release in January 2017 is one of the most important films from Africa. Black Girl is the debut of Ousmane Sembène, which stars M'Bissine Thérèse Diop as the protagonist, who moves from Senegal to France to work as a maid. The film packs a lot of emotion in just one hour, starting an international career.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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