This is hands down the most coherent, expository yet passionate installment of Closet Picks. Minnie Driver would make a fantastically compelling film studies professor. And my soul mate.
Film Studies has nothing to do with movies. It's all about how cinema is racist sexist homophobic and oppressive, and how Hollywood is corrupted by capitalism. We don't watch films in film studies courses... the "professor" pulls up a youtube clip and shows us how evil Chaplin really was, and how racist and sexist John Wayne must have been... Then, as if by slight of hand, they show us how pure and noble Soviet Cinema was, and is... it's madness.
Lol - this is the first of these videos I’ve seen (not sure why RU-vid recommended to me) - and I just left a comment about how I wish she had been aware of the reflection and had held these at a better angle! Interesting to know this is persistent in this channel’s videos and that some are even MORE frustrating (when the title isn’t even said out loud).
Thanks Minnie for actually talking to the viewer and holding the dvd covers clearly for us to see. This approach and the sharing of knolwedge and opinion were excellent and showed how it should be done. Great choices too.
she has aged gracefully. love what she said about Sandler getting snubbed for an Oscar. this year, Pachinko and its main actress Minha Kim, were also snubbed from the Emmys.
I also enjoyed an anecdote she shared about what Sandler told her about his love-making technique (while briefly impersonating him :) "I can do it fast, or I can do it slow". 😆
@@Anthony-hu3rj She literally looks exactly like herself, only older. I see no telltale signs of obvious plastic surgery. She looks her age, and looks like herself, and is still pretty.
Minnie has her own "hidden" gem amongst all those special films she selects. Her movie, "Circle of friends" fits in quite well in the astute commentary on life category and she's rather compelling in her performance. Minnie has long been a personal favorite of mine, including her Carlotta in "Phantom of the Opera." How I'd have loved to travel in her orbit...
@@Theomite News flash! "Chicks" love film and are just as deeply passionate about all sorts of films. I don't think you even understand what 'Betty Blue' was about if you don't understand that females might like it. Get a clue, kid.
@@28Pluto I thought it was romantic tragedy about how the passion stemming from mental instability can engulf an otherwise unremarkable person. But it has a lot of nudity and sex (mostly from a beautiful woman with a scruffy loser artist) and so I figured that would alienate most female viewers as exploitative and vulgar and the ending would make Betty some kind of "fallen woman", thus offending them further. As a guy, most of us watched it because of the copious nudity and sex that spread via word of mouth.
Minnie Driver is one of my favorite underrated actress. My favorite movies from her are Big Night, Tarzan (Jane Porter) and Princess Mononoke (Lady Eboshi).
I just watched Princess Mononoke not too long ago and had no idea she was Lady Eboshi! Her portrayal of Jane in the Disney Tarzan movie is my favorite version of the character
Out of all the “Closet Picks” I found this the most insightful and fascinating to listen to…why doesn’t Driver get her own segment in this format?! Excellent
Thank you Minnie - at last, someone picks Down By Law. A hidden delight on many levels. Ellen Barkin throwing Tom Waits' shoes out the window; " We all escreama for ice-a Creama"; beautiful shots of pre-Katrina New Orleans; the opening sequence with "Jockey Full of Bourbon" playing; and so much more...
Down by Law is a classic that even many cinephiles to this day are unaware of. It will forever be one of my very favorite movies. See it. You'll be glad you did.
She was in a great sitcom called Speechless, which became a staple in my household. One of the few things everyone in the family would sit and watch together.
Superb choices Minnie. Must have lived parallel lives. Betty Blue, as a teenager, knocked me into orbit. La cage aux folles. I cried with laughter it was so funny. Down by Law, sensational. And you mention Withnail. Here hare here! Bruce Robinson take a bow.
Minnie Driver is someone who is brave enough to show all sides of herself. She is so many things and someone who I have always identified with. I now discover we love a lot of the same films! Her autobiography was a real pleasure ❤️
0:16 ALL ABOUT EVE - Joseph L. Mankiewicz. “Required watching. It is clever and sharp and clearly at the time when women gave as good as they got.” 0:46 BETTY BLUE - Jean-Jacques Beineix. “Beatrice Dalle was like somebody drew her and she came to life. This embodiment of everything that I wanted to be as a woman.” 1:39 AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE - Jane Campion. "The landscape of New Zealand, this power and grace and beauty of this place." 2:20 UNCUT GEMS - Josh Safdie & Benny Safdie. "I do not understand why Adam Sandler was not nominated for an academy award and why he did not win." 3:12 DOWN BY LAW - Jim Jarmusch. "Jim Jarmusch captures this part of the unbridled imagination that you have when you're young." 3:12 WITHNAIL AND I - Jim Jarmusch. "I would watch it when I was a teenager and it was exactly what I dreamed being an adult would be like." 4:32 LA CAGE AUX FOLLES - Edouard Molinaro. "It makes you laugh at the absolute mortification of the way people behave. It was one of my father's favorite movies." 4:32 THE BIRDCAGE - Mike Nichols. "I love the Birdcage."
Great closet session. I think Terry Nichols Birdcage is so much better than the original. I would like to see Kusterica do a version, based on the original. His use of music and pace - would be magic.
I was born 1971 and I have a feeling we watched and loved the same movies in our teens. 🥰 Love Minnie Driver. - But please, Criterion, could you insert the movie titles and directors in the lower third? Would be much appreciated. Minnie told us the titles but still... would be helpful.
Down By Law was a mind blowing teen choice for me as well. I hadn't know a movie could be like that. The mood, the pacing, the dialogue, the characters... it was a different languorous, sweaty world. And I loved it. I was already a Tom Waits fan in the mid-80s. Roberto was new and led me into his slapstick comedies. And this movie also helped me get into the Lounge Lizards, expanding my interest avant garde jazz. A Jarmusch masterpiece.
Exactly. I mean, considering that rivalry is a film theme, so at the very least *some* will have someone pitched against another, who should this be? Men against women? I am guessing the woman should always win if so? Or should it always be men against men? But then isn’t that unfair and unequal treatment? A movie is a movie. Sometimes it’s about rivalry. Sometimes it’s about rivalry between women. And?
They should allow the everyday, unknown movie viewer like me in the Criterion closet to pick out my favorites! These guests can all afford to buy the whole room! My picks would be Cassavettes Box/Viridiana (Bunuel)/Stalker(Tarkovsky)/Trilogy of Life(Pasolini)/Films of the 30s(Duvivier)/Silent Films(Ozu)/Road movies(Wenders)/The Servant(Losey) and Winter Light(Bergman). I would be much more appreciative, because I can seldom afford to buy the pricier box sets!
I was thinking about this film again recently, having just finally bought Babette's Feast on DVD. They're bookends for me, and probably the best food films there are.
I love Minnie Driver! Return To Me is one of my favorite romantic comedies and is really a buried treasure. It has a terrific cast, and it just looks like everyone is having fun maiking it. It was directed by Bonnie Hunt, who is in it as well, and she and James Belushi are just so great in it.
@@liabw05 You and me both, Rebekah! I have watched it more times than I can remember. Such a great cast, great chemistry between everyone, and just a really clever idea as its plot.
@@IvanMtl exactly! The humor was on point! Everyone’s chemistry was great! The father’s gang of older men are so charming and funny! Especially the gorilla habitat happening in the background. Such a great way to tell the story. I think I’ll watch it this wkd! Haha 🤩
Dang! I thought I was all tapped out on Criterion Collection purchases for this July sale at B & N, but after her recommendations, I realize I need to pick up a few that weren't on my list. Thank you, Minnie!
Nice collection. La Cage au Folles was 1973. I saw it when I was in university taking a series of film classes. As good as The Birdcage is, La Cage au Folles is even better.
This is a good way to see if you and your date are compatible. What films do you really like? It says so much. Talk about shorthand. I found all of Driver's picks absolutely yucky. 😄
Minnie Driver great female Thespian. Cool closet pick video. "What makes a man, without hope, cling to a few more minutes of existence?".........hoping that The Third Man will be re-released in the Criterion Collection 😁
