With wind in their long hair and drugs stowed in their motorbikes, a couple of born-to-be-wild men blaze a path on the American highway in the opening credits of “Easy Rider.” It’s a quintessential cinematic moment that epitomized the general mood of an entire generation. American 1960s counterculture was a watershed for free speech and socio-politically charged expression from the younger generation. A plethora of movements would rise out of the period, giving voice to the oppressed and the disenfranchised while flipping off The Man as a direct reaction to the disastrous Vietnam War.

Continue reading Born To Be Wild: 11 Counterculture Films Riding Shotgun With ‘Easy Rider’ at The Playlist.

Out December 7th and featuring an eye-popping sleeve designed by “Hellboy” creator Mike Mignola, the new deluxe edition of “Cronos” features a new transfer, supervised and approved by del Toro with new and improved English subtitles (also approved by del Toro). On the special features side of things, we get two audio commentaries, one featuring del Toro and the other with producers Arthur H.

Continue reading Criterion December Releases: Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Cronos,’ ‘Videodrome’ On Blu & BBS Box On DVD at The Playlist.

The first release is one we didn’t see coming. When we spoke to Criterion’s Jon Mulvaney last year, he did tell us about a twelve-picture deal with IFC Films, but at the time, Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” was not expected to be among the releases. That’s obviously changed and the psychological, cabin-in-the-woods horror starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe hits DVD release on November 9.

Continue reading Criterion November/December Releases: ‘Night Of The Hunter,’ Chaplin’s ‘Modern Times’ & Amazing Seven-Disc BBS Box set (‘Easy Rider’ & More) at The Playlist.

While Mottola understandably couldn’t reveal many of the details about his upcoming roadtrip with an alien film, “Paul,” which stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (“Hot Fuzz,” “Shaun Of The Dead”), in discussing the project even vaguely he did seem to shed some light on the tone he’s aiming for.

Continue reading Greg Mottola Says ‘Paul’ Is A Talky ‘Five Easy Pieces’ Roadtrip… With An Alien; Will Probably Cast From The Apatow Universe To Round Out Film at The Playlist.