Pioneer Pride *

My Road to Criterion Collection Completion ( The Curious Case of Being Film Strucked )

The Road to Criterion Collection Completion Collecting has always been a passion of mine while growing up in the Philippines which officially started when my father brought home  some comic books ( DC > Superman, Batman and the Justice League  and Marvel > X-Men and Spiderman ) from his travels as a military man. I vividly remember always looking forward to his arrival after months without seeing…

The Graduate is a 1967 American comedy drama film directed by Mike Nichols. It is based on the 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from the same college our main character in the film graduated from. The screenplay is by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, who appears in the film as a hotel clerk.

The film tells the story of 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate from William College with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and then proceeds to fall in love with her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross).

Like Grinnell College , Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. Like any current college graduate, there is always going to be that angst on what lies ahead after college life. As I have told my son  ,  ” Pursue your passion with a purpose and do what you love to do best.” During these times of early uncertainty is where you must have a game plan on how to try to systematically map out the steps to take in positioning yourself to the best possible outcome in your career choice. Of course nothing is definite but if you persevere enough, you will eventually get to your destination. You will have some  bumps along the road but it’s how you get back up after you fall is where you gain strength in building the foundation of your life.  ” Life is a marathon and not a sprint. “

I won’t go much into the details about this critically acclaimed and very popular film as it has been ranked #7  in the AFI’s 100 years…100 Movies in the 1998.  The Graduate remains one of the most beloved American films of all time, The Graduate earned Mike Nichols a best director Oscar, brought the music of Simon & Garfunkel to a wider audience, and introduced the world to a young actor named Dustin Hoffman. Visually imaginative and impeccably acted, with a clever, endlessly quotable script by Buck Henry (based on the novel by Charles Webb), The Graduate had the kind of cultural impact that comes along only once in a generation.

The Criterion Blu-Ray is loaded with special features galore that will cater to any avid film enthusiast.

  Lastly, I would like to share this moment during his senior season that I will remember the most during my son’s journey in college. It came during Mother’s Day weekend last May 2016.

NEXT UP …The Criterion Collection’s presentation of GILDA

My Crown Jewel of 2015

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 720 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 12 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

The first Criterion Blogathon is over but this celebration of films especially from the Criterion Collection will go on. As long as Criterion continues to release these gems, there will always be a reason for fans to celebrate. I want to personally thank our hosts Aaron ( Criterion Close Up ), Kristina (Speakeasy) and Ruth (Silverscreenings) for all their efforts in making this event a big…