It’s clearly the beginning of summer because Criterion’s June lineup is even more summery than last month’s. And last month they did a whole collection of Coastal Thrillers.
It kicks off with In The Deep End: Swimming Pools On-Screen. Brilliant theme, raises to whoever thought of that one. This is not really about nice swimming pools; the sense of dread you’d get from watching The Swimmer, La Piscine, and Deep End in a row is substantial. There’s some Breillat and a deeply uneasy Martel — La Ciénaga — just to drive the point home. Great theme, great movies.
Then we rotate right into Ripley Films. Yep, it’s four out of five of the existing Tom Ripley movies, leaving out only Ripley Under Ground. Probably the right choice, no offense to Barry Pepper. I’ve seen (and liked) all four of these and look forward to watching Ripley’s Game again, since it’s been a while.
Next up is a tribute to Gene Hackman. This looks like everything’s new to the Channel, or at least it’s all movies that aren’t on the Channel right now. I appreciate the effort. Great movies, everything from The French Connection to The Royal Tenenbaums.
It wouldn’t be the Criterion Channel without a new collection focusing on some classic film history; this month it’s a René Clair collection. I know nothing about the gentleman. His movies look like a ton of frothy fun — and hey, I Married a Witch stars Veronica Lake, so I’ll add that to my mental watchlist. But his work in his home country of France also seems worthwhile.
The Johnnie To Essentials collection is something I’ve been low key hoping for. It’s worthy of the name — there are a couple of movies I wish were here but yeah, watch these and you’ll get what To is all about. A friend asked me which ones I’d prioritize: Heroic Trio because the cast is amazing and it’s goofy fun, even if it’s not typical of To’s work; Breaking News for an opening one-shot so good I just watched it again; and Election for being a perfect crime movie. Also now that I’m thinking about it, Throw Down for a look at To’s more contemplative work, inspired by Kurosawa.
LGBTQ+ Favorites is sort of a grab bag, as the writeup admits. Fassbinder, Araki, and hey, Mala Noche. I’m in for more early Gus van Sant. I don’t have a ton to say here but I like the curation.
Nothing blows me away among the premiers and Criterion editions. Great timing for Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring, which are very good movies starring a dude who was just found guilty of sexual assault. You know, if I’d been Criterion, I might have wanted to put an extra addressing that on the physical release.
Anyhow, there’s also an Alan Rudolph collection which, while small, includes Trouble In MInd. I am unreasonably fond of that movie and I’ve always been curious about Breakfast of Champions. Low expectations, but the cast is ridiculous.
As for the other two small director collections this month, I am intrigued by the descriptions of Ougie Pak‘s work and Amy Holden Jones did interesting things with Slumber Party Massacre so why not check out Love Letters? (Yeah, I probably won’t have time, but that’s OK.)
Finally, among the random movies at the bottom of the list, I am surprised to see Kill Zone 2 but also excited. I wonder if this wasn’t somehow connected to the Johnnie To rights, given that it’s got Simon Yam and Louis Koo, two of To’s regulars? It’s not from To’s production company, though. Well, anyhow, it’s got Tony Jaa and that’s all I need to know to watch it.
Be First to Comment