criterion

About time for another Criterion Channel lineup. I’ll admit it, it’s been kind of a middling few months on the Channel, usually with at least one really exciting collection. I’m not sure May even has that one standout. Obviously the long-awaited Boston Crime collection is the answer here; until that day comes, it’s hard to complain too much. Still a cinephile’s delight. OK, let’s run it down. The first collection is ‘80s Remakes (and Their Originals) which is at the least a clever idea. Everything from The Thing and The Thing from Another World to Breathless and Breathless. I can’t say I’d go out of my way for most of these remakes, though — Carpenter being the clear exception. This feels more interesting as an exploration of how remakes can go wrong than anything else. ...

Another month, another batch of movies! One very exciting program and a bunch of stuff that I generally approve of even if I’m not quite as excited about it. I found someone on Letterboxd who seems to be maintaining lists for each program, which made writing this easier, I tell you what. Thanks, Robby! You know, I’m gonna skip to the exciting bit: Tramps, Troublemakers, and Trailblazers: Trans Filmmakers. Caden Mark Gardner and Willow Catelyn Maclay curated this and it looks amazing. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is going to be the one most people have heard of, and it’s great. I’m really interested in Maggots and Men because it’s a historical story, and I’m looking forward to seeing what a trans lens brings to this bit of Soviet history. Drunktown’s Finest caught my eye as well – intersectional! – as did No Ordinary Man since it’s a biopic about a jazz musician, and I have this persistent feeling that I should know more about jazz history. ...

I’m somewhat sleepy as I start this post since I’m halfway through the long trip from Dublin back to Seattle, so a fair chunk of my writing about the March Criterion Channel lineup may just be “Wait, you’re telling me Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Cruel Intentions is on the Channel this month?” It’s even the banner image on the lineup post. I’m not sad about this — it’s a guilty pleasure and gives me another excuse to remind everyone to seek out Miloš Forman’s Valmont, which is overshadowed by the admittedly superior Dangerous Liaisons and which is not streaming anywhere. However, Valmont has a delightfully sardonic cast (Meg Tilly!) and really I want to do a marathon of all three now. But it’s weird to see Cruel Intentions on this lineup. It’s not even part of any program. I am super curious about how it wound up here. ...

Look, February isn’t generally considered an exciting month; how much can you expect? Me, I would have jazzed this one up a bit with, I don’t know, a collection of Boston crime flicks, but that’s me. The path Criterion took isn’t bad, though, so let’s get into it. The top collection is Stunts. It’s got everything from Buster Keaton to John Woo – I would bet that the recent Hong Kong collections were part of the inspiration for this one. There’re also some cool new to the Channel movies – maybe this is where I finally see Bullitt. And to save you a check, yeah, the curator Buddy Joe Hooker did do stunts for at least one of the included movies, which I think is cool. ...

Another year, another batch of Letterboxd stats. I’m pretty happy with it once again. Let’s see what they remind me of… ...

Another month, another juicy Criterion Channel lineup! Not an all timer of a month, but pretty decent, and putting Philip Seymour Hoffman on your banner image is always going to get you on my good side. So let’s break it open and see what we’ve got. The first big ticket collection is The ’90s Do the ’70s, which is so much in my cultural wheelhouse that I’ve already seen (and enjoyed) almost all of them. I’d like to get to Summer of Sam this time around, since hey, Spike Lee, and I think it’ll harmonize well with the slow motion crime flick binge I’ve been engaged in this year. (Night of the Juggler, say.) And if you haven’t seen Velvet Goldmine, here’s your chance to catch up on your Todd Haynes – it’s one of my favorite movies about music ever. ...

First Criterion lineup post on the new platform, how exciting! I had hoped to celebrate with, I don’t know, a new collection of movies about New England holidays? But alas, this month is still not the month. It’s fine, it’s still a solid lineup. First up is Hotels on Film, which is a very clever idea for a collection and doubly so in that it’s a season when a lot of people travel. Solid list of movies, tending a bit to the dark side. The Palm Beach Story is really funny, though, as one might expect from Sturges. And while I’m not the first person to lament the lack of The Grand Budapest Hotel, I am sure there are good reasons. ...

November is unthemed this year: one noir collection but otherwise not heavy on the femmes fatale and criminal sorts. It’s also nicely varied, with one blockbuster of a collection and a fair amount of other cool stuff. Actually two blockbuster collections now that I think about it.

Hey, I’m using the year in the titles now! Shows I didn’t have much confidence that I’d keep this going a year ago. Well, a big raspberry to younger me. We’re getting spooky again, of course, with a lineup that is varied both in types of horror and in quality. I think we have another contender for worst movie to ever play on the Channel – read on to find out which one.

Well holy crap, that’s a year’s worth of these. I’m certainly not blogging like I used to but the monthly commitment is working out! And what a good lineup for my 12th month. The top line collections rotate around two unquestionable masters, and the good programming doesn’t end there. We’ll eat well in September. Let’s get to it.