Does anyone have recommendations on movies that are currently on Criterion Channel? Looking for recommendations outside of the classics (Hitchcock, Lynch, etc.)
Been watching the Sundance Class of 92 theme and everything by Denis Cote.
Re: Recommendations on Criterion Channel
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 11:43 pm
by BeyondThePale
Lots of good stuff on there right now -
Mikey & Nicky - Cassavetes and Peter falk as low level mobsters with paranoia, dialogue driven and tense from the 70s.
The Vanishing - the French original is way creepier.
The American Friend - early Wim Wenders with a young Dennis hopper and Bruno Gans. 1970s New York and Europe.
The Wages of Fear - 1950s, tense and simple story of class exploitation and two guys driving a truck full of nitroglycerin across a mountain.
Seven Beauties - Awesome Lina Wertmuller, one of my favorite films. She just died recently, and criterion has a bunch of her stuff right now. Swept away is good too.
More well known -
Killing of a Chinese bookie - cassavetes
Blood simple - Coen bros first movie
Re: Recommendations on Criterion Channel
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2022 10:58 am
by andyman
I find their selection of the classics is hit or miss (some are only in 480p!) but their featured collections (e.g. Afrofuturism) and staff picks are great for discovering stuff you didn't know you wanted to see.
Aside: their streaming on external displays and projectors can be a bit problematic. I've barely used my subscription as a result...
Re: Recommendations on Criterion Channel
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2022 11:15 am
by tommy
andyman wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 10:58 am
I find their selection of the classics is hit or miss (some are only in 480p!)
I've been considering signing up, but that is a HUGE bummer right there. I'm guessing based on that very little to nothing is 4K?
andyman wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 10:58 am
I find their selection of the classics is hit or miss (some are only in 480p!)
I've been considering signing up, but that is a HUGE bummer right there. I'm guessing based on that very little to nothing is 4K?
In general it seems like they use the best transfer that they can, so in some cases it might be lower resolution. Haven't noticed any specifically that look bad to me.
My recommendation would be the full three-hour cut of Kenneth Lonergan's "Margaret"--which is only in standard def, as there hasn't been a hi-def transfer made of it.
I waste tons of time just watching extras, and lots of stuff is kinda hard to find unless you're searching for a specific director. But, if you want to find more recent stuff, just search "2021" or "2020" and you can find any extras that interviews done in those years, or I'll just search "Scorsese" to find any interview/commentary track he's been a part of, etc.
Re: Recommendations on Criterion Channel
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2022 5:10 pm
by andyman
The 480p only films aren't too common, but I did encounter one or two where I went and then managed to torrent a 1080p version ripped from a Criterion disc!
Re: Recommendations on Criterion Channel
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2022 5:54 pm
by kmc
Trances about the Moroccan band Nass El Ghiwane is pretty terrific.
Re: Recommendations on Criterion Channel
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:26 pm
by eddymerckx
Thanks for the recommendations! I’ll check them out.
I’ve been pretty happy with Criterion Channel, never had bad quality, but a few times the subs were out of sync or missing. Definitely fun to check out all the extras.
Re: Recommendations on Criterion Channel
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2022 7:49 pm
by Krev
BeyondThePale wrote: Wed Jan 05, 2022 11:43 pm
Lots of good stuff on there right now -
Mikey & Nicky - Cassavetes and Peter falk as low level mobsters with paranoia, dialogue driven and tense from the 70s.
The Vanishing - the French original is way creepier.
The American Friend - early Wim Wenders with a young Dennis hopper and Bruno Gans. 1970s New York and Europe.
The Wages of Fear - 1950s, tense and simple story of class exploitation and two guys driving a truck full of nitroglycerin across a mountain.
Seven Beauties - Awesome Lina Wertmuller, one of my favorite films. She just died recently, and criterion has a bunch of her stuff right now. Swept away is good too.
More well known -
Killing of a Chinese bookie - cassavetes
Blood simple - Coen bros first movie
I haven't seen The Wages of Sin or Seven Beauties, but the rest of these are awesome. Killing of a Chinese Bookie is my favorite Cassavettes flick.