The Criterion Collection

Mafioso

Alberto Lattuada

Le cercle rouge

Jean-Pierre Melville

Le doulos

Jean-Pierre Melville

RoboCop

Paul Verhoeven

stephen: “Completely insane at times, but it's a great piece of entertainment. The overdone gore, acting, and story make it even more fun. "Bitches, leave."”

Badlands

Terrence Malick

stephen: “Malick starting off with a bang. Stands in contrast to his other films, but it's well done and enjoyable. Spacek and Sheen shine as the young lovers.”

Spartacus

Stanley Kubrick

stephen: “It's a Kubrick movie. It's great. Kirk Douglas isn't half bad either. Beautifully shot. The supporting cast is pretty exceptional as well.”

The Ruling Class

Peter Medak

stephen: “An experience unlike any other. It's truly unique. Very theatrical, but it's not a bad thing. Peter O'Toole is magnetic. Commentary AND comedy. ”

The Scarlet Empress

Josef von Sternberg

stephen: “Fantastic production design and lighting. Dietrich is mesmerizing. Ahead of its time given the focus on the empowerment of women. Worth a look.”

Richard III

Laurence Olivier

stephen: “A true epic. Olivier goes bigger with this one and it's all the better for it. Part villain, part fool, part sad sack, his Richard is iconic. ”

Hamlet

Laurence Olivier

stephen: “From the design to the performances, this is Olivier's masterpiece. He's a perfect Hamlet and surrounds himself with a great cast. Eerie and great.”

Henry V

Laurence Olivier

stephen: “It's not my favorite Shakespeare role of his, but Olivier does it very well. The sets look cheap at times, but it's all part of the presentation.”

The 39 Steps

Alfred Hitchcock

stephen: “A quaint little thriller. Has all the charm and with you'd associate with it being English and a healthy dose of spies and intrigue. A good time.”

Tokyo Story

Yasujiro Ozu

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

stephen: “A tragi-comedy of sorts? One of the better movies to deal with the casualties of war, time, and generational shift is more like it. Very well made.”

Purple Noon

René Clément

stephen: “A casually paced thriller that gets you at the end. Delon is a charming murderer and someone you almost want to get away with it all. Good fun.”

Ivan’s Childhood

Andrei Tarkovsky

The Tin Drum

Volker Schlöndorff

Playtime

Jacques Tati

Eating Raoul

Paul Bartel

stephen: “Perfectly campy and a nice slice of black comedy. If you can't find something to laugh at in this then I'm not sure what would make you laugh.”

Heaven’s Gate

Michael Cimino

Trilogy of Life

Pier Paolo Pasolini

stephen: “The transfers on these films are fantastic. Each one is entertaining and does well by the source material. A far cry from Salo, but in a good way.”

Weekend

Jean-Luc Godard

The Forgiveness of Blood

Joshua Marston

The Game

David Fincher

stephen: “A thrill ride the first time. A little angry at the end, but it was definitely worth seeing. Douglas is great at the end of his rope. Pick it up.”

Les visiteurs du soir

Marcel Carné

Mystery Train

Jim Jarmusch

Quadrophenia

Franc Roddam

stephen: “A more rough and tumble coming of age story and it's all the better for it. The Who's music is used to accent (and it's a great touch). Don't miss.”

Le Havre

Aki Kaurismäki

stephen: “A simple and moving film. Odd at times to say the least. If it weren't so touching I'm not sure I could overlook it's shortcomings. ”

Lonesome

Paul Fejos

stephen: “An endearing little movie. It's a story you've seen before...so many times. Not a bad one to have just as a piece of curiosity. ”

Shallow Grave

Danny Boyle

stephen: “What an ending! One of the best scene/song pairings. An enjoyable descent into madness with a dash of Hitchcock and Scottish-ness. Great stuff.”

Summer with Monika

Ingmar Bergman

Summertime

David Lean

stephen: “Such a good movie. Hepburn is completely charming. You know how it has to go, but you keep watching anyway. Would love to see this on blu ray.”

Weekend

Andrew Haigh

stephen: “A love story like any other. That's what's so great about it too. A pretty in-depth character study takes this a step further though. Just great.”

La promesse

Luc Dardenne and Jean-Pierre Dardenne

stephen: “Some pretty powerful stuff here. A fantastic performance from Renier as Igor. This had me from about ten minutes in and didn't let go. Fantastic.”

The Royal Tenenbaums

Wes Anderson

stephen: “The zenith of Anderson's brand of humor, storytelling, and unique style. The characters are all individuals, the performances are all near perfect. ”

Fishing with John

John Lurie

The Organizer

Mario Monicelli

Cul-de-sac

Roman Polanski

Identification of a Woman

Michelangelo Antonioni

Black Moon

Louis Malle

stephen: “100 minutes of pure WTF. Definitely needs more than one viewing. There's something there, not quite sure what it is yet.”

Kes

Ken Loach

Letter Never Sent

Mikhail Kalatozov

The Last Days of Disco

Whit Stillman

Chungking Express

Wong Kar-wai

Léon Morin, Priest

Jean-Pierre Melville

Being John Malkovich

Spike Jonze

Anatomy of a Murder

Otto Preminger

Down by Law

Jim Jarmusch

And Everything Is Going Fine

Steven Soderbergh

stephen: “Fairly in-depth considering it's all archive material. Spalding Gray comes off as distant at times, but fascinating nonetheless. Good blind buy. ”

Paris, Texas

Wim Wenders

stephen: “Harry Dean Stanton is amazing. The two scenes between him and Nastassja Kinski are worth the purchase alone. Quite the ride.”

Summer Interlude

Ingmar Bergman

Late Spring

Yasujiro Ozu

La haine

Mathieu Kassovitz

stephen: “Pretty powerful stuff. Three young men discover just how cruel the world can be. Performances are exceptional. The filmmaking is top notch. See it.”

The War Room

Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker

stephen: “A real crowd pleaser for people like me. Carville is a fascinating subject. Certainly seems biased, but it's a great look at how things work.”

Gomorrah

Matteo Garrone

stephen: “Interesting/informative look at modern day organized crime. Worth a watch. Not sure about repeat viewings. Altman-esque in a way.”

Broadcast News

James L. Brooks

stephen: “Unsatisfying ending aside, it's as enjoyable as almost any other James L. Brooks movie. The core trio are great. Broad comedy but with feeling. ”

Harold and Maude

Hal Ashby

stephen: “Great comedy, performances, and a little twist I didn't see coming in there. Just a pleasant experience. Can't go wrong with Cat Stevens either.”

The Gold Rush

Charles Chaplin

stephen: “A classic. In either version. Worth seeing to try and figure out how they do some of the effects (all in camera to boot). A charmer for sure.”

The Blob

Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.

stephen: “I'm sure this was terrifying at one point. Now it's something to laugh at on a local station's midnight movie. Steve McQueen as a teenager...right. ”

Children of Paradise

Marcel Carné