Spotlight
Under the Influence
In this ongoing series of videos, contemporary filmmakers talk to us about the movies that have had a lasting impact on their work.
The Current
An online magazine covering film culture past and present
Flowers of Shanghai: Inside the Dream
Hou Hsiao-hsien captures the power dynamics of courtesan life in this intoxicating portrait of the late Qing dynasty.
Merrily We Go to Hell: Gingerbread, Cake, and Crème de Menthe
Dorothy Arzner’s deeply cynical portrait of marriage exemplifies the director’s ambivalence toward the norms dictating female behavior, wielding ironic detachment to mask one woman’s simmering inner turmoil.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A Kid’s-Eye View
One of the most influential high-school movies ever made, Amy Heckerling’s debut feature is both a raunchy crowd-pleaser and a keen sociological snapshot of teen culture.
Mother and Son: Michael Koresky Celebrates a Bond Forged in Cinema
In his new book, Films of Endearment, the critic revisits ten favorite films with his mother and grapples with how her ways of seeing have shaped his.
Beyond the Western: The Staggering Range of Ennio Morricone
The legendary film composer may be best known for his work on Sergio Leone’s iconic visions of the American frontier, but a closer listen reveals his mastery of a wide variety of genres, sounds, and styles.
Home Is Where the Struggle Is: Victoria Keith’s Activist Lens in The Sand Island Story
Residents of a neglected Hawaiian island fight against eviction and mistreatment in this consciousness-raising documentary from 1981, now playing on the Criterion Channel.
Isabel Sandoval’s Closet Picks
The multitalented auteur selects a few all-time favorites that reflect her bold cinematic style, as well as a number of movies she’s excited to see for the first time.
Irma Vep: Film in Flux
In what became his biggest hit to date, Olivier Assayas turned his methods of postmodern reflection onto his own medium, which was being drastically transformed by digitization and globalization at the end of the twentieth century.
Chosen Family: The Tenderness in Midnight Cowboy
The director of Test Pattern examines how toxic masculinity gets in the way of the domestic bliss briefly enjoyed by the film’s downtrodden protagonists.
The Criterion Channel’s May 2021 Lineup
In this packed month of programming, we celebrate the work of Gena Rowlands, Satyajit Ray, Dalton Trumbo, Mitchell Leisen, and other luminaries.
10 Things I Learned: Memories of Murder
The producer of our edition of this unnerving procedural shares details about director Bong Joon Ho’s approach to visual style, his commitment to verisimilitude, and the lengths to which actor Kim Sang Kyung went in order to portray his character.
