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.
Current
An online magazine covering film culture past and present
Cooley High: Young, Gifted, and Black
A departure from the tales of sex and violence that defined Black cinema in the early 1970s, Michael Schultz’s beloved coming-of-age film celebrates the emotional bonds among a group of young Black men.
Mai Zetterling: Cinema Artist
A pioneering feminist artist drawn to universal themes, the Swedish director mined the complexity and humor of human behavior in films that courted controversy and cultivated a sense of detachment.
Irene Goes Wild
The great but underrated Hollywood star Irene Dunne made her transition to screwball comedy by playing the scandal-courting author at the heart of Theodora Goes Wild.
Nina Menkes’s Top 10
The director of Queen of Diamonds shares a list of favorite films, including uncompromising classics of world cinema that reveal the mysteries of the human condition.
Michael Haneke’s Alienation Effect
Known for their austerity and shocking moments of violence, the Austrian director’s first three films cultivate a kind of humanism in their dogged refusal to coddle the viewer.
Making a Scene: Reflections on My Note-Card Method
The director of Amores perros breaks down his creative process with a selection of the note cards he used to construct the film’s character, mood, and rhythm.
The Criterion Channel’s December 2022 Lineup
We’re closing out the year with a gift bag full of screwball comedy favorites, a wagon train of wintry westerns, and a World Cup–ready team of eclectic football movies.
Lost in the City with the Feelies
In Susan Seidelman’s Smithereens, the odyssey of a New Jersey transplant trying to survive in Manhattan is accompanied by the music of one of the Garden State’s most iconic punk bands.
Malcolm X: Painting Superman Black
Spike Lee’s transcendent portrait of an American hero is an urgent call for the nation to live up to everything it claims to be.
WALL•E: Whoooooaaaaaaahhh . . .
Deeply influenced by the classics of silent-era comedy, this vision of a postapocalyptic future celebrates cinema as a universal language that offers us a sense of common ground.
The Daughter of Dawn’s Vanished World
After glimpsing his great-great-grandfather on-screen, a writer searches for the history of a landmark silent film.
The Infernal Affairs Trilogy: Double Bind
A box-office success that buoyed Hong Kong’s beleaguered movie industry in the early 2000s, this suite of crime films combines narrative intricacy and moral complexity with an abundance of megastar charisma.
