Current

An online magazine covering film culture past and present

How the West Was Won

Three Routes Through Thelma & Louise

How the West Was Won

Seamlessly blending an array of cinematic traditions, Thelma & Louise is more than anything a western—one that takes advantage of the genre’s elasticity and reflects its preoccupation with justice, liberty, and self-determination.

By Jessica Kiang

Bringing to Life

Three Routes Through Thelma & Louise

Bringing to Life

What makes Thelma & Louise truly a film for women, despite the fact that it was directed by a man, are its stars, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, who imbue their iconic performances with tender, unwavering specificity.

By Rachel Syme

At the Wheel

Three Routes Through Thelma & Louise

At the Wheel

Arriving at a fulcrum moment in women’s history in the United States, Thelma & Louise stoked controversy by delivering a boldly feminist worldview in a funny, warm, and sexy package.

By Rebecca Traister

An Asian American Comedy Milestone Riffs on a Kung-Fu Icon
An Asian American Comedy Milestone Riffs on a Kung-Fu Icon

One of the first hit movies made by an Asian American team, They Call Me Bruce confronts everyday racism with irreverent humor emblematic of its era.

By Oliver Wang

Mark Jenkin’s Top 10
Mark Jenkin’s Top 10

The director of Enys Men celebrates the holy trinity of Bergman, Bresson, and Tarkovsky, and expresses his love for films that are narratively simple but thematically complex.

Petite maman: Au revoir l’enfance
Petite maman: Au revoir l’enfance

In one of her most moving explorations of youth, Céline Sciamma offers the gently radical and reparative chance for a mother and child to share a perspective.

By So Mayer

The Criterion Channel’s June 2023 Lineup

Channel Calendars

The Criterion Channel’s June 2023 Lineup

Get in character for a journey through the history of Method acting, a movement that transformed the art of screen performance forever.

Anything Is Possible Here: A Conversation with Miryam Charles
Anything Is Possible Here: A Conversation with Miryam Charles

In her feature debut, Cette maison, the Haitian Canadian filmmaker develops an ornate and innovative approach to documentary form as she grapples with a painful part of her family history.

By Nataleah Hunter-Young

Targets: American Sniper
Targets: American Sniper

Inspired by golden-age monster movies and the story of a real-life mass murderer, Peter Bogdanovich’s debut feature evokes the psychic dread of America in the 1960s, a decade defined by long-distance and increasingly high-profile gun violence.

By Adam Nayman

Criterion Presents Janus Contemporaries
Criterion Presents Janus Contemporaries

Starting this fall, Criterion will proudly join Janus Films in presenting Janus Contemporaries, a new line of home-video editions of first-run releases, fresh from theaters, following their streaming premieres on the Criterion Channel.

Let the Words Do the Work: debbie tucker green on ear for eye
Let the Words Do the Work: debbie tucker green on ear for eye

One of Britain’s most celebrated playwrights talks about bringing her uncompromising exploration of racism and resistance to the screen.

By Ife Olujobi

The Good Fight: Deepa Dhanraj’s Visions of Solidarity
The Good Fight: Deepa Dhanraj’s Visions of Solidarity

Over the course of her four-decade career, the pioneering Indian documentary filmmaker has demonstrated the important roles that joy and pleasure play in the process of political change.

By Devika Girish

Video

Caitlin Kuhwald’s Hand-Drawn Portraits Bring Iconic Faces to Life
Inside Criterion  – 13 Sep 2021