The Criterion Collection

The Game

David Fincher

Jon Peters: “Not Fincher's best, but still a highly twist-y thriller, with a sucker punch ending that'll leave you shocked or mad.”

Following

Christopher Nolan

Jon Peters: “Nolan's debut might not be the one everyone talks about, but it's still purely Nolan even at this stage of his skills.”

Rosemary’s Baby

Roman Polanski

Jon Peters: “A fascinating film of terror and child birth. ”

The Earrings of Madame de . . .

Max Ophuls

Tokyo Drifter

Seijun Suzuki

Jon Peters: “A jazzy, neon-bright, Tarantino/Warhol gangster film is one of a kind.”

White Material

Claire Denis

Jon Peters: “I don't think it adds anything terribly new to the situations in Africa, it is a well-made, moody, drama.”

Vivre sa vie

Jean-Luc Godard

Jon Peters: “A masterful film. Film-making 101. Anna Karina is just radiant. ”

Rashomon

Akira Kurosawa

Jon Peters: “Editing 101. A great, moody drama.”

Eclipse Series 23: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa

Jon Peters: “Decent films, but a great watch to see a budding Kurosawa format his soon-to-be-greatness. ”

Black Moon

Louis Malle

Jon Peters: “A wild, bizarre, and tough to picture like, but much like surrealism art, it's challenging and for those willing, rewarding.”

Tiny Furniture

Lena Dunham

Jon Peters: “A mumble-core version of a Woody Allen movie, is a crafty DIY indie from a possible new talent.”

Peeping Tom

Michael Powell

Jon Peters: “A deep, dark look at voyeurism and the nature of the camera's eye, which reflects darkly as mirrors to us. ”

Seven Samurai

Akira Kurosawa

Jon Peters: “A sweeping epic, which has been rarely rivaled in terms of characterizations, scope, and personality. ”

The Killing

Stanley Kubrick

Jon Peters: “While I didn't enjoy the narration, it's still the cold hearted Kubrick we all would learn to know and love. Great performances, too.”

The Flowers of St. Francis

Roberto Rossellini

Jon Peters: “It's a series of vignettes that seem jarring and useless initially, but as a whole, it's a wonderfully simple ode to faith.”

Breathless

Jean-Luc Godard

Jon Peters: “One of the most carefree, jazzy, easy breezy crime stories out there. Birth of a movement still seen today.”

12 Angry Men

Sidney Lumet

Jon Peters: “One of the great Lumet films, filled with splendid acting and a deep, interesting psychological element.”

The Seventh Seal

Ingmar Bergman

Jon Peters: “A timeless, riveting fable of life, death, and God. Immortal.”

Three Outlaw Samurai

Hideo Gosha

Jon Peters: “A fun, thrilling samurai adventure. ”

The Passion of Joan of Arc

Carl Th. Dreyer

Jon Peters: “A visual, emotional tour-de-force. ”

The Thief of Bagdad

Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell and Tim Whelan

Jon Peters: “A sprawling SFX epic of imagination and awe. Lovely, yet episodic at times. ”

The Rock

Michael Bay

Jon Peters: “The best Bay film not named Transformers: Dark of the Moon.”

Spartacus

Stanley Kubrick

Jon Peters: “I am Spartacus! Kubrick might not have liked his film, but who doesn't. Great epic that Hollywood really can't do anymore.”

Armageddon

Michael Bay

Jon Peters: “A Bay fan favorite, despite some cheesiness, which I guess at to its charm.”

RoboCop

Paul Verhoeven

Jon Peters: “Satirical sci-fi that cannot be remade or outdone. ”

The Silence of the Lambs

Jonathan Demme

Jon Peters: “OOP with some neat liner notes about real serial killers. The film is a field manual for all criminologists, as it's clever, thrilling, and terrifying”

Eclipse Series 30: Sabu!

Jon Peters: “Elephant Boy is a wonderful film; adventurous, playful, and stunning. ”

White Mane

Albert Lamorisse

Jon Peters: “The narration hinders some emotional moments, but a decent short.”

The Red Balloon

Albert Lamorisse

Jon Peters: “Cinema's most peaceful, joyous works. A real treat. Childhood personified. ”

Eclipse Series 7: Postwar Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa

Jon Peters: “Great films right before Kurosawa's Silver Age of greatness. ”

Eclipse Series 5: The First Films of Samuel Fuller

Samuel Fuller

Jon Peters: “Steel Helmet is a great, great film. The other films are really fun too.”

Eclipse Series 1: Early Bergman

Jon Peters: “Not his best films, but a great look at how he became a master. ”

Yojimbo

Akira Kurosawa

Jon Peters: “More bad-ass Kurosawa samurai action. Of note here, is its great camera work. ”

The Virgin Spring

Ingmar Bergman

Jon Peters: “Rape/revenge at its most tragic and beautiful. A simple story told masterfully. ”

Videodrome

David Cronenberg

Jon Peters: “Cronenberg's oddest sci-fi films. Classic and sick. ”

Vampyr

Carl Th. Dreyer

Jon Peters: “A perfect companion piece to Nosferatu, yet it's edgier and moodier. ”

Ugetsu

Kenji Mizoguchi

Jon Peters: “One of the most romantic ghost stories. Sweeping, and eerie cinematography. ”

Two-Lane Blacktop

Monte Hellman

Jon Peters: “An artier version of Easy Rider. ”

The Sword of Doom

Kihachi Okamoto

Jon Peters: “Featuring a kick-ass ending, it might be one of the genre's most nihilistic films. ”

Slacker

Richard Linklater

Jon Peters: “Funny and clever.”

Shock Corridor

Samuel Fuller

Jon Peters: “Fuller's breakout film. A must for its psychological themes. ”

Robinson Crusoe on Mars

Byron Haskin

Jon Peters: “A kooky sci-fi fable with Adam West!”

Ride with the Devil

Ang Lee

Jon Peters: “Far better than its initial reviews when it was released. A sprawling Civil War drama that is Lee's most underrated film. ”

Repulsion

Roman Polanski

Jon Peters: “One of the great paranoid meltdowns in cinema. ”

Ran

Akira Kurosawa

Jon Peters: “Kurosawa's most lively and beautiful works. Epic barely touches it. ”

Pale Flower

Masahiro Shinoda

Jon Peters: “Never vibed with this crime noir. Still, it had merits of great acting and direction. ”

Night and Fog

Alain Resnais

Jon Peters: “A truly dark and superb expose of the Holocaust. ”

Naked

Mike Leigh

Jon Peters: “The anti-Happy Go Lucky from Leigh. Dark, disturbing yet relatable. Great dialogue. ”

The Most Dangerous Game

Ernest B. Schoedsack and Irving Pichel

Jon Peters: “In desperate need of a reissue. Quick, clever and great. Zodiac killer's favorite movie. ”

Monsters and Madmen

Jon Peters: “I love when Criterion does sci-fi, B-movies. Good stuff here, rarely seen.”

Modern Times

Charlie Chaplin

Jon Peters: “My favorite Chaplin film. Maybe his funniest? Still very poignant today. ”

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence

Nagisa Oshima

Jon Peters: “A slow moving drama, but worth seeing. Good moments and it has some Bowie!”

Man Bites Dog

Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel and Benoit Poelvoorde

Jon Peters: “A genre-starting and transcending serial killer mockumentary. ”

M

Fritz Lang

Jon Peters: “Perhaps the finest German silent. Still haunting after all these years...”

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Wes Anderson

Jon Peters: “Quirky and funny. Underrated Anderson. ”

The Last Temptation of Christ

Martin Scorsese

Jon Peters: “Scorsese's most personal film, might be cinema's most personal look at the man known as Jesus and his dilemma. ”

The Lady Vanishes

Alfred Hitchcock

Jon Peters: “Not my favorite Hitchcock film, but still a masterfully funny and clever British drama.”

The Killer

John Woo

Jon Peters: “Woo. Fat. Bad-ass action. ”

Jigoku

Nobuo Nakagawa

Jon Peters: “Hell as told by the Japanese. Bizarre and bold.”

Hunger

Steve McQueen

Jon Peters: “A stunning debut film from a talented director. Dark, disturbing but a journey worth taking. Fassbender's breakout role.”