Writing on Water

Jun 18, 2026 — Martin Scorsese, Agnès Varda, Lars von Trier, and Katharine Hepburn are just a few of the names you might be adding to your summer reading list.

Aug 21, 2024 — This month brings a new biography of Agnès Varda, collections from Phillip Lopate and Jonathan Rosenbaum, and some hefty coffee-table accessories.

Aug 31, 2018 — And a pillar of American film criticism falls.

The director of The Living End and The Doom Generation reminisces about writing papers on Bringing Up Baby in film school, defends one of David Lynch’s most polarizing masterpieces, and calls John Waters “the original godfather of everything.”

May 25, 2022 — Combining the expressive power of a great storyteller with the skill of a master craftsman, Sean Phillips is an artist we’ve come back to time and time again at Criterion. From Sweet Smell of Success to On the Waterfront to...

Sep 24, 2021 — Joanna Hogg, Terence Davies, and Lynne Ramsay look back on their days in film school; and Bill Morrison issues a warning.

Dec 20, 2020 — Before ringing in the new year, we’re taking a look back at some of the most memorable essays and interviews we published on the Current in 2020. It’s been a head-spinning twelve months, to say the least, but we hope...

Jun 16, 2026 — BAM presents twelve films ranging from the early 1960s through the late 1980s.

Feb 14, 2023 — This month’s roundup opens with an appreciation of Preston Sturges and wraps with a book launch serving donuts and damn fine coffee.

Sep 17, 2019 — Fusing the melodrama of Douglas Sirk and the ballyhoo of William Castle, John Waters’ sixth feature, Polyester (1981), was a departure from the scrofulous 16 mm mode of production he had made his cult name plying to midnight-movie crowds in...