The Criterion Collection
Essays
Jun 16, 2026 — The debut in 1998 of Lisa Cholodenko’s first feature film, High Art, was a triumph. The intense mastery of its form and the freshness of its narrative created waves of excitement—from the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo...
Dec 3, 2019 — Performances If there was one mother-daughter television date my busy mum was always willing to down tools for, it was a Bette Davis movie. Her favorite—and mine, for the preteen period when I gave the thumbs-up to anything my mother...
Apr 17, 2019 — Dark Passages The old saying that there are no small parts, only small actors, has surely caused thespians of all sizes to roll their eyes and gnash their teeth. But there are performances that stick in the mind forever with...
Nov 22, 2018 — A costume designer can make characters come alive. In this new interview, two historians explore how Orry-Kelly’s gowns helped Marilyn Monroe embody one of her finest roles.
Dec 26, 2016 — PerformancesTraveling through the subterranean portals of Videodrome like an introverted wraith, Deborah Harry carries herself with the wry, burned-out, but still titillated instincts of a voyager buying a one-way ticket for the outer limits. A vivid, smallish part can either...
Dec 13, 2011 — Just what is it that makes Seijun Suzuki’s Tokyo Drifter (1966) so different, so appealing? The cherubic hero in the neat powder blue suit, who looks like he was torn out of a yakuza pop-up book? That hauntingly cornball theme...
Dec 18, 2008 — Check out Chris Ware’s lovely tribute to Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story on the cover of the November/December Cinefamily calendar. The Cinefamily shows its eclectic (“exceptional, distinctive, weird, and wonderful”) programs at Hollywood’s Silent Movie Theatre, whose co-owner, Sammy Harkham, is...
Dec 13, 2011 — The English actor Dominic Monaghan is best known for his roles as Meriadoc Brandybuck in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Charlie Pace on the series Lost. Monaghan writes, “I’m embarrassed to say most of my film...
Nov 4, 2010 — Angus MacLachlan is a playwright and screenwriter from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His screen credits include Junebug (2005), directed by Phil Morrison and starring Amy Adams, Embeth Davidtz, and Alessandro Nivola, and Stone (2010), starring Robert De Niro. In selecting his...
The singer-songwriter selects films that have had a deep influence on her music and visual style, shares how seeing Pina changed her as a performer, and talks about the portrayal of girlhood in Valerie and Her Week of Wonders.