Best of the Best

Feb 15, 2012 — Comedy evolves. We long ago bid adieu to the physical acrobatics of Buster Keaton, the wisecracks of Bob Hope, the witty repartee of Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. The now-reigning comedy of embarrassment, seen in the films of Judd Apatow...

Sep 12, 2007 — Here’s a Criterion discussion that won’t die. It has to do with Berlin Alexanderplatz, and it came up again this week, thanks to a couple of customers writing in. We were standing there in a clump outside our production manager’s...

Aug 14, 2006 — It’s both hard and not so hard to believe that Eric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales were conceived—indeed, written initially—as a novel. On the one hand, he’s the grand master of dialogue as an instrument of narrative. His characters muse, reflect, analyze,...

Jun 21, 2004 — Nouvelle vague euphoria was at its height when Jean-Luc Godard made his enormously clever third feature.

Jul 6, 2020 — Josephine Decker’s most recent feature film, Shirley, which was released in June by Neon, premiered in U.S. Dramatic Competition at Sundance, where it received the Special Jury Award for Auteur Filmmaking. Madeline’s Madeline, Josephine's previous film, premiered at the 2018...

Sep 7, 2017 — Christopher Radcliff and Lauren Wolkstein are New York City–based filmmakers best known for their award-winning short films, including The Strange Ones, Jonathan’s Chest, Social Butterfly, and Cigarette Candy, which have screened at hundreds of film festivals worldwide, such as Sundance,...

Nov 21, 2008 — Dennis Lehane is best known for his novel Mystic River, made into the acclaimed film by Clint Eastwood. When we discovered his love for Criterion, we asked him to write for us, and he did, contributing a terrific essay to...

The front man of the band Neon Indian—who just released his debut solo album, World of Hassle—praises the “completely demented” Maîtresse, discusses the representation of Texas in True Stories, and gives us his best Peter Falk impression.

Jan 15, 2025 — Edward Berger’s improbably entertaining follow-up to All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) scores twelve.

May 23, 2018 — In some of his most elaborately choreographed set pieces, the silent-comedy master confronted the chaos of the world with balletic grace and rhythmic precision.