The Exam

Aug 31, 2020 — Documentaries lead the charge this month on the Criterion Channel, with a wide-ranging offering of nonfiction films as formally imaginative and emotionally riveting as any scripted drama.

Apr 24, 2020 — The range this week stretches from silent Soviet classics through Hollywood’s heyday and the Czech New Wave to the revolutions of the late twentieth century.

Dec 23, 2019 — The latest episode of Observations on Film Art explores the subtleties of framing, lighting, and decor that put an antipatriarchal spin on a traditionally male-dominated genre.

Nov 19, 2019 — Contributors to RogerEbert.com and the A.V. Club as well as Time’s Stephanie Zacharek and more pick their favorite films of the decade.

Jan 23, 2019 — Checking in on how the nominees are currently faring with critics and awards prognosticators.

Oct 29, 2018 — Professor Jeff Smith breaks down how François Truffaut’s loving tribute to the crime genre Shoot the Piano Player uses anamorphic widescreen compositions to stylish effect.

Mar 5, 2018 — On the anniversary of his birth, we look back on the films of Pier Paolo Pasolini, one of the most radical figures of Italian cinema.

Feb 19, 2018 — Jonathan Demme put an uncompromisingly feminist spin on the law-enforcement procedural with this wildly successful, Oscar-winning drama.

Feb 13, 2018 — With the scrappiest of means, George A. Romero created not only a landmark of independent cinema but also an indelible portrait of America as hellscape.

Dec 21, 2017 — In this excerpt from an interview on our edition of The Piano Teacher, the Austrian director discusses the mechanics of one of the film’s most shocking sequences.