Lost in Criterion
946 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★ - 42 ratingsThe Adam Glass and John Patrick Owatari-Dorgan, attempt the sisyphean task of watching every movie in the ever-growing Criterion Collection and talk about them. Want to support us? We’ll love you for it: www.Patreon.com/LostInCriterion
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Episodes
Spine 487: That Hamilton Woman
January 28, 2022 20:08 - 1 hour - 77.4 MBAlexander Korda’s 1941 biopic of Emma Hamilton and her love affair with Horatio Nelson doubles as an attempt to convince the US to enter World War 2. Korda almost faced a Congressional inquiry for this act of propaganda, but Pearl Harbor happened five days before he was to appear. As far as pro-war propaganda goes, this is possibly the worst we’ve encountered in the Collection, which would explain why it’s Winston Churchill’s favorite movie.
Spine 486: Homicide
January 21, 2022 15:57 - 1 hour - 86.9 MBThe Criterion Collection was kind enough to give us a David Mamet film previously so that we could establish our distaste for him before diving into the complicated and delicate political and racial identity issues at the heart of Homicide. I doubt we threaded the needle we were trying to thread here.
Homicide
January 21, 2022 15:57 - 1 hour - 86.9 MBDavid Mamet makes a movie about the insidiousness of antisemitism but apparently decides that systemic bigotry is not a thing?
Spine 485: The Last Days of Disco
January 14, 2022 20:04 - 1 hour - 98.2 MBHonestly, it's hard to remember that Whit Stillman's ode to the yuppies who killed disco is a period piece. One because there's very little in the main characters that feel of the time period the movie is set in, but also because the moneyed class gentrifying neighborhoods and cultural movements out of existence is a perennial problem.
The Last Days of Disco
January 14, 2022 20:04 - 1 hour - 98.2 MBHonestly, it's hard to remember that Whit Stillman's ode to the yuppies who killed disco is a period piece. One because there's very little in the main characters that feel of the time period the movie is set in, but also because the moneyed class gentrifying neighborhoods and cultural movements out of existence is a perennial problem.
Spine 484: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
January 07, 2022 18:30 - 1 hour - 105 MBNew Year New You In Chantal Akerman’s 1975 meticulous look at domestic life, Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, her protagonist makes some changes. Maybe we all should.
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
January 07, 2022 18:30 - 1 hour - 105 MBIn Chantal Akerman’s 1975 meticulous look at domestic life, Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, her protagonist makes some changes. Maybe we all should.
Repulsion
December 31, 2021 21:57 - 1 hour - 78.8 MBAfter many years we finally see another Roman Polanski film and maybe moving forward it would be best if we don't watch the bonus features that contain interviews with Roman Polanski, who always seems to come off as a misogynistic jerk. Repulsion itself is a pretty good thriller, technically, though it would be better if we felt that the filmmaker wanted us to be sympathetic to the main character at all.
Spine 483: Repulsion
December 31, 2021 21:54 - 1 hour - 78.8 MBAfter many years we finally see another Roman Polanski film and maybe moving forward it would be best if we don't watch the bonus features that contain interviews with Roman Polanski, who always seems to come off as a misogynistic jerk. Repulsion itself is a pretty good thriller, technically, though it would be better if we felt that the filmmaker wanted us to be sympathetic to the main character at all.
Holiday Special 2021: The Long Kiss Goodnight
December 24, 2021 22:58 - 1 hour - 72.7 MBFor this year's Holiday Special we come to the saint of "movies that incidentally take place at Christmas" Shane Black. Black wrote The Long Kiss Goodnight before taking a long break from screenwriting. Renny Harlin directs, and he's no stranger to holiday-adjacent action fare having also directed Die Harder. Joining us this year are Stephen G. and Ben JW, and Ben makes a compelling argument that this is Shane Black's most actual Christmas movie. Whether or not that's true, it's ridiculous.
2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
December 17, 2021 19:11 - 1 hour - 101 MBIn 1967 Jean-Luc Godard was like any modern young Marxist: blaming all of life’s ills on consumerism, blaming consumerism on America, yelling at his old friends for being bourgeoisie, getting into public debates with people who know his side better than he does, dating teenagers…but those young Marxists are usually college sophomores and Godard was 37. But like any good leftist unwilling to read theory, he eventually got a friend who wasn’t and could explain it to him, his in the form of Jean...
Spine 482: 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
December 17, 2021 19:08 - 1 hour - 101 MBIn 1967 Jean-Luc Godard was like any modern young Marxist: blaming all of life’s ills on consumerism, blaming consumerism on America, yelling at his old friends for being bourgeoisie, getting into public debates with people who know his side better than he does, dating teenagers…but those young Marxists are usually college sophomores and Godard was 37. But like any good leftist unwilling to read theory, he eventually got a friend who wasn’t and could explain it to him, his in the form of Jea...
Spine 481: Made in USA
December 10, 2021 16:01 - 1 hour - 72.7 MBIn the mid 1960's Jean-Luc Godard was going through a lot: his politics were changing, his marriage to Anna Karina was ending, and he was becoming more and more disillusioned with US cultural hegemony. So he made a lot of movies about it, and this is the most scattershot one: Made in USA .
Made in USA
December 10, 2021 16:00 - 1 hour - 72.7 MBIn the mid 1960's Jean-Luc Godard was going through a lot: his politics were changing, his marriage to Anna Karina was ending, and he was becoming more and more disillusioned with US cultural hegemony. So he made a lot of movies about it, and this is the most scattershot one.
The Human Condition Part 3 - A Soldier's Prayer
December 03, 2021 16:01 - 1 hour - 109 MBWe finish up Masaki Koboyashi's The Human Condition and need some extra time to talk about both the third movie and the work as a whole. After nearly 2 hours talking it out we're left unconvinced that this is an anti-war movie let alone the best Japanese anti-war movie, unless you thinly define "anti-war" as "anti-the WW2 Japanese war machine". How disheartening.
Spine 480: The Human Condition Part 3 - A Soldier‘s Prayer
December 03, 2021 15:59 - 1 hour - 109 MBWe finish up Masaki Koboyashi's The Human Condition and need some extra time to talk about both the third movie and the work as a whole. After nearly 2 hours talking it out we're left unconvinced that this is an anti-war movie let alone the best Japanese anti-war movie, unless you thinly define "anti-war" as "anti-the WW2 Japanese war machine". How disheartening.
The Human Condition Part 2 - Road to Eternity
November 26, 2021 19:29 - 1 hour - 91.7 MBIn part two of Masaki Koboyashi's epic The Human Condition our main character for some reason decides that being a good soldier who sticks to the word of the regulations will somehow make things better for him in a war he claims he fundamentally disagrees with. That's right, the politics get even murkier in Road to Eternity.
Spine 480: The Human Condition Part 2 - Road to Eternity
November 26, 2021 19:26 - 1 hour - 91.7 MBIn part two of Masaki Koboyashi's epic The Human Condition our main character for some reason decides that being a good soldier who sticks to the word of the regulations will somehow make things better for him in a war he claims he fundamentally disagrees with. That's right, the politics get even murkier in Road to Eternity.
Spine 480: The Human Condition Part 1 - No Greater Love
November 19, 2021 19:03 - 1 hour - 89.6 MBWe start into Masaki Koboyashi's epically faithful adaptation of Junpei Gomikawa's six volume examination of Japan in World War 2 through the lens of a man who generally opposes war, or at least militarism, played by the great Tatsuya Nakadai. The Human Condition is, in total, just shy of 10 hours long. But it's helpfully broken up into three films (each containing two sections) released between January 1959 and January 1961. We'll be similarly breaking down Spine 480 into three episodes.
The Human Condition Part 1: No Greater Love
November 19, 2021 19:03 - 1 hour - 89.6 MBWe start into Masaki Koboyashi's epically faithful adaptation of Junpei Gomikawa's six volume examination of Japan in World War 2 through the lens of a man who generally opposes war, or at least militarism, played by the great Tatsuya Nakadai. The Human Condition is, in total, just shy of 10 hours long. But it's helpfully broken up into three films (each containing two sections) released between January 19559 and January 1961. We'll be similarly breaking down Spine 480 into three episodes.
My Dinner with Andre
November 12, 2021 17:01 - 1 hour - 70.2 MBThe music is in the classic conversation not played.
Spine 479: My Dinner with Andre
November 12, 2021 17:00 - 1 hour - 70.2 MBWe've seen a lot of great Louis Malle films in the Collection, and now we get one more. A very long conversation about art or something, and while it is itself quite good, we're very interested in the peripherals film about class.
Spine 478: Last Year at Marienbad
November 05, 2021 19:24 - 1 hour - 80 MBAlain Resnais's Last Year at Marienbad is an obviously influential movie that's nearly impossible to describe. Adam thinks it's a ghost story. Pat thinks it's an examination of the epistemological crisis. Both or neither are probably true. Truth is a game, and the game is rigged against you.
Last Year at Marienbad
November 05, 2021 19:22 - 1 hour - 80 MBAlain Resnais's Last Year at Marienbad is an obviously influential movie that's nearly impossible to describe. Adam thinks it's a ghost story. Pat thinks it's an examination of the epistemological crisis. Both or neither are probably true.
Bergman Island
October 29, 2021 12:40 - 1 hour - 69.5 MBBergman Island: where all your fantasies can come true as long as they are depressing.
Spine 477: Bergman Island
October 29, 2021 12:37 - 1 hour - 69.5 MBFirst released in 2004 as a series of television episodes, then recut into a feature length film for 2006, Marie Nyreröd’s Bergman Island is an intimate portrait of director Ingmar Bergman looking back on his life just after his final retirement from film making, and just a few years before his death.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
October 22, 2021 18:32 - 1 hour - 94.1 MBIt's our first David Fincher film in the Collection and what a choice. A tour du force of special effects that do not hold up, Benjamin Button updates and elongates the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story into whatever this is.
Spine 476: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
October 22, 2021 18:28 - 1 hour - 94.1 MBIt's our first David Fincher film in the Collection and what a choice. A tour du force of special effects that do not hold up, Benjamin Button updates and elongates the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story into whatever this is.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
October 15, 2021 18:07 - 1 hour - 79.2 MBNothing like a gangster movie to get us talking about the alienation and the lack of community under capitalism. But beside (and because of) that, this is just such a fantastically bleak movie. Peter Yates directs Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle in The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973).
Spine 475:The Friends of Eddie Coyle
October 15, 2021 18:07 - 1 hour - 79.2 MBNothing like a gangster movie to get us talking about the alienation and the lack of community under capitalism. But beside (and because of) that, this is just such a fantastically bleak movie. Peter Yates directs Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle in The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973).
Intentions of Murder
October 08, 2021 18:19 - 1 hour - 84.6 MBAccording to interviews in the extras Shohei Imamura wants us to laugh at this abused woman because she is fat. Hilarious.
Spine 474: Intentions of Murder
October 08, 2021 18:17 - 1 hour - 84.6 MBWe close out the "Pigs, Pimps, and Prostitutes" boxset of Shohei Imamura films with Intentions of Murder, a tale in which Imamura apparently wants us to laugh an abused woman because she's fat. Hilarious! This is our last Imamura film in the Collection right now, and we're not mad about that.
The Insect Woman
October 01, 2021 14:28 - 1 hour - 96.2 MBWe continue through the Imamura "Pigs, Pimps, and Prostitutes" boxset with a film with far fewer pigs than last week's.
Spine 473: The Insect Woman
October 01, 2021 14:24 - 1 hour - 96.2 MBWe continue through the Imamura "Pigs, Pimps, and Prostitutes" boxset and continue to take issue with Imamura calling himself an anthropologist. When we started this Criterion journey nearly a decade ago I had no idea it would lead to me ponder the question: can breastfeeding be an incestual act?
Spine 472: Pigs and Battleships
September 24, 2021 17:41 - 1 hour - 81.3 MBThis week we kick off a boxset called "Pigs, Pimps, and Prostitutes" and ain't that something. It's three films by Shohei Imamura, the last three he made before leaving Nikkatsu for his own studio. The whole set really exemplifies Imamura's goal of making "messy films" with a self-described "cultural anthropologist" lens. We start off with Pigs and Battleships from 1962, a story of bad criminals, American imperialism, and feminism I guess?
Pigs and Battleships
September 24, 2021 17:41 - 1 hour - 81.3 MBThis week we kick off a boxset called "Pigs, Pimps, and Prostitutes" and ain't that something. It's three films by Shohei Imamura, the last three he made before leaving Nikkatsu for his own studio. The whole set really exemplifies Imamura's goal of making "messy films" with a self-described "cultural anthropologist" lens. We start off with Pigs and Battleships from 1962, a story of bad criminals, American imperialism, and feminism I guess?
Wise Blood
September 17, 2021 20:15 - 1 hour - 79.8 MBSeemingly always up to adapt a challenging text, John Huston directs this adaptation of a Flannery O'Connor novel. While Huston and O'Connor have dramatically opposite views on religion, but Huston himself has begrudgingly said that "Jesus wins" in the end of his movie. We're not so sure that's accurate.
Spine 470: Wise Blood
September 17, 2021 20:15 - 1 hour - 79.8 MBSeemingly always up to adapt a challenging text, John Huston directs this adaptation of a Flannery O'Connor novel. While Huston and O'Connor have dramatically opposite views on religion, but Huston himself has begrudgingly said that "Jesus wins" in the end of his movie. We're not so sure that's accurate.
Spine 469: The Hit
September 10, 2021 22:26 - 1 hour - 89.9 MBStephen Frears 1984 film The Hit combines a British gangster film with a road movie and honestly it's nice to just have a movie we enjoy and don't have to think too much about after the string we've been on.
The Hit
September 10, 2021 16:36 - 1 hour - 89.9 MBStephen Frears 1984 film The Hit combines a British gangster film with a road movie and honestly it's nice to just have a movie we enjoy and don't have to think too much about after the string we've been on.
Spine 468: Science is Fiction - 23 Films by Jean Painlevé
September 03, 2021 15:47 - 1 hour - 97.5 MBJean Painlevé (1902-1989) was not the first person to make scientific documentaries for a general audience, but he was certainly very influential on nature documentarians real and otherwise from Attenborough to Zissou. Criterion serves us a collection of many, though not quite all, of his 5-30 minute films which fuse underwater and microscopic filmography with an eye toward surrealist humor and, if you can read it right, a mind toward social change.
Science is Fiction - 23 Films by Jean Painlevé
September 03, 2021 15:47 - 1 hour - 97.5 MBJean Painlevé (1902-1989) was not the first person to make scientific documentaries for a general audience, but he was certainly very influential on nature documentarians real and otherwise from Attenborough to Zissou. Criterion serves us a collection of many, though not quite all, of his 5-30 minute films which fuse underwater and microscopic filmography with an eye toward surrealist humor and, if you can read it right, a mind toward social change.
Empire of Passion
August 27, 2021 18:17 - 1 hour - 86 MBNagisa Ōshima's follow-up to last week's In the Realm of the Senses is less sexually explicit and harder to pin down politically than that work, but Empire of Passion is still an interesting tale of greed and ghosts.
Spine 467: Empire of Passion
August 27, 2021 18:12 - 1 hour - 86 MBNagisa Ōshima's follow-up to last week's In the Realm of the Senses is less sexually explicit and harder to pin down politically than that work, but Empire of Passion is still an interesting tale of greed and ghosts.
In the Realm of the Senses
August 20, 2021 17:44 - 1 hour - 79 MBThere was a moment in Nagisa Ōshima's obscenity trial for the printed script edition of In the Realm of the Sense where the director apologizes to the judges and police, saying, essentially, "I showed the script to all my colleagues and none of them found it titillating, so I'm sorry you guys got turned on." And I don't think he's just having a laugh at their expense. The film is certainly full, nearly wall to wall, of sex, unsimulated even, but being full of sex and being sexy are different ...
Spine 466: In the Realm of the Sense
August 20, 2021 17:43 - 1 hour - 79 MBThere was a moment in Nagisa Ōshima's obscenity trial for the printed script edition of In the Realm of the Sense where the director apologizes to the judges and police, saying, essentially, "I showed the script to all my colleagues and none of them found it titillating, so I'm sorry you guys got turned on." And I don't think he's just having a laugh at their expense. The film is certainly full, nearly wall to wall, of sex, unsimulated even, but being full of sex and being sexy are different...
Dodes'ka-den
August 13, 2021 16:18 - 1 hour - 92 MBApparently considered one of Akira Kurosawa's worst films, Dodes'ka-den started life as a joint project between the top four directors in Japan calling themselves the Four Horsemen but ended up being one of the lowest points of Kurosawa's life. We explore a theory on why Japan didn't connect with the subject matter as we talk class and caste in Japanese history and a depressing and visually stunning movie.
Spine 465: Dodes'ka-den
August 13, 2021 16:17 - 1 hour - 92 MBApparently considered one of Akira Kurosawa's worst films, Dodes'ka-den started life as a joint project between the top four directors in Japan calling themselves the Four Horsemen but ended up being one of the lowest points of Kurosawa's life. We explore a theory on why Japan didn't connect with the subject matter as we talk class and caste in Japanese history and a depressing and visually stunning movie.
Danton
August 06, 2021 18:25 - 1 hour - 83.8 MBAndrzej Wajda's Danton explores the French revolution through the Polish director's own experience under Soviet rule, a rule he saw as anti-worker and therefore anti-progress. Using the titular Danton and Robespierre, the film presents the tension of revolution, or perhaps violent revolution, if Wajda makes such a distinction, and particularly a revolution that seeks only to rotate who is in power instead of upturning power hierarchies. Revolutions that promise equality without upheaving pow...
Spine 464: Danton
August 06, 2021 17:53 - 1 hour - 83.8 MBAndrzej Wajda's Danton explores the French revolution through the Polish director's own experience under Soviet rule, a rule he saw as anti-worker and therefore anti-progress. Using the titular Danton and Robespierre, the film presents the tension of revolution, or perhaps violent revolution, if Wajda makes such a distinction, and particularly a revolution that seeks only to rotate who is in power instead of upturning power hierarchies. Revolutions that promise equality without upheaving po...