Ten Favorite Criterion Collection Titles?

This is something Criterion has been doing for their own website, asking some filmmakers which are their ten favorite Criterion titles. You can see the celebrity lists HERE, and I've highlighted two of them below.


Wes Anderson's Picks







Steve Buscemi's Picks






Now that you get the idea, what are your ten picks? You can use whatever barometer you wish, just the ten you think are empirically the best films, or your ten favorites, or the ten you discovered or re-discovered through Criterion, or those you think are the best transfers or boast the best extras or whatever. HERE you can see all the 537 single titles they've released so far, Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited having just streeted today. Plus another another 93 films in their Eclipse Series boxed sets, HERE.

Those of you overseas may not be familiar with Criterion, or know them only by reputation. You can read their mission statement HERE.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

Holy **** this is a mean question...hmmm well obviously I can only do the ones that I enjoyed the most

Great picks, WinterTriangles! Had four of them on my shortlist of twenty before I whittled it down.

I recognize this is an impossible task, of course. We could each probably pick a hundred titles and still be saying, 'Oh wait, this and this and this, too!' But in the spirit of the exercise, I'll give it a shot.

I'll come back with reasons for each pick later, but my ten (at least today) are, in no particular order...

Holden Pike's Picks

I've only seen two of those, so I'll take that post as a hint

WBadger's Picks

Wings Of Desire almost made mine. Love Bicycle Thieves, need to rewatch Le Samurai. Also you're missing one, you only have nine

Badger has ten, but the image linked to for Diabolique isn't showing.


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J'adore Diabolique! This thread should be more open-ended. I think what I mean is that we should pick 10 for each genre, and then give explanations for those. That way we don't feel like we're leaving everything out.

Also, whoever resized my images, that was nice of you. I don't know how to do it

Ten just isn't enough to express my love for many of the Criterions! But I managed.

For each genre??? Then I inquire a better proposal. Whatever it is I'm excited for no other reason than to glare at this site for hours

Nope.

If Wes Anderson and those sixty others can limit themselves to ten and just ten (though Wes cheated a bit by picking three films that were released in one package, and a few others did twelve), so can we. I reckon.

As I say, if we were each allowed a hundred it still wouldn't be enough. Ten is a good, if inherently impossible, target.

A couple more of the celebrity picks...

Jonathan Lethem's Picks






Nicolas Roeg's Picks






And yours?

Amazing catalog. I went through and listed the ones I've seen to narrow it down but it's really tough. I'll have to give it more thought before I post my ten. Right now I'm only certain of two that are absolutely going to have to be there.

Well... browsing the catalog, I realized I've seen, like... maybe a 10th of the films in it. Maybe not even that. Choosing wasn't too tough, though, since it's not like I've seen all of them or anything. I'm aware Mystery Train isn't on the same "level" as the others, but I think it's a lovely film. Also, Empire of Passion is the last film I saw, so that might be biased. I own none of these titles, but I guess you could say that these would be the first titles I'd buy from them.

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"Loves them? They need them, like they need the air."

Beelzebubbles picks:

Sid and Nancy
Fanny and Alexander
Black Narcissus
Summertime
Pygmalion
The Double Life of Veronique
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Breathless
The Red Shoes
Metropolitan

This is a great resource for me when I can't think of anything to watch as I haven't seen a preponderance of the titles of this list.

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Louise Vale first woman to play Jane Eyre in the flickers.

So many more, but many of these fall on my top fav' 100 list. Looking through the entire collection list I certainly need to see more.

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“The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands.” – Sir Richard Burton

And here's some of the reasoning behind my ten...


Brazil
Not only is it one of my favorite movies and remains Gilliam's masterpiece, but when I got this on Criterion Collection LaserDisc back in the mid '90s it was the first mass release of the fabled "director's cut". As if that wasn't enough, it also included a TON of supplements detailing all the painful stops along the post-production way that led to Universal re-cutting the film. There's even the most heavily butchered "Love Conquers All" version, which most improbably tacks on a happy ending! For a film with such storied behind-the-scenes battles, this Criterion package is everything you could ask for and more! Not until the Blade Runner briefcase have I thought any collection of supplements equaled what Criterion did with Brazil.


The Battle of Algiers
Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo's documentary-style look at the Algeiran War of Independence is practically a blueprint for urban guerilla insurgency and a dramatization of why torture, especially of civilians, is absolutely counter-productive. In addition to the great transfer, this one, too, is stuffed full of supplements, chronicling the filmmaking process as well as placing the film in its historical and timeless contexts.


Army of Shadows - L'armée des Ombres
Jean-Pierre Melville's 1969 masterful and atmospheric fictionalized exploits of the French Resistance trying to undermine the Nazis on their soil in World War II was somehow almost completely unseen in the United States, until Janus remastered it and released it theatrically, culminating with a beautiful extras-laden release in The Criterion Collection. Giving the long overdue deluxe treatment to a master filmmaker's most personal film is some of what Criterion does best.


Blast of Silence
Another thing Criterion does is highlight forgotten genre films from filmmakers who aren't world famous. Allen Baron wrote, directed, and stars as stoic hitman Frankie Bono, who comes into New York City on the train from Chicago to rub out some mid-level Mobster. This low-budget affair is a stark, hard-boiled, authentically New York, brilliant but seldom seen character piece, and even as a Noir buff it was one I had heard of but never been able to track down...until Criterion gave it their blessing.


Fires on the Plain - 野火
Kon Ichikawa's relentlessly bleak and desperate look at the horrors and insanity of war, following a Japanese Private on a Philippine island with the Allies approaching who wanders around the Hellish aftermath of battle and war. This was another film I was aware of by reputation but had never be able to see...until Criterion. It is now near the very top of my favorite War films.


Pickup on South Street
One of maverick Sam Fuller's very best, it wasn't the first or last of his works to make it onto the Criterion rolls, but it is perhaps the film that best and most obviously personifies his love of character and primal story, as well as his intolerance for easy jingoism. The line, "Are you waving the flag at me?" sums up Fuller's attitude perfectly. Especially since the original line was "goddaamn flag", and softened (though not excised) when J. Edgar Hoover complained to Studio chief Darryl Zanuck. Richard Widmark's small-time grifter who accidentally finds himself holding microfilm that both Commies and the Feds want is a Noir masterwork.


The rest later....

I am glad Le Samourai is there on most lists..

I listed them in order of their "Spine no."
As I said, I only knew two of them would be on there from the start (Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Thin Red Line), so I'm sure this could change in the future, but here are 10 of my favorite movies that Criterion have released.




The Seventh Seal (11)
Dead Ringers (21)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (29)
The Red Shoes (44)
Ran (316)
Vengeance Is Mine (384)
The Face of Another (392)
My Dinner with André (479)
The Thin Red Line (536)
Japanese Summer: Double Suicide (Eclipse Series 21)

I'm generally not a huge collector or lover of extras, so the packaging didn't weigh my choices, though I have to say I really love it when they include really obscure related films that can stand up on their own as extras. Two that come to mind are Fellini: a Director's Notebook, from the 8½ (140) dvd, and the Chris Marker film included with Ran. I also really loved getting to see Nagisa Oshima interview Akira Kurosawa on the 3-disc edition of Seven Samurai (2).

Of the ones in my favorites, I actually prefer the British (Eureka) dvd release of Teshigahara's "The Face of Another", which has a very informative commentary by Tony Raynes.

Here's the list of everything I've seen that's been given a Criterion Release: I narrowed it down from around 150-160

Grand Illusion (1)
Seven Samurai (2)
The 400 Blows (5)
The Killer (8)
Hard Boiled (9)
The Seventh Seal (11)
The Silence of the Lambs (13)
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (14)
Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (15)
Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (16)
Shock Corridor (19)
Dead Ringers (21)
RoboCop (23)
High and Low (24)
Alphaville (25)
The Long Good Friday (26)
Blood for Dracula (28)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (29)
M (30)
Andrei Rublev (34)
Time Bandits (37)
Branded to Kill (38)
Tokyo Drifter (39)
Armageddon (40)
The Red Shoes (44)
Insomnia (47)
Brazil (51)
Yojimbo (52)
Sanjuro (53)
The 39 Steps (56)
Charade (57)
Peeping Tom (58)
The Night Porter (59)
The Third Man (64)
Rushmore (65)
The Orphic Trilogy (66)
The Last Temptation of Christ (70)
The Magic Flute (71)
Chasing Amy (75)
The Bank Dick (78)
The Harder They Come (83)
Good Morning (84)
Sisters (89)
Kwaidan (90)
Black Narcissus (93)
I Know Where I’m Going! (94)
Do the Right Thing (97)
Cries and Whispers (101)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (102)
Double Suicide (104)
M. Hulot’s Holiday(110)
My Man Godfrey (114)
The Hidden Fortress (116)
Sullivan’s Travels (118)
Withnail and I (119)
How to Get Ahead in Advertising (120)
The Ruling Class (132)
Spellbound (136)
Rashomon (138)
Wild Strawberries (139)
8½ (140)
The Last Wave (142)
That Obscure Object of Desire (143)
In the Mood for Love (147)
The Horse’s Mouth (154)
The Royal Tenenbaums (157)
Red Beard (159)
Solaris (164)
Down by Law (166)
Contempt (171)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (173)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (175)
Throne of Blood (190)
Jubilee (191)
Hiroshima mon amour (196)
Schizopolis (199)
The Pornographers (207)
Knife in the Water (215)
Tokyo Story (217)
Le cercle rouge (218)
Naked Lunch (220)
Ikiru (221)
Onibaba (226)
3 Women (230)
A Story of Floating Weeds/ Floating Weeds: Two Films by (232)
Stray Dog (233)
The Tin Drum (234)
Smiles of a Summer Night (237)
Videodrome (248)
Eyes Without a Face (260)
Fanny and Alexander — The Theatrical Version (263)
Short Cuts (265)
Kagemusha (267)
Youth of the Beast (268)
Fighting Elegy (269)
The Sword of Doom (280)
Burden of Dreams (287)
F for Fake (288)
Crazed Fruit (295)
Gate of Flesh (298)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (300)
Harakiri (302)
Le Samouraï (306)
Naked (307)
Ugetsu (309)
Ran (316)
Forbidden Games (318)
The Bad Sleep Well (319)
The Complete Mr. Arkadin (322)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (325)
Metropolitan (326)
Late Spring (331)
Elevator to the Gallows (335)
A Canterbury Tale (341)
Bicycle Thieves (374)
Green for Danger (375)
La Haine (381)
Vengeance Is Mine (384)
La Jetée/Sans Soleil (387)
If.... (391)
Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara (392)
Stranger Than Paradise (400)
Night on Earth (401)
The Milky Way (402)
Breathless (408)
Days of Heaven (409)
Drunken Angel (413)
Two-Lane Blacktop (414)
The Naked Prey (415)
Antonio Gaudí (425)
The Ice Storm (426)
The Fire Within (430)
The Thief of Bagdad (431)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (432)
Patriotism (433)
Bottle Rocket (450)
Chungking Express (453)
Europa (454)
White Dog (455)
The Exterminating Angel (459)
In the Realm of the Senses (466)
Empire of Passion (467)
Pigs, Pimps & Prostitutes: 3 Films by Shohei Imamura (471)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (476)
Last Year at Marienbad (478)
My Dinner with André (479)
Repulsion (483)
Z (491)
Paris, Texas (501)
Mystery Train (521)
Red Desert (522)
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (535)
The Thin Red Line (536)
The Magician (537)
Paths of Glory (538)
House (539)
The Night of the Hunter (541)
Modern Times (543)
Eclipse Series 21: Oshima’s Outlaw Sixties

God, how old are you, I'm so behind, but awesome 10 picks