The variety of films available on-demand with The Criterion Channel is plentiful, and rich with countless rotating titles from around the world, spanning back decades on end. Signing up and exploring its streaming app can be overwhelming for new, discerning film buffs. From international gems and cult favorites that have stood the test of time to documentaries that have grown richer with age — the broad roster of watches also represents a range of generally higher critical acclaim.
The channel, its adored variety of restoration services, extra features, disc programming, and rotating exhibition of films available to stream, all combine to make Criterion a singular resource for those looking to expand their cinematic palette. Certain pictures, regardless of where they rank amongst the entire catalog, stand out as worthy introductions to the most gripping directors, film collections, and unique narratives available on the streaming service.
The Quiet Family (80%)
This fantastic, imaginative, and hilarious dark comedy from the Criterion Channel's New Korean Cinema Collection serves as a strong introduction to the films available to stream, despite having the least critical-Tomato appeal on this list. The audience score is also among the lower featured here, at just 79 percent, which is surprising, because the killer soundtrack (featuring Harry Nilsson's untamed "Jump Into The Fire") complementing the accidental deaths and clumsy misdirects throughout The Quiet Family, all combine to make the film a blast to watch.
This debut picture from Jee-Woon Kim is a great introduction to the mind who went on to make many more hits, including The Good The Bad The Weird and I Saw The Devil. The Quiet Family also features a hilarious performance by a young Song Kang-Ho, who went on to star in a number of hits, including Bong Joon Ho favorites Memories of Murder, Snowpiercer, and Parasite.
Me And You And Everyone We Know (82%)
This Miranda July gem is singular in its tone and texture. It features a number of unforgettable visuals, one of the most noteworthy being John Hawkes' character Richard lighting his hand on fire in a front yard, just to cap off the film's opening sequence. It's also rich with hilarious, odd jokes and storylines, like when Brandon Ratcliff's Robby, who is a young boy, is caught in a series of strange instant messages about exchanging poop in search of adult encounters.
The B-range Rotten Tomatoes' scores for Me And You And Everyone We Know isn't surprising. The film is a technical delight, rich with authentic and heartfelt performances. The story is reflective, offbeat, and original, but it just might be too quirky for that all-hail tomatoes response some other Criterion picks receive. Despite the masses' tempered embrace of the weird, originality is the heart of the film, and this watch represents Criterion's eye for originality and forward-thinking as well as any.
Rafiki (93%)
Wanuri Kahiu, a brilliant female director from Kenya, fills this romantic drama with vibrant colors and heartfelt performances. The acclaimed picture was released in 2018, and its presence on Criterion's streaming platform represents the collection's diverse and oft-overlooked contemporary selects.
The film is filled with dreamy skate montages and mesmerizing fashion, exposing a scene in Nairobi that's a visual delight for viewers around the world. It's also rife with tough social and political realities. A love story between two strong, eccentric, intelligent women in a disapproving conservative society — this tragedy is familiar the world over, and depicted with sensitivity and authenticity in Rafiki.
Paris, Texas (97%)
This slow stepping masterpiece by Wim Wenders is one of his quintessential road movies. It centers on Harry Dean Stanton's Travis Henderson — a striking, silent wanderer whose brother tracks him down in the desert. Brilliant acting, dreamy cinematography, and an artful reputation, this Palm d'Or winner is classic Criterion content.
This is one of many examples of films with fascinating bonus content included in its Criterion folder. A near equally enjoyable experience to watching the film comes with watching its commentary edition, which consists of the whole picture with the audio replaced by Wim Wenders narrating recollections of making Paris, Texas, discovering signature lighting schemes, and writing as he shot with the elusive Sam Shepard.
8 1/2 (98%)
This dreamy picture from the seasoned Federico Fellini is a swirling and illuminating look into the iconic director's life and mind. A stream of consciousness following an Italian filmmaker named Guido Anselmi, played by Marcello Mastroianni, 8 1/2 is a philosophical exploration of what it means to be a storyteller.
The music of the film complements an ever-flowing progression of shots that brim with life and eccentricity. Italian early 60's fashion, funky dancing, and dream sequences galore highlight this metaphor-heavy classic. To learn about how the specific choices relate to Fellini's real-life experiences, the commentary available with 8 1/2 on Criterion is another fantastic watch.
Blue (98%)
In 1993, Polish auteur Krzysztof Kieslowski released the first of his stunning thematic trilogy, Three Colors. In Blue, a haunting Juliette Binoche portrays a character grappling with grief, inspiration, and self-discovery in a visceral, unforgettable progression of meetings and moves. Recommended by acclaimed director Barry Jenkins on The Criterion Channel, the trilogy tells three different stories that weave through dramatic, existential, and emotional journeys.
Blue serves as an inspiring introduction to the Three Colors, its striking classical music evoking the visceral splendor of Kieslowski's work, which also includes the awe-inspiring mini-series, Dekalog. Binoche is at her best in this picture as well, evoking a world of emotion through much silence and a lot of scowling.
Town Bloody Hall (100%)
Town Bloody Hall is an electrifying look into a single event at a single location, and it's riveting throughout. Documented by celebrated filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker, the film centers on a debate between novelist Norman Mailer, and a lineup of leading feminist intellectuals from the late 60s-early 70s, including Germaine Greer, Diana Trilling, Jacqueline Ceballos, and Jill Johnston.
A bold and exciting format, Mailer pontificates throughout, while maintaining an organized medley of critiques, statements, rebukes, and protests from panelists and audience members, like Susan Sontag. That night, The Town Hall in New York City brimmed with centuries of oppressed anger funneled through charged, intellectual discussion, and having that captured on film is a gift to audiences decades on.
Festival (100%)
Fans of iconic documentaries such as Woodstock and Monterrey Pop need to add Murray Lerner's brilliant documentation of the Newport Folk Festival to the list. Featuring an hour and a half of footage from the festival's formative seasons of 1963 - 1966, Festival remains the eponymous godfather of the music-fest film, rife with performances that will stand the test of time.
Capturing the folk music scene at a time when it was integrating with deep-south blues, electrified rock and roll, and vibrant soul scene, Newport was a magnetic ground for so many icons. Beautiful black-and-white film of shows by Howlin' Wolf, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, Odetta, Joan Baez, and Johnny Cash are just a drop in the hat of what Festival has to offer.
Harlan County, USA (100%)
Harlan County, USA is a masterpiece and it has maintained that reputation since winning an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1976. It was director Barbara Kopple's first feature-length documentary, and the footage was as bold, magnetic, and educational as anything made since.
Looking at a mining strike in the film's eponymous setting, Harlan County, USA is an admirably personal lesson on union labor and capitalism in the U.S. The unflinching camera looks direct at distressed protestors, crooked cops, and angry men of the institution pointing guns at the documenter and her subjects. The storytelling is honest, unbiased and one of Criterion's most impactful true-story options.
Tampopo (100%)
The Spaghetti Western was a sub-genre of Italian-made cowboy films from the mid-60s. With his own culture's beloved noodle dish, Japanese writer-director Juzo Itami riffed off the macaroni trend decades later in 1985 with the world's first ramen Western — Tampopo. The hilarious concept opens viewers up to a world of delicious-looking food, a rising ramen-making star, and bizarre, unforgettable cuisine-inspired vignettes.
In many ways, Tampopo is emblematic of the best that the selection of films available to stream on The Criterion Collection has to offer. Its imaginative, quirky content ranges from a sex scene where two lovers trade an uncooked egg yolk from mouth to mouth to an inspiring journey of the title character Tampopo, played by Nobuko Miyamoto, committing to making the perfect bowl of ramen. This film is a riot, heartwarming, and best enjoyed with some hot noodles and salty broth.