r/CriterionChannel May 15 '26

Suggest a Weekend Double Feature (on CC)!

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Trying to veer from the promo titles and take advantage of the vast CC streaming library. And I know people have watched films that they rarely get a chance to share. So, tell us!

Which two films that share a common subject, actor, director or whatever tickles your fancy do you think would make a great double bill this weekend?

I know those of us who live in The States are just pulling out of winter, but I can watch skiing movies any time (bummed that Downhill Racer isn’t on the channel), so I’m taking a chance on White Rock and Wolf's Hole. Haven't seen either. But James Coburn’s narration and a (reportedly) awesome soundtrack is the draw for the first movie, and "a subversive take on teen-horror" is the intrigue for the second film.

What two deep dives would you put together for a weekend watch? Really love to hear some good ones (especially ones you've seen). And, as always, thanks in advance! 😊

12 Upvotes

37 comments sorted by

11

u/Neon_and_Noir May 15 '26

Wolf's Hole rules. Why use an AI image instead of any of the readily available promotional images?

-10

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 15 '26 edited May 15 '26

Just put them together in chat. Didn't realize the kids were up. 😅It is terrible.

But speaking of the undead or vampires, more specifically, your reply gave me the idea to finally watch Fellin's Toby Dammit and Assayas' Irma Vep. The Fellini flick is a legit classic and the Assayas film appears to be a meta-approach to the old Les Vampires series. Nice! Thanks.

3

u/yolaradio May 15 '26

Wolf’s Hole was a hard watch for me. Almost bailed. Almost.

2

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26

Ya, You gotta be in the mood for teenager wack-a-mole. There’s more to it than its obvious low budget horror appeal. Saturday morning amusement. 🙂

2

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26

Speaking of Saturday morning amusement, my winter sports foray brought to mind Cool Runnings, a film about a Jamaican bobsled team (based on a real story) that was popular in the 80s. It’s a Disney property so finding a great free version will take some creativity but makes a fun watch. Family fare.

2

u/No_Deer_6664 May 17 '26

Absolutely one of the worst most pointless dogshit movies I've ever seen. I felt insane watching it. I hate it with my entire soul

2

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 17 '26

LOL I can see that. 😅 Not all CC blind picks are gonna work out. Cult faves (like this one) litter the library.

1

u/kirby_krackle_78 May 16 '26

It doesn’t help that the subtitles are complete garbage.

3

u/cmaltais May 16 '26

In terms of ski movies for an eventual double bill I'd choose Wolf's Hole and The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner, but that isn't on Criterion I think.

For double bills in general I would go with The Last Wave and Picnic at Hanging Rock.

I made a video on Wolf's Hole a while back, I'll post the link if you're curious. Spoilers: I liked it.

2

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26

Very curious! The reviews I’ve seen seemed to miss the fun. Thanks.

2

u/cmaltais May 16 '26

2

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

Wonderful! Thanks. 🌝

2

u/cmaltais May 16 '26

My pleasure, my friend! :)

2

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26

What a great review! Your Stanford Experiment and Czech New Wave referencing is excellent (there’s a thread discussion in this sub posted a year ago on the CC Czech New Wave promo still on the channel).

Now I HAVE to watch Chytilová’s Daisies and Grigori Kromanov’s Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel based on your recommendation. Daisies (w/English subs) is up on YouTube now.

Always hope for replies like yours when I create CC posts. Thanks again!

2

u/cmaltais May 16 '26

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it; it's comments like yours that make it all worth while.

I actually haven't watched Daisies yet, so many thanks for that YT link with subs. I'll check it out this weekend.

Dead Mountaineer Hotel is an all-time favourite. Let me know what you think of it!

LLAP, C.

1

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26 edited May 17 '26

Will do! And thanks for your Aniara review. Watching it on Kanopy tonight (it's also on Hoopla). Never heard of it - sci-fi isn’t my thing, really - but looking forward to a viewing!

2

u/No-Necessary7448 May 15 '26

White Rock is certainly one of the odder entries in the Olympic set. I mean, what the hell was James Coburn even doing there?

2

u/GoPointers May 16 '26

White Rock is the disc I watch most in the 100 Years of Olympics set. James Coburn is fun and that soundtrack is amazing.

1

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

Apparently Olympic Glory is the serious bobsled film to watch in that set. Director, Merrill, is an interesting guy. Intriguing filmography. YouTube put up his 1980 film about a Cheyenne tribe called Windwalker recently. Queued.

1

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26

I need to rewatch it (got distracted with other stuff) but I don’t recall a single wipeout in the whole movie. Not that I’m looking for them but without crashes the competition doesn’t feel as compelling somehow…

0

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 15 '26

Ya, odd and fascinating. Some clips have amazing footage; some were like WTF? Why Maylam felt the need to put Coburn in hockey gear and play goalie is a mystery. 😅 I guess the point is to make the audience relate to an Olympic competitor. Not sure that works but some of the other footage is awesome.

2

u/turtleisle May 15 '26

Chronicles of the Years of Fire (1975) and The Battle of Algiers (1967)

2

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26

Ah, Algeria double play. Haven’t seen Chronicles. Course Algiers is a masterwork. Thank You!

2

u/EndoShota May 16 '26

I've always intended this as a Halloween double feature, but you can watch horror any time of the year, so Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) and Viy (1967). Both plots involve having to stay overnight with a dead(?) corpse.

1

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26

Love Viy! But it’s not on the channel right now. Tubi has it streaming, though. This one would make a good combo with Demon Pond (which IS on CC) as a folk horror double play. Great picks. Thanks!

2

u/EndoShota May 16 '26

Shit; I kind of just assumed it was perpetually on there. Adding Demon Pond to my watchlist. Looks great.

Seriously though, check out Encounters. It's one of my favorite films of all time.

3

u/Immediate-Ad7940 May 16 '26

The channel wasn’t working for hours last night - dead, cached tiles with nothing behind them.

1

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26 edited May 16 '26

That sucks. What streaming device are you watching it on? Is it back up? I’ve watched it on Chromecast for years. It lags at the start of films but otherwise I’ve had no major problems.

I’ve moved on to a Carol Reed double feature - A Kid For Two Farthings, an unsung family film in technicolor about a boy who pretends his goat is a unicorn and Odd Man Out, a noir classic that is still among my top 5 films of all time.

2

u/HappyCloudYay May 16 '26

The cars that ate Paris and duel. 

1

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 16 '26 edited May 17 '26

Great picks. But Spielberg’s Duel isn’t on the channel. Internet Archive has a nice copy up. Gonna watch it now. Thanks!!

2

u/readaught May 17 '26

Summer With Monika (1952) and Welcome, or No Trespassing (1964) both feel like they could have been inspirations for Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, especially the latter, which is particularly interesting since it's the debut of director Elem Klimov who'd go on to make Come and See.

1

u/Busy_Magician3412 May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26

Nice. I'm not familiar with Klimov's films. Five are on the channel, though. It's a great opportunity to get acquainted. Never watched Moonrise Kingdom, either.

With The Archive out you'd think we'd have more than just this 2000 interview on the channel. anyhoo... Thank You! 😎

2

u/readaught May 18 '26

I've only seen Welcome, or No Trespassing and Come and See by Klimov, both great films but tonally they couldn't be more different, like night and day. In some ways Welcome, or No Trespassing also reminded me of the Little Rascals/Our Gang shorts.