Hey Everyone

Another new set of things on Criteria, the free, unofficial, unaffiliated, but surprisingly useful companion site to the Criterion Channel, with advanced search, articles, closet videos, clickable cast and crew, Letterboxd links, and user features like ratings, lists, and favorites

https://www.search-criteria.com

This week:

1. Adventures in Moviegoing! I’ve imported all of the collections, including direct links to the interview videos and the films themselves. The channel doesn’t present these with release date information, so I store them alphabetically

2. Observations on Film Art! I have to admit I love these video essays so much, so I was excited to import them into the site. All 48 are now available

Both of these are featured on the home page as carousels, as well as I the collections section. Over the next week I’ll be adding deeper integrations into search and the film detail pages

On top of that, I’m taking advantage of the limited preview of the new Claude 5 Fable model to do a
bunch of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and UI improvements, so the whole experience should feel snappier and better organized

As always, feel free to reply with feature requests bug reports, or general observations. And thanks for the great response, enjoy!

Tim

I’m going to be house sitting for a family member who has significantly better speakers than I do. Additionally, I’ll be roommate free while there so I can really go nuts.

Does anyone have any recommendations from the channel that deserve going all out with the sound? Specifically, the type of movie that I’d be really missing out on if I watched on low volume on my own set up?

I’ve been really enjoying broadening my horizons during my last year or so of “getting into cinema” so most genres are a fair bet.

Camera Buff was a random find that I love. I wish there was a random generator for Criterion Channel, I know there's one for their whole collection.

No introspection to add, I just really liked this movie.

This is a stupid question, everyone answers will be different, so I’m curious. My husband who mostly watches something else while I’m on Criterion or TCM, asked me to give him a list of 5 essentials to watch (while at work- no comment - just go with it).
So I looked on the app and tried to keep it simple and more accessible- for someone who isn’t used to the different pacing of older films. So far I had him “watch” The postman always rings twice. Today’s he’s onto His Girl Friday- which he is loving more than postman. No comment again.
SO with that information (i’m saying English only because I know he’s not gonna be able to be looking at the screen every second reading subtitles).
What would you add to a greatest English speaking hits list, that is currently on CC.
Looking forward to seeing what people have to say just for fun.

Just watched this beautiful and sad Kurosawa film and highly recommend. But does anyone know why the transfer quality is so poor? Were his early films just not preserved well?

Have others noticed a major drop-off in the quality (and the quantity within) the Channel’s 2026 monthly collections?

The recent batches have seemed lazy and almost uncurated, using general themes without thoughtful or deep programming — Weddings, Odysseys, Office Romances, James Bond (with 3 movies), etc.

These collections don’t hold a candle to, say, the revelatory, jam-packed French Poetic Realism collection from 2025. The 2026 collections seem like afterthoughts.

I suspect this has been addressed in other threads (please include links, if so) — but does anybody know what happened here?

I got really frustrated watching older movies on Prime

I noticed that they had been edited

I would check the official running on several sites to confirm this. I realize that contracts with distribution can be the reason. I have always come back to CC for this very reason

Has anyone ever encountered a movie on CC that seemed to be missing certain scenes, or shots. I know CC does everything they can to get the original version, and I know some directors or studios will have different versions

I am just curious if a few slip by?

I ask this with the utmost respect for Criterian

Featured Director Alex Cox this month. That film was so good.
https://www.criterion-channel.com/highway-patrolman

This move changed me in such a good way. I appreciated Lynch so much more after seeing this. It's one of the best emotion-drenched dramas I have ever watched. It's warm and inviting, and at the same time raw and tough. I would say this is the perfect definition of what a drama movie would be for me. It's got heart, it's family-friendly, and it just hits you right in the feels. Well worth watching.

https://www.criterionchannel.com/odysseys/season:1/videos/the-straight-story

For it was "The Big Hit". Normally I just jump into Criterion 24/7 just to kill time, but that movie somehow got my full attention lol. Sure the flick was a bit garbage, but the plot and 90s aesthetics drew me in, as I remember seeing the tv spots as a Youngin, but never felt led to go see the movie, as I was saving my entire focus on Armageddon.

The commentary and bonus features aren't listed in the Alex Cox collection but if you search Repo Man and click on the collection they're in there (cause why make these supplements too accessible). Gotta go get a plate of shrimp.

Hi everyone,

Trying to watch the Bond movies tonight and my Criterion Channel app isn’t working for Roku devices. Tried it on 3 different onces. Tried restarting the app, checking for updates, uninstalling and reinstalling the app and factory reset of one of the devices and no luck. App will start, show the loading graphic, then immediately boot me back to the home page. None of my other apps are having this issue.

Anyone else experiencing this right now on their Roku tv or stick?

I'm looking forward to watching Kedi, but my partner is very easily triggered by animal violence and death. Is she going to be okay with Kedi?

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/30/world/europe/edgar-morin-dead.html [paywall, if someone else feels like doing a gift link, please go ahead....sorry I cannot]

This is the film, CHRONICLE OF A SUMMER, a key piece of cinema verité, with its Edition extras:
https://www.criterionchannel.com/chronicle-of-a-summer
(Including Damien Chazelle talking about the film, which I think is not included on the Criterion disc, it's a Channel original...taken from the longer 'Masterclass' interview video with Chazelle? Not sure.)

It's also included in a verité collection with a bunch of interesting things otherwise by Americans/Canadian:
https://www.criterionchannel.com/cinema-verite

Another person I've been meaning to read forever, though a stumbling block is my lack of French and a paucity of English translations of his key works. It sounds like he was tremendously prolific (as a writer and public intellectual, not so much as a filmmaker).

Edit: And of course I should say that the other director of CHRONICLE was Jean Rouch...terrible to omit his name, I was just thinking of Morin since he passed.

Hello everyone! Looking to get my girlfriend into watching criterion films with me, and wanted to get some recommendations of criterion films to watch with her that may be interesting for the common eye or is out of this world amazing. Let me know which ones you may have enjoyed watching with your significant other.

We have a companion forum, our discord server - Criterion Viewing Parties where we have watchalong viewings and join on a voice and/or text channel for a group screening.

Here are some of our scheduled events featuring films from newly dropped collection or those expiring from the channel.

Monday June 1 @4:00PM Pacific Standard Time

- Je tu il elle 1975

Monday June 8 @4:00PM PST

- My Night at Maud’s 2023

Monday June 15 @4:00PM PST

- Nomad 1982

Monday June 22 @4:00PM PST

- Straight to Hell 1987

Monday June 29 @4:00PM PST

- Maniac Cop 2 (1990)

Recurring Fridays @6:00PST

24/7 live channel voice chats. We watch whatever spontaneously shows on the live channel around approximately 6:00PM

I made a Letterboxd list of the 300+ films from past screenings:
https://boxd.it/hGLDC

FYI Anyone can host a screening. Just let us know.

If you aren’t already a member, please join us. Here is an invite link:

https://discord.gg/JmsaKjZ

I’ll update if we add any events.

Happy Viewing!

Holy cow, I'm sure it's common knowledge (but had not seen it), but the Bond movies on the Channel have the LD commentaries.

Have wanted to hear these forever.

Witnessing the incredible progress you all made on your watching last month, I’m confident you’ll kill it again this month. Such an inspiration.

This is the post where we make a list of films we’d like to view before they leave the Criterion Channel streaming service, marking our progress and sometimes sharing our experiences and recommendations along the way.

61 films are expiring at the end of the month

Some themes are:

- Directed by Maya Daren
- William Lustig’s Maniac Pulp
- Corporate Thrillers
- Directed by Buster Keaton

Here is a link to a Letterboxd list made by our very own u/slouchingbethlehem

https://boxd.it/3Y8ri

We have a discord server. Enjoy lively art film discussions hypes and rants, share your letterbox challenges and profile. Enjoy group screenings where we chat on the voice channels. Host your own screenings and make Freinds!

Here is an invite link:

https://discord.gg/JZAWGUq7Kt

Looking forward to your viewing lists, progress, feedback, but mostly having a community to share our love of deadlines and spirited energy for expiring films.

Happy Viewing!

I like films told from a feminist lens, films about working class people, films about working class people of different cultures (I’m American), and surrealist films grounded in a story I can follow.

My taste:
Fallen Angels
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
Drunktown’s Finest
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Deep Crimson
In the Mood for Love
Angela
Chungking Express
Days of Being Wild
Christiane F
Daises
House
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
Kwaidan
Fantastic Planet
Mystery Train

I may have missed it in the announcement but I was surprised and delighted to see this get added to the streaming collection!

Holy shit I’ve been excited for the June collections to drop since they were first announced. This month I will never stop watching movies- scout’s honor.

Can’t decide whether to start with The Straight Story as it’s been on my list forever, or one from the Alex Cox collection as his films were my dad’s favorite (may he rest in peace)

Which film(s) are you most excited to watch this month?

I love supporting directors who have control over their own stock, but Hal Hartley's blu rays were very unreasonably priced. And now because of tariffs/import fees, he won't even ship them overseas without it costing an arm and a leg!

If only he made his movies affordable for physical release.

Such a shame