Latest news with #CriterionCloset
Time Out
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The Criterion Closet is hosting a free L.A. pop-up for film geeks this weekend
If you're even a casual film lover, you've no doubt heard of the internet-famous Criterion Closet, a physical closet owned at The Criterion Collection offices that's filled with every movie title distributed by the home-video distribution company. And you've likely seen viral videos of pretty much every celebrity you can name—from legendary directors like Martin Scorsese and Bong Joon-ho to famous actors like Cate Blanchett and Isabelle Huppert—giddily choosing beloved films from the closet's expertly-stocked shelves and gabbing about why they hold those titles so dear. And this weekend, you can have your own Criterion Closet experience when a mobile pop-up version rolls up to Santa Monica on Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8. Partnering with the American Cinematheque at the Aero Theatre (1328 Montana Avenue)—in conjunction with its Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair festival—the Criterion Mobile Closet will be free and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on both days. Inside, you'll find more than 1,000 in-print titles from the Criterion Collection, including box sets and releases from the Eclipse and Janus Contemporaries lines. Each attendee will have three minutes to scour the closet shelves, and up to five guests can share a visit to the closet at one time. Excitingly, you'll be able to make like Ayo Edebiri and others by recording your own Criterion Closet video, where you, too, can publicly and passionately champion your favorite flicks. You'll receive a Polaroid photo featuring your selections, as well as a free Criterion tote bag and a printed pocket guide to take home, while supplies last. Film lovers will be able to purchase up to three videos at a 40-percent discount, to celebrate Criterion's big 40th anniversary this year. (Of course, we recommend you pick up a copy of one of the movies that most beautifully capture Los Angeles.) There will also be a limited selection of Criterion merch available for purchase.
Daily Mirror
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Aimee Lou Wood's ‘enchanting' favourite film available to stream for free
Aimee Lou Wood has named a critically acclaimed film that is currently available to stream for free in the UK Comedian takes aim at 'cheap shot' SNL sketch on Aimee Lou Wood Aimee Lou Wood has revealed one of her top film picks that UK viewers can stream for free. The much-admired film is presently available on Channel 4 and promises to touch your heart in just a little over an hour. The cherished British actress, known for her roles in The White Lotus and Sex Education, recently popped into the Criterion Closet to chat about some of her most treasured films. She highlighted Céline Sciamma's touching work on the themes of youth and bereavement, Petite Maman, labelling it as a 'heartbreaking' film that's a must-see. With the film's critical praise and its brief runtime of 70 minutes, available at no cost on Channel 4, it's easy to fit into your viewing schedule before it disappears from the service, reports the Express. While discussing her top picks, Wood acknowledged Thelma and Louise, accessible on Prime Video in the UK, and Petite Maman as two standout movies. Speaking about the celebrated French creation from 2021, she referred to it as "the sweetest, most haunting, beautiful film and it just tears me apart. "It's just mums, mums. Anything about mums gets me right in the ticker. I love my mum, I've got her name tattooed on my arm. "And I also love [Sciamma's] Portrait of a Lady on Fire, so I love all of her movies, so she's just one of my faves." For those needing more persuasion, cinephiles have shared glowing five-star feedback supporting Wood's enthusiasm for Petite Maman. One enthusiast exclaimed over the motion picture, celebrating it as "A beautiful, tender hug of a film. "And refreshing to have a film mainly from a child's point of view. The child actors were wonderful. As was the pace of the film. Perfection." Another fan commented: "Mysterious, enchanting and very unusual. It draws you into their world and makes you ask questions. Very poignant. I wanted more!" Meanwhile, a fan on Letterboxd raved: "What Céline Sciamma achieves in a mere 72 minutes is dumbfounding." They added: "A moving and tender portrait of familial relationships told through a fantastical but still grounded lens of time travel. My heart is full and I wept as the credits rolled. Sciamma is truly a master of the craft. "I hope every living soul gets a chance to watch this." These glowing reviews make Petite Maman a must-watch for the week. Petite Maman is available to stream on Channel 4.
Telegraph
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Building the perfect film collection – with help from Ben Affleck
From the look of the queue stretching down Eagle Rock Boulevard in Los Angeles on a recent Saturday, you might have guessed a Hollywood A-lister was hosting a meet-and-greet. Hundreds of film fans – some of whom had been in line since 5am – were huddled under umbrellas, the rain doing little to dampen their spirits. But the attraction wasn't Timothee Chalamet, Zendeya or Tom Holland. It was a small white van, 16-square-feet inside, packed wall-to-wall with, of all things, DVDs. The Criterion Closet might be small in size but holds a huge place in online movie fandom. Since 2010, it's been the backdrop to over 250 episodes of Closet Picks, a series of beloved YouTube videos in which actors, writers, directors and the occasional musician raid a utility cupboard containing the archive of art-house and world cinema home video distributors Criterion. Guests have a few minutes to pick out DVDs and Blu-Rays of often obscure movies they'd like to take home, waxing lyrical about their admiration for said films as they go. On paper, that might sound like Supermarket Sweep, with less Dale Winton and more Agnès Varda. In actuality, it's more like Desert Island Discs, with guests' film choices becoming jumping off points for short, wholesome insights into who they are and how film has helped shape them. In one episode, songwriter Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie finds himself on the brink of tears discussing 1984 homelessness documentary Streetwise, because of his sister's involvement in youth homelessness. In another episode, Before Sunrise star Ethan Hawke regales his daughter Maya (of songwriting and Stranger Things fame) with tales of taking her mother, Uma Thurman, to see the John Cassavetes film Husbands on one of their first dates. Whoever the guest is, there's a film in the company's archive – the prestigious Criterion Collection, as it's known – that speaks to their life, their loves, their inspirations as a film-maker and often their anxieties about the world. In a decade and a half, the series has attracted 3.3 billion views and the biggest names in Hollywood; in the last few weeks alone, Ben Affleck, Seth Rogen and Carrie Coon have been among its guests. Closet Picks is often memed and parodied in viral videos that poke affectionately at the reverence of its guests towards cinema. (My personal favourite? The guy who staged his own Closet Picks in the DVD section of a sex shop). And if you venture to one of the world's premier cinephile spaces, you're bound to see at least one person wearing Criterion merch (you know the urban myth about how on the London underground, you're never more than six feet from a rat? That may actually be true of London's Prince Charles Cinema and people clutching Criterion tote bags). Though the closet that hit Los Angeles last weekend wasn't the actual Criterion Closet – that's in the company's New York offices – the mobile version that fans queued for in Eagle Rock, created to celebrate their 40th anniversary, remains a huge draw. The lines in LA mirrored similar queues in Texas at SXSW festival last year, where fans also waited for hours for just a three-minute slot inside. 'How did it come to this,' you might be wondering? And understandably so. Calling Closet Picks' success 'unexpected' is like calling the films of Criterion fave David Lynch 'a little bit kooky.' Physical media is supposed to be dead, its obituary written a thousand times over since the advent of streaming (DVD and Blu-Ray sales slumped 23.4 per cent in 2024, generating under $1 billion in sales; a drastic fall compared to 20 years ago, when sales exceeded $16 billion). And YouTube, lest we forget, is a platform where loud, hyper-bright content is what tends to attract millions of views per video – not static shots of a grey utility cupboard. (Ironically, for a series in which cineastes discuss some of the most beautifully shot cinema of all time, Closet Picks is, for all its other strengths, unavoidably drab in aesthetic.) Unlike other hugely popular YouTube series frequently by Hollywood royalty, there's no grabby hook to the series, or entertaining challenge to watch a celebrity take on. No one is participating in a fake romantic date in a chicken shop in Closet Picks; legendary documentarian Ken Burns isn't forced to put his ability to handle extra spicy sriracha sauce to the test when he makes his appearance in Closet Picks. And yet, the series, as one top Hollywood publicist tells me, rivals those YouTube successes as an 'this genuine against-the-odds sensation. In an otherwise quite cynical time for online content, it's so earnest – literally just people dorking out about DVDs, talking about movies they love. It's that simple.' Part of its popularity is undoubtedly the guests that Closet Picks attracts. Everyone from Gen Z favourites like Ayo Edebiri to old guard icons of the industry like Francis Ford Coppola have recorded episodes, with the series now 'one of cornerstones of any campaign for a star on the awards trail or promoting a new movie,' the aforementioned Hollywood rep continues. 'It's incredibly legitimising to go into the Criterion Closet and talk about your love for Kurosawa or whoever. Even if you're promoting a big popcorny blockbuster with nothing Kurosawa about it, showing off your knowledge and appreciation of cinema can reframe you in the eyes of a particular type of movie fan.' This 'absolutely' would have been the case with Affleck's recent appearance on Closet Picks, they add. The Accountant 2 – the actor's new thriller – has little in common with the films the former Batman star picks out (Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game, Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle, David Lynch's The Elephant Man, Terrence Malik's Badlands and so on). Appearing on Closet Picks to promote that film, however, 'reminds people he's a serious film lover and generates a bit more warmth among dyed-in-the-wool movie buffs towards The Accountant 2 than might have otherwise been the case,' they explain, adding: 'it's probably no accident that he self-effacingly calls his [famously despairing] DVD commentary to Armageddon the best work of his career here. Ben – or a publicist who advised him, whichever – knows Closet Picks' audience.' The attraction for stars is obvious. The Criterion Closet is a vacuum where all that exists is film – 'I feel like I'm in one of those sensory deprivation pods where you're only surrounded by the greatest cinema ever made,' as Andrew Garfield put it during his appearance in 2024. There are no tricky questions to navigate about rumoured relationships, or whether or not they'd work again with their former co-star, recently arrested on domestic abuse charges. And as for Criterion, Closet Picks is a shop window for their library of over 1,000 titles that no doubt bumps their sales tenfold. The Criterion Collection today is regarded as a hall of fame-style exclusive club to which entry is one of the ultimate cineaste seals of approval. That's at the very least in part due to Closet Picks. But star power isn't what's made Closet Picks a phenomenon. The likelihood is its appeal runs deeper. Over the last few years, a new culture of film fandom has emerged online that Closet Picks' format seems to dovetail with, rooted in a simple idea: that the films you love are a paper trail for your personality, an expression of who you are. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Criterion Collection (@criterioncollection) Since the pandemic, Letterboxd – a social media app for cinephiles in which users log the films they've watched – has grown from two million active users to 17 million, all of whom are invited to share their four all-time favourite movies (a format since developed into a popular celebrity interview series akin to Closet Picks). The text accompanying these selections often reads more like diary entries – confessionals that link these movies to times in users' lives; sometimes sad, sometimes happy, always formative. Closet Picks sees film-makers light up in a wholesome way as they do the same. Is there a bit of pantomime to what films guests select? Probably. A frequent accusation against the series on Reddit and other social media platforms is that there's an element of performance to what some guests choose, opting for the obscure instead of what they actually like to mark themselves out as true cinephiles. But we're living in a time in which streaming services have harpooned access to cinema from more than a decade or two ago. The likes of Netflix have decimated the physical media market that historically made it possible for viewers to watch older films, while simultaneously declining to host classics on their service (as of March, 1973's The Sting was the oldest title on the American version of the platform). Between its physical media and their own streaming service, The Criterion Channel, offering hundreds of historical movies, Criterion as a company are vital to the current film ecosystem – one of the last bastions against that erasure of over 80 years of film history. Any grumbles or eye-rolling about selections, in that light, somewhat slide away. After the extensive crowds in LA, with many people reportedly turned away, Criterion haven't announced where their mobile closet will pop-up next. Wherever it is, expect queues to snake around the block once more. There's a lot of cinema history in those 16-square-feet. The stars who entered the closet – and the films they picked Andrew Garfield Terry Gilliam's Brazil Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Red Shoes David Maysles, Albert Maysles, and Charlotte Zwerin's Salesman Steve James's Hoop Dreams Mike Leigh's Naked Ken Loach's Kes David Fincher's The Game Todd Solondz's Happiness D. A. Pennebaker's Original Cast Album: Company Juzo Itami's Tampopo Barry Jenkins Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander Satyajit Ray's The Apu Trilogy Andrew Haigh's Weekend John Cassavetes: Five Films Krzysztof Kieślowski's Dekalog Mathieu Kassovitz's La Haine Joel Coen's Blood Simple Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher David Gordon Green's George Washington Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon The Essential Jacques Demy The Complete Jacques Tati Minnie Driver Joseph L. Mankiewicz's All About Eve Jean-Jacques Beineix's Betty Blue Jane Campion's An Angel At My Table Josh and Benny Safdie's Uncut Gems Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law Edouard Molinaro's La Cage aux Folles Josh and Benny Safdie Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet Kenji Mizoguchi's The Life of Ohuru Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project No. 2 Lino Brocka's Manila in the Claws of Light Harmony Korine's Gummo Gus Van Sant's To Die For John Mackenzie's The Long Good Friday Edward Yang's Yi Yi John Lithgow Preston Sturges's Sullivan's Travels Lindsay Anderson's This Sporting Life Martin Ritt's The Spy Who Came in From the Cold The Complete Jacques Tati Brian De Palma's Blow Out Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes John Waters
Los Angeles Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Need a laugh? ‘The Four Seasons' and ‘The Studio' are sure to do the trick
Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who is married, was married or has thought about getting married. This week marks the arrival of 'The Four Seasons' — we're not talking equinoxes here. It's Netflix's new comedy that reimagines Alan Alda's '80s film, in which he co-starred with Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno, Sandy Dennis, Bess Armstrong, Len Cariou and Jack Weston — a veritable who's who of the stage and screen (Evidently, it will be available to stream on Netflix May 5). The latest iteration features an ensemble cast as well that includes Will Forte and Tina Fey, who co-created and co-wrote. TV critic Robert Lloyd calls it 'very watchable, breezy, bumpy,' making it the perfect weekend watch if your plans involve cuddling on the couch — perhaps with a significant other. Also in Screen Gab No. 179, our experts recommend a TV show about food that makes you wish you could reach into the screen to taste it, and a comedy series about the Hollywood industry that highlights its accolades and its (many) pratfalls. Must-read stories you might have missed Leighton Meester is more than the internet's boyfriend's wife: The actor's collaborators say she deserves the sort of renaissance currently enjoyed by husband Adam Brody. But Meester prefers to focus on her good fortune. Gabriel Luna on Tommy's goodbye to Joel in 'The Last of Us' and its double meaning: The actor discusses the aftermath of Joel's death in Episode 3 this season, how the opening scene evolved and why he avoids stereotypical roles. They shot their movie in 7 days for $7,000. They're bringing it to theaters themselves: Director Joe Burke and longtime collaborator Oliver Cooper make microbudget indies. Their new one, 'Burt,' doesn't have a distributor yet, just tons of heart. Criterion takes its viral closet on the road. When that van shows up, so does a scene: Videos shot in the legendary Criterion Closet have captivated cinephiles for years. Now the elite label has made its concept mobile and the response is massive. Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times 'Chef's Table: Legends' (Netflix) The latest iteration of television's prettiest and most contemplative food show profiles four celebrated but not mere celebrity chefs: Jamie Oliver, who grew up in a pub and whose 'The Naked Chef' injected Britpop energy into England's food scene (Tony Blair is one of his episode's talking heads); Thomas Keller, of French Laundry and Per Se fame, with his multiple Michelin stars; Alice Waters, who introduced American fine diners to the joys of a perfect simple salad, and at Berkeley's Chez Panisse, kicked off the farm to table movement; and José Andrés, feeding the people through his World Central Kitchen and a host of places where you have to make a reservation. Created by David Gelb ('Jiro Dreams of Sushi'), the series takes pains to be gorgeous — a feast for the eyes, as it were — but it's most inspiring tracing the food journeys of its subjects and describing how they move through and act upon the world. (Waters, Oliver and Andrés all have activism and education in their CVs.) You may never eat in their restaurants, but you will want to, and there's something delicious in that. — Robert Lloyd 'The Studio' (Apple TV+) The state of the movie business is bleak enough these days that you've got to laugh to keep from crying. Audiences are shrinking, original ideas get steamrolled by brand extensions and the line between big-screen spectacle and streaming 'content' gets blurrier by the week. Enter 'The Studio,' Seth Rogen's sly, self-aware comedy about a lifelong cinephile turned studio chief (played by Rogen) trying to steer a crumbling Hollywood institution through the chaos. Co-created with longtime collaborator Evan Goldberg, the series blends biting industry commentary with Rogen's signature mix of stoner absurdism, pratfalls and extreme cringe. This week's episode tackles the minefield of casting, as execs melt down over the racial politics of casting their absurd Kool-Aid tentpole. Next week, the target is the Golden Globes — a perennial industry punching bag. Real-life directors like Martin Scorsese, Olivia Wilde and Ron Howard deliver surprisingly self-effacing turns, but it's the core ensemble — including Kathryn Hahn, Ike Barinholtz and Chase Sui Wonders — that gives the show its manic pulse. Rogen may be kicking the industry while it's down (for a streamer, no less), but underneath it all, he still believes in movies — and the flawed, messy people behind them. — Josh Rottenberg A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they're working on — and what they're watching 'The Four Seasons,' Netflix's eight-episode adaptation of Alan Alda's 1981 film of the same name, revolves around the longtime friendship of three couples — portrayed by Tina Fey, Will Forte, Steve Carell, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Colman Domingo and Marco Calvani — and tracks how their relationships shift each time they reconnect on vacation. In addition to starring, Fey co-created the series with fellow '30 Rock' writer-producers Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield. Fisher and Wigfield stopped by Screen Gab to discuss the key change they made to their adaptation, what they're watching and more. —Yvonne Villarreal You both have experience depicting teenagers and relationships — Lang with 'Never Have I Ever' and Tracey with the 'Saved by the Bell' reboot. What do you enjoy about depicting relationships in midlife? Fisher: I obviously loved doing YA rom-com stuff. But this felt very much deeper. There's something about celebrating these things that are not particularly glamorous. I don't want to say it's mundane, but lived-in relationships are sort of treated like it is when they're actually the most thrilling, most precious, most important and meaningful part of your life. The people that you are standing with when you're middle-aged, be it your spouse or your friends, that is the story of a life well-lived. There's something romantic about that. Wigfield: For me, it was more satisfying because it's more personal to my life right now. I've been married for nine years. There are so many stories about falling in love. I can't think of many couples — I'm sure there are ones — who have been married for 20 years on TV that I was like, 'Ooh, that's sexy! I love that relationship. I want that.' Maybe the coach and Connie Britton on 'Friday Night Lights.' The series departs from the source material in one major way — there's a death. That's the extent of the spoiler we'll give for those who haven't watched. But why did you make that change? Fisher: We made that decision pretty early on. We want to place this show on planet Earth with real people, with real stakes. There's no murders, there's no aliens. Real-life stakes are high enough and they're terrifying. We wanted to make sure to run the gamut of what you might experience in midlife, and losing a friend in your 50s is not that weird. We wanted to see how this group could come together in crisis and how much they really did love each other and how they lean on each other. Even though it doesn't happen in the film, it felt right for us in terms of showing a complete arc for the season and for our characters, emotionally. What have you watched recently that you're recommending to everyone you know? Fisher: I love 'The Studio' [Apple TV+]. The scripts are so tight and so is the direction. And if you're someone who actually works in Hollywood, it's a nice treat to see a funny version of your job on screen. Wigfield: 'Severance' [Apple TV+] — my husband [Adam Countee] wrote on it, so I'm biased, but it was the most impressive thing I've seen on TV this year. What's your go-to comfort watch, the film or TV show you return to again and again? Fisher: I'm pretty basic when it comes to comfort watch. I've seen 'Bridget Jones's Diary' [Max] 50 times. I think it's a perfect movie. Wigfield: Maybe it's because I'm a comedy writer, but putting on an episode of an old show, even if it's one I love like 'The Office' [Peacock], isn't relaxing to me. However there is a woman on YouTube who reviews food at Disneyland (@disneyfoodblog) and her videos make me feel like I am in a warm, safe embrace.
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Ben Affleck talks about 'the only time' he saw his father cry
Hollywood star and filmmaker has shared memories about his father Timothy as he talked about the first and the only time he saw his dad cry. In his visit to the Criterion Closet , Affleck, selected some of the company's cinematic offerings he considers favourites. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now David Lynch's 1980 movie The Elephant Man , he recalled, "is the first and only time I ever saw my father cry." Lynch's hit film, which stars as a deformed man and Anthony Hopkins as a doctor treating him, is a "movie about what it means to be a human being. And it's heartbreaking and beautiful and... it's tied to a very personal memory for me," said Affleck, reports Appearing to get emotional, the Oscar winner concluded: "That's probably a good note to end on." Timothy, who shares sons Ben and Casey Affleck with ex-wife Christine Anne "Chris" Boldt, separated from her and moved from their Massachusetts home to California when the "Good Will Hunting" star was 12. In 2020, Ben shared that his father, a former janitor, had marked 30 years of sobriety at the time. He had "a tremendous amount of respect for what that takes and what that means," Affleck said of his father. "Part of being an adult is learning that your parents are just people. They're not perfect. They were just doing their best. As a child, we expect perfection out of our parents." Affleck called Criterion's renowned closet, owned and stocked by the home video distributor, "my idea of heaven." In addition to The Elephant Man, his selections of favorites to take home included 1990's Miller's Crossing, 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, 2000's Traffic and two movies he starred in: 1993's Dazed and Confused and 1998's Armageddon. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now He also hailed Jean Renoir's 1939 classic The Rules of the Game for having his "favorite line from all of cinema", "Everyone has their reasons", which he quipped he "stole" for his 2007 movie Gone Baby Gone. The actor also praised 's work in Spike Lee's 1992 biopic Malcolm X .
