From martial arts classics to 4Ks of acclaimed indies, here are a few options from the imprint’s latest sale.
Much like the seasons, Criterion’s biannual flash sales are coming quicker and quicker. A celebration typically reserved for March, in 2024 Criterion chose to jump the gun just a few weeks into the end of February — whether it’s the lingering amour of Valentine’s Day, or just a way to goose sales before Q1, it matters little to obsessive collectors and cinephiles like us. We just want our fancy disks and their special features, and we want them now.
Let’s face it: Apart from, ironically, The Criterion Channel, most streaming services are doubling down on intrusive ads and skyrocketing monthly subscriptions, all while canceling shows and shelving projects they greenlit at the streaming boom. We’re regressing towards the mean of physical media you can just buy once and keep forever, and Criterion’s one of the best boutique labels to do it.
So, if you’ve got a little extra petty cash, or a nice tax refund burning a hole in your pocket, Criterion is offering 50% off its DVDs, Blu-rays, and 4K UHD disks from 9am PST February 27th-9am PST February 28th. And if you’re lost as to what to pick from the collection’s 1200+ offerings (to say nothing of its Eclipse and Janus Contemporary offerings), here’s a nifty shortlist of film classics, cult favorites, and exciting new titles you can consider.
Chantal Akerman Masterpieces, 1968-1978
One of the best and most challenging filmmakers of her time, Chantal Akerman’s work is often associated with her 1975 magnum opus, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (recently voted the greatest film of all time by Sight & Sound). But this sparsely-designed but impactful set, which contains the sum of her first decade of filmmaking, establishes her interest in many of Dielman’s core themes and aesthetic concerns throughout her career: The interiority of women’s psychology, the stifling nature of domestic spaces, the radical actions women can take to break free of those spaces.
From her first five shorts – the Chaplinesque mayhem of Saute ma ville, the quiet probing of America’s liminal spaces and its occupants in Hotel Monterey – to her first four features, the set guides you effortlessly through the evolution of Akerman’s artistic process. You see her early experimentations with silence and space, her connections to Belgium and America and how they intersect, her growing collaborations with cinematographer Babette Mangolte, and her building (and rejection) of many markers of feminist cinema. Even as you pass through Jeanne Dielman’s mighty runtime and long silences which speak volumes, you see her continued growth through that success into a filmmaker looking increasingly inward, and thus revealing many outward truths.
Order here.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Criterion’s partnership with Netflix seems savvier than ever, in an age where it’s increasingly harder to justify your own Netflix subscription. Luckily, some of the streamer’s best films are available in pristine packages for collection, the latest being this enchanting stop-motion fable from Guillermo del Toro and recently passed animation legend Mark Gustafson.
In Gena Radcliffe’s review for The Spool, she wrote that the “quirky but gentle” film “concludes on a profoundly emotional note that will leave even the most stone-hearted viewer holding back tears.” It’s a newly-minted classic of animation that deserves to be seen in sterling 4K, which costs as much during this sale as a single month of high-end 4K Netflix.
Order here.
The Heroic Trio/Executioners
Hot off her Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All at Once, Michelle Yeoh is having quite the moment in the global spotlight. But the Hong Kong action legend has spent decades as one of the greatest movie stars in the world, and there’s no better evidence for that than this one-two punch of daffy, giddy Hong Kong superhero action flicks from Johnnie To and action choreographer Ching Siu-tung. The Heroic Trio is a bravura work of wuxia action and silly comedy, with Yeoh kicking and serving looks alongside fellow icons Maggie Cheung and Anita Mui.
There are babies flying out of hospital windows (eat your heart out, The Flash), airborne flights courtesy of exploding drum barrels, and cocked shotguns aplenty. The Executioners doesn’t quite hit the heights of its predecessor, but its dystopian flair makes for a lovely afternoon double-feature with the grande dames of East Asian action cinema.
Order here.
Jackie Chan: Emergence of a Superstar
While you’re on a Hong Kong action kick, it might be worth picking up this robust box set of six of fellow Supercop co-star Jackie Chan’s earliest works, spanning 1978’s Half a Loaf of Kung Fu to 1985’s My Lucky Stars. While they’re not all classics – you can see Jackie struggling to overcome the limitations of the Hong Kong studio system in his earliest works, not to mention the shadow of Bruce Lee – it’s a fascinating look into Jackie’s evolution as one of action cinema’s greatest luminaries. And even if the films aren’t always great, Jackie’s always fantastic in them: intensely funny and acrobatic, constantly proving his worth to an industry that hadn’t yet recognized his singular talent.
Order here.
Lone Star
One of the greats of ‘90s American independent film, John Sayles’ breakout 1996 drama gets a beautiful 4K restoration courtesy of Criterion. A neo-Western potboiler set in a Texas border town, Lone Star tracks the murder of a racist sheriff (Kris Kristofferson) through the varying perspectives of those he interacted with in life. The results are some of the most intricate, well-considered characters in American movie history, and cemented Sayles as a pioneering voice in the art form. (You can read our interview with Sayles on Lone Star here.)
Order here.
The Others
A Gothic ghost story in the classic sense, Alejandro Amenábar’s fog-shrouded modern horror The Others is one of the modern miracles of the genre. A successor to atmospheric luminaries like Jack Clayton’s The Innocents, The Others slowly integrates you into the household of a cold, imposing woman named Grace (Nicole Kidman, rarely better) and her two light-averse children, always questioning whether her fanatical rules are a means of protection or control towards her progeny. It’s the kind of spooky tale that benefits from Criterion’s crisp 4K transfer – Javier Aguirresarobe’s deep pools of darkness have never been more imposing.
Order here.
The Red Balloon and Other Stories: Five Films by Albert Lamorisse
Albert Lamorisse’s sprightly films have ignited children’s imaginations for decades, and it’s a delight to see Criterion celebrate his works with a box set of his too-short filmography. Centered around his arguable masterpiece, The Red Balloon, the set floats airily through tales of boys finding freedom in flight (Circus Angel, Stowaway in the Sky) or the love of a fellow creature looking for escape (The White Mane, Bim). Whether you remember watching The Red Balloon on a tiny screen in school or want to experience such classic movie magic all over again with your own kids, it’s a must-buy.
Order here.
The Ranown Westerns: Five Films Directed by Budd Boetticher
Western fans looking for a particular slice of the genre’s height might want to pick up this five-film set detailing the collaboration between director Randolph Scott and grizzled star Budd Boetticher, all of which rise above their B-movie auspices to chart a grim trail across the American West. From the Elmore Leonard-penned The Tall T to Ride Lonesome (which sports James Coburn in his first film role) and beyond, it’s a set filled with fractured loyalties, wide-spanning Californian vistas, and entire universes forged at the barrel of a rifle.
Order here.
The Roaring Twenties
Gangster-film icons James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart strut and shoot their way through this late-’30s noir as two Army vets who survive their World War I foxholes only to delve into a life of crime. Hard-boiled as all getout and armed with plenty to say about the effects of Prohibition and postwar American malaise, director Raoul Welsh’s classic is a no-brainer for fans of pinstripe suits and Tommy guns.
Order here.
Trainspotting
Danny Boyle’s kinetic, frenetic, and funny 1996 social dramedy about the lives of five druggies and burnouts on the fringes of Scottish society is one of the most electrifying films of its kind, and it’s a joy to see it in the Criterion lineup. More than putting Boyle and many of its stars (Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, Johnny Lee Miller) on the Hollywood map, Trainspotting is remarkable for its forked-tongue sneer at polite society and unstoppable filmmaking energy – POV toilet shots, its thumping Brit-pop and electronic soundtrack, the list goes on. Don’t just choose life; choose this 4K for your collection.
Order here.