A Year In Review: Standout 2019 Criterion Titles

Hello readers. This week's entry won't be about a specific director, or specific movement. Instead, I will go over some of the movies that Criterion has released for this year. A couple weeks ago Criterion announced their December titles so the timing of this post lined up perfectly. It was an interesting year for Criterion. Criterion aficionados finally got the highly anticipated spine number 1000 release. After months and years of speculating on what spine 1000 would be, it was a bit of a surprise that 1000 would eventually be a box set of the Godzilla movies: The Showa Era movies from 1954 to 1975. I think fans (including myself) were expecting something more prestigious, Citizen Kane (1941) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) were highly rumored to be spine 1000, but I can't complain about a Godzilla box set. The reason why I wanted to blog about this topic is because a couple of my favorite movies were restored for this year. Before I dive into the set of film's I want to notify readers that this is obviously completely subjective. I don't really have specific criteria for this list. I'm not adding titles to the list because of supplements, or package design. I'm discussing the movies that I genuinely love and respect.

Stranger Than Paradise (1984) Directed by Jim Jarmusch

Stranger Than Paradise was upgraded to blu-ray this April along with another upgraded Jarmusch film, Mystery Train (1989). Stranger Than Paradise is Jamusch's second feature length film and a breakout piece of American Independent film in the mid 1980's. Some might say this film is minimalist with no plot or story. I agree that it does have a minimalist style, but to say there is no story I think is wrong. The movie is about a trio of social misfits who drift from place to place, from a cramped apartment in Manhattan, to a snow storm in Cleveland, and then to a mysterious shore in Florida. So, if you want to categorize this movie as a sub-genre you could place it into the road movie category. I think when people label this movie as plot-less or slow, they are reacting to the movie's unique, eccentric structure. The film is constructed in 67 single-shot, monochromatic scenes separated by blackouts, rather like photographs mounted in an album. It's a style that is difficult to adjust to at first. There is great use of sound throughout, from Jon Lurie's jazz musings to the repetitious cassette-tape playing of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' 'I Put a Spell on You.' Stranger Than Paradise is a different film that removes all the conventions of Hollywood film-making. I think it's tagline is very appropriate and fitting, 'A New American Film.'

My Personal Experience with Stranger Than Paradise - I had no idea what the Criterion Collection was when I first watched this. I watched it on a mac-book and while I was viewing it, I thought I was watching a student film that someone submitted for the thesis at NYU. I thought the movie was cynical, depressing and amateurish. I first saw this movie when I was a teenager, around the time I was getting into movies. My knowledge on film grammar and film history was poor so I knew nothing. Time went on and when I discovered who Jarmusch was and what his approach is, I watched it again. I had a completely different reaction to it. I have seen the movie numerous of times since and it has become one of my favorites. When I found out that it was going to released on blu-ray this past spring, I couldn't have been more delighted. It's funny how I first saw this movie as depressing when now I see it as a comedy. The dry and deadpan humor is so hysterical to me. And it's so great to see Jarmusch's influences on subsequent viewings. Here are couple clips to get a feel of the muted tone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr_pPlCTQDU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrKeM04LOos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3uLk_Wv3Lo

Blue Velvet (1986) - Directed by David Lynch

This classic from the 80's was released by Criterion this past May. It's the fourth David Lynch film that is in the collection. Hopefully more Lynch will come. This is probably's Lynch most well known movie. Blue Velvet has all the trademark's of what make makes a David Lynch film a David Lynch film, surreal imagery, American suburbia, 1950's pop music, voyeurism, absurdist humor. It's all present in Blue Velvet. Jeffrey return's home from college and discovers the dark side of the small town he is from. Blue Velvet is an eerie neo-noir mystery, with an oppressive atmosphere of dread that dominates many of the scenes.

My Personal Experience with Blue Velvet - Another movie I first saw without any knowledge of what the Criterion Collection was. Blue Velvet was a movie I've always heard about in that it was shocking, graphic and horrific. Yes, it is graphic, especially during the time it was made, but it quickly became one of my favorites. This is one of the first movies where I understood the importance of a director. It also introduced me surrealist film. Blue Velvet was an experience in which I'll remember where I was when I first saw it. I've always dreamed about Blue Velvet getting a Criterion stamp, but I didn't think it was going to happen because there was already a good restoration released by another label. When Criterion announced their releases for May I couldn't believe it. There are so many moments to talk about with this film, but my favorite is easily the opening. Probably my favorite opening to a movie. Lynch presents us idyllic small town America, but as we dive underneath the surface we discover the nastiness. Pretty obvious symbolism, but filmed and executed so perfectly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwuzI8Y0uW0

Funny Games (1997) - Directed By Michael Haneke

Another title that was released on the May slate. Funny Games is one of the most provocative and challenging movies I have seen recently. The movie sets itself up as a typical home invasion thriller, but gradually shifts to a fourth-wall breaking subversion of the home invasion thriller sub-genre critiquing on how popular media utilizes violence as entertainment. Haneke felt so strongly about this relationship between violence and the media that he remade Funny Games in 2007 and set it in America (the original film was set in Austria and was not in English).

My Personal Experience with Funny Games - Funny Games is a movie that is still fresh and new to me, especially compared to the other two films on this list. This is a movie I respect for it's bold approach. One of Haneke's trademark's as director is his use of long takes and there is one in this movie that is so powerful and upsetting. Due to the film's subject matter I don't feel comfortable posting that clip. However, here is a well informed interview of Haneke discussing the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbG58GirEC8

Those are some standout films for me that were released by Criterion for this year. Other's that were released this year:

Detour (1945)

The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1950)

One Sings, the Other Doesn't (1977)

Do the Right Thing (1989)

24 Frames (2017)

Stay tuned for next week's topic which will be on Criterion movies about music.