Spotlight
Under the Influence
In this ongoing series of videos, contemporary filmmakers talk to us about the movies that have had a lasting impact on their work.
Current
An online magazine covering film culture past and present
The Delta: Across the Lines
In the landscape of gay-themed cinema, which often focuses on positivity and pride, Ira Sachs’s debut feature stands out for asking unsettling questions about the limits of queer connection across socioeconomic and racial divides.
The Defiant Ironies of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s The Third Generation
In this delirious and deeply polarizing satire about political violence, the legendary director takes aim at hypocrisy and opportunism at every level of German society.
John Singleton’s Hood Trilogy: Born and Raised in South Central
In the trio of star-studded films that cemented his legacy as a groundbreaking figure in American cinema, the writer-director illuminated the hopes and struggles of Black communities in his native Los Angeles.
Kinuyo Tanaka Directs: Married to Cinema
At a turning point in her career, one of Japanese cinema’s most beloved stars decided to step behind the camera, creating a string of remarkable films that possess the same honesty and warmth that distinguished her work as an actor.
Far from Home: Three Noirs by Jacques Tourneur
In a trio of Hollywood crime dramas made in the 1940s and ’50s—including the masterpiece Out of the Past—the director follows wayward characters who venture into profoundly unsettling landscapes and encounter the foreign at home.
Julio Torres’s Top 10
The writer, director, and comedian shines a spotlight on a group of iconic city films, a classic Japanese ghost story, and one of the defining movies of the Tumblr era.
On Restoration and Repair: A Conversation with Ja’Tovia Gary
The shape-shifting artist and director of The Giverny Document talks about the Black feminist tradition, her approach to direct animation, and the influence of Toni Morrison and Soviet montage theory on her work.
Next Stop: The Criterion Mobile Closet in Portland, Oregon
For our first trip this year, Criterion is bringing the Mobile Closet to PAM CUT in May, along with some exciting additional programming.
Point Blank: A Dream of Full-Color Noir
A crime-cinema masterpiece whose influence can be seen in such later touchstones as Mean Streets and Reservoir Dogs, this highly stylized portrait of a gangster subordinates the needs of plot to director John Boorman’s saturated aesthetic.
Sinister Synergies
During a period of rapid deregulation and deindustrialization, Hollywood corporate thrillers depicted ambitious heroes gaining admission to a world of C-suites and private jets at the price of their souls.
The Criterion Channel’s May 2026 Lineup
This month, take a peek at movie history through the prism of the ’80s: our collection of the decade’s best remakes and the originals that inspired them reveals an era of wild reinventions and sly revisionism.
Trouble in Paradise: Pure Style
One of Ernst Lubitsch’s favorites among his own films, this delightful pre-Code whodunit exemplifies the director’s signature European worldliness and his ingenious way of drawing viewers in as if they were coconspirators.
