Criterion on Hulu
A support group for those of us who spend $8 a month for access to some of the greatest films ever made, yet somehow always end up watching last week's American Ninja Warrior instead.
Posts for this club should be tagged: criteriononhulu_club.
February 22
Movie: Colossal Youth
After the Portuguese government demolishes his slum and relocates him to a housing project on the outskirts of Lisbon, 75-year-old Cape Verde immigrant Ventura wanders between his new and old homes, reconnecting with people from his past. [more inside]
February 14
Movie: A Woman Under the Influence
John Cassavetes' devastating drama details the emotional breakdown of a suburban housewife and her family's struggle to help her. Starring Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands as a married couple deeply in love yet unable to express that love in terms the other can understand, the film is an uncompromising portrait of domestic turmoil. [more inside]
January 31
Criterion On Hulu 2016
After taking some time off for the holidays, and then taking another month off for good measure, we're ready to fire up the Criterion On Hulu club for the new(-ish) year. This thread is for folks who'd like to suggest upcoming films. [more inside]
December 2
Movie: Early Summer
A family chooses a match for their daughter Noriko, but she, surprisingly, has her own plans. [more inside]
November 25
Movie: Late Spring
Noriko is twenty-seven years old and still living with her widowed father. Everybody tries to talk her into marrying, but Noriko wants to stay at home caring for her father. [more inside]
November 23
Movie: Le Million
René Clair's 1931 musical comedy features an impoverished painter and his rival racing across Paris to recover a jacket concealing a winning lottery ticket. [more inside]
November 17
Movie: 8½
In Fellini's 1963 Italian comedy-drama, Marcello Mastroianni stars as film director Guido Anselmi. Suffering from "director's block" during production of his new semi-autobiographical science fiction film, Anselmi has lost interest amid artistic and marital difficulties. As he struggles half-heartedly to work on the film, a series of flashbacks and dreams delve into his memories and fantasies are frequently interwoven with reality. [more inside]
November 8
Movie: The Young Girls of Rochefort
Over one summer weekend, a carnival troupe comes to the southern French city of Rochefort. There, they meet cafe owner Yvonne, her musical twin daughters Delphine and Solange, their baby brother BooBoo, and romantic poet/sailor Maxence. Missed connections, happy reunions, and the arrest of a notorious serial killer ensue. [more inside]
November 1
Movie: House (ハウス Hausu)
"How to describe Nobuhiko Obayashi’s indescribable 1977 movie House (Hausu)? As a psychedelic ghost tale? A stream-of-consciousness bedtime story? An episode of Scooby-Doo as directed by Mario Bava? Any of the above will do for this hallucinatory head trip about a schoolgirl who travels with six classmates to her ailing aunt’s creaky country home and comes face-to-face with evil spirits, a demonic house cat, a bloodthirsty piano, and other ghoulish visions, all realized by Obayashi via mattes, animation, and collage effects. Equally absurd and nightmarish, House might have been beamed to Earth from some other planet." Available on Criterion DVD & Blu-ray, Hulu, iTunes, and Amazon Instant Video. [more inside]
October 26
Movie: The 3 Penny Opera
Master criminal Mackie Messer, alias Mack the Knife, marries the savvy Polly Peachum the day he meets her and by doing so angers Polly's father, the "king of the beggars." G.W. Pabst's film adaptation of Brecht and Weill's smash theatrical hit of the Weimar era sports landmark sound design for the time and some unforgettable performances. [more inside]
October 19
Movie: The Passion of Joan of Arc
Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1928 silent film was based on the actual record of the heresy trial of Jeanne d'Arc and the efforts of ecclesiastical jurists to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions. Featuring a breathtaking performance from Renée Jeanne Falconetti, it's widely regarded as a landmark of cinema. [more inside]
October 18
Halloween weekend: Let's watch HOUSE (ハウス Hausu)!
This Halloween, the Strange Club and the Criterion On Hulu club are teaming up for a joint discussion of the absolutely bonkers 1977 Japanese horror film House. [more inside]
October 16
Movie: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
A lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. However, something happens that changes her safe routine. [more inside]
October 12
Movie: The Stranger
In Satyajit Ray's final film, an enigmatic man who claims to be a long-lost uncle visits a family in Calcutta and regales them with stories of his travels around the world. Available to stream commercial free to Hulu subscribers here. [more inside]
October 9
Movie: The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
A young woman's life is scrutinized by police and tabloid press after she spends the night with a suspected terrorist. [more inside]
October 5
Movie: Breathless
Wanted by the authorities, a small-time thief reunites with a hip American journalism student and attempts to persuade her to run away with him to Italy. [more inside]
September 28
Movie: Stranger Than Paradise
Willie (John Lurie), his pal Eddie (Richard Edson), and visiting sixteen-year-old cousin Eva (Eszter Balint) always manage to make the least of any situation, whether aimlessly traversing the drab interiors and environs of New York City, Cleveland, or an anonymous Florida suburb. With its delicate humor and dramatic nonchalance, Jim Jarmusch’s one-of-a-kind minimalist masterpiece transformed the landscape of American independent cinema. [more inside]
September 20
Movie: Bicycle Thieves
A man and his son search for a stolen bicycle vital for his job. (Known as The Bicycle Thief in the US.) [more inside]
September 19
Movie: To Be or Not to Be
In Ernst Lubitsch's bracing black comedy, an acting troupe becomes embroiled in a Polish soldier's efforts to track down a German spy. Starring Jack Benny, Carole Lombard (in her final film role), and a surprisingly beautiful Robert Stack. [more inside]
September 13
Movie: L'Atalante
A barge captain marries a young country girl, and the two climb aboard the L’Atalante—otherwise populated by an earthy first mate and a multitude of cats—to embark on their new life together.
September 11
Movie: Sing, Young People!
A college student receives a surprising offer to be a movie star. [more inside]
September 7
Movie: Tears on the Lion's Mane
Also known as A Flame At the Pier, Takashi Fujiki stars as a rebel in this drama about life on the Yokohama waterfront by New Wave director Masahiro Shinoda. The rebel works as an errand boy for a shipping company and vents his frustrations by plucking on the guitar. His interpretations of popular trends in music are sometimes right-on, and sometimes not exactly. Bereft of his guitar, the rebel's modes of expression are not as effective in generating interest as the Yokohama docks themselves, a fascinating world in their own right. [via]
(Available to stream commercial-free to Hulu subscribers here.) [more inside]
September 4
Movie: La Bête Humaine
Le Havre, 1938. A train engineer falls in love with a married woman with a secret: she has helped her husband commit a murder. But the engineer has dark secrets of his own. Doink doink! [more inside]
August 31
Movie: Woman in the Dunes
An entomologist and educator visiting a poor seaside village misses the last bus back to Tokyo, and some of the local villagers offer him a place to stay: the home of a young woman, whose house is located at the bottom of a sand pit accessible only by ladder. (Available to stream commercial-free to Hulu subscribers here, and to rent from iTunes and Amazon.) [more inside]
August 28
Movie: Pickpocket
This incomparable tale of crime and redemption follows Michel, a young pickpocket who spends his days working the streets, subway cars, and train stations of Paris. As his compulsion grows, however, so too does his fear that his luck is about to run out. [more inside]
August 24
Movie: Touki Bouki
Mory, a cowherd, and Anta, a university student, try to make money in order to go to Paris and leave their boring past behind. Part of the Criterion on Hulu Film Club.
August 21
Movie: Pandora's Box
Louise Brooks stars in this 1929 silent film as the fiery, brash, yet innocent showgirl Lulu, whose beauty and vivacity has a devastating effect on everyone she comes in contact with. Available to stream commercial-free on Hulu or on YouTube. [more inside]
August 17
Movie: Cléo from 5 to 7
While waiting two hours for the results of a biopsy, a French singer visits a fortune teller; drinks coffee and buys a new hat with her housekeeper; is visited by her lover and her composers; visits her model friend; and has a brief affair with a military man. (Available to watch commercial-free for Hulu subscribers here, and to rent from iTunes here.) [more inside]
August 14
Movie: I Am Waiting
In this Japanese drama from 1957, a former boxer gets involved with a club hostess trying to escape the clutches of her gangster employer. [more inside]
August 10
Movie: The Naked Island
A family of four are the sole inhabitants of a small island, where they struggle each day to irrigate their crops. [more inside]
August 7
Movie: Chafed Elbows
Hapless Walter Dinsmore undergoes his annual November breakdown at the 1954 World’s Fair, has a love affair with his mother, recollects his hysterectomy operation, impersonates a cop, is sold as a piece of living art, goes to heaven, and becomes the singer in a rock band. (But not necessarily in that order.) [more inside]
August 3
Movie: The Spirit of the Beehive
A sensitive seven-year-old girl living in 1940 in a small Spanish village drifts into her own fantasy world after viewing "Frankenstein." Available to watch commercial-free for Hulu subscribers here, and to rent from iTunes here. [more inside]
July 27
Movie: The Earrings of Madame de...
In 19th century France, the wife of a wealthy general pays off her debts by selling the earrings her husband gave her on their wedding day, then claims to have lost them. Available to stream commercial-free to Hulu subscribers here. [more inside]
July 24
Movie: Au Revoir Les Enfants
During World War II, two rival boys at a French boarding school eventually form a bond and share a heavy secret. Directed by Louis Malle, this largely autobiographical film won the Golden Lion at the 1987 Venice Film Festival. [more inside]
July 20
Movie: L'Assassin Habite au 21
In this 1942 French comedy-thriller, a detective goes on the prowl for a murderer who manages to be everywhere at once. Also known as The Murderer Lives At Number 21. Available to stream commercial-free to Hulu subscribers here. [more inside]
July 17
Movie: The Last Metro
In Truffaut's 1980 film, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis while doing both of their jobs. [more inside]
July 13
Movie: Seven Samurai
A village of farmers hires seven masterless samurai to combat bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops. Available to stream commercial-free to Hulu subscribers here; the film is also available for rent from iTunes, Amazon, and YouTube. [more inside]
July 12
Criterion Free Movie Of The Week
Every week, Criterion makes a different selection of films available for free to non-Hulu subscribers. In response, the Criterion On Hulu film club is expanding to a second film per week, pulled from that week's free offerings, with the film under discussion being open to a vote. [more inside]
July 8
Seven Samurai
Hey, we're watching Seven Samurai, one of the most influential films in filmic history, and discussing it on Monday. Want to join in the discussion? It's on Hulu Plus, or available as a DVD on Netflix, or almost certainly at your local library. Check it out and join in the discussion! [more inside]
July 6
Movie: Hobson's Choice
Henry Hobson runs a successful bootmaker's shop in nineteenth-century Salford. A widower with a weakness for the pub opposite, he tries forcefully to run the lives of his three unruly ...
June 29
Movie: Au Hasard Balthazar
J. Hoberman: "Robert Bresson's heartbreaking and magnificent Au Hasard Balthazar, the story of life and death in rural France, is the supreme masterpiece by one of the greatest of 20th-century filmmakers." [more inside]
June 22
Movie: The Devil and Daniel Webster
A nineteenth-century New Hampshire farmer who makes a compact with Satan for economic success enlists Daniel Webster to extract him from his contract. A retelling of the Faust legend, the film is based on the Stephen Vincent Benét short story of the same name. Available to stream commercial-free on Hulu Plus, and for rent from Amazon and iTunes. [more inside]
June 15
Upcoming Criterion films
Hi folks who like to watch Criterion films on Hulu and talk about them here... I wonder if we could throw out some ideas for upcoming films and take the temperature of what people are most interested in watching together. Maybe just name a couple Criterion/Hulu films you'd like to see, and if others are interested they can favorite or make a comment indicating support. Then we can schedule a few of the movies that seem to have the most support.
June 14
Movie: Daisies
"Věra Chytilová’s 1966 film Daisies is a madcap, Dadaist explosion of a movie that represents the Czech New Wave at its most formally radical and kookily captivating." (Michael Koresky) [more inside]
June 7
Movie: Tokyo Story
Yasujirō Ozu's 1953 drama tells the story of an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. It is widely regarded as Ozu's masterpiece and is often cited as one of the greatest films ever made. The film can be streamed commercial-free by Hulu Plus subscribers here, and it is also available to rent on iTunes and on Amazon Instant Video. [more inside]
May 28
Criterion on Hulu
So I just created a new club based around watching the Criterion films that are streamed on Hulu Plus. I know that Fanfare clubs are anarchist collectives with no gods or kings, but here's the FAQ I would have written if I were the leader of the club. Which I'm not. [more inside]