Criterion Channel Diary: September
By Austin Johnson
I watched a real random bunch of shit in September on Criterion Channel. Here’s the list…
Fantastic Planet (1973) - 10
Guard Dog (2004)
Guide Dog (2005)
Hot Dog (2008)
Horn Dog (2009)
Sun Don’t Shine (2012) - 8
Sanshiro Sugata (1943) - 8
Pinball (2013)
The Wise Kids (2011) - 9
Kuroneko (1968) - 9
Hamlet (1948) - 7
Onna (1948) - 8
Gate of Hell (1953) - 9
Code Unknown (2000) - 9
Faces of November (1964)
Hunger (2008) - 10
Boyhood (2014) - 10
Time of Your Life (2015)
Through the Years (2015)
Twelve Years (2015)
Always Now (2015)
Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party (2015) - 9
Princess Cyd (2017) - 8
Stephen Cone Interview (2020)
Closely Watched Trains (1966) - 8
A Well-Spent Life (1971)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) - 8
Lenny (1974) - 9
Fantastic Planet is one of the coolest animated films I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely for young adults and adults because of the themes within it, but I was blown away by the sights and sounds the same way animated films did to me as a kid. The score provided by Alain Goraguer is fucking mind boggling and one of the tracks, "Ten Et Tiwa Dorment," was sampled by Mac Miller on his mixtape from 2014, Faces. He is one of my all time favorite rappers and Faces is probably my favorite project he made. Rest In Peace, Easy Mac.
In August, I watched 10 shorts created by Bill Plympton. In September, I watched 4 more and continue to fall in love with the man’s work. I saved a specific four because they all have the word ‘dog’ in the title. Guard, Guide, Hot, and Horn Dog. I highly highly suggest avid fans of animation to check his stuff out.
After diving back into Plympton’s bizarre work, I watched Sun Don’t Shine, which caught my attention at the top of the homepage on the Criterion Channel app. It’s a really simple but unique film set in central Florida, which is the home of the writer/director, Amy Seimetz. It’s a mysterious film that features a lot of up close camera work, so I know it’s not for everyone but I enjoyed it.
Akira Kurosawa is a director that I need to keep watching because I see genius stuff every time. I watched Snow Trail and Drunken Angel on Criterion a few months ago and I’ll continue to revisit his work as long as it is on the app. Sanshiro Sugata was Kurosawa’s directorial debut and a pretty strong one at that, but Drunken Angel is the best one I’ve seen so far.
I threw on a random short called Pinball right after watching Sanshiro Sugata. It’s a really cool project featuring a bunch of abstract art done by Suzan Pitt. I felt inspired within seconds and it’s something I highly suggest if you like the art of short films.
After Pinball came a very observant and subtle film called The Wise Kids from the “Three by Stephen Cone'' section which was written and directed by, you guessed it, Stephen Cone. He also acts as one of the supporting cast members and I’m definitely going to check out more of his work. The Wise Kids tells the story of multiple perspectives within a Baptist church in South Carolina. I’m not from the east coast, nor did I attend a Baptist church growing up but I did go to church/youth groups a lot and The Wise Kids captures that universal awkwardness that comes with a churchy youth group setting.
I kept it rollin’ with a sure fire selection from the “Criterion Edition” section called Kuroneko from 1968, which is one of the more impressive horror films when it comes to atmosphere. Written and directed by Kaneto Shindo, Kuroneko tells the story of two women who are raped and murdered by samurai soldiers, but come back as ghosts to haunt samurai soldiers forever. I highly recommend it to dedicated horror fans.
The next two films I watched both come from 1948. Hamlet and Onna. I watched Hamlet because we covered it on episode 16 of Oscar Sunday and I watched the Japanese drama, Onna for some extra ‘48 flavor. Honestly, I like Onna quite a bit more than Hamlet even though the latter won Best Picture at the 21st Academy Awards.
Speaking of the Oscars, there’s a section on the Criterion Channel app called “Best Foreign Language Winners”. That’s a section built for fans like me who love aspects of the Oscars but want to seek out more foreign films. I went for Teinosuke Kinugasa’s Gate of Hell from 1953 which won Best Costume Design and then got an honorary award for Best Foreign Film because the Academy didn’t have a proper foreign film category just yet. I really enjoyed it and it will for sure make an appearance on Oscar Sunday one day.
This streaming service is so loaded and I’m really glad I stumbled upon Code Unknown while scrolling through shit after watching Gate of Hell. I knew I was in love with Code Unknown after minutes because of the subtlety and how it’s filmed. Michael Haneke had already blown me away with Amour, but now I need to see everything he has written or directed. It’s that kind of a film and I’d be a fool not to mention the cinematographer, Jürgen Jürges. He did some genius work on Code Unknown.
I don’t have very much political knowledge but I am fascinated by political documentaries and it’s the best way for me to learn. Faces of November is a 12 minute doc showcasing some devastating moments at JFK’s funeral in November of 1963. It’s one of those things that should be shown in American history classes. I sought Robert’s Drew’s Faces of November out because I’ve read that it is thought provoking, which is an understatement.
After that came the Irish based political film directed by Steve McQueen, Hunger which is his directorial debut and my personal favorite of his filmography. I see Michael Fassbender’s performance as Bobby Sands in Hunger to be one of the best individual efforts of all time. It’s simply a must see.
Richard Linklater’s Boyhood from 2014 is very dear to my heart and will always be one of my all time favorite films. The Criterion Channel added Boyhood and then a collection of shorts and interviews revolving around the film. I got pretty lost in the collection as I watched nearly everything in it. If you like Linklater and Boyhood then I highly suggest diving into it because of the closeness you feel when hearing people talk about working with the same crew for 12 years.
After learning a shit ton about the production of Boyhood, I watched the other two films from the “Three by Stephen Cone” section. Cone clearly has a calling to tell stories about sexual identity within a Christian environment. Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party takes place over less than 24 hours and I’m a sucker for that kind of filmmaking. Princess Cyd is a unique lesbian flick and it’s safe to say that I have found a new director that I’m going to be sharing with my friends and enjoying on my own for years to come.
I watched Closely Watched Trains because it won Best Foreign Language Film at the 40th Academy Awards which was where we lived for episode 17 on Oscar Sunday. It’s a hilarious and timeless Czechoslovakian film written and directed by Jiri Menzel. I wanted extra perspective for that episode because the base film was In the Heat of the Night which won Best Picture at the 40th Academy Awards. After watching Closely Watched Trains, I think it’s safe to say that it deserved 1 of the 5 Best Picture spots.
One of the strongest sections on the Criterion Channel right now is the “Black Lives” section. I’ve checked out a few films from it and decided to try another one out after watching my first Czechoslovakian film. This time it was A Well-Spent Life, which is a 1971 documentary about Mance Lipscomb, a songwriter and genius guitarist from Texas. It’s certainly a must see for Texas historians and fans of blues music.
I followed that Texan ass documentary by watching an Alfred Hitchcock film because why not? I haven’t seen enough of his filmography, but The Man Who Knew Too Much just added to my belief in Hitchcock being able to churn out entertaining films nonstop. He was the definition of prolific and the crime thriller I watched from 1934 is in the “British Hitchcock” section which contains 7 films directed by Alfred in the late 20’s and 30’s. It’s fucking fantastic.
The last film I watched in September was Lenny from 1974, which features my favorite Dustin Hoffman performance of all time. It’s a very well done biopic that bounces around stand up comedian, Lenny Bruce’s chaotic and short life. Lenny’s style of comedy was bonkers and got him arrested a few times during the late 50’s and 60’s and the film reflects that so it’s not for everyone. I love the 70’s and the wild shit that was going on in filmmaking, so it’s right up my alley.
I watched 16 films, 6 shorts, 5 documentaries, and 1 Stephen Cone interview in September. I’ve got 4 recommendations and 5 personals, and I’ve recently been on an It’s Always Sunny kick so I’ll see you bozos next month.
Recommendations
1. Faces of November
2. Hunger
3. Gate of Hell
4. Lenny
Personals
1. Boyhood
2. Fantastic Planet
3. Kuroneko
4. Code Unknown
5. Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party
Fantastic Planet (1973) - 10
Guard Dog (2004)
Guide Dog (2005)
Hot Dog (2008)
Horn Dog (2009)
Sun Don’t Shine (2012) - 8
Sanshiro Sugata (1943) - 8
Pinball (2013)
The Wise Kids (2011) - 9
Kuroneko (1968) - 9
Hamlet (1948) - 7
Onna (1948) - 8
Gate of Hell (1953) - 9
Code Unknown (2000) - 9
Faces of November (1964)
Hunger (2008) - 10
Boyhood (2014) - 10
Time of Your Life (2015)
Through the Years (2015)
Twelve Years (2015)
Always Now (2015)
Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party (2015) - 9
Princess Cyd (2017) - 8
Stephen Cone Interview (2020)
Closely Watched Trains (1966) - 8
A Well-Spent Life (1971)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) - 8
Lenny (1974) - 9
Fantastic Planet is one of the coolest animated films I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely for young adults and adults because of the themes within it, but I was blown away by the sights and sounds the same way animated films did to me as a kid. The score provided by Alain Goraguer is fucking mind boggling and one of the tracks, "Ten Et Tiwa Dorment," was sampled by Mac Miller on his mixtape from 2014, Faces. He is one of my all time favorite rappers and Faces is probably my favorite project he made. Rest In Peace, Easy Mac.
In August, I watched 10 shorts created by Bill Plympton. In September, I watched 4 more and continue to fall in love with the man’s work. I saved a specific four because they all have the word ‘dog’ in the title. Guard, Guide, Hot, and Horn Dog. I highly highly suggest avid fans of animation to check his stuff out.
After diving back into Plympton’s bizarre work, I watched Sun Don’t Shine, which caught my attention at the top of the homepage on the Criterion Channel app. It’s a really simple but unique film set in central Florida, which is the home of the writer/director, Amy Seimetz. It’s a mysterious film that features a lot of up close camera work, so I know it’s not for everyone but I enjoyed it.
Akira Kurosawa is a director that I need to keep watching because I see genius stuff every time. I watched Snow Trail and Drunken Angel on Criterion a few months ago and I’ll continue to revisit his work as long as it is on the app. Sanshiro Sugata was Kurosawa’s directorial debut and a pretty strong one at that, but Drunken Angel is the best one I’ve seen so far.
I threw on a random short called Pinball right after watching Sanshiro Sugata. It’s a really cool project featuring a bunch of abstract art done by Suzan Pitt. I felt inspired within seconds and it’s something I highly suggest if you like the art of short films.
After Pinball came a very observant and subtle film called The Wise Kids from the “Three by Stephen Cone'' section which was written and directed by, you guessed it, Stephen Cone. He also acts as one of the supporting cast members and I’m definitely going to check out more of his work. The Wise Kids tells the story of multiple perspectives within a Baptist church in South Carolina. I’m not from the east coast, nor did I attend a Baptist church growing up but I did go to church/youth groups a lot and The Wise Kids captures that universal awkwardness that comes with a churchy youth group setting.
I kept it rollin’ with a sure fire selection from the “Criterion Edition” section called Kuroneko from 1968, which is one of the more impressive horror films when it comes to atmosphere. Written and directed by Kaneto Shindo, Kuroneko tells the story of two women who are raped and murdered by samurai soldiers, but come back as ghosts to haunt samurai soldiers forever. I highly recommend it to dedicated horror fans.
The next two films I watched both come from 1948. Hamlet and Onna. I watched Hamlet because we covered it on episode 16 of Oscar Sunday and I watched the Japanese drama, Onna for some extra ‘48 flavor. Honestly, I like Onna quite a bit more than Hamlet even though the latter won Best Picture at the 21st Academy Awards.
Speaking of the Oscars, there’s a section on the Criterion Channel app called “Best Foreign Language Winners”. That’s a section built for fans like me who love aspects of the Oscars but want to seek out more foreign films. I went for Teinosuke Kinugasa’s Gate of Hell from 1953 which won Best Costume Design and then got an honorary award for Best Foreign Film because the Academy didn’t have a proper foreign film category just yet. I really enjoyed it and it will for sure make an appearance on Oscar Sunday one day.
This streaming service is so loaded and I’m really glad I stumbled upon Code Unknown while scrolling through shit after watching Gate of Hell. I knew I was in love with Code Unknown after minutes because of the subtlety and how it’s filmed. Michael Haneke had already blown me away with Amour, but now I need to see everything he has written or directed. It’s that kind of a film and I’d be a fool not to mention the cinematographer, Jürgen Jürges. He did some genius work on Code Unknown.
I don’t have very much political knowledge but I am fascinated by political documentaries and it’s the best way for me to learn. Faces of November is a 12 minute doc showcasing some devastating moments at JFK’s funeral in November of 1963. It’s one of those things that should be shown in American history classes. I sought Robert’s Drew’s Faces of November out because I’ve read that it is thought provoking, which is an understatement.
After that came the Irish based political film directed by Steve McQueen, Hunger which is his directorial debut and my personal favorite of his filmography. I see Michael Fassbender’s performance as Bobby Sands in Hunger to be one of the best individual efforts of all time. It’s simply a must see.
Richard Linklater’s Boyhood from 2014 is very dear to my heart and will always be one of my all time favorite films. The Criterion Channel added Boyhood and then a collection of shorts and interviews revolving around the film. I got pretty lost in the collection as I watched nearly everything in it. If you like Linklater and Boyhood then I highly suggest diving into it because of the closeness you feel when hearing people talk about working with the same crew for 12 years.
After learning a shit ton about the production of Boyhood, I watched the other two films from the “Three by Stephen Cone” section. Cone clearly has a calling to tell stories about sexual identity within a Christian environment. Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party takes place over less than 24 hours and I’m a sucker for that kind of filmmaking. Princess Cyd is a unique lesbian flick and it’s safe to say that I have found a new director that I’m going to be sharing with my friends and enjoying on my own for years to come.
I watched Closely Watched Trains because it won Best Foreign Language Film at the 40th Academy Awards which was where we lived for episode 17 on Oscar Sunday. It’s a hilarious and timeless Czechoslovakian film written and directed by Jiri Menzel. I wanted extra perspective for that episode because the base film was In the Heat of the Night which won Best Picture at the 40th Academy Awards. After watching Closely Watched Trains, I think it’s safe to say that it deserved 1 of the 5 Best Picture spots.
One of the strongest sections on the Criterion Channel right now is the “Black Lives” section. I’ve checked out a few films from it and decided to try another one out after watching my first Czechoslovakian film. This time it was A Well-Spent Life, which is a 1971 documentary about Mance Lipscomb, a songwriter and genius guitarist from Texas. It’s certainly a must see for Texas historians and fans of blues music.
I followed that Texan ass documentary by watching an Alfred Hitchcock film because why not? I haven’t seen enough of his filmography, but The Man Who Knew Too Much just added to my belief in Hitchcock being able to churn out entertaining films nonstop. He was the definition of prolific and the crime thriller I watched from 1934 is in the “British Hitchcock” section which contains 7 films directed by Alfred in the late 20’s and 30’s. It’s fucking fantastic.
The last film I watched in September was Lenny from 1974, which features my favorite Dustin Hoffman performance of all time. It’s a very well done biopic that bounces around stand up comedian, Lenny Bruce’s chaotic and short life. Lenny’s style of comedy was bonkers and got him arrested a few times during the late 50’s and 60’s and the film reflects that so it’s not for everyone. I love the 70’s and the wild shit that was going on in filmmaking, so it’s right up my alley.
I watched 16 films, 6 shorts, 5 documentaries, and 1 Stephen Cone interview in September. I’ve got 4 recommendations and 5 personals, and I’ve recently been on an It’s Always Sunny kick so I’ll see you bozos next month.
Recommendations
1. Faces of November
2. Hunger
3. Gate of Hell
4. Lenny
Personals
1. Boyhood
2. Fantastic Planet
3. Kuroneko
4. Code Unknown
5. Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party