Founded in 1984 in New York, the Criterion Collection re-releases films that have already been released on DVD or Blu-Ray, with new formats and special features. That may not sound like a big deal, but the films they pick include some of the finest and the “classics,” which every movie fan should see. From contemporary auteurs like Wes Anderson (whose entire filmography, with the exception of “Moonrise Kingdom” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” is in the Collection) to Alfred Hitchcock thrillers like “The 39 Steps” and “The Lady Vanishes,” from westerns like “My Darling Clementine” and “Red River” to musicals like “All That Jazz” and “Hard Day’s Night,” the Criterion Collection is a movie lover’s dream, and provides an excellent opportunity to expand their horizons into the past.
The Criterion Collection is easy to find, as they occupy a part in the movie section of Barnes and Noble and are online at their website. Twice a year – typically in July and either November or December – Barnes and Noble has a Criterion sale, and many titles are upwards of 50 percent off. For any movie fanatic, this is a great opportunity to expand their collection while also seeing something different. It’s a chance to see where today’s Hollywood comes from.
I currently have two Criterions: 1954’s “On the Waterfront,” with Marlon Brando as a longshoreman caught up in union corruption, and 2001’s “The Royal Tenenbaums,” where a dysfunctional family reunites when their patriarch announces his terminal illness. I had never seen either of them before I picked them up at a Criterion sale, and both have quickly become two of my favorite movies.
That is what the Criterion Collection – whose next batch of releases includes the Federico Fellini classic “La Dolce Vita” and the first comedy to win Best Picture, “It Happened One Night” – sets out to do: give movie fans a chance to expand their horizons. It won’t let the classics fade away, and gives everyone a chance to take a look at some of Hollywood’s unsung gems.
