50 More Greats From The Criterion Channel (July – Dec.)

In part two of my listed greats from the Criterion Collection, some have come from the new releases from The Film Foundation (The Masque Of The Red Death, Bad Day At Black Rock) while others come from a series of underrated and undiscovered areas transcending all genres. Some are Criterion members, others are showing off why they may be considered in the future for Criterionization.

1. Pixote (1981, dir. Hector Barbenco)
2. Make Way For Tomorrow (1937, dir. Leo McCarey)
3. The Burmese Harp (1956, dir. Kon Ichikawa)
4. Carlos (2010, dir. Olivier Assyas)
5. Lucia (1968, dir. Humberto Solas)
6. The Night Of Counting The Years (1969, dir. Shadi Abdel Salam)
7. Black Is…Black Ain’t (1995, dir. Marlon Riggs)
8. Rocco And His Brothers (1960, dir. Luchino Visconti)
9. Duck Soup (1933, dir. Leo McCarey)
10. The Player (1992, dir. Robert Altman)
11. Le Corbeau (1943, dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot)
12. Videodrome (1983, dir. David Cronenberg)
13. The Awful Truth (1937, dir. Leo McCarey)
14. Modern Times (1936, dir. Charlie Chaplain)
15. The Long Voyage Home (1940, dir. John Ford)
16. Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989, dir. Aki Kaurismäki)
17. The Host (2006, dir. Bong Jong-ho)
18. Danton (1983, Andrzej Wajda)
19. The Last Metro (1980, dir. Francois Truffaut)
20. The Masque Of The Red Death (1964, dir. Roger Corman)
21. Primary (1960, dir. Robert Drew)
22. La Vie De Boheme (1992, dir. Aki Kaurismäki)
23. Beau Travail (1999, dir. Claire Denis)
24. Bad Day At Black Rock (1955, dir. John Sturges)
25. A Woman Is A Woman (1961, dir. Jean-Luc Godard)
26. Simon Of The Desert (1965, dir. Luis Buñuel)
27. Wings Of Desire (1987, dir. Wim Wenders)
28. Meantime (1983, dir. Mike Leigh)
29. Shoulder Arms (1918, dir. Charlie Chaplin)
30. Don’s Party (1978, dir. Bruce Beresford) 
31. Coup de Grace (1976, dir. Volker Schlöndorff)
32. King’s Row (1942, dir. Sam Wood)
33. The Organizer (1963, dir. Mario Monicelli)
34. Soleil O (1970, dir. Med Hondo)
35. Grand Prix (1966, dir. John Frankenheimer) 
36. Festival (1967, dir. Murray Lerner)
37. Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968, dir. William Greaves)
38. The Age Of Innocence (1993, dir. Martin Scorsese)
39. Of Mice And Men (1939, dir. Lewis Milestone)
40. Varda by Agnes (2019, dir. Agnes Varda)
41. Tongues Untied (1989, dir. Marlon Riggs)
42. Harlan County U.S.A. (1976, dir. Barbra Kopple)
43. The Squid And The Whale (2005, dir. Noah Baumbach)
44. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936, dir. Frank Capra)
45. The Mattei Affair (1972, dir. Francesco Rosi)
46. Field Niggas (2015, dir. Khalik Allah)
47. Sergeant York (1941, dir. Howard Hawks)
48. Footlight Parade (1933, dir. Lloyd Bacon & Busby Berkeley)
49. Hollywood Shuffle (1987, dir. Robert Townsend)
50. The Wind (1928, dir. Victor Sjöström)

Pixote

It is arguably the rawest film of the neorealism genre because it does not bother to hide the harsh realities that young orphans living in the violent ghettos of Brazil have to go through. Under the sadistic games of the officers in control of them, regardless of age or race, the titular character and his friends have to survive every day either inside or on the streets of Brazil doing anything to survive, whether it’s thefts or pimping a prostitute. Héctor Babenco, who would later reach acclaim with Kiss Of The Spider Woman and Ironweed, put it all out there with a remarkable piece of genuine life that these kids have to deal with and remain so to this day in Brazil.

Leningrad Cowboys Go America

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Beo_qumx5Pw

Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s road comedy follows a Russian band with out-of-date hairstyles and large, odd boots who, in the mood of new freedoms, decide to seek new fame in the USA. This band of eccentric goofballs, maybe the worst band in rock-and-roll history, starts at the legendary CBGB club and proceeds to travel cross-country playing anywhere they can, and it creates an unusual marriage where the East is greeted with a restrained approval. But the highbrow comedy coming from their faraway homes brings a niche that many can catch on to that formed the band, a fictitious one in that which became real after the success of Go America and its sequel, Meet Moses, makes it a delightful, underrated piece of international cultural diplomacy.

Simon Of The Desert

Luis Bunuel’s 45-minute surrealist picture is another funny charge against the iron throes of Spain’s deeply religious institutions, mocking the religious life of Symeon the Stylite, who lived on a pillar for many years. In his last film shot in Mexico, Simon is a man who vows chastity and refuses all temptations. But Satan’s appearance is farcical, mocking the fear of the devil, especially when the sin of lust tries to get Simon off. It’s one of his most accessible films even if you are not Catholic or religious and its short running time – due to the production running out of money – gives a good dose of Bunuel’s commentary about so-called morals.

Tongues Untied

One of the biggest exposures from the Channel is the world and work of the late Marlon Riggs, who died of AIDS at just 37. His work was dedicated to themes of sexuality and African-American life, especially combined, as Riggs was a gay Black man who documented major racism and homophobia towards gay Black men. With movies like Color Adjustment and his posthumously released Black Is…Black Ain’t, Riggs caused a stir with his 1989 documentary on racial identity in the LGBT community and was broadcast on PBS with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. In Reagan’s era, the Christian right and major politicians condemned the broadcast as pornography, but thanks to their public criticism, it brought the film more publicity than it would have gotten normally.

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