John Waters’ films are inseparable from John Waters’ presence, making fitting the Criterion Channel’s decision to pair an eight-film retrospective (Multiple Maniacs to Cecil B. Demented) with his own “Adventures in Moviegoing” wherein the director extols virtues of Bergman, Chabrol, Barbara Loden, and Samuel Fuller. His own Polyester will have a Criterion Edition alongside the Bob Dylan doc Don’t Look Back, an iconic film in its own right and, I think, fitting companion to The Unknown with Lon Chaney, also streaming on Criterion. No Country for Old Men and Election receive likewise treatment; the latter appears in “MTV Productions,” a series featuring Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, The Original Kings of Comedy, and (coming close to Freddy Got Fingered for least-expected 2024 addition) Jackass: the Movie. Hitchcock and pre-code Columbia have retrospectives if you need something to put on while family bother you during Christmas.

Meanwhile, Wim Wenders’ Room 666 and Lubna Playoust’s companion Room 999 make streaming premieres alongside Terrestrial Verses. Three films by Kenji Misumi and three films by Dónal Foreman are programmed, about the only thing they likely have in common, while restorations of Phantasm, Bleak Moments, Bushman, Le pont du nord, and L’amour fou debut. Kindly note, too, The Assassin and Benedetta among recent arthouse hits.

See the full list of December titles below:

12 Monkeys, Terry Gilliam, 1995*

Adelheid, František Vláčil, 1970

L’amour fou, Jacques Rivette, 1969

The Assassin, Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Mike Judge, 1996*

Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven, 2021*

Bleak Moments, Mike Leigh, 1971

Bushman, David Schickele, 1971

Case for a Rookie Hangman, Pavel Juráček, 1970

Cecil B. Demented, John Waters, 2000

Cry-Baby, John Waters, 1990*

The Cry of Granuaile, Dónal Foreman, 2022

Déjà Vu, Tony Scott, 2006

Desperate Living, John Waters, 1977

The Devil’s Trap, František Vláčil, 1962

Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly, 2001

Election, Alexander Payne, 1999

Female Trouble, John Waters, 1974

Forbidden, Frank Capra, 1932

Four Murders Are Enough, Darling, Oldřich Lipský, 1971

Frenzy, Alfred Hitchcock, 1972

Hairspray, John Waters, 1988

The Hop-Pickers, Ladislav Rychman, 1964

The Image You Missed, Dónal Foreman, 2018

Jackass: The Movie, Jeff Tremaine, 2002*

Ken, Kenji Misumi, 1964

Kenki, Kenji Misumi, 1965

Kiru, Kenji Misumi, 1962

Ladies of Leisure, Frank Capra, 1930

The Lady Eve, Preston Sturges, 1941

Man’s Castle, Frank Borzage, 1933

Memento, Christopher Nolan, 2000

Mind Game, Masaaki Yuasa, 2004

Mulholland Dr., David Lynch, 2001

No Country for Old Men, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, 2007*

North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock, 1959

The Original Kings of Comedy, Spike Lee, 2000*

Out of Here, Dónal Foreman, 2013

Party Girl, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, 1995

Phantasm, Don Coscarelli, 1979

Polyester, John Waters, 1981

Le Pont du Nord, Jacques Rivette, 1981

Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock, 1954

Room 666, Wim Wenders, 1982

Room 999, Lubna Playoust, 2023

Rope, Alfred Hitchcock, 1948

Run Lola Run, Tom Tykwer, 1998

Saboteur, Alfred Hitchcock, 1942

Serial Mom, John Waters, 1994*

Shadow of a Doubt, Alfred Hitchcock, 1943

Shopworn, Nick Grinde, 1932

Strangers on a Train, Alfred Hitchcock, 1951

Suspicion, Alfred Hitchcock, 1941

Ten Cents a Dance, Lionel Barrymore, 1931

Terrestrial Verses, Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami, 2023

Three Wise Girls, William Beaudine, 1932

Topaz, Alfred Hitchcock, 1969

Torn Curtain, Alfred Hitchcock, 1966

The Unfortunate Bridegroom, Jiří Krejčík, 1967

The Valley of the Bees, František Vláčil, 1968

Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock, 1958

Virtue, Edward Buzzell, 1932

The White Dove, František Vláčil, 1960

The Wrong Man, Alfred Hitchcock, 1956

Yentl, Barbra Streisand, 1983

*Available in the U.S. only

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