I honestly never expected Steven Spielberg in a Criterion Channel series––certainly not one that pairs him with Kogonada, anime, and Johnny Mnemonic––but so’s the power of artificial intelligence. Perhaps his greatest film (at this point I don’t need to tell you the title) plays with After Yang, Ghost in the Shell, and pre-Matrix Keanu in July’s aptly titled “AI” boasting also Spike Jonze’s Her, Carpenter’s Dark Star, and Computer Chess. Much more analog is a British Noir collection obviously carrying the likes of Odd Man Out, Night and the City, and The Small Back Room, further filled by Joseph Losey’s Time Without Pity and Basil Dearden’s It Always Rains on Sunday. (No two ways about it: these movies have great titles.) An Elvis retrospective brings six features, and the consensus best (Don Siegel’s Flaming Star) comes September 1.
While Isabella Rossellini participates in an Adventures in Moviegoing lineup, many of her father’s films are getting a unique program. (Friendly tip: prioritize L’amore and India: Matri Bhumi.) Godland, Will-o’-the-Wisp, the Scorsese-presented Eight Deadly Shots, and two films by Masashi Yamamoto make streaming debuts. There’s only one Criterion Edition, but it’s six Once Upon a Time In China films with many features. Kubrick (circa the 1950s), Susan Seidelman, and Stanley Kwan are subject of retrospectives. Mean Streets and Showgirls crop up. Just a crazy month.
Back By Popular Demand
The Last Picture Show, Peter Bogdanovich, 1971
California Split, Robert Altman, 1974
Cutter’s Way, Ivan Passer, 1981
Thief, Michael Mann, 1981
Something Wild, Jonathan Demme, 1986
Ghost World, Terry Zwigoff, 2001
Premiering In July
2046, Wong Kar Wai, 2004
38, Micaela Durand and Daniel Chew, 2021
A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Steven Spielberg, 2001
After Yang, Kogonada, 2021*
All Is Full of Love (Björk music video),Chris Cunningham, 1999
The Barefoot Contessa, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1954
Blue Hawaii, Norman Taurog, 1961
Breathless, Jim McBride, 1983
California Split, Robert Altman, 1974
Civic, Dwayne LeBlanc, 2022
Colossus: The Forbin Project, Joseph Sargent, 1970
Cutter’s Way, Ivan Passer, 1981
Dad’s Dead, Chris Shepherd, 2002
Dangerous Game, Abel Ferrara, 1993
Demon Seed, Donald Cammell, 1977
The Diabolic Tenant, Georges Méliès, 1906
Eight Deadly Shots, Mikko Niskanen, 1972
Ennui ennui, Gabriel Abrantes, 2013
Fear and Desire, 1953
First, Micaela Durand and Daniel Chew, 2017
Funeral, Leah Shore, 2018
Ghost in the Shell, Mamoru Oshii, 1995
Ghost World, Terry Zwigoff, 2001
Hallway, Leah Shore, 2015
Hell Drivers, Cy Endfield, 1957
Her, Spike Jonze, 2013
I Love You So Much, Leah Shore, 2014
The Impossible Voyage, Georges Méliès, 1904
The Infernal Cauldron, Georges Méliès, 1903
The Inventor Crazybrains and His Wonderful Airship, Georges Méliès, 1905
It Always Rains on Sunday, Robert Hamer, 1947
Jailhouse Rock, Richard Thorpe, 1957
Joan of Arc, Georges Méliès, 1900
Johnny Mnemonic, Robert Longo, 1995*
Killer’s Kiss, Stanley Kubrick, 1955
The Killing, Stanley Kubrick, 1956
King Creole, Michael Curtiz, 1958
The Kingdom of the Fairies, Georges Méliès, 1903
The Last Picture Show, Peter Bogdanovich, 1971
Launch, Leah Shore, 2021
Life After BOB: The Chalice Study, Ian Cheng, 2021
Love Me Tender, Robert D. Webb, 1956
Love unto Waste, Stanley Kwan, 1986
Madeline’s Madeline, Josephine Decker, 2018*
Making Mr. Right, Susan Seidelman, 1987
Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese, 1973
Miracles, Jackie Chan, 1989
Mother of George, Andrew Dosunmu, 2013
Negative Two, Micaela Durand and Daniel Chew, 2019
Night and the City, Jules Dassin, 1950
Once Upon a Time in China, Tsui Hark, 1991
Once Upon a Time in China and America, Sammo Hung, 1997
Once Upon a Time in China II, Tsui Hark, 1992
Once Upon a Time in China III, Tsui Hark, 1993
Once Upon a Time in China IV, Yuen Bun, 1993
Once Upon a Time in China V, Tsui Hark, 1994
Os humores artificiais, Gabriel Abrantes, 2016
The Merry Frolics of Satan, Georges Méliès, 1906
Paths of Glory, Stanley Kubrick, 1957
The Pillar of Fire, Georges Méliès, 1899
Pool of London, Basil Dearden, 1951
Puss, Leah Shore, 2021
Rip’s Dream, Georges Méliès, 1905
Robinson Crusoe, Georges Méliès, 1903
Robinson’s Garden, Masashi Yamamoto, 1987
She-Devil, Susan Seidelman, 1989
Showgirls, Paul Verhoeven, 1995
Something Wild, Jonathan Demme, 1986
Summer 1993, Carla Simon, 2017
Teknolust, Lynn Hershman Leeson, 2002
Thief, Michael Mann, 1981
A Trip to the Moon, Georges Méliès, 190
Viva Las Vegas, George Sidney, 1964
What’s Up Connection, Masashi Yamamoto, 1990
Whimsical Illusions, Georges Méliès, 1910
Wild in the Country, Philip Dunne, 1961
Will-o’-the-Wisp, João Pedro Rodrigues, 2022
The Witch, Georges Méliès, 1906
Yield to the Night, J. Lee Thompson, 1956
Zardoz, John Boorman, 1974
*Available in the U.S. only