Sometimes it’s like they read your mind—or just notice upcoming releases as you do. Whatever the case, I’m thrilled that the release of Terence Davies’ Benediction played (I assume!) some part in a full retro on the Criterion Channel this June, sad as I know that package will make me and anybody else who comes within ten feet of it. It’s among a handful of career retrospectives: they’ve also set a 12-film Judy Garland series populated by Berkeley and Minnelli, ten from Ulrike Ottinger, and four by Billy Wilder. But maybe their most adventurous idea in some time is a huge microbudget collection ranging from Ulmer’s Detour to Joel Potrykus’ Buzzard, fellow success stories—Nolan, Linklater, Jarmusch, Jia Zhangke—spread about.
Criterion Editions continue with Bertrand Tavernier’s Round Midnight, Double Indemnity, and Seconds, while Chameleon Street, Karen Dalton: In My Own Time, and Fire Music make streaming premieres. And don’t sleep on “Queersighted: The Musical” programming Tsai Ming-liang’s The Hole, hopefully in a better-looking edition than we’ve had for decades
See the full list of June titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
Anything Goes, Lewis Milestone, 1936
Atlantis, Valentyn Vasyanovych, 2019
Babes in Arms, Busby Berkeley, 1939
Beauty and the Beast, Christophe Gans, 2014
Body Heat, Lawrence Kasdan, 1981
Chameleon Street, Wendell B. Harris Jr., 1989
Chamisso’s Shadow, Ulrike Ottinger, 2016
Charlatan, Agnieszka Holland, 2020
Children, Terence Davies, 1976
A Chorus Line, Richard Attenborough, 1985
Cinema Paradiso, Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988
Circumstance, Maryam Keshavarz, 2011
Cleopatra Jones, Jack Starrett, 1973
The Clock, Vincente Minnelli, 1945
The Darkside, Warwick Thornton, 2013
Death and Transfiguration, Terence Davies, 1983
The Deep Blue Sea, Terence Davies, 2011*
Distant Voices, Still Lives, Terence Davies, 1988*
Dorian Gray in the Mirror of the Yellow Press, Ulrike Ottinger, 1984
Double Indemnity, Billy Wilder, 1944
Easter Parade, Charles Walters, 1948
Fannie’s Film, Fronza Woods, 1982
Fire Music, Tom Surgal, 2018
Five Graves to Cairo, Billy Wilder, 1943
For Me and My Gal, Busby Berkeley, 1942
A Foreign Affair, Billy Wilder, 1948
Forbidden Planet, Fred M. Wilcox, 1956
Foxy Brown, Jack Hill, 1974
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Howard Hawks, 1953
Girl Crazy, Norman Taurog, Busby Berkeley, 1943
The Gospel of Eureka, Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher, 2018
Green Bush, Warwick Thornton, 2005
Hansel and Gretel, Len Talan, 1987
The Harvey Girls, George Sidney, 1946
Head On, Ana Kokkinos, 1998
The Hole, Tsai Ming-liang, 1998*
In the Good Old Summertime, Buster Keaton and Robert Z. Leonard, 1949
Joan of Arc of Mongolia, Ulrike Ottinger, 1989
Karen Dalton: In My Own Time, Robert Yapkowitz and Richard Peete, 2020*
Keyboard Fantasies, Posy Dixon, 2019*
Killing Time, Fronza Woods, 1979
Laocoon & Sons, Tabea Blumenschein and Ulrike Ottinger, 1975
Lilting, Hong Khaou, 2014
The Longest Day, Directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, and Bernhard Wicki, 1962
The Lost Weekend, Billy Wilder, 1945
Madame X: An Absolute Ruler, Ulrike Ottinger, 1977
Madonna and Child, Terence Davies, 1980
Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts, Mouly Surya, 2017
Meet Me in St. Louis, Vincente Minnelli, 1944
Mimi, Warwick Thornton, 2002
Nana, Warwick Thornton, 2007
The Neon Bible, Terence Davies, 1995
Of Time and the City, Terence Davies, 2008*
Owd Bob, Rodney Gibbons, 1998
Paris Calligrammes, Ulrike Ottinger, 2020
The Pirate, Vincente Minnelli, 1948
The Poseidon Adventure, Ronald Neame, 1972
Prater, Ulrike Ottinger, 2007
Presenting Lily Mars, Norman Taurog, 1943
A Quiet Passion, Terence Davies, 2016*
’Round Midnight, Bertrand Tavernier, 1986
Samson & Delilah, Warwick Thornton, 2009
Seconds, John Frankenheimer, 1966
Stud Life, Campbell Ex, 2012
Summer Stock, Charles Walters, 1950
Sweet Country, Warwick Thornton, 2017
Taiga, Ulrike Ottinger, 1992
Victor and Victoria, Reinhold Schünzel, 1933
Zero Patience, John Greyson, 1993*
Ziegfeld Girl, Robert Z. Leonard, 1941
*Available in the U.S. only