By Well into the summer now, the Criterion Channel brings iconic American legend John Huston to the streaming screen this August, with a series dedicated to the audacious and adventurous Hollywood icon. The films speak for themselves; bringing the likes of Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Key Largo to life, perpetuating the Humphrey Bogart mystique–not to mention later career romps like The Man Who Would Be King–Huston is on the Mount Rushmore of Hollywood, and the Channel’s spotlight this August feels well deserved.
But really, I’m here for the pastries. I’ve seen my fair share of Hegedus/Pennebaker films, but Kings of Pastry appeals to the foodie in me instantly, and should be a great first time watch this month.
A slew of great Budd Boetticher westerns and some recent work from Japanese contemporary Kiyoshi Kurosawa are also big personal highlights. Kurosawa is someone who is so good yet feels under-discussed, and To the Ends of the Earth breaks from his frequent genre deconstructions to offer a lonely portrait of a woman immersed in a foreign country.
Also very cool is an August Criterion spotlight on Lee Isaac Chung, who recently came to the attention of many through Minari this past Oscar season. With so many taken by Minari‘s quiet and tender family drama, the Channel is providing a great avenue to explore Chung’s backlog. A little history goes a long way!
It’s another varied bunch this August, the Criterion Channel continually offering sights new and old for tastes of all varieties. Heck, I’m still ploughing through the Arthouse Animation series that premiered last month! It piles up! But whether you’re diving into the new finds or scouring the Criterion backlog, the Channel’s got more movies and more content to love this August.
August 1st
FEATURED SERIES
John Huston: Hollywood Maverick
Across the Pacific (1942), In This Our Life (1942), Let There Be Light (1946), Key Largo (1948), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)*, The Asphalt Jungle (1950)**, The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge (1952), Moby Dick (1956), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), Freud (1962), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), A Walk with Love And Death (1969), Fat City (1972), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), Wise Blood (1979), Annie (1982), Under the Volcano (1984), The Dead (1987)
The Queen of Paris: Josephine Baker on Film
La revue des revues (1927), Siren of the Tropics (1927), Zou Zou (1934), Princesse Tam Tam (1935)
Richard Linklater’s Adventures in Moviegoing
The Shepherds of Calamity (1967), The Ceremony (1971), In a Year of 13 Moons (1978), Ticket of No Return (1979), Every Man for Himself (1980), The Woman Next Door (1981), L’argent (1983), Mishima (1985), Landscape Suicide (1987), High Hopes (1988), A Master Builder (2014)
Nikos Papatakis: Agent of Chaos
Les abysses (1963), The Shepherds of Calamity (1967), Gloria Mundi (1976), The Photograph (1986), Walking a Tightrope (1991)
Platinum Blonde: Starring Jean Harlow
Red Dust (1932), Red-Headed Woman (1932), Bombshell (1933), Dinner at Eight (1933)**, Hold Your Man (1933), The Girl from Missouri (1934), China Seas (1935), Reckless (1935), Riffraff (1935), Libeled Lady (1936), Suzy (1936), Wife vs. Secretary (1936), Personal Property (1937), Saratoga (1937)
The Ranown Westerns
Seven Men from Now (1956), The Tall T (1957), Decision at Sundown (1957), Buchanan Rides Alone (1958), Ride Lonesome (1959), Comanche Station (1960)
Black Women’s Anthems: Four Films by Michelle Parkerson
. . . But Then, She’s Betty Carter (1980), Gotta Make This Journey: Sweet Honey In The Rock (1983), Storme: The Lady of the Jewel Box (1987), Odds and Ends (1993)
CRITERION COLLECTION EDITIONS
Criterion Collection Edition #720 The Big Chill (Lawrence Kasdan, 1983)
Criterion Collection Edition #1088 La piscine (Jacques Deray, 1969)
Criterion Collection Edition #1060 Amores perros (Alejandro G. Iñárritu, 2000)
Criterion Collection Edition #452 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (Martin Ritt, 1965)
EXCLUSIVE STREAMING PREMIERE
The Inheritance (Ephraim Asili, 2020)
The Diaspora Suite
Forged Ways (2010), American Hunger (2013), Many Thousands Gone (2014), Kindah (2016), Fluid Frontiers (2017)
August 2nd
TRUE STORIES
No Data Plan (Miko Revereza, 2019)
With the shorts Disintegration 93–96 (2017), Distancing (2019)
August 3rd
SHORT-FILM PROGRAMS
Le Cinéma Club Presents
Braguino (2017), I Signed the Petition (2018), Blessed Land (2019), The Marvelous Misadventures of the Stone Lady (2019), Moving (2019), Dustin (2020), The End of Suffering (A Proposal) (2020), Hella Trees (2020), Lizard (2020)
August 4th
WOMEN FILMMAKERS
Lore (Cate Shortland, 2012)
August 5th
Three by Lee Isaac Chung
Munyurangabo (2007), Lucky Life (2010), Abigail Harm (2012)
August 6th
Double Feature: Life’s a Drag
The Queen and Paris Is Burning
August 7th
SATURDAY MATINEE
Annie (John Huston, 1982)
August 9th
TRUE STORIES
Youssou N’Dour: I Bring What I Love (Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, 2008)
August 10th
Short + Feature: Student Bodies
The Devil’s Harmony and Brick
August 12th
Three by Mani Kaul: Poet of Parallel Cinema
Our Daily Bread (1970), One Day Before the Rainy Season (1971), Duvidha (1973)
August 13th
Double Feature: Through the Looking Glass
Alice and Black Moon
August 14th
SATURDAY MATINEE
The Secret of NIMH (Don Bluth, 1982)
August 16th
EXCLUSIVE STREAMING PREMIERE
To the Ends of the Earth (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2019)
August 17th
Short + Feature: Bureaucratic for the People
Sticker and Sorry We Missed You
August 18th
Three by Lynn Hershman Leeson
Conceiving Ada (1997), Teknolust (2002), Strange Culture (2007)
August 19th
Animal Nature: Three by Denis Côté
Bestiaire (2012), Vic + Flo Saw a Bear (2013), Boris Without Beatrice (2016)
August 20th
Double Feature: Trier on Tap
Louder Than Bombs and Thelma
August 21st
SATURDAY MATINEE
Sons of the Desert (William A Seiter, 1933)
August 23rd
Criterion Collection Edition #648 Chronicle of a Summer (Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin, 1961)
August 24th
Short + Feature: Mob Injustice
Mizaru and Canoa: A Shameful Memory
August 25th
Oxhide and Oxhide II
August 27th
Double Feature: Wet Hot Delon Summer
Purple Noon and La piscine
August 28th
SATURDAY MATINEE
Top Spin (Sara Newens and Mina T Son, 2014)
August 30th
Kings of Pastry (Chris Hegedus and DA Pennebaker, 2009)
August 31st
Short + Feature: Under the Volcanoes
Islands of Fire and Stromboli
Source: Criterion