***Completed***
My attempt at the First Annual Criterion Challenge.
Of the 52 films I ended up choosing, some were films off my watchlist, some were films I knew and had thought about watching before, and some are just films I decided would be worth a watch for this challenge.
Links to view the Criterion Collection: Full List, By Spine Number.
Challenges:
1. 1984 - watch a film released the year of Criterion's inception.
2. Directed by Akira Kurosawa
3. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
4. Horror
5. Released on Laserdisc (Criterion Collection Laserdisc Titles)
6. Made in Spain
7. Wes Anderson's Top 10 (Wes Anderson’s Top 10)
8. Romance
9. A silent film
10. 1920s
11. 1930s
12. 1940s
13. 1950s…
***Completed***
My attempt at the First Annual Criterion Challenge.
Of the 52 films I ended up choosing, some were films off my watchlist, some were films I knew and had thought about watching before, and some are just films I decided would be worth a watch for this challenge.
Links to view the Criterion Collection: Full List, By Spine Number.
Challenges:
1. 1984 - watch a film released the year of Criterion's inception.
2. Directed by Akira Kurosawa
3. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
4. Horror
5. Released on Laserdisc (Criterion Collection Laserdisc Titles)
6. Made in Spain
7. Wes Anderson's Top 10 (Wes Anderson’s Top 10)
8. Romance
9. A silent film
10. 1920s
11. 1930s
12. 1940s
13. 1950s
14. 1960s
15. 1970s
16. 1980s
17. 1990s
18. 2000s
19. 2010s
20. Directed by a woman
21. A film featured in the "Pioneers of African American Cinema" series (Pioneers of African American Cinema)
22. Documentary
23. Comedy
24. Any film on The Criterion Channel (Every Film Available on The Criterion Channel & Secondary List - if you don’t have this service then just choose any film featured on this list and watch however you please. Some may even be on other streaming services or available for rent.)
25. Martin Scorsese's Top 10 (Martin Scorsese’s Top 10)
26. Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
27. Directed by Federico Fellini
28. The Merchant Ivory Collection (Merchant Ivory Collection)
29. Oscar Winners (Oscar Winners)
30. Black and white
31. Directed by Charlie Chaplin
32. Watch any film featured in the Godzilla Boxset
33. Western
34. Made in Italy
35. Made in the Soviet Union
36. Made in India
37. A film from the Eclipse series (The Criterion Collection: Eclipse)
38. Kelly Reichardt's Top 10 (Kelly Reichardt’s Top 10)
39. Directed by John Cassavetes
40. Watch a film between spine #100-200
41. Film Noir
42. Samurai
43. A film featured in the "Queersighted: Queer Fear" series (Queersighted: Queer Fear)
44. A film featured in the "New Korean Cinema" series (New Korean Cinema)
45. Directed by Ingmar Bergman
46. Directed by Agnes Varda
47. Based on a book (Criterion Films Based on a Book)
48. Foreign-Language Oscar Winners (Criterion Collection: Foreign-Language Oscar Winners)
49. Josh and Benny Safdie's Closet Picks (Josh and Benny Safdie’s Closet Picks)
50. Watch a film with spine #1000 or higher
51. Watch a film featured in "Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits" (The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon, Game of Death)
52. Any Criterion film on your watchlist
Progress: 52/52
This challenge took from January 6, 2021 to December 29, 2021. The average score I gave for this challenge was a 3.6.
The biggest surprise was Bamboozled. I wasn’t the biggest Spike Lee fan for a while because of how heavy handed he tends to be, and this film which is his heaviest handed, was not one I expected to be all that great. But I was curious and I watched it. And surprisingly, it made the top three of this challenge. The biggest disappointment was Jabberwocky. Not the worst movie of the bunch, not even in the bottom three, but I expected a film directed by Terry Gilliam and starring some of the best British comedians would be something hilarious. It unfortunately wasn’t.
Top Three:
1. Limelight
2. 8 1/2
3. Bamboozled
Bottom Three:
1. The Tin Drum
2. The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
3. People on Sunday
Other Superlatives:
Best Performances: Claire Bloom in Limelight/Charlie Chaplin in Limelight
Worst Performances: Sophie Cattani in Tomboy/David Bennent in The Tin Drum
Most Beautiful: Moonrise Kingdom
Most Thought-Provoking: 8 1/2
Made Me Cry: Limelight
Most Fun: Hellraiser
