The Criterion Correction

The real villainy in this world belongs to the corrupt politicians and systemic discrimination leveled at local and marginalized populations at the mercy of enormous capitalistic systems. Or, you know, the hired hitmen (and women) looking to scratch a sociopathic itch. So let’s buckle in for a nice cathartic tale.

Three documentary filmmakers trail a serial killer in a mockumentary attempting to point out the violence that film can celebrate. However, does this deconstruct the violence or merely propagate more of it on screen?

Come around the world with us as we adventure into the future of 1999. You’ll feel like you’re at the heart of the action as you traverse the wondrous landscapes of Europe, America, Asia, and Australia across the nearly 5 hour runtime of Wim Wenders Until the End of the World. (We wish he’d just release that 20 hour cut already!)

Not all family problems can be sorted out in the span of a single day. But there are often bonds that connect us to those who came before. Join us for Hirokazu Koreeda’s Still Walking.

Escape to the wild free country of…World War III. Or is it? Regardless, you’re in for a heartwarming tale as we take a look at Andrei Tarkovsky’s final film, The Sacrifice.

There are dystopias and there are dystopias. Welcome to Gilead, where all your repressive nightmares are true and marketing executives are the new ruling class. That’s right, we’re off to Margaret Atwoods visage of hell with The Handmaid’s Tale.

Sometimes there are different paths open to us all. Apple and Suzanne know this better than most, keeping a friendship alive despite a difference of location and style of life. Join us for Agnes Varda’s 1977 film: One Sings, the Other Doesn’t.

Welcome to Fury Road. Or rather, just a desert in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where bands of nomads scrounge for food and sex. Or you can contrast that with the real remnants of society far below. Either way, prepare yourself for a grim experience in A Boy and His Dog.

The samurai with no name returns in another caper. Watch as Toshiro Mifune outwits and outfights his opponents in Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro.

The original man with no name isn’t Clint Eastwood. That honor goes to Toshiro Mifune, in one of his most iconic samurai roles. So, how can one bodyguard solve the problem of two warring factions in a small town? Probably not how you think. Join us for Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo.

This week we take a look at the first widely distributed film directed by a Black woman. As part of their efforts to highlight Black filmmakers, the Criterion Channel has released Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust—among other films—for free to non-subscribers. So there’s no reason not to go watch this impressive tale of family, values, and the non-linearity of experience.

What’s more fun than a road trip with family? Well, a road trip with family to determine if your partner is having an affair. Wacky hijinks ensue in The Daytrippers.

Someday we’ll be through the thick of this and get to our lives. After we have a home. And a family. And after a murder or two. Maria’s living a life deferred in the hopes of an idyllic romance. She becomes too focused on the destination and lets the journey slip by in The Marriage of Maria Braun.

We’re returning to the oeuvre of Aki Kaurismaki this week and the middle segment of his Proletariat Trilogy (having unintentionally skipped the first part) with Ariel.

In this episode, the dead really do speak. Well, the sort of dead. Okay, the temporarily bodily misplaced, if we’re being accurate. Join us for some supernatural hijinks in Here Comes Mr. Jordan.

The Dead Speak! Calamity strikes as four episodes of the Criterion Collection were unceremoniously lost due to poor file management. Authorities are on the hunt for one Dr. Bellini Zed for gross negligence relating to failure to appropriately back up files before updating software. As a result, this week, Ed and Dr. Zurich Bed will team up to discuss Federico Fellini’s movie about movies: 8 1/2

After a long lockdown hiatus, we’re back with an episode recorded back in the rosy days of early February. Except, it isn’t exactly a rosy film. No, we’re headed into the heart of modern disillusionment and life on the fringe with Mike Leigh’s Naked.

Did you ever wish that you could roam among the high society elites? Go to cocktail parties every night? Have deep (and not-so-deep) philosophical conversations? All while you’re still barely an adult? Well, fear not, because you can live vicariously through Metropolitan.

The adventures of a legendary executioner father and his toddler protege continue in the second adventure of Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx.

Greetings listeners, and please forgive us the disruption as we hold between two parts of Lone Wolf and Cub. While we handle some off-cast logistics, please enjoy a revisit to one of our earlier episodes, a classic of the genre, Seven Samurai.

Are you a fan of the Mandalorian? Loving Mando and Baby Yoda? Well, not every samurai movie features a stroller of death and a lovable father/son dynamic, but Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance sure does. Well…maybe lovable isn’t quite the right word.

This week we watch a movie about a poet.

This week we watch Dazed and Confused: The College Years, better known as Kicking and Screaming. Behold as young men of privilege struggle to find a path forward after the wild days of college have come to an end.

Ed discusses his experience and his viewings at the 2019 Virginia Film Festival.

This week we’ve got acting, we’ve got drama critics, and yes, we’ve got Nazis with Francois Truffaut’s The Last Metro. We also have subpar audio for part of the episode thanks to Dr. Z’s ineptitude. Our apologies!

This week we’re headed into sequel territory and revisiting Hong Kong’s best supercop in Jackie Chan’s Police Story 2.

With our spooktacular October fright-fest in the past, this week we look to another genre of films entirely. Get ready for high intensity hijinks with Jackie Chan’s Police Story.

Before they were walkers, they were…well…they were kind of unnamed. But they definitely gave rise to the modern interpretations of Zombies. Let’s take a look this Halloween at Night of the Living Dead.

Dr. Zed sincerely hopes there isn’t an otherworldly punishment for getting the podcast up a day late, since Jigoku’s depiction of the bowels of Hell certainly has some apt punishment in store for him. Perhaps the Sisyphean task of editing an episode that never ends!

It’s the spooky season and we’re taking a look back at one of the spookier movies we’ve watched in the past. Join us for a little Repulsion.

This week we’re taking inspiration from the Bard and exploring the tragic tale of one Macbeth. However, this isn’t your average stage production; get ready for the gory Macbeth you’ve always dreamed of!

We’ve seen Willem Dafoe playing the role of Jesus before, but how will he fare in Lars von Trier’s depiction of the hell on earth that we all face? Join us for Antichrist.

Did you think John Travolta was compelling in Grease? Magnificent in Pulp Fiction? Well, he’s stepping off the dance floor and into the recording studio…as a sound engineer caught in a deadly political game. Will his foil, John Lithgow succeed in his plans? Join us for some John on John action in Blow Out.

Wait, you thought we were done with the adventures of Johan and Marianne? Didn’t you watch the final episode of Scenes from a Marriage? That was clearly way too optimistic, am I right? So, roughly thirty years (and some weird in-universe aging shenanigans) later, how do you think our (un)happy couple is doing? Let’s find out in Ingmar Bergman’s final film: Saraband.

This week, we bring the sage of Johan and Marianne to a close. Will they reconcile? Is marriage truly the strongest bond on earth? Can Ingmar Bergman produce a happy ending? Find out in Scenes from a Marriage, episodes 5 and 6.

Another week, another reminder that all that is warm and rosy is destined to wither and fade. Sorry, we rejoin Ingmar Bergman this week for the continuing tale of Marianne and Johan. Will their marriage survive? Will they find happiness? Find out in Scenes from a Marriage, episodes 3 and 4.

Marriage. It can be pretty trying. But leave it to Ingmar Bergman to take a deeper look at this wonderful social institution and leave us with a “realistic” depiction of individuals growing and changing. Join us for the first two episodes of Scenes from a Marriage.

Best believe, I watched Keanu Reeves in a Netflix Movie that was way better than Speed. Join us for Always Be My Maybe.

Dr. Zed is moving to Ireland, which is…kind of near Sweden, so he thought the podcast would take a look at the ethnographic documentary, Midsommar. After all, what could be more exciting than a group of graduate students ardently pursuing their super-niche theses projects, right?! That’s enough to label this a terrifying horror movie.

Queen Elizabeth I travels in time to a punk dystopian 1970s England. Do you really need to know anything else? It’s bonkers, but is it good? Find out as we cover Jubilee.

Sometimes a life of glitz and glamour might lead to utter ruin. Join us as we look at the dark side of Hollywood and the perils of show business in Valley of the Dolls.

A day late and a euro short. Dr. Zed is relocating to the Emerald Isle, so forgive him for being a bit tardy in uploading an episode. However, in honor of the move to Ireland, we’re going to re-post our episode on the Stanley Kubrick classic, Barry Lyndon.

What happens when you’ve played it safe throughout high school? No, you don’t join the Breakfast Club, but you do get up to some hijinks. Join us for Booksmart.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Or…the price is a complete nitwit dressed up in hockey gear preaching the glories of American capitalism. Join us for one of the least successful superheroes ever constructed: Mr. Freedom.

In our ultimate crossover, we ask, what would happen if the 9th Doctor and Obi-Wan Kenobi moved into a flat together? No, really, what would happen? It would have to be heartwarming, right? Right!? Let’s find out in Shallow Grave.

Marriage can be tough. Especially when you’re caring for a child who was stricken with a debilitating disease. And when your parter is cheating on you. And when you’re cheating on your partner. Especially when both sets of extra-marital couples wind up at the same castle retreat together with a strange housekeeper and her son who all get together to play a game of Chinese Roulette.

What do you get when you cross Nobody with William Blake? A low-octane chase movie with Johnny Depp traversing a surreal frontier landscape. And a cannibal bounty hunter. And a depiction of Native Americans that’s actually really well done. You get: Dead Man

Violence, whoa, good god, lord. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing, according to Michael Haneke. Well, okay, maybe he’s onto something with the fetishization or violent imagery and torture porn as a genre. Still, is horror the place to go picking this particular fight? Find out as we look at Haneke’s first take on Funny Games.

The King of the Monsters is back in theaters this week, so we thought we’d take a look back at the film that started it all. Join us for Godzilla, a movie about giant kaiju monsters…unpacking the existential dread of nuclear devastation…

This week we’re watching a morality play about the perils of taking up that most ancient of professions: giving someone advice and then immediately doing the thing you told them not to do. Oh, and prostitution. Join us for Women of the Night.

What more do you need than a title for this one? It’s a tale old as time. A man cheats on his girlfriend while his ex-wife seeks his death. Oh, and there are unwitting terrorist accomplices and phone repairmen. So I guess you do need a little more than the title…we’re watching Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.