I’m starting this page to chronicle a most ludicrously impossible task which I have set for myself: I want to try to watch every movie in the Criterion Collection.
The cons of such an endeavor are numerous. As of now, there are over 1200 films in the Criterion Collection with more added every month. There is no end in sight, and so it may well be impossible to catch up. If all one did was watch Criterion films in a given year, this would take at least 5 years, probably much longer. If Criterion adds around 40 films a year, and one watches around 150 each year, then it will take around a decade to see it all.
Are these numbers reasonable? Will I actually watch 200 a year? or 100? No one knows. I do know that I watch a lot of movies, around 300 a year, so there’s no reason to think I can’t direct more attention toward Criterion titles.
So really, there’s just one con: 1233 (+ another 40ish a year) movies is a lot. It’s an enormous and ridiculous idea to watch them all.
But there are some big pros to such a project, too.
Criterion movies are almost always really, really good. Quality is the name of the game, and even when I watch one that isn’t quite my jam, it’s still usually well worth watching. Even a lesser Criterion collection film is usually a better movie than the vast majority of what comes out of Hollywood (a trend I bet will get even more pronounced in the years ahead).
I already watch a lot of Criterion movies. I keep a Letterboxd list of all the movies I watch either on the Criterion Channel or in the Criterion Collection. From 2020 through 2023, the number was about 250. Through half of 2024, I’m already close to 50 for this year. So I’m well on my way.
Criterion films broaden cinematic horizons and challenge the viewer. A lot of Criterion films aren’t in English, existing in times and cultures not familiar to me. It’s very easy as a film watcher to fall into a habit of watching primarily the most accessible and easily enjoyable films. These films have a place, but it’s good to go beyond this and better appreciate the full scope of cinematic art.
It’s great to support Criterion! They do great work preserving and restoring all manner of film. In a world that is increasingly convinced physical media is a bad investment, Criterion continually affirms the necessity of having access to great films in high quality. My own collection is up to around 100 (several of them yet unseen), and I’d own them all if money allowed. As a friend once said to me, “You can’t convince me you aren’t sponsored by Criterion.” Maybe one day, but till then, I will proudly wave their banner.
How I’m Going About It
My watch order will be guided by spine numbers. When a film is added to the Collection, it receives the next sequential spine number. This is both arbitrary and, I think, really interesting. For example, in the past few years, there’s been a big push to include more Black directors and women directors in the Collection as film criticism has put more emphasis on such films.
Spine numbers also raise plenty of questions that I find interesting. For example, Federico Fellini is regarded as one of the greatest all-time directors with a lot of his films in the Collection. But the first one added was Amarcord (1973, #4) followed by Variety Lights (1950) at #81. These are far from the most signature or famous Fellini works. If you read a dozen articles about which Fellini film you should watch first, probably none of them will suggest Amarcord. But it was the first one added to the Criterion Collection for probably interesting reasons that I don’t know. 8 1/2 (1963) came 60 spots later as #140 while you wont find La dolce vita (1960) until #733. I think there’s been some messy stuff with licensing for that one, and now you can only get it in the Fellini box set (or apart from the Criterion Collection where the blu-ray comes from Paramount).
Which brings up a good point about box sets. Am I going to watch every movie in every box set? In short, probably not. Agnès Varda has 5 films with spine numbers in the Collection, and another dozen contained in the Complete Films box set. The ones with spine numbers will be the focus. Some box sets are trickier, for example #1189 is Bo Widerberg’s New Swedish Cinema, which features four films, none of which have spine numbers aside from this set. In such instances I’ll probably choose one film to stand for the set, but I’ll take this on a case-by-case basis.
Other (potentially) frequently asked questions:
So you’re going to wait a decade to watch Criterion releases that just came out?
Of course not! I’m sure I’ll watch plenty of Criterion films “out of order.” I have decided if I’ll talk about them here or not.
What about for films you’ve already seen?
Most of them I’ll probably rewatch. These are movies that tend to reward multiple watches. In fact, aside from the sheer magnitude of this endeavor, the other biggest problem I can foresee is not giving a movie its fair due because I’m in the wrong mood that day or didn’t “get it.” But hey, that’s life. This isn’t a perfect scholarly study of these films; it’s one person’s wild idea to watch them all.
Are you going to post about every single movie?
Probably not, but time will tell. I think it more likely that I round up a few reviews and post them at once.
Is there any chance you actually succeed?
Slim. But why not try?
So come join me on this truly unreasonable endeavor. It’s sure to be journey full of laughter, tears, and many, many excellent movies.