The Criterion Correction: Recent Episodes
Ed and Dr. Z
Welcome to the Criterion Correction! In this podcast, we'll be delving into the Criterion Collection of films to try and figure out what each says about the craft of cinema and what, exactly, it takes to become part of the collection. Join us for rousing conversation and many, many references to geekery and film culture.
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 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.
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.
The force of prophecy is strong in this movie, all beginning with tale of a man with a question mark on his head. Who would think such a simple beginning could lead us on such a scattered path? Because that’s what we’re in for with Jane Campion’s Sweetie.
A day late and a dollar short. It’s been a hectic week here at the Correction, so we asked Ed what his favorite old episode is and he picked The Breakfast Club. Clearly he’s maintaining his trolling ways, as our impression might not have been the most…rosy.
It seems like we’re always waiting for something. In this case, Cleo is waiting anxiously for the results of her medical examination. As she maneuvers throughout the busy streets of Paris, what will she make of the meaning of her life? This week we follow Cleo from 5 to 7.
For our 150th episode, we’re going a bit meta and looking at the person behind the camera lens…by looking…through the camera lens. That’s right, we’re diving into a documentary with Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson.
Do you have trouble sleeping at night? Does the hour right before dawn truly seem to be the darkest? If that’s the case, then we strongly suggest you don’t take up the invitation of your weird neighbors to go to an old castle for awkward dinner conversation. Your relationship might not be the same ever again.
Come with me and you’ll see a whole neo-Tokyo full of imagination. Then you’ll see that Tetsuo is causing devastation. Kaneda is chasing him with a laser. Bikes are blowing by like they’ve never been unsafer.
That’s right, we’re thinking Laserdisc and we’re watching Akira.
What is worth the cost of your integrity? Your child’s future? That’s the dilemma we’ll grapple with in today’s film, Graduation.
What do you do when you’ve the girl of your dreams (your cousin), but you find yourself hindered by another (your wife)? And what if the social institution (the church) that controls your cultural norms forbids divorce? But what if it also doesn’t frown too heavily on killing a spouse for cheating? Now that’s what I call some fun comedic setup! Divorce Italian Style.
This week, Columbo is deep undercover as a city maintenance worker. Wait, it’s not Columbo? Oh…that changes things.
Join us for a movie that captures the depths to which the human heart can simultaneously love, detest, abhor, support, and undermine another person all while confined to the space of a small domestic life with big personalities. Yes, that’s right, we’re watching A Woman Under the Influence.
When you try to go straight-laced, but find yourself under constant threat from your previous crime syndicate contacts, what should you do? Fight back? Become a pacifist? Or wander through a surreal Japanese landscape, get in a wild west brawl, and then take your climatic battle to the heart of your sometimes girlfriend’s club?
If you chose the third option, then you’re ready for Tokyo Drifter.
What do you get when you combine The Doctor, The Great Intelligence, and Vernon Dursley? Withnail and I!
This week is for the dogs. No, we’re not watching Homeward Bound or Milo and Otis. We’re not even watching A Dog’s Purpose (though we are watching a creation of its director). So let’s take a trip on the wild side and watch the “kinda-not-dog-centric” movie, My Life As A Dog.
Sometimes you see a movie so noteworthy that you have to talk about it. No, we’re not talking about Joss Whedon’s sci-fi/western cult classic, but the newest pinnacle of Matthew McConaughey’s acting career. Join us for Serenity.
After spending a few weeks in the realm of romance, we’re headed for the absurd. With…a little bit of romance? Well, a marriage at least. And kids being kids. And…fascists. Lots of happy fascists.
This week, we watch Amarcord.
Viewers waited another nine years and we waited another week. Sounds fair, right? Well, we’re completing the hat trick with this episode and looking at Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight.
And we have to ask, if there’s another title in the series yet to come, what would it come “Before”? Or are we headed to the realm of “After”?
Nine years. What can happen over the course of nine years? How many different lives will you lead in that amount of time? Moviegoers had to wait nine years to find out the next chapter in Jesse and Celine’s relationship, but us? We only had to wait one week. Join us as we continue exploring Linklater’s Before trilogy with Before Sunset.
What would you do if you had one day to figure out if you’d just met the person of your dreams? What would you talk about? How would you figure it out? How would you grapple with the fact that you’re living in 1995, the internet barely exists and smartphones are over 10-years down the road?!
Let’s see what Jesse and Celine do in Before Sunrise.
2018 was a year of movies, many of which Ed saw and Zed did not. Tune in for our (mostly Ed’s) Top 10 films of 2018!
Well, yessee sir, we’ve got a good old fashioned flick starring the one and only Rock Hudson. Let’s go join Mr. Rock as he tries to find himself a wee bit of love with an older lady. Oh, yessiree, imagine the scandal at the old-timey club as he tries to woo his lady with talk of there being more important things than money.
So…yeah. We’re actually in for some nice biting commentary on the nature of expectation when it comes to women’s lives and the perils of gross capitalism run amok.
And Rock. Hudson.
We’ve been on a roll of modern classics lately, so we thought we’d keep the streak going. This week we look at love and all its crazy trappings. After all, haven’t you ever found yourself in a situation where you’ve become involved with one of your parents’ married friends whose known you since you were a child all while you simultaneously develop feelings for this woman’s daughter? Oh gosh, this is the stuff rom-coms are made us! Join us for The Graduate!
Happy Holidays one and all! Dr. Zed went on vacation before wrapping the edit of our next feature, The Graduate (dropping the ball as always). So, in honor of nearing our third anniversary, we’re reposting our most popular episode to date, Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker. We hope you enjoy our take on a surreal masterpiece that inspired the more recent blockbuster, Annihilation, and we’ll be back next week with an all-new episode!
Some films are such classics that they’ve permeated the very fabric of pop culture. So it would be inconceivable for us to ignore The Princess Bride. Our names are Ed and Dr. Zed; you downloaded our podcast. Prepare to cry (tears of happiness).
We take a break from movies in the collection to explore some movies that might someday be in the collection. Well, maybe two of them have a chance? Regardless, today we talk about Instant Family, Can You Ever Forgive Me, and Widows.
We journey through the pathway to adulthood with pitstops through bildungsroman-ville and mortality-burgh. Join us for Y Tu Mamá Tabién.
Ever feel like you’re alone in the world? Well, great news! It turns out we all have a doppelganger who is living almost the same life at the same time, and— …
Wait, what happened? A heart attack? On stage? Well, crud. Still, join us for The Double Life of Veronique.
Schizopolis is a frame of mind. It is everything and nothing. Happiness and sadness. It is the beginning and the end. It is also a movie. A movie about a frame of mind. A movie about everything and nothing. A movie about happiness and sadness and two sets of doppelgangers just trying to get by in this tricky place called life. Come join us, though we have to insist: Nose army, jigsaw?
This week we step into the intimate world of fashion design and one woman’s quest to achieve self-actualization. That and subjugate another designer to her will. Today we look at The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant.
What do these two narratives have in common? One amazing midnight restaurant! And themes of love, connection, and odd turn of events. This week we’re off to Hong Kong for Chungking Express.
Do you have a penchant for psychic visions? Are you interested in old cathedrals? Are you in the market for a lovely new Italian home? Well, you’re in luck, because we’ve got the remodeling deal of a lifetime for you. Just watch out for the kid in the red raincoat. But do join us this week for a discussion of Don’t Look Now.
Sometimes the most terrifying thing in the world can simply be darkness when you’re alone. Or, it could be a persistent suitor breaking in your door to profess his care and love. Or, maybe it’s the money-hungry landlord who will accept payment in forms other than money. And for them, the most terrifying thing might just be a candelabra and a straight-razor. You go get ‘em, Carol!
War, what is it good for? In feudal Japan, it seems to be pretty good for losing sons to the battlefield while emphasizing the powerful bond between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Oh, and for discovering demonly masks that bestow the wearer with the power to frighten women into staying in a murder-prone home-life. Come along with us, to a place where we can watch Onibaba.
Sibling rivalry doesn’t get much more intense than when you’re physically attached. Join us as we watch Brian De Palma experiment with the splitscreen effect in his 1973 thriller, Sisters.
This week we return to the cheery world of Ingmar Bergman, to finish out his loosely-defined (or loosely-refuted) trilogy. That’s right, we’re heading to The Silence.
Are you ready for some punk glam? No, we’re not revisiting Sid and Nancy, but we are headed back to the trenches. Or back to a van at least. Hey, who would have thought modern punk was the origin of #vanlife? Join us for Smithereens.
Ah, the life of a photographer—capturing the spectacular beauty of the world. Preserving the perfect moments that reflect our momentary existence. Viewing the world through the distanced lens of a piece of machinery in an attempt to preserve and reflect upon the trauma visited upon one by a sadistic scientifically-motivated father whose fascination with fear leads to the desire to pass this affliction to others immediately before murdering them. Oh, and weddings. Join us for Peeping Tom.
What happens to a samurai without honor? Well, apparently it’s a lot of bad stuff capped off with a bout of madness. Yeah, that seems like a fate worthy of anyone who would consider going after (in a minor character role) the fantastic Toshiro Mifune. Join us for the Sword of Doom.
It was the best of times—no, wait. It was the worst of times. Definitely the worst of times. Don’t you remember middle school? The awkwardness? The uncertainty? The constant sensation of dread from the pull of torturous social expectations and norms?! So we agree, it was the worst of times, but Eighth Grade grapples with the best of themes: navigating the pressures of adolescence.
Beneath the sea lies beauty, adventure, and man-eating jaguar sharks. Hold onto your red caps and lock your sea laboratory door, because you’ve entered The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
This week we head into the desert to learn more about ourselves. And snakes. And kangaroos. And the ephemeral pain of the inability to communicate due to the cultural barriers that separate us from one another in non-physical, yet terribly unfathomable ways. That’s right, we’re taking a journey. A Walkabout.
If Hollywood loves one thing, it loves Hollywood. This week we’re taking on a movie that probes the nature of art all while not taking itself too seriously. Well, okay, maybe a little seriously at one point. Come along for Sullivan’s Travels.
Socioeconomic strife is always fertile ground for a piece of cinema, but this week’s pick, La Haine, presents us with a harsh look at the timeless realities of institutional power imbalances and the struggles of being labeled an “other.”
Come with us on a journey into the unfathomable voyeuristic age of adolescence. How do we make sense of the lives that we only barely know? Join us for The Virgin Suicides.
How does one measure the meaningfulness of a life? What is the goal of the artistic soul? Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters asks these important questions about the life of Yukio Mishima while rendering in vivid form some of the great Japanese author’s major creative works.
The tramp is at it again! This week we look back to the final days of silent cinema, when artists like Charlie Chaplin had honed their craft to near-perfection. Join us for the slapstick antics of City Lights.
This movie has it all. It’s a classic rags to riches tale: guy meets cousin, falls for cousin, fake duels cousin’s suitor, flees the country, joins the army, deserts the army, pressed into service in a foreign army, escapes through deception, meets another girl, marries her, ignores her, abuses adoptive child, has child… Okay, so maybe this isn’t your straightforward movie setup, but enjoy the ambience-infused cinematic adaptation of Barry Lyndon.
We catch up on some current movies and chat about whether Solo is a movie that needed to be made and our favorite SPOILER about Hereditary; Like, did you see SPOILER coming?!
You got your noir in my young adult drama. No, you got your young adult drama in my noir! Hold up, you’re both right! This week we take a trip to the grayscale side of life, where simple answers are blurred and the realm of colors offers fleeting hits at an existence on more than two axes. Gather ‘round and hear the sordid tale of Rusty James and his brother, the famed Motorcycle Boy, in Rumble Fish.
Sometimes the greatest tragedies are hidden in the most mundane circumstances. As we each move day-by-day through life, the most important gift can be that of perspective. For that reason, Grey Gardens offers us a perspective into lives that blur the line between the past and the present.
Join us for Grey Gardens
The Criterion Correction
It may be June, but it’s always January in Ingmar Bergman’s heart. Okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but see if you feel warm and cozy after watching one man’s deep existential crisis manifest itself in the chilly depths of winter. Join us for Winter Light, the film that makes The Seventh Seal look positively rosy in comparison.
At long last, we leave the depths of sorrow and head to an unambiguously happy movie. We…don’t really know what to do with this one. You mean there’s no terrible twist of fate? No flawed characters doomed to reap the sorrows of their ills? Grab the popcorn and join us for Aki Kaurismaki’s Le Havre!
Did you love Black Moon but think its mythology could use a little more dark rituals and blood consumption? Or did you like Vampyr but think that it wasn’t filled with enough surreal ambiguity? Then you need to check this one out. Valerie and Her Week of Wonders brings the best of those films together with a little bit of the camp horror-classic House thrown in for good measure. It’s like you get three Criterion films in one!
We’re venturing into the mean streets of East End London in the era of Thatcherism. If you like your economic hardships with a side of skinheads and ambiguity, then do we have a film for you with Meantime.
If you’ve ever longed for the open range and the freedom of the frontier, then you’re in for some disappointment. Rather than celebrating the free spirit of the West, McCabe & Mrs. Miller paints a grim and violent portrait that once again reaffirms Capitalism as the ultimate evil. Join us for this rousing deconstruction of the Western genre.
Do you miss talking about The Piano Teacher? We sure do, which is why we opted to look at another example of the romantic movie subverted. Join us for the film that inspired the NC-17 film rating and taught us the valuable lesson that Romance and Horror are two genres that are sometimes difficult to separate: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Loneliness is the disease of the modern age, and Certain Women follows three women on the former frontier who are separately grappling with isolation. In the end, you might not find the emotional resonance you desire, but you might find that you’ve gotten insight into the things that haunt us all.
We head down to Texas in this week’s episode, where a nasty love triangle results in a contracted murder that doesn’t go quite as planned. It’s a tale as old as time, and in the end it’s just Blood Simple.
The life of an artist is challenging. First, there are the auditions, when you need to meet the arbitrary expectations of a jury of experts. Then there are the lessons. The endless lessons where you’re forbidden to speak. And then, when you finally think you’ve made it, some jerk puts broken glass in your pocket! The Piano Teacher might be one of the most realistic portrayals of the life of a music major out there.
Okay…maybe it’s got a bit more drama in it…
The political machine is a corrupt, odious, unrelenting march toward the precipice of amorality and lies. And nowhere is that made more clear than in the saga of Tracy Flick—an ambitious high school student who will soon learn that the patriarchy is ever-present and clothed in the sensible garments of a history teacher. Join us for a look at Election.
Oscar season has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean we can’t share our appreciation—and critiques—of one of this years biggest winners. That’s right, we’re heading into the morally ambiguous world of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Dr. Zed is back in the present, but the podcast is traveling back and time to figure out how it all got started for a young carpenter who just happened to be the son of God. Join us for Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ.
For a very special 100th episode of The Criterion Correction, Ed and Dr. Zed revisit the movie that started it all: The Royal Tenenbaums.
But, something goes wrong, and what began as a trip down memory lane turns into a fight for survival as Dr. Zed tries to repair a frayed spacetime continuum…
Will The Criterion Correction survive? Will Dr. Zed? Find out on this week’s episode of Quantum Correction…
Alright. Get ready, because this week we are…not releasing our 100th episode. Instead, we’re taking a look at a movie we watched back in December. That’s right, we’re going to bring you all the Christmas feels you can imagine in March, with the Christmas-Classic-that-time-forgot: Noel, starring Robin Williams, Penelope Cruz, Susan Sarandon, and Paul Walker.
We’ve looked at the life of Bob Dylan and the fateful career trajectory of Spinal Tap. Now, we look at the heart of the punk movement and the violent tale of Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols. Don’t you just think this will have a happy ending?
The flu has struck the podcast, so we’re bringing you an unreleased Off Collection this week. And if you, like us, are feeling under the weather, we’ve got a movie that will suddenly make you a lot happier with your current circumstances. Sure, the flu is awful, but would you rather be trapped in the middle of the wilderness? Join us for the Netflix-adapted Gerald’s Game.
Have you ever wanted to buck the trend and get off the grid? Do you enjoy traveling? Now, are you—or your partner—an undiagnosed gambling addict? If the answer is yes, yes, and yes, then have we got a plan for you that’ll let you enjoy the small things. Come along as we get a little Lost in America.
We join Adam Sandler as a man who grapples with anger issues and a potentially child-like development of selfhood. Wait…that’s most Sandler movies right? Well, in Punch Drunk Love, the Sandler archetype gets a little bit of a grimmer iteration. It’s at once the epitome and antithesis of what we would call a Sandler-movie. Hooray for breaking down binaries!
Have you ever wondered why it’s called The Breakfast Club? They’re not a club and they never have breakfast! If anything, they should be called the Lunch Bunch! They’re just a bunch of random kids having lunch together. I guess maybe that wasn’t as catchy…
War is hell. And so is a late third act romantic shift from an offscreen partner. Join us as we venture beyond The Thin Red Line.
Tonight we’re gonna rock you, tonight…with a none more black episode of the Correction that focuses on armadillos. That’s right, we’re watching This is Spinal Tap.
If you’ve been looking for a happy, uplifting movie, then have we got the director for you! This week we return to the world of Ingmar Bergman to watch a picture-perfect family take a holiday. Join us for Through a Glass Darkly.
A supernatural thriller about a ghost, a girl, and a guy. Or wait, maybe it’s a psychological thriller. A murder mystery? But where’s the tension? Zed and Ed battle it out with the polarizing Personal Shopper.
Adulting can be hard. What happens when you lose your apartment and your best friend in a single fell swoop? Well, you rebound by going on a few adventures to France and…your undergraduate institution. They say you can’t go home again, but really what they meant is you should never go back to your old dorm. Join us this week for Frances Ha.
Vorpal sword? Check. Manxome foe? Check. Burbling beside the Tumtum tree? Check. An ordinary bumbling goofus tossed into a world of court intrigue, capitalist plunder, and a monster-laden forest? Wait, are we still talking about the poem? Who’s this princess? Why is this castle crumbling to dust? Join us to find out with Terry Gilliam’s Jabberwocky.
What could be nicer than a romp through the Siberian forest on the hunt for diamonds? Surely, we’ll just be in store for a peaceful nature documentary, right? Hmm, love triangle forming? Horrible natural disasters coupled with technical difficulties? This might be a little bleaker than we thought…
This week: a short episode for a short movie. Do you get aggravated when a character uses Wikipedia to identify the supernatural creature infesting your horror movie? Well, hold on, because apparently the publishing industry has you covered as far back as 1932 when the heroes of this horror classic find a hardcover tome that contains spoilers for the movie they’re currently in!
When an orphan finds his way into a haunted refuge, who would have thought the supernatural would prove to be the least evil force in the story?
What do you get when you cross a steamed rice fetishist with a contracted killer? You get the #3 hitman in Japan. However, will he remain #3 for long? Find out in the classic, Branded to Kill.
Do you like the smell of hairspray in the morning? The burning sensation of car exhaust filling your lungs? What about that pesky fluoride in your public water? Wash all your chemical fears away with a nice glass of tasty milk, and join us for the unsettling story of Safe.
Visit lovely Winnipeg! Sunny Winnipeg! Hockey-filled Winnipeg! A city full of life (and forks in forks)! A city with many lovely boulevards (some that don’t appear on maps). Visit Winnipeg, the citiest of cities that ever citied (and be sure to escape via train).
Someday we’ll all find a way to our very own Paris, Texas. But hopefully it won’t be quite this harrowing of a ride.
Trick or treat! On this Halloween night, we have a ghoulishly spectacular surprise episode for you. Are you dreaming? Can you be sure? Did that ominously tall and imposing figure really summon Jawa raiders from the depths of hell to…I guess, you know…steal bodies and…shrink them down…and put them to work in some alternate world with a lot of gravity.
BOOOOOY, stop asking questions and beware the Tall Man’s buzzing balls of DEATH in…Phantasm!
This week we follow the story of a man. A man who broke with the conventions of society. A man who wanted to escape the perils of reality. A man with a dream, a cave, and a psychotic laugh. Unfortunately for this man, he just happened to stumble into the cave of the Necronomicon and his hopes and dreams (much like his body) will be dashed into oblivion all for the sake of returning a book to Satan. Strap on your wings but beware stone crosses—they may be closer than they appear, and join us for our discussion of Equinox.
Did you ever wish that you had a twin, so you could take turns slogging through the mundane elements of life? What if you had seven twins? And what if your Dad, in hiding you from the dystopic anti-children government decided to name each of you after one day of the week? Well come on down for some wacky hijinks…. sigh No, don’t tell me, this is going to go dark and grim really fast, isn’t it? What Happened to Monday? Plot contrivances, that’s what!
Under the sea. Yes, under the sea. Life is certainly better, down where it’s wetter, under the—holy crap did that mermaid just sprout fangs and tear out that guy’s still-beating heart?! Oh, no, wait, okay, that was a fever dream right, and of course under the sea is just the place to—oh nevermind. There she goes, heart in fangs, back to the water. But, next up, a catchy music number. Yes, we’re watching the Polish horror musical, The Lure.
Tonight on Biography…we take a look into the sordid life of one Reverend Harry Powell. Yes, it’s a tragic tale, filled with love, lust, murder, and fittingly on-the-nose knuckle tattoos, but there’s a deeper story to be told. The story…of a poor man named Peter Graves. And this is Biography, on A&E.
Beware black cats. And strange people in the night. And…well, a lot of things. But for Samurai, you might not want to escort that woman back home through the bamboo grove. Join us this week for our discussion of Kuroneko.
Sometimes you gotta go where there’s no one that knows your name. Silly monikers are the game. You’ve gotta follow the Stalker’s path. Can’t turn around or you’ll never get back. Sometime you’ve gotta go to the Room in the Zone.
That’s right! We’re stepping into the surreal world of Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker.
To Be or Not to Be, that is…the movie. Yes, we’re loosely headed back to the realm of Shakespeare and Nazi-occupied Poland. Confused yet? Us too.
We rejoin one of our favorite directors, Akira Kurosawa, for his take on Shakespeare. That’s right, we’re watching Throne of Blood, the movie that proves Stormtroopers in fact went to the Spider’s Web Castle school of aiming…
Welcome to our new semi-regular Tuesday series, Off Collection!
Have you ever wanted to watch an R-Rated version of the Power Rangers? Did the recent reboot miss the mark a little? Well, let’s go back in time to a simpler era, 1994, and watch a movie that has fantastic special effects and the best worst acting you’ve ever seen. Enter the world of the Guyver, a bio-boosted mechanical suit of armor that may lead to involuntary super-heroism. And because we know context doesn’t matter, let’s just skip straight to the sequel, Guyver 2: Dark Hero.
For our 75th numbered episode, we ask the deep questions, such as: Can a forgery be a work of art? What is the nature of authenticity? And did that crazy story with Picasso actually happen!? Come on, you’re telling me a writer was able to craft such a believable farce as to make us all feel…okay, sorry, digression. Join us for a discussion of Orson Welles’ F for Fake.
We have a request from The Three Guys Go Criterion Podcast, which you should also check out! We’ll be watching Dont Look Back, the sordid tale of a man on the edge…of superstardom. Grab your harmonicas (or melodicas) and join us for a look inside the touring life of Bob Dylan.
After the joy that was The Sandlot, we stay off collection this week so that Ed can wash away the memory of childhood hijinks with a strong dose of neo-noir. Join us as we take a trip to Chinatown.
We have been wanting to do this movie FOR-EV-ER. And Dr. Zed has been waiting to get s’more of it since he found out that co-host Ed has never seen the childhood classic that gave us such classic lines as “You’re killing me, Smalls.” Yes, we’re going off collection to bring you one of the all-time classic kids movies: The Sandlot.
Is it noir? Is it a heist? Well, one thing’s for sure, it’s French New Wave. Join us for an exploration of Jean Luc Godard’s Breathless.
Boarding school. It’s the worst, right? Especially when you’re attending a boarding school in Nazi-occupied France. From the director of Black Moon comes a powerful (and lucid) film, Au Revoir Les Enfants.
Do you like disjointed time sequences? How about plots that gradually reveal themselves in order to show how wrong your guesses were? If so, we’re betting you like the work of Christopher Nolan, which is why we’re going all the way back to his debut film: Following.
Today we go through the looking glass—err, well, we go through a wall. Or is it through a hole? Wait, why is there a disembodied head shouting at us? Robin Hood?! Napoleon?
Join us for a trip to the dark side of childhood fantasy with Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits.
James Bond and Ghost Rider. Hear me out, haven’t you been secretly wishing for this magical crossover? Well, it’s probably not in the cards, but venture back to the mid-90s and you’ll get a story of love, action, power, and…the ethicality of abusing the trust of military heroes forced to operate in secrecy…
…something tells me Michael Bay isn’t going to be treating this topic with any nuance.
When we last saw Yuki, her mission was accomplished and she may or may not have been slowly dying after being stabbed. Her tale was done, right? Not so fast!
Because it’s time for Yuki to be recruited by the government to take down a rebellious organization hellbent on taking down the Emperor. Join Yuki as she singlehandedly takes down a corrupt government (in the first and last 10 minutes) and essentially cameos in her own movie: Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance.
It’s the summer, and summer means blockbusters, and blockbusters mean comic book movies. In that spirit, we’re going to follow the origin story of one of the greatest superheroes of all time: Black Widow. Okay, so it might not be her origin story, but I’m calling continuity, here! Join us to explore the absurdities of adolescence and adulthood in Ghost World.
What does one do when locked in an abusive relationship? Well, clearly one should conspire with the mistress to murder the cad. In some movies, that would be the entire plot, but in Les Diaboliques, it’s only the prologue. Thanks for another fantastic fan suggestion!
This week on Love Triangles of the Rich and Famous, we join best pals and practically step brothers as they fight for the love of the same woman. Throw in a sister opposite the romantic lead and you’ve got a deadly serious plot. Join us for Written on the Wind.
This week we step away from the Collection once more to take a look at one of the biggest blockbusters of the summer. Join us for a discussion of Wonder Woman.
Note: Spoilers are included past roughly the halfway mark of this episode, but we provide plenty of notice. Still, go see the movie!
Lemmy Caution stars in the adventure of a galactic lifetime. Join our intrepid super spy, Agent 003 as he infiltrates the insidious underbelly of Alphaville, a technocratic dictatorship ruled by A.I. (Google?) where emotions are outlawed and if you dare to dissent you’ll find yourself subjected to the newest Olympic aquatics sport: the 100-meter drown-a-thon competition.
Welcome to…Alphaville.
Jeff Daniels is SO square. Until he meets Lulu…or is it Audrey? A couple stolen bottle of scotches later finds them both headed to Pennsylvania for the high school reunion of a lifetime. In fact, one might call it the perfect high school reunion, complete with acts of felony and violence, and wait—wasn’t the supposed to be a comedy?! Holy crap, did that guy just get killed?!
Join us for Something Wild.
Ah, a tale as old as time, a song as old as…holy &$%#, the candelabras are human arms that move?! The mantlepieces are living, mute heads that exhale smoke?! And…wait, you’re telling me that if one decision had been slightly altered, the Beast could have ended up in the body of Belle’s brother?! This is twisted…
Yeah, join us for The Beauty and the Beast—and not the one starring Emma Watson.
Humphrey Bogart stars as Dix, a Hollywood writer with a bit of a drinking problem. An abuse problem. An anger management problem… Okay, so he’s got a lot of problems.
He really is…In A Lonely Place.
This week, it’s a classic whodunnit! Do you believe the dashing rogue? The vengeful maiden? The deceased, but still very vocal samurai?! All this and a baby feature in the movie that leaves us to wonder at the nature of human perception. Join us for Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon.
In the not too distant past, about two weeks ago, the rewards launched from a kickstarter that rescued our favorite show…
Bad movies were what originally brought together the dynamic duo of Ed and Dr. Zed, and that was thanks in no small part to the wonders of Mystery Science Theater 3000. We’ve talked up our love for this show in the past and now that the new season has finally arrived, we wanted to reflect on why this quirky concept captured our imaginations and give our thoughts on the new episodes.
Join us for a discussion about Mystery Science Theater 3000, and for the love of Big McLargeHuge, check it out on Netflix.
The ravages of war are countless, but the sting of betrayal is even worse. Especially when that betrayal involves your (ex?)husband pretending you’re his wife (which you are, he just thinks your not) in order to steal your money after condemning you to near-death (and the disfiguring injuries that lead him to not recognize you) in a Nazi concentration camp. Yeah, this one isn’t headed for a happy ending…or is it?
Join us for Phoenix.
Some people love dogs. Some people love cats. And some people, when emotionally aroused turn into cats and kill whoever wrongs them. In this movie, we’ll let you guess which kind of people we encounter.
Today we delve into our first Criterion documentary and follow the unique mission of one man: to open and operate a pet cemetery.
Love triangles are nothing new, but we’re betting you haven’t encountered one quite like this before. This week we tackle a movie that has it all: love, drama, betrayal, war, and passion. In our second fan requested episode ever, we’re going to be peering into the depths of Jules and Jim.
Welcome Correction fans. Today we’re releasing a little bonus episode that we hope you enjoy. A few weeks ago, Ed and I got together to record a very impromptu behind the scenes episode. We talked about the origins of this podcast along with our approaches to editing and the specific equipment we use to produce the Criterion Correction. The entire segment was actually live-streamed to YouTube and if you’re interested in beginning your own podcast, you can check out the YouTube channel Zed’s Weekly Build for an even more in-depth look at the work that goes into hosting and editing a program like ours. So enjoy the extra episode and we’ll be back with another great Criterion movie on Thursday.
It creeps, it crawls, it oozes, and so of course, it’s going to terrorize some small town and threaten the lives of a young budding couple with a fast car that totally should have gotten more than a mild scolding for racing BACKWARDS down the street! Come on, Dave! No wonder the other officers don’t take you seriously…
Sorry, I digress. This week we watch…The Blob.
We’ve looked at boyhood, and we’ve peered behind the curtain of sisterhood. So tonight we’re going to take a look at fatherhood by studying a group of foxes. Join us for Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox.
What is real and what is imagined? You might have a hard time figuring that out in Ingmar Bergman’s classic: Cries and Whispers.
This week we return to the canon of Richard Linklater. No, we’re not Dazed and Confused this time, but instead we’ll be peering into the mundane, the ordinary, but the nevertheless captivating experiences of Boyhood.
There were a lot of movies in 2016. Some of them were good enough to get nominated for this little golden statue named Oscar. I’m not sure why it’s named Oscar, but I remember there was an Oscar character in Short Circuit II–sadly, not a movie eligible for the Academy Awards this year. Or any year. Nevertheless, join us as we discuss the contenders for the top awards.
We pride ourselves here for always being very timely. That’s the reason why we’re headed out of the Collection today to focus on Rogue One. Because it’s…timely. Okay okay, so we realize we’re late to the party, but we hope you enjoy the episode anyway!
Sometimes we choose movies that happen to resonate with the current cultural moment. Certainly, we haven’t attempted any such thing this week. Nope. Instead, we’ll be viewing Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator.
Come celebrate with us! The Correction has hit the 50-episode milestone! And to mark the occasion, we’re going to watch one of the best Criterion birthday movies imaginable—one which heralds all the joys of parenthood and…wait, what? We’re not watching Boyhood? It’s Eraserhead? Why in gods name would we celebrate with Eraser—I mean, yes, it’s Eraserhead!
Because of course we haven’t covered enough body horror flicks yet. Join us for David Lynch’s debut feature: Eraserhead.
What do you get if you cross Flubber with Badlands and The Mighty Ducks? Definitely not Repo Man, but they probably share some cinematic genetic code.
This week, join us as we hop into a Chevy Malibu and take a wild ride through the skies with our E.T. friends.
Last week Ed regaled you with his top 10 (more like top 50…) movies of 2016. This week, we’re moving in the opposite direction and looking at the worst cinematic bombs to have hit the cineplex. Maybe the best that can be said is that they could eventually provide some nice fodder for RiffTrax or the resurrected MST3k.
Welcome to a new offshoot of the Criterion Correction–Half Correct. Dr. Z is away from the show for a short stretch, but will be returning shortly. Until then, join us for Ed’s Top 10 movie picks of 2017, and yes, he has seen a lot of movies this past year. Just remember, if he didn’t pick your 2017 favorite, be sure to send all feedback courtesy of mind-melting telepathic scan.
Today on the Correction, join us for another bout of mayhem and…outlaw-ishness, with Days of Heaven.
Well, I think most of us can agree that 2016 has been nothing if not one giant dumpster fire, and in homage to the year that wouldn’t quit we’re diving back into the genre that best fits our collective mood: horror.
So, come join us as we take a long drag race off a short bridge with Carnival of Souls.
It’s the holiday season–a time for family, hot cocoa, and a slew of cheesy Christmas movies–I’m looking at you, Hallmark Channel! But we’re not dealing with quite so cheesy cinematic fare. Instead, we’re going to watch a movie that delves into the lives of a dysfunctional family of…fallen child…prodigies.
Wait, didn’t we already watch The Royal Tenenbaums?! Oh, right, we’re visiting its holiday-themed cousin, A Christmas Tale.
This week we jump into the frame of a narrative spanning two time periods. Or is it two movies? Wait, what’s going on with this romance? Is Sarah crazy? What—is Sarah her name? What in the unholy name of postmodernity is going on here!?
All the best buddy movies are road-trip movies. Especially when half the tripping involves cocaine and Shakespearean tragi-comedy. Today we follow Ted–I mean Neo–I mean Keanu Reeves on a journey throughout the midwest and…Italy?! Really? They go to Italy…with nothing but a title card transition? Okay, fair enough. Join us–and the amazing River Phoenix–for My Own Private Idaho.
Spoilers ahoy, mateys! As a special surprise we’re releasing an extra episode this week. What does it have to do with pirates, you might ask? Well…nothing, actually. But we will be taking a look at four current box office releases: Trolls, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Allied, and Arrival. Which of these films might someday be added to the Criterion Collection?
If Jellyfish Eyes taught me anything, it’ll probably be Trolls…
Join us for some mainstream movie fun!
It’s time once again to ponder the unponderable. To challenge the very nature of existence by looking deep into the human psyche and trying to figure out: what is the point of it all? Well, part of the point this week is to give thanks to you, our amazing listeners, with our very first fan request. So join us to learn more about the film that (eventually) led to Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. That’s right, we’re talking about The Seventh Seal!
And The Witch…for some odd reason.
Giant blue aliens. No, we’re not talking about Avatar. This one is way stranger–but in a good way. Join us for Fantastic Planet.
Don’t trust guys named Guy: that’s just a good rule to follow. Especially when guys named Guy are covertly in league with a group of Satanists trying to ensure your unborn child will become the spawn of Satan. Yeah…this marriage has got a few issues to contend with. Join us for Rosemary’s Baby.
Raise the shields, Number One! We’re headed into slightly different territory than normal. Welcome to the pilot episode of The Correction podcast, where we talk about recent political events and try (as three liberally minded Americans) to come to terms with the 2016 election and make sense of how to move forward. While the Correction won’t be solely devoted to politics (we also like technology, culture, and fiction of various sorts), it’s a bit hard to step outside of the malaise that’s landed upon us.
Sometimes talking itself is a thing that can help, because words are actions.
Winter is coming. Join Frodo, Spiderman, and Wednesday Addams (with special guest appearance from Wild Wild West’s Artemus Gordon) as they weather a monster of a storm. Oh, and also as some of them partake in the mystic rituals of a key party. Wait, you do what with your keys?
Safety Warning: Never under any circumstances have direct physical contact with a guard rail…
“Alright, alright…but apart from weekly reviews and commentary on movies, quirky poetic plots, riveting banter, and the cinematic expertise of at least one wikipedia search, what has the Criterion Correction ever done for us?”
We’ve given you an episode on Monty Python’s Life of Brian, that’s what we’ve done!
Do you like Hitchcock? What about Psycho? If that’s the case, then you’re in luck because we’re practically watching the same movie this week. Okay, okay, maybe it’s not the same movie, but it’s definitely got some loving homage going on. Join us as we talk about Dressed to Kill.
Our Spooktacular Octoberween extravaganza continues with a horror movie that screams of surrealism. Come along with Gorgeous, Sweet, Prof, Fantasy, Mac, Melody, and Kung Fu on the journey of a…summer school trip to Auntie’s house. Seven enter, and…well, you probably know how this goes, right? Join us for: House.
Parenthood can be hard at the best of times. But when parenthood means spawning a series of deformed rage babies that roam out into the world murdering your enemies, it’s completely awesome. Join us this week for yet another adventure into Cronenberg-land with The Brood.
Do you feel a little off balance? Does your head hurt? Sure, maybe it’s allergies. Or it could be a psychic homicidal freedom fighter with a deathwish for most “normals” who also has the uncanny ability to make your head explore with a little bit of concentration. This week we take a look at Scanners.
Camp meets crazy in a tale that deconstructs the allure of Hollywood. Join us for Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, the movie that demonstrates that bizarre isn’t always bad…
…unless one half of the podcast’s creative team is having a bad day and takes it out on the film.
On our third visit with Akira Kurasawa we get to experience it all! Romance, passion, death, and drunkenness. Join us for the classic, Seven Samurai.
Two women walk into a beachside cabin. Only one walks out. Or wait, do two walk out? Were there two to begin with? Has one assimilated the other Borg style? And wait, where did that disembodied narrator come from? And why didn’t the husband recognize his wife!?
Clearly, our film for this week prompts a lot of questions. Join us for Persona.
This is a PSA from the Criterion Correction: Don’t do drugs.
Wait…hasn’t that been a moral of the podcast before? In any case, we’re headed back to the wonderful world of Terry Gilliam this week, and I’m sorely disappointed that there are no angelic delusions or heroic electricians.
Instead we get Hunter S. Thompson…okay, so he has a different name in the movie, but everyone knows it’s Hunter S. Thompson.
Join us for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Earlier this summer, our childhoods were ruined. Only they weren’t. Join us as we delve into the movie reboot that was just one step too far (apparently?) for fans of the original. As an editorial note, we were both saddened to hear that the likelihood of a sequel is approximately in the same realm as another season of Firefly. So just ignore our talk of excitement in the episode.
Fare thee well busters of ghosts!
We’re going back to the beginning with our 30th episode of the Correction! No, we’re not rebooting the podcast already (despite today’s coolest trends), but we’re looking at another film from the aesthetically nostalgic Wes Anderson. What happens when love is sparked within the hearts of the young?
Well, a boy gets stabbed with lefty scissors, a dog is struck by an arrow (thankfully since this isn’t Heaven’s Gate we know the dog is fine), and a questionable adult performs a wedding for minors. Join us for the bizarre spectacle of Moonrise Kingdom.
And the coolest treehouse ever conceptualized!
We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you a message from the future. Episode 28 – The Gold Rush has been lost in a tragic studio disaster. Instead, we bring you Episode 29 a week early.
Previously on Star Trek Voyager: Commander Chakotay slipped through a temporal chasm and found himself in the latter half of the 20th-century. In order to abide by the Temporal Prime Directive and cause no alterations, he has resigned himself to being a locksmith and thief by the name of Raoul who becomes business partners with a couple who would kill to have the money to open a restaurant. Join us to find out, will Chakotay somehow make it back home, or will he meet an untimely demise by way of frying pan?
“It’s a little wild and a little strange, when you make your home out on the range. Start your horse and come along, but you can’t get a ride if you can’t hold on; singing, Hippy-ti-yi-yay, like the cowboy’s say…”
This week we head out West. To a place where the struggle of the masses versus the one percent have rarely been clearer. In this three hour forty minute film, you’ll laugh with delight and cry out in horror, because again, it’s three hours and forty minutes. We dare you to watch it all. Then you can decide, is this film an overlooked treasure, or should it be relegated to the landfill of bloated hollywood films from days-gone-by?
Awful childhoods seem to be a bit of a common theme, but at least we’re not headed back into Ratcatcher territory this week. Instead we get to follow young Cyril (and his bike) on an adventure to find a home despite a deadbeat father, a drug-dealing conman, and his penchant for wild actions involving scissors. Join us for the previously lost (but now found) episode where we look at The Kid with a Bike.
We’re heading into the final frontier and leaving behind the Criterion Collection for the first time. Welcome to Off Correction, a chance for us to enjoy (or loathe) movies currently screening in theaters.
For this inaugural side project, join us as we raise our shields and head Warp Factor 1 into Star Trek Beyond. At least there’s no Khan this time around…
Some movies are so great that you don’t even need to see them to know the twist! This week we’re cheating once again and headed toward the Criterion Laserdisc collection. Having hit our 25th weekly episode, we wanted to watch a true classic. A story of such epic proportions that no one can possibly deny it’s artistic value for the ages. So join us for what many proclaim to be the best American movie ever captured on film. No, it’s not Spaceballs (though good guess). We’re taking on Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane.
Anyone know where to find a lightly used toboggan? Just asking for a friend.
Who you gonna call? This week we’re cheating a bit and looking at a movie that Criterion put out on Laserdisc once upon a time. It’s got ghosts, guns, guys, girls and Gozer. And for our part we bring one set of fresh eyes and one pair of rose-colored glasses to a viewing of the 1980s classic, Ghostbusters.
Remember: when someone asks if you’re a god, you say yes!
What is a camera? Is it an un-filtered eye that captures the world? Or is it an insidiously warped lens that shapes the beliefs of the viewer through it’s unnatural gaze?
Eh, a little of column A, a little of column B…
This week we take a look at a powerful film that questions what it means to capture the world through a camera, and we also peer back in time to another moment of political uncertainty. Join us for a quasi-movie quasi-documentary that probes at the boundaries of art and journalism: Medium Cool
It’s the end of the world as we know it. But we don’t feel fine, because the only people standing in the way of an enormous asteroid are a group of misfit oil drillers. Although misfit might be understating it. Felons might be more appropriate. Come along with us on a fantastic adventure where oil barons are really just down-to-earth guys with hearts of gold and women are plot devices. You’ll also stand witness to the role that makes Liv Tyler’s Arwen in Lord of the Rings look positively overdeveloped as a character. Ben Affleck joins in, completely destroying any good will gained from his performance in Chasing Amy, and Owen Wilson (reprising his Royal Tenenbaum’s role) has a few lines before becoming a casualty of Michael Bay’s frenetic cinematography.
By the end of the movie, you may just be wondering if you should have been rooting for the asteroid all along! It’s loud, brash, and—somehow—part of the Criterion Collection. Join us for Armageddon.
What do you get when you bring together a chauvinistic, sleazy, divorce-chasing private dick with a plot to do
If you like guns, girls, and nuclear holocaust, then something tells me you’re going to love Kiss Me Deadly.
This week we return to the masterful work of Akira Kurosawa. No, it’s not samurai, but rather the depths of post-WW2 Japan and the shady dealings of the Yakuza. Join us as we follow the exploits of a doctor with the bedside manners of…well, a drunken angel. Merciful? Check. Angry? Check. Bottle throwing quack? Yeah, check.
First world problems are the worst! I don’t know about you, but if my caviar isn’t direct from the Republic of Miranda, then it’s cat food. The subjects of our movie this week feel my pain, though. All they want is to have a nice dinner party where they can relax, smoke cigars, drink martinis, and lament the coarse nature of the lower classes. You just can’t teach manners to some people, right? Along the way we pick up the sordid tales of dead parents, lost loves, and awkward tea-time conversations.
After all, life is just a metaphorical walk down a long road to nowhere. And so is The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
It’s a Battle Royale between the sexes, complete with singing flowers, scratchy millipedes, and the ungodly spawn of a donkey and a unicorn. Meanwhile Troy is sacked by those tricksy Greeks and hawks are murdered with axes. Children frolic, pure and innocent, through the meadows with lambs and hogs, all while military combatants infiltrate the secure borders of this peaceful, pastoral retreat from the world. Rather than speech, let movements and touch be your language—unless you’re stuck in bed, in which case you should just stick to your HAM radio.
Are you a bit confused? Thinking that the authors of the Correction are somehow chemically impaired as they write this introduction? Fear not! You’re just not ready for the masterclass in cinema that is Louis Malle’s Black Moon.
No, seriously, that donkey/unicorn hybrid will haunt your dreams!
How do you sum up a movie like Hunger? Well, it stars Michael Fassbender and Davos Seaworth, and it focuses on deep-seated political unrest in Ireland. It also gives us some graphic depictions of a hunger strike and the lengths to which some brave souls would go to protest for their rights. In fact, let’s just admit that this is a hard movie to summarize with a comical blurb because it represents an individual’s lived experience. We hope you enjoy our look into one of Michael Fassbender’s defining roles.
This week we tackle a tale as old as time: how do you know when you’ve met “the one”? Well, okay, maybe it’s actually about how attraction works. Or, no, maybe it’s about not judging someone based on their past actions. So…this one’s a little complicated. Holden meets Alyssa (not Amy) and starts to fall for her, even though she prefers partners of the same sex. At the same time, Holden’s business partner (never tracer), Banky, also grapples with a forbidden attraction. This week Kevin Smith brings us a surprisingly deep tale about love on a spectrum and the funny way we negotiate social norms. Of course, being Kevin Smith, he also coats it in a veneer of crass language and hilariously awful analogies. Join us as we explore Chasing Amy.
Being filthy rich can have its disadvantages, especially when stealing someone’s identity is as simple as pasting a photo of yourself into someone’s passport. If you’re not careful, you could find yourself murdered by a purported childhood friend who then decides to steal your money and seduce your fianceé, Marge. Poor Phillipe Greanleaf—he just wasn’t prepared for the dastardly (and frequently improvised) schemes of Tom Ripley. Don’t feel bad, though: Phillipe was a bit of a jerk, and a certain incident involving the loss of Marge’s prized manuscript at sea might leave you cheering for Phillipe’s untimely demise.
If you enjoyed The Talented Mr. Ripley…please give us some idea why this movie is titled Purple Noon. And join us as we decide whether we want this as part of our collection, or if we think it should be cast out into the ocean in a burlap sack.
There’s garbage in the streets, rats in the house, and one lucky mouse with a ticket to the moon via balloon. Finally, we’re back to a lighthearted fun movie! Well, aside from portrayals of governmental failure, illustrations of the squalid conditions of poverty, and a sense of foreboding so great that our pre-pubescent protagonist James just might not make it out of Scotland alive. Join us this week for a disturbing (and fascinating) look into the social conditions of mid-20th-Century Glasgow with Lynne Ramsay’s Ratcatcher.
In this classic picture, Joe Estevez’s brother (some guy named Martin Sheen) gives us a glimpse of life on the run with his 15-year old girlfriend/accomplice, Holly. This melancholy tales asks the deepest of questions, such as: if Martin Sheen could write a song, would it really be as touching as one written by Nat King Cole? And should a murderous outlaw be compared to the sexy allure of James Dean? Oh, and how important is a good hat to a guy’s image? Join us as we head out into the plains to figure out the deepest meanings of life, the universe, and everything.
Also, we’re very pleased to introduce the new theme song for the Criterion Correction, composed by Chris Wrigley of Bunhaüs Jingles at podcastthemesongs.com
Have you ever wanted to get away from it all? Trade in your day job so that you could focus on what really matters? Do you feel like all you need to be happy is to fake your own death, undergo extensive reconstructive surgery, and ditch your wife and kids? If so, then have we got a deal for you. No, there’s no phone number to call, no webpage to visit, but if you’re just lucky enough to know someone inside the ritziest pyramid scheme in town, then you might just have a shot of getting in touch with the company that will make your dreams come true. Or, you know, the company that enables you to make all the same mistakes over again before forcing you to bring someone else into the fold. Join us for one of ROCK HUDSON‘s (emphasis mandatory) classic roles in Seconds.
Man, we get older, but Dazed and Confused stays the same age. Wait, no it doesn’t; it obeys the same regulations of linear time as everything else in the universe does. But, as a film that provides ample prosecutorial evidence for anyone who doesn’t like Ben Affleck, the template for early Matthew McConaughey, a singing Mila Jovovich, and Richard Linklater at his most rambling, Dazed and Confused certainly still proves to be of interest. Right? I mean, alright alright alright?
Were you born to run? Or born to kill? Yeah…that’s not a rhetorical question, because Yuki was born for the sole purpose of avenging her mother. So there’s going to be just the slightest bit of emotional baggage in this movie. Adapted from a manga of the same name, Lady Snowblood presents us with tale about the true cost of revenge. Likewise, I’d also be interested to know the true cost of the “blood geyser” practical effects technology in this film.
There can be only one!
Wait, this is the second female-lead character in a Japanese flick we’ve watched named Yuki?
Okay, two then.
Sometimes a guy just can’t get a break. And sometimes a guy might also be a cat. Or a cat might be a metaphor for a guy. Do you follow? No? Well, let’s put it this way: Llewyn Davis isn’t exactly having the time of his life as a struggling folk musician, and we get to follow along as each of his bad decisions leads him deeper into a potentially bleak reality. Of course, life can often feel a bit cyclical and Llewyn may be suffering some deja vu. Grab your guitars and join us as we peer into the depths of the Coen brother’s Inside Llewyn Davis, where you’ll get a glimpse of what would happen had Poe Dameron and Kylo Ren decided to become musicians.
Spoiler: Weird songs galore!
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live forever? Sounds great, right? Well, if you go by the example set by grandfather-turned-vampire Jesus Gris, you may be in for more than you bargained. His mottled white skin and brittle post-resurrection appearance is a far cry from the young, sparkly vampires we’ve grown accustomed to over the past ten years. In Guillermo del Toro’s Cronos we tackle the messy subject of human existence and what price is too costly for renewed youth. And as a bonus, we also get to see a very merry Ron Perelman Christmas! Also, “pardon our dust” as we experiment and work towards finding some permanent music for the Correction in the upcoming weeks.
So peace, love, and for gosh sakes, keep track of your magical golden scarab!
“Did it hurt? When you fell from Heaven?” If you’re David Bowie the answer is a strong…maybe. Crash landing in a pond on Earth can’t be pleasant, after all. So today we look at one of Bowie’s most striking roles. No, not Jared the Goblin King, but rather Thomas Jerome Newton: a Steve Jobs figure–if Steve Jobs was an alien creature almost entirely unfamiliar with the ways of earth yet carrying a slew of highly technological patents which he uses to attempt to raise enough money to build a ship to get back home to provide water from earth to save his dying world. So…yeah, he’s essentially Steve Jobs (minus the water thing). Join us this week as we pay tribute to Ziggy Stardust and take note of the fact that Rip Torn was consorting with aliens long before heading up the MIB.
Ever meet your dead wife while venturing through space to a planet with a sentient ocean? No? Well, if you had, would you immediately shove her into a rocket and jettison her into space? Also no? In that case, you might have some difficulty relating to our heroic dead-wife-murdering protagonist, Kris Kelvin. Join us as we launch deep into the heart of the cosmos in search of the mysterious planet Solaris. Be wary, for the visions you may see are no mere apparitions, but rather your innermost desires made manifest.
Do you feel like you’re drowning in a sea of bureaucratic nonsense–as though your life has no meaning outside the governmental paperwork that proves you exist? More importantly, does George Orwell’s 1984 sound like an idyllic escape from the day-to-day grind? You’re not alone! This week we follow the (quasi)heroic footsteps of paper-pusher Sam Lowry and heating-engineer-on-a-mission Harry Tuttle as they fight against the machinations of a society that only cares for efficiency and the preservation of the status quo. No, it’s not America as we know it, but rather Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.
You’ve probably never seen this movie. And overall, that might be a good life choice. Unless, you know, you secretly want to watch a cheesy knock-off of Pokemon-battling meshed with (soon-to-be-rebooted) Gamera-esque kaiju antics…and CGI. As the first-foray into cinema for Japanese pop-artist sensation Takashi Murakami, Jellyfish Eyes almost–but not quite–crosses into the territory of “so bad it’s good,” but we promise, you’ll love hearing about the insane antics of a group of young school-children exposed to the evil (but really not evil) F.R.I.E.N.D.S. created (we think?) by the shadowy Black-Cloaked Four. Join us for a discussion about one of the most-recent additions to the Collection!
Japanese Star Wars? Not quite, and fans might be a little irked about the incessant comparisons. But, this movie did contribute more than a few key elements to George Lucas’ vision of a science-fantasy future…past… Anyway, you get the drift. Join us as we delve into Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress and learn how our intrepid heroes manage to get a stash of gold over a very unfriendly border through the power of love–err, the power of song.
In David Cronenberg’s 1983 classic, be careful not to succumb to the temptation of a media form that will turn you into a mindless pawn of the system–or worse: a half-man, half-kangaroo mutated killing machine. No, it’s not the internet. Beware the horrors of Videodrome.
Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Criterion Correction, with Ed and Dr. Z. Join us, two film buffs (well, one film buff and a film neophyte) as we look at the, in some ways, utterly bizarre Criterion Collection and try to make sense of what it says about film, art, and humanity as a whole. In this first cast, we’ll be taking a closer look at a movie that we first saw under…strange circumstances: Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums.