Our Criterion Wish List

I'm pretty sure that if you've found your way to this website, you're familiar with The Criterion Collection, "a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films...dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements." We often speculate about the titles Criterion will give their special treatment and dare to dream about which of our favorites might next make the cut. You may have heard a sneak preview in Episode X of The Scarecrow Video Podcast, but now our entire staff's picks for films we'd like to see available from Criterion are all together in a new special rental section. Here's the full list of what we picked, along with the year and director for each film and a few trailers along the way. For some of the films, you'll find pseudo-Criterion covers created by Marc "Swellzombie" Palm.

The Abyss (1989) dir. James Cameron

 

Acla’s Descent in Floristella (1992) dir. Aurelio Grimaldi

America 3000 (1986) dir. David Engelbach

Animal Love (1998) dir. Ulrich Seidl

Apu Trilogy--Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1957), The World of Apu (1959) dir. Satyajit Ray

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) dir. Andrew Dominik

Badlands (1973) dir. Terrence Malick

Ball Of Fire (1941) dir. Howard Hawks, screenplay by Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder

Barfly (1987) dir. Barbet Schroeder

 

 

Beaver Trilogy (1984) dir. Trent Harris

Begotten (1991) dir. E. Elias Merhige

 

The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946) dir. William Wyler

Big Crimewave (1985) dir. John Paizs

Black Cat, White Cat (1998) dir. Emir Kusturica

Blessed Event (1932) dir. Roy Del Ruth

Blithe Spirit (1945) dir. David Lean

The Blue Dahlia (1946) dir. George Marshall, written by Raymond Chandler

A Brief History Of Time (1991) dir. Errol Morris

The Burglar (1957) dir. Paul Wendkos

Carrie (1976) dir. Brian DePalma

Casanova (1976) dir. Federico Fellini

Cat People (1944) dir. Jacques Tourneur

Charley Varrick (1973) dir. Don Siegel

La Chienne (1931) dir. Jean Renoir

City Of Sadness (1990) dir. Hsiao-hsien Hou

City Of The Dead aka Horror Hotel (1960) dir. John Llewellyn Moxey

Claire Dolan (1998) dir. Lodge Kerrigan

Clash Of The Titans (1981) dir. Desmond Davis, special effects by Ray Harryhausen

Clue (1985) dir. Jonathan Lynn

Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980) dir. Michael Apted

Cockfighter (1974) dir. Monte Hellman, screenplay by Charles Willeford

Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) dir. Joseph Sargent

Come and See (1985) dir. Elem Klimov

Come Back To The Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) dir. Robert Altman

Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962) dir. Albert Zugsmith

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (1989) dir. Peter Greenaway

Corridor of Mirrors (1948) dir. Terence Young

Cremator (1969) dir. Juraj Herz

The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1952) dir. Luis Bunuel

The Crowd (1928) dir. King Vidor

Cry of the City (1948) dir. Robert Siodmak

Danger Diabolik (1968) dir. Mario Bava

Dangerous Liasons (1988) dir. Stephen Frears

Days Of Being Wild (1991) dir. Wong Kar Wai

Dead Man (2000) dir. Jim Jarmusch

Death Race 2000 (1975) dir. Paul Bartel

The Decline of Western Civilization (1981) dir. Penelope Spheeris

Demonlover (2002) dir. Olivier Assayas

Demons (1985) dir. Lamberto Bava

Dersu Uzala (extended cut) (1976) dir. Akira Kurosawa

The Descent (2005) dir. Neil Marshall

Desperate Hours (1955) dir. William Wyler

The Devils (1971) dir. Ken Russell

Dolemite (1975) dir. D’Urville Martin

Dragon Gate Inn (1967) dir. King Hu, a Shaw Brothers production

The Dreamers (2003) dir. Bernardo Bertolucci

Dreams (1990) dir. Akira Kurosawa

Drowning By Numbers (1988) dir. Peter Greenaway

Drunken Master (1980) dir. Yuen Woo Ping

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) dir. Ang Lee

Erendira (1983) dir. Ruy Guerra, screenplay by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) dir. Wes Anderson

Fat City (1971) dir. John Huston

Father Of My Children (2009) dir. Mia Hansen-Love

Friendly Persuasion (1956) dir. William Wyler

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) dir. Jim Jarmusch

The Ghost of Yotsuya (1949) dir. Keisuke Kinoshita, screenplay by Masaki Kobayashi

The Girl in Black Stockings (1957) dir. Howard W. Koch

Goke: Body Snatchers From Hell (1968) dir. Hajime Sato

Gunga Din (1939) dir. George Stevens

Hard Eight (1996) dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

Heartland (1979) dir. Richard Pearce

Heartworn Highways (1976) dir. James Szalapski

Hellzapoppin’ (1941) dir. H.C. Potter

Hey Good Lookin’ (1982) dir. Ralph Bakshi

Hickey and Boggs (1972) dir. Robert Culp, screenplay by Walter Hill

His Girl Friday (1940) dir. Howard Hawks

Hit! (1973) dir. Sidney J. Furie

Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows (1998) dir. Paul Jay

I Walked With A Zombie (1943) dir. Jacques Tourneur

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) dir. Jack Arnold

The Innocents (1961) dir. Jack Clayton

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) dir. Elio Petri

Jacob’s Ladder (1990) dir. Adrian Lyne

Jericho Mile (1979) dir. Michael Mann

John From Cincinnati (2006) TV series!

Johnny Guitar (1954) dir. Nicholas Ray

Joyless Street (1925) dir. G.W. Pabst

Just Imagine (1930) dir. David Butler

Kafka (1991) dir. Steven Soderbergh

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) dir. Shane Black

Kundun (1997) dir. Martin Scorsese

Kwaidan (1965) dir. Masaki Kobayashi Actually, Criterion already released this, but we want the extended cut.

Last Night at the Alamo (1983) dir. Eagle Pennell

L'Atalante (1934) dir. Jean Vigo

Let It Be (1970) dir. Michael Lindsay-Hogg

Let The Right One In (2008) dir. Tomas Alfredson, screenplay & novel by John Ajvide Lindquist

The Lives of Others (2006) dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmark

Lone Star (1996) dir. John Sayles

Love Streams (1984) dir. John Cassavetes

The Magic Garden (1952) dir. Donald Swanson

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) dir. Orson Welles

The Man Who Would Be King (1975) dir. John Huston

Marie Antoinette (2006) dir. Sofia Coppola

Matador (1986) dir. Pedro Almodovar

Matewan (1987) dir. John Sayles

Mean Streets (1973) dir. Martin Scorsese

Meet The Feebles (1989) dir. Peter Jackson

Miami Blues (1990) dir. George Armitage, based on the novel by Charles Willeford

Mindgame (2004) dir. Masaaki Yuasa

Moolaade (2004) dir. Ousmane Sembene

The Mosquito Coast (1986) dir. Peter Weir

Mrs. Miniver (1942) dir. William Wyler

Mudhoney (1965) dir. Russ Meyer

My Twentieth Century (1990) dir. Ildiko Enyedi

Napoleon (1927) dir. Abel Gance

Never Too Young To Die (1986) dir. Gil Bettman

The New World (2005) dir. Terrence Malick

Night of the Creeps (1986) dir. Fred Dekker

Night of the Living Dead (1968) dir. George Romero

Nightbreed (1990) dir. Clive Barker

Nobody Knows (2004) dir. Hirokazu Kore-Eda

O Brother Where Art Thou (2001) dir. Coen Brothers

 

Los Olvidados (1950) dir. Luis Bunuel

One Eyed Jacks (1961) dir. Marlon Brando

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) dir. Howard Hawks

The Others (2001) dir. Alejandro Amenabar

The Outfit (1973) dir. John Flynn, based on the novel by Donald E. Westlake

The Outside Man (1972) dir. Jacques Deray

Park Row (1952) dir. Sam Fuller

Pathfinder (1987) dir. Nils Gaup

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) dir. Tom Tykwer

Phase IV (1974) dir. Saul Bass

 

The Pillow Book (1996) dir. Peter Greenaway

Pixote (1981) dir. Hector Babenco

Pleasure Planet aka Vicious Lips (1987) dir. Albert Pyun

The Power of Nightmares (2004) dir. Adam Curtis

Prime Cut (1972) dir. Michael Ritchie

Primer (2004) dir.Shane Carruth

Princess Yang Kewi Fei (1955) dir. Kenji Mizoguchi

Pursued (1947) dir. Raoul Walsh

The Queen of Spades (1948) dir. Thorold Dickinson

Raise The Red Lantern (1991) dir. Zhang Yimou

Real Life (1979) dir. Albert Brooks

 

The Reflecting Skin (1991) dir. Philip Ridley

A Report on the Party and The Guests (1966) dir. Jan Nemec, screenplay by Ester Krumbachová

Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Red Shoe (1973) dir. Yves Robert

Revenge of The Barbarians (1984) dir. Hrafn Gunnlaugsson

Riding High (1981) dir. Ross Cramer

The Road (2009) dir. John Hillcoat, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy

Roller Blade (1986) dir. Donald G. Jackson

Roller Blade Warriors: Taken By Force (1989) dir. Donald G. Jackson

Rolling Thunder (1977) dir. John Flynn

Rubin & Ed (1992) dir. Trent Harris

The Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) dir. Leo McCarey

Run Lola Run (1999) dir. Tom Tykwer

 

 

Run of the Arrow (1957) dir. Sam Fuller

The Sacrifice (1986) dir. Andrei Tarkovsky

Saint Jack (1979) dir. Peter Bogdanovich

Searching For Bobby Fischer (1993) dir. Steven Zaillian

Sense & Sensibility (1995) dir. Ang Lee

Seventh Continent (1989) dir. Michael Haneke

Shivers (1976) dir. David Cronenberg

Show People (1928) dir. King Vidor

Silence de la Mer (1949) dir. Jean-Pierre Melville

A Single Man (2010) dir. Tom Ford

Sita Sings The Blues (2009) dir. Nina Paley

Sleepaway Camp (1983) dir. Robert Hiltzik

Sleuth (1972) dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Sneakers (1992) dir. Phil Alden Robinson

Squirm (1976) dir. Jeff Lieberman

Stalag 17 (1953) dir. Billy Wilder

Stand By Me (1986) dir. Rob Reiner

Stander (2003) dir. Bronwen Hughes

Stormy Weather (1943) dir. Andrew L. Stone

Streetwise (1984) dir. Martin Bell

Stunt Man (1979) dir. Richard Rush

Subconscious Cruelty (2000) dir. Karim Hussain

Suddenly, Last Summer (1960) dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Surf 2 (1994) dir. Randall M. Badat

Switchblade Sisters (1999) dir. Jack Hill

Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972) dir. Yves Robert

Tampopo (1987) dir. Juzo Itami

The Terrorist (1998) dir. Santosh Siva

Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1988) dir. Shinya Tsukamoto

This Is England (2007) dir. Shane Meadows

This Land is Mine (1943) dir. Jean Renoir

Threads (1984) dir. Mick Jackson

Three Kings (1999) dir. David O. Russell

Tierra (1995) dir. Julio Medem

Tracks (1974) dir. Henry Jaglom

Tropical Malady (2005) dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul

True Romance (1993) dir. Tony Scott, written by Quentin Tarantino

Tulse Luper Suitcases (2002) dir. Peter Greenaway

Twentynine Palms (2004) dir. Bruno Dumont

Ucho (The Ear) (1970) dir. Karel Kachyna

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) dir. Jacques Demy

Velvet Goldmine (1998) dir. Todd Haynes

Vie De Boheme (1942) dir. Marcel Carne

Waking Life (2001) dir. Richard Linklater

War of the Buttons (1963) dir. Yves Robert / War of the Buttons (1994) dir. John Roberts

What Price Glory (1926) dir. Raoul Walsh

When Night is Falling (1995) dir. Patricia Rozema

The Woman Chaser (1999) dir. Robinson Devor (Police Beat), based on the novel by Charles Willeford

The Woman on the Beach (1947) dir. Jean Renoir

The Women (1939) dir. George Cukor

World’s Greatest Sinner (1962) dir. Timothy Carey

Wuthering Heights (1939) dir. William Wyler

Yor: Hunter from the Future (extended and theatrical) (1983) dir. Antonio Margheriti

The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) dir. Jacques Demy

Zero For Conduct (1933) dir. Jean Vigo

We'll close out our list with our Eclipse Series Wish List:

Laurel & Hardy Silents

Laurel & Hardy Talkies

Nobuo Nakagawa's Ghost Stories: Ceiling at Utsunomiya (1956), Kaiden-Kasanegafuchi (1957), Ghost of Yotsuya (1959), Mansion of the Ghost Cat (1958)

Orson Welles' Shakespeare: Macbeth (1948), Othello (1952), Chimes at Midnight (1965)

Jacques Prévert Collection: Crime of Monsieur Lange (1935), Visiteurs du Soir (1942), Stormy Waters (1941), Voyage Surprise (1947), King and the Mockingbird (1972), Jour Se Leve (1939)

Short Films of Thelma Todd, Zazu Pitts and Patsy Kelly: Maids a La Mode (1933), Maid in Hollywood (1934)

We invite you to share your thoughts and the films you'd like to see from Criterion (C.H.U.D.) here in the comments and with us in the store. You'll find the rental section on the first floor by the Family New Releases. Look for the big Criterion sign!