Netflix added 35 titles from the Criterion Collection to its streaming video service on Monday. It’s one of my goals to make it through the entire Criterion Collection.  Another goal would be to own the entire collection, but that will have to wait until a benefactor comes along and relieves me of my student loan debt. So for now, like many film geeks, I stick to renting and borrowing most of the Criterion releases from The Criterion Online Cinemateque, Netflix, The Auteurs, my local video store, as well as the public library system. 

Criterion prides itself for distributing “authoritative” films and “important classics and contemporary films” and recently has taken criticism for distributing films that lacked the qualities of “better film,” such as THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON.

Netflix instant viewing service already offered a fair number of Criterion films. It is worth noting that there are a bunch of films by Akira Kurosawa now available for instant viewing. I highly recommend checking out is Costa-Gavra’s Z.  I had the pleasure of attending a screening of this film at the historic Paramount Theater in Austin this summer and am looking forward to seeing that film again very soon.  It features the cinematography of Raoul Coutard and amazing music by Mikis Theodorakis.

Here is the complete list of all the Criterion films that were added:

HIGH AND LOW
JULES AND JIM
SANJURO
SEVEN SAMURAI
SUMMERTIME
THE VANISHING
WALKABOUT
YOJIMBO
MY LIFE AS A DOG
FOR ALL MANKIND
CLEO FROM 5 TO 7
SISTERS
CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS
M. HULOT’S HOLIDAY
RASHOMON
I VITELLONI
WILD STRAWBERRIES
L’AVVENTURA
HIDDEN FORTRESS
GENERAL IDI AMIN DADA
MAN BITES DOG
THE LOWER DEPTHS
IKIRU
ONIBABA
LE CORBEAU
OVERLORD
LA BETE HUMAINE
PICKPOCKET
ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS
CRIA CUERVOS
MALA NOCHE
EUROPA
WINGS OF DESIRE
Z
THE SEVENTH SEAL

Source /Film