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Essential Films (For Me) — Criterion Collection
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items These are films that have stayed with me, and movies I return to not just for the stories, but for the feeling they leave behind. Each title here is a film I genuinely love, presented in its Criterion Collection edition, where the care given to resto...
Wim Wenders’ most affecting film, anchored by Harry Dean Stanton’s deeply restrained performance. I come back to this one for the space it gives grief and reconciliation, and for how little it needs to say out loud. Robby Müller’s cinematography and ...
Paris, Texas (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
Lindsay Anderson’s film still feels restless and alive, largely because of Malcolm McDowell’s sharp, simmering presence. I’ve always been drawn to how it blends humor, defiance, and unease without asking for permission or clarity. It captures the ten...
If.... (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
Pixar at its most patient and expressive, with almost no dialogue and a surprising amount of emotional weight. I love how much this film trusts silence, movement, and sound design to carry the story. WALL·E and EVE feel deeply human without trying to...
WALL•E (The Criterion Collection) [4K UHD]
The Coen brothers at their most stripped down and unforgiving, with Javier Bardem delivering one of the most unnerving performances I’ve ever seen. What keeps me returning is the tension in the quiet moments and the film’s refusal to explain itself. ...
No Country for Old Men (Criterion) 4K UHD
David Lynch at his most controlled and most disturbing. Dennis Hopper’s performance still feels unhinged in a way that’s hard to shake, while Kyle MacLachlan and Isabella Rossellini hold the film in a tense, fragile balance. I return to this one for ...
Blue Velvet (The Criterion Collection) [4K UHD]
Jim Jarmusch at a distinct high point, with Forest Whitaker giving one of his most quiet, magnetic performances. The way Whitaker’s Ghost Dog lives by the code of the samurai in a modern world stays with me long after the credits. The score by RZA an...
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Criterion) Blu-ray
Terry Gilliam at his most chaotic and precise, with Jonathan Pryce delivering a performance that balances desperation and absurdity. I keep returning to this one for how it turns bureaucratic nightmare into something both darkly comic and deeply huma...
Brazil (The Criterion Collection) [4K UHD]
Akira Kurosawa at his most commanding, with performances that feel alive in every frame. I return to this film for its rhythm, its humanity, and the way it builds tension without ever feeling forced. Watching these samurai move through space and choi...
Seven Samurai (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
Robert Altman at his most dreamlike, with Shelley Duvall and Sissy Spacek giving performances that feel like living in someone else’s subconscious. I come back to this film for the way it moves between identities and moods without ever settling, and ...
3 Women (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
Robert Altman at a quietly radical peak, with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie giving performances that feel lived in and unpredictable. I keep returning to this film for its weathered rhythms, its way of letting scenes breathe, and how it sees the f...
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Criterion 4K UHD)
Kelly Reichardt’s quiet precision hits hard, with standout work from Laura Dern, Lily Gladstone, Michelle Williams, and Kristen Stewart. I return to this film for the way it observes small moments and makes them feel vast and true. The pacing and sub...
Certain Women (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]
Terrence Malick’s lyricism at its most elemental, with Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, and Sam Shepard delivering performances that feel both grounded and transcendent. I keep coming back to this film for the way it sees light and landscape as emotional ...
Days of Heaven (The Criterion Collection)