Criterion Collected is a special podcast. There aren’t many podcasts available in short form with high production levels that are not 5 minute morning news updates. What we get with Criterion Collected is a bite sized piece of content that easily fills your walk to the car or morning coffee routine with a bit about movies.
Anyone who likes movies and home video will stumble upon the Criterion Collection at some point in time. They are high quality releases of films that often would not make it to home video, and certainly not in painstakingly restored quality, were it not for this set. Sometimes the films are foreign and had expensive rights for distribution in the US. Sometimes the quality of the original film is severely degraded and only low quality transfers or no transfers at all are available until Criterion decides to rescue it for a wider audience. Often there are deep Special Features, fulfilling the promise of digital video with high quality exclusive commentary tracks or outtakes etc.
In its first episode, Moisés shows how in touch he is with the general audience. He tackles the most surprising thing about the Criterion Collection for those who first come across— what the hell are Michael Bay summer blockbuster extravaganza TNT classic movie hits Armageddon and The Rock doing in the Criterion Collection?
After episode 1 of this podcast, not only am I convinced of their place, I think I might just buy a copy of each.
This is a show that feels like it’s worth 2 hours but respects its audience enough to shoot for 5-10mins. It’s definitely worth fitting into your day.
