Criterion Now

Have been listening to most of the podcasts in this family of Criterion centered discussions for about 5 years. Anyone familiar with the brand gets it has marketed wisely and now has a following that supercedes the actual movies themselves it releases. Films become dubbed by the Criterion faithful as "Criterion worthy" or not and you soon realize the cart has now surpassed the horse. I have a rather large collection myself as a career filmmaker and find most of their films as being worthy of study for not only my own joy but for work. Though I am far from the cover critisizing devotees that obssess over this stuff, I still have a far above normal collection of blurays and DVDs (including a few 16mm prints) of films I love. But the cinephiles that have taken over essentially the flag ship program here are a different breed. I give it four stars as for those who love the films and listening to others indulge in the somewhat uncomfortable affection for them will enjoy returning to this. It misses the more direct and focused voice of Ryan Gallagher, even if his political penchant at times filtered in (though the recent hosts have made comments like, I am paraphraing "those on the right might not like Boogie Nights" or that Criterion themselves as a company support Hillary Clinton) but you still get your fill of unadulturated movie talk to fall asleep to or listen on your drive home. Some of the routines like "piece of flare" and the word games they play are a bit tiresome and not of any interest to me, but there is still enough in there for me to kill an hour to. Croterions fans wil, and do, love the show, but think it has plenty of room for a smoother show that does not lapse into somewhat slightly personal banter between the current hosts.

I gotta tip my hat to host Aaron West and the work he does with this remearkable podcast. It's a thoughtful and engaging show about a fetish that every true film lovers has, a Criterion Collection jones. Anyway, you can keep up to date by Aaron and his guests by subscribing, something I urge you to do.

For real. It’s like the hub of the Criterion cinephile universe. Aaron is a great host and has terrific guests especially Jon Laubinger who is the best guest

This is my new favorite thing. I don’t have a lot of folks to dish with about Criterion so this is perfect for me. Love the variety of guests and perspectives. The format of the show moves quickly but still covers a ton. Aaron, you’re a great host!