How Criterion Collection President Peter Becker Champions the Best Art Films in the World
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After a short, overwhelming stint in the mobile Criterion Closet, which boasts over 1,200 titles in the order they were added to the collection, Screen Talk co-hosts Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio welcomed Criterion president Peter Becker to the annual New York Film Festival edition of “Screen Talk” Live.
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But first, the co-hosts debated the merits of Luca Guadagnino’s artful but long “Queer” (135 minutes, A24) starring Daniel Craig as an aging gay junkie suffering from unrequited love. And they also argued about the NYFF closing nighter, “Blitz,” which some think lacks that Steve McQueen edge. His biggest budget film to date is also his most traditional, starring Saoirse Ronan and Elliott Heffernan as a mother and son separated during the London blitz of World War II. Reviews are stronger in Britain than stateside so far (Metascore: 76). Anne thinks it will play for Academy voters, while Ryan questions how many people will see it on Apple TV+.
Criterion’s Becker revealed how the Criterion Closet began, as a parting gift package for visitors to the office. They filmed Guillermo del Toro in the closet, and people responded to the video. Agnès Varda, William Friedkin, and about 200 followed, including more recently Winona Ryder, Zo? Kravitz, and Channing Tatum.
Celebrating 40 years of the Criterion Collection, the new CC40 box set features a special package of 40 films from the collection. When the Criterion staff couldn’t figure out how to cull the list, they decided to figure out which films had been the most chosen by their closet visitors. “It was not the greatest hits,” said Becker, like staples from the library. “They champion things meaningful for them, and want to stick up for something people don’t know and surprise us with.”
The mobile closet outside Alice Tully Hall at the New York Film Festival inspired people to line up for eight or nine hours. The hottest items over the four days were Gregg Araki’s teen apocalypse trilogy and Richard Linklater’s “Before” trilogy.
As to the release slate, “It’s what we want to provide to the audience at any given time,” said Becker. “Some we can’t license yet, others we have rights but it’s slow going.”
This year, Becker’s Janus/Sideshow partners have five movies in the main slate at NYFF (“The Shrouds,” “Misericordia,” “Caught by the Tides,” “It’s Not Me,” and “All We Imagine as Light”). He’d like to follow up the success of their Best Picture nominee “Drive My Car” with Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light,” which they will support for an Oscar campaign in five major categories even without India submitting the film for Best International Feature Film.
Becker wound up with praise for Steven Rales (Wes Anderson backer and head of Indian Paintbrush) who purchased Janus and Criterion last year. “He’s a kindred spirit with an abiding love for film culture,” he said.
Screen Talk is produced by Azwan Badruzaman and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify, and hosted by Megaphone. Browse previous episodes here, subscribe here, and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk.
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