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Wherein I attempted to tackle The Criterion Challenge 2024 and became a better cinephile for it

Jan 05, 2025

A few Criterion Collection titles from my personal library. As it happens, three of the films I picked for The Criterion Collection Challenge 2024 are shown.

Last January, a friend and I put our love for The Criterion Collection to the test. We mutually agreed to participate in the latest Criterion Challenge for the first time. The gauntlet was thrown down on Letterboxd and off we went! Neither of us completed the task of watching 52 films from The Criterion Collection in 52 weeks. However, we made it past the halfway mark. Huzzah!

I managed to hit 40 films in time for 2024 to turn into 2025. Out of those 40, a whopping 32 films were new to me. Not bad for an initial effort. Am I disappointed I didn’t watch all the titles I selected? Nope. Because I will finish this challenge. Only nine remain that I’ve never seen. The other three I look forward to rewatching as it has been awhile since I’ve had the pleasure.

Back in June, I discussed my participation in the 2024 challenge and revealed my favorite picks from what I had seen at the time. I’ll repost those first five faves here and add five more from the second half of the year. Needless to say, these 10 films will have a special place in my heart for the rest of time.

10 Favorite Flicks from The Criterion Challenge 2024

Clouds of Sils Maria

Olivier Assayas' tale of an actress (a riveting Juliette Binoche) revisiting the play that launched her career deals with ageism, sexism, and feeling obsolete in an industry that is constantly looking for the Next Big Thing. There's also the sizzling chemistry between Binoche and a fantastic Kristen Stewart, who plays her devoted yet increasingly disillusioned assistant.

Jane B. par Agnes V.

In this delightful documentary by Agnes Varda, singer/actress/fashion icon Jane Birkin features in a collection of fantastical vignettes that eschews the traditional biopic revealing the woman within. Birkin and Varda pair beautifully; two artists who seek truth while projecting beauty. Humor is mixed in with the otherworldly to captivate and illuminate.

Medicine for Melancholy

A sharp romantic drama, Barry Jenkins' feature debut sets the stage for what the writer/director will achieve narratively less than a decade later, starting with the Oscar winning Moonlight. Set over the course of 24 hours, two people (Wyatt Cenac and Tracey Heggins, both well cast) spend the day traversing across San Francisco talking about race and gentrification while wondering if romance is possible.

Original Cast Album: Company

Initially conceived as a pilot for a television series, acclaimed filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker documented the recording of the cast album to Stephen Sondheim's classic in the spring of 1970, right after the show bowed on Broadway. One of my all-time favorite musicals, I loved the fly-on-the-wall experience of seeing the original cast belting out this fabulous score in a recording studio under the legendary Sondheim's supervision.

Persona

Another tale about an actress, only this is a two-hander and the director is the great Ingmar Bergman. Bibi Andersson's nurse Alma is assigned a new patient to look after; Liv Ullman's Elisabet Vogler is the aforementioned actress, who is mute. During their time together, Alma becomes enamored with Elisabet and becomes convinced their personae are merging. Electrifying performances from Andersson and Ullman, with Bergman at the height of his powers.

Jubal

Delmar Dave’s operatic western takes Shakespeare’s Othello and transplants the story to a Wyoming ranch. Glenn Ford’s guilt-ridden cowboy gets caught in the middle of a love triangle involving kind-hearted owner Ernest Borgnine, Rod Steiger’s jealous foreman, and Valerie French as the owner’s unsatisfied wife. A fantastic adaptation that makes it one of the best westerns in an underappreciated genre.

Withnail & I

This cult classic lives up to the hype. Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann (the Eighth Doctor!) are quite the dynamic drunken duo as they primarily exist between their flat, the pub, and the unemployment office. Good thing an escape to the country finds them just when they need it most. Darkly funny and bitingly acerbic, Grant and McGann are aces while Richard Griffiths’ wickedly good turn reminds us that he’s so much more than Vernon Dursley.

Merrily We Go to Hell

Pre-Hays Code films definitely have a freedom to them when it comes to certain topics as Edwin Justus Mayer’s audacious (for the time) screenplay attests. With director Dorothy Arzner at the helm, this romantic comedy-drama is even more notable. A smartly realized script comes to vivid life courtesy of a sensational cast led by Sylvia Sidney and Fredric March, whose sparkling chemistry ignites from the moment they first share the screen. Bonus: a very young Cary Grant pops up, too.

Night Train to Munich

Spy stories are my jam. Always have been. Which is why I had this Carol Reed suspense film sitting in my personal Criterion Collection library waiting to be watched. Set on the eve of World War II, this is as much a father-daughter story as a espionage tale. The pair in question fall in with dashing Rex Harrison’s English spy while trying to stay a step ahead of the equally dashing yet dastardly Paul Henreid and the Nazi Party. Witty, clever, sly. This has 007 vibes without the moody set pieces.

The Fisher King

Matching this with 12 Monkeys would make for an intriguing Terry Gilliam/mental illness double feature. Jeff Bridges and Robin Williams are at the top of their respective games in this captivating, endearing, fantastical tale of two lost souls, who at first glance couldn’t be more different. But their fates are destined to intertwine and what follows involves a quest that may change these men for the better. Mercedes Ruehl(!) and Amanda Plummer perfectly match their male co-stars in every way.

These 10 were the ones that spoke to me most, but none of the films I watched disappointed. I’m not terribly surprised considering The Criterion Collection’s sterling reputation.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve included a list below of the 52 films I selected as part of the 2024 challenge. If you’ve seen any or all of them, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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