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I have the Criterion Channel streaming service. It is a streaming service dedicated to “classic” films, arthouse films, and so on. As a movie fan, this is up my alley. While having the service, which I got as a gift for Christmas last year, I have watched dozens of films. Some of them are classics I had been meaning to see. They are movies I was familiar with and watching them paid off. Take, for example, Richard Linklater’s Slacker, which I have watched twice already. However, having Criterion Channel has also reminded me of something: If I’ve never heard of an older movie, there’s probably a reason for it.
Even on an elevated streamer like Criterion, there are only so many really good movies out there. The films on the service I have watched but had never heard of before have been, by and large, decent at best. There has not been a single true discovery for me with Criterion. That’s even true of films from notable directors like Ernst Lubitsch or Billy Wilder.
For example, right now they have a series of films in a collection called “Noir in Color.” I enjoy film noir, and so I was looking forward to this collection. However, I’ve watched a few films in it and they’ve all been middling. In fact, I’ve given up on the collection as a result of films like House of Bamboo and The Black Widow.
I’ve still gotten a lot out of Criterion. That being said, even a service like this can’t only provide you with true classics. If a movie is from back in the day and you haven’t heard of it, and you are film savvy like I am, then it’s likely skippable. So far, that’s been the story for me. Films are forgotten for a reason.
