Criterion Now

Description:

Tiffany Vazquez joins Aaron and Jill after a brief hiatus, which we explain. There's some catch-up where we talk about Aaron's book, Tiffany's Mira Nair class. We then get into our selections from the flash sale, which serves as a look at some of the titles we missed. We cover the December 2025 and 2026 announcements, and we're fortunate to have Tiffany to discuss the Mira Nair and Raúl Juliá titles.


Links:

• Video of this Episode
   
• Tiffany's CineJourneys Channel
   
• Tiffany's Social Media: Bsky | Instagram | Twitter
   
  
  

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Description:

Christian Gutierrez joins Aaron for the first time. He has a podcast called Reel Latinos, and is an expert in Latino cinema. He has tastes for world cinema and classic Hollywood. We talked about the July 2025 Criterion announcements, and we went through the TCM Film Festival schedule to look at conflicts and which films for him to prioritize at the 2025 fest.


Links: 

• Video of this Episode
   
• Christian's Links
   
• Real Latinos Links
   
  
  
  

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Description:

Ali Khamseh joins Aaron from Tehran, Iran. It was the first time podcasting with someone anywhere close to that region, and it was a delight! Ali talked about his projects, the state of cinema in Iran, many of the Iranian masters like Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi, and how some filmmakers have become internationally known while pacifying the government. Ali likes a lot more than Iranian cinema and we had a good time looking through the Criterion titles too.


Links:

• Video of this Episode
   
• Ali's Links
   
• Ali's Letterboxd
   

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Description:

David Blakeslee joins Aaron. Jill is absent for the near future, and while she can't be replaced, David is a terrific co-host. We start by talking about Killers of the Flower Moon and some viral news that Criterion had allegedly approached Apple to put out a release, and Apple refused. We dig into the source and have some questions. While we are not expecting an imminent release, we think this is irresponsible reporting, but the sentiments that made it go viral are in the right place. We also talk about yet another rich month of Criterion announcements after they unveiled their June 2025 slate.

Links:

• Video of this Episode
   
• eightslicesofpie's post on the Blu-Ray forums.
   
• The follow up post after the story went viral
   
• 120 Days of Pasolini
• David Blakeslee's Guide Profile on CineJourneys
• Follow David on BlueSky
  
  
  
  

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Jill Blake - BlueSky
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Description:

Jill and Aaron talk about Flow, which appears to be the first Janus Contemporary that will get a Criterion spine release. We then talk about the May 2025 Announcements, and the new trend of increasing the number of new titles with upgrades. We speculate whether this has to do with the Steven Rales and Indian Paintbrush acquisition. 

Links:
 

• Video of this Episode
   
• ‘Flow’ Will Join the Criterion Collection Later This Year with 4K Special Edition
   
• Kickstarter Campaign for The A24 New Wave
   

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Description:
Jill and Aaron are back after a little bit of an unintentional break. We talk about Aaron's upcoming new book. We pay tribute to the loss of one of our favorite filmmakers, David Lynch. Finally we talk about the April 2025 Announcements, which include seven titles, with two from Sean Baker. We have a brief digression about Gerard Depardieu's airplane behavior.
Links:    

• Video of this Episode
       
• Criterion Now - Episode 154 Video
       
• Criterion Now - Episode 155 Video
       
• Kickstarter Campaign for The A24 New Wave
       

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Jill Blake - BlueSky
Aaron West - BlueSky | Letterboxd

Description:

Ryan Verrill joins the podcast to announce that we are joining Someone's Favorite Productions network. We also get into the November 2024 announcements on the heels of having already reacted (somewhat critically) to the CC40 boxset. We are pleased with this month, and we show a different side of Mifune to show our gratitude.Links:

• Criterion Now - Episode 152 - Video
• Someone's Favorite Productions links
• Disc-Connected Links
• Criterion Collection - Coming Soon

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Aaron West - Letterboxd

Description:

Imogen Sara Smith joins for our special episode 150, which we recorded without interruptions. We talk about a number of subjects including the thrill and rarity of seeing a repertory nitrate screening. She talks about her craft process, and how she approaches writing about film. We talk about modern French film and specifically how Celine Sciamma has pushed the boundaries of telling a visual story. We talk about the 2024 October Criterion announcements, including the Val Lewton set which features an Imogen interview. Finally, Imogen weighs in our Jill and Aaron’s choices for the upcoming #Noirvember Blogathon. Thanks Imogen for helping us celebrate this milestone episode!

Links:

• Criterion Now - Episode 150 - Video
• Film Noir Foundation
• Maine Media - Imogen Sara Smith
• Criterion Collection - Imogen Sara Smith - Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons

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Jill Blake - BlueSky
Aaron West - Letterboxd

Description:

Jill and Aaron return the Criterion Now podcast with a long overdue episode. We get into the ownership situation with Criterion Collection and Indian Paintbrush, and what we expect from it. We also look at the recent and upcoming releases, and what we are looking forward to seeing as new or for the first time.

Links:

• Criterion September 2024 Reaction with Josh Hornbeck
• CineJourneys – Join Our Inclusive Online Community
• Cinema Ritrovato

Follow Us:Cinejourneys – Website
Jill Blake – BlueSky
Aaron West – Letterboxd

We are pleased to have Dave Eves back on the show. We talk best of 2022, February and March announcements, and the Sight & Sound list.