Christopher Nolan’s Top 10 Criterion Films…Sort Of

The Films That Created A Modern Movie Auteur

♦ Over at Criterion.com, we found Dunkirk and Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan picking his nine favourite Criterion films and one film he hopes will be added to the collection at some point, so here they are courtesy of Criterion…

1. The Hit
Stephen Frears
That Criterion has released this little-known Stephen Frears gem is a testament to the thoroughness of their search for obscure masterworks. Few films have gambled as much on a simple portrayal of the dynamics between desperate men . . .

2. 12 Angry Men
Sidney Lumet
. . . except perhaps this Sidney Lumet classic.

3. The Thin Red Line
Terrence Malick
What better than Malick’s extraordinary vision of war to demonstrate the technical potential of a carefully mastered Blu-ray? Projecting this disc comes close to the original print quality, and it’s hard to imagine a superior consumer format coming along anytime soon.

4. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
Fritz Lang
Lang at his most wicked and entertaining. Essential research for anyone attempting to write a supervillain.

5. Bad Timing
Nicolas Roeg
Nic Roeg’s films are known for their structural innovation, but it’s great to be able to see them in a form that also shows off their photographic excellence.

6. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Nagisa Oshima
Few films have been able to capture David Bowie’s charisma, but Oshima’s wartime drama seems tailor-made for his talents. Tom Conti has rarely been such a sympathetic guide for the audience’s emotions.

7. For All Mankind
Al Reinert
An incredible document of man’s greatest endeavour.

8.Koyaanisqatsi
Godfrey Reggio
An incredible document of how man’s greatest endeavors have unsettling consequences. Art, not propaganda, emotional, not didactic; it doesn’t tell you what to think—it tells you what to think about.

9.The Complete Mr. Arkadin
Orson Welles
No one could make much of a case for Welles’ abortive movie overall, but the heartbreaking glimpses of the great man’s genius preserved here are the most compelling argument for the value of Criterion’s dedication to cinema.

10.
Which brings me to Greed, von Stroheim’s lost work of absolute genius. Which is not available on Criterion. Yet. Here’s hoping.

Christopher Nolan Criterion Top 10 Movies www.tripwiremagazine.co.uk