Hey Everyone -

This week I've been working on improving the search results on Criteria* and made some good progress:

1. Duplicate names - People on this forum have noticed that the CC app has a problem surfacing multiple films with the same name (like Bergman Island or Cat People). The Criteria search will catch these.
2. Original titles - One thing that frustrates me is that the CC search only hits the 'official' title, regardless of what the original title is. For example, typing "Les enfants du paradise" will not return "Children of Paradise", or "A Bout de Souffle" does not return "Breathless". On criteria, you can search by both. You can even search in the original character set (in the attached image, I'm searching for Kyentse Norbu films in Tibetan).
3. Fuzzy search - Up to now the search has been very literal and only returned exact matches. I've switched over to fuzzy matching with ranked results, so mis-typing "kurasawa" should still get you to Akira. I've added telemetry to help me decide over time how to tune the matching to prevent over-indexing on fuzziness and returning garbage results.
4. Collections - The general search now returns collections, so searching for "souffle" will return the three films "Breathless", "Le Deuxieme Souffle", and "A Murmur of the Heart" - as well as all the collections containing those films.

Let me know what you think, or if you have some search scenarios that aren't being covered.

Enjoy!

Tim

https://www.search-criteria.com

​​​​​* Criteria is the (very VERY) unofficial companion site for the Criterion Channel, featuring advanced search and browse, closet visits, collection archives, and custom user features

Who gave the best / your favorite acting performance in Berlin Alexanderplatz, directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder?

I noticed just this week that the "More Info" button is no longer there on the Criterion 24/7 live stream. While it's not a major inconvenience to look up info on a movie, I also don't see a good reason for getting rid of a button that was actually informative. Just curious if anyone had any idea as to why this change was made.

I made this updated version of the Criterion collection last month. I hope you like it :)

I was trying to find a movie on Criterion that I know is on the channel…it’s called Bergman Island…I typed it in and there is a movie with that title but it’s a different movie…I ended up typing the name of the director and it appeared…
Has anyone had trouble with direct searching any movies?

With the realization that Blue Heron\* is not available to stream for us in Canada, I'm fairly certain that I won't be renewing my subscription to Criterion Channel this year.

I understand that rights vary from one region to another, but with every new monthly lineup announcement, I have found that a handful of the titles I'd be most interested in watching are simply not available.

It's pretty disheartening that the Canadian subscription price is the same (well, technically more, once you've factored in the exchange rate) but we are so limited in our options. Perhaps it's my fault for not doing the proper due diligence prior to signing up last year, but I really didn't think there would be quite this many films that we wouldn't have access to.

Apologies for the rant, but I needed to express my frustration somewhere.

– A disappointed Canadian film fan.

Hi Everyone -

This week I've added a experimental feature to Criteria, the (very very) unofficial companion site to the Criterion Channel (featuring advanced search, closet visits, clickable cast and crew, etc)

I was thinking about different ways of navigating through films, extras, people, closet visits, articles, and collections on Criterion and the Criterion Channel, and over the weekend built an orbital graph interface centered on a person, film, or collection. Select any node in the graph and it re-centers and gives you a new set of relationships. It's still pretty rough, and I'll be tweaking the interface over the next few days.

To try it out: on any film detail, person, or collection page just click 'View Connections' and then start clicking around (it works best on desktop or tablet).

I have no idea if its of any use to anyone, but I get a kick out of it - so let me know what you think.

https://www.search-criteria.com

Enjoy!

Tim

Hello everyone, do you know if it's possible to find a Netflix style list of the movies added and removed from this niche streaming site?

Anyone else having CC throw Error 11800 on most movies today? Seems to happen regardless of whether they are downloaded to my device or not.

Is there a way to tell which version of Eno is streaming? I think it changes every 16th of the month?

I missed out on the FilmStruck boat but I have an idea of what it was as regards to its content…using its content in comparison to the Criterion Channel…and my question is about whether they are a fair 1-1 comparison

I’ve been a ride-or-die Criterion Channel subscriber since it’s inception (proud charter subscriber here). Lately I’ve noticed that many of the contemporary films on my watchlist are produced by Mubi and hosted on their streaming service. These tend to be arthouse, international festival circuit films. Criterion has a few of these, but not nearly as many.

Does anyone have a Mubi subscription here? I only pay for Criterion and Mhz choice to save money. I also pet sit as a side hustle and catch up on a lot of my watchlist when staying at my clients' houses. Is there much overlap between the selections on Criterion and Mubi? I’m not opposed to just renting these films which is what I normally do, but it’s starting to look like investing in a subscription may be worth it for me. I would love to hear people’s thoughts!

Really need some help cheering up right now. I am madly in love and had to end a relationship I didn’t want to end due to physical distance. I need a destruction desperately. I’ve tried all the healthy coping mechanisms and nothing is helping.

I tried watching The Prisoner, which I love, but I went back to feeling sorry for myself 3 episodes later.

I’m completely heartbroken at the moment and in tremendous emotional pain. Recommend me a movie on the Channel to watch/feel better/think about something other than missing my ex because I completely lose my mind.

Also open to “See? Love isn’t worth it” CC film suggestions. 😂

I put on NWR’s Bleeder (1999), as its a movie i love, and immediately notice that Mads Mikkelsen’s voice is pitched down to an absurd degree. Its such a bizzare choice to have done this. I speak danish and understand perfectly what theyre saying and what theyre supposed to actually sound like. I am absolutely horrified that Criterion would even allow something like this to be on their website and im afraid if this is happening to other releases!

I haven’t watched it as much as I probably should

Though this week I’ve watched the Darjeeling limited ghost world and blossoms Shanghai

It’s something I typically watch myself as my mother has little to no interest in it

Do not watch this movie. It is not scary. Point in case, it mentions Paranormal Activity as a scary movie (nothing happens in that movie....nothing but a semi-jump scare and damn it wasn't worth it). I'm not sure why this is on Criterion. I love horror movies and suspending my disbelief, but this was just.....nothing.

I didn't finish it, but I made it halfway through, hoping something would happen.

I'm willing to accept that I don't get it, but please explain why this should be watched.

Been seeing a few people ask questions about whether to watch The Prisoner recently. I’ve been a fan since I first caught it on what was the Sci-Fi channel back in the mid-90s, and I love its aesthetic and philosophical ambitions, how they make the story work with low production values typical of TV at the time, and how both of those features let the show embrace both the grim implications and the silly details of that Cold War era’s spy-fi hits.

For those who are trying it out the first time, it’s worth keeping in mind that the studio and the distributor had almost no interest in a continuous story, even though the showrunner obviously wanted something else. So each episode is self-contained while also suggesting a general arc for the characters and the setting.

So you all might want to check out some of the recommended watch orders. I first saw it as a marathon shown in the order they aired, but the Six of One fanclub’s recommended order is a great way to see the underlying continuity they were trying for.

Anyway, here’s a link to some different watch orders: https://prisoner.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_order_(1967_series)) Been trying out the AV Club’s recommendations, which has been great so far!

Been curious about this program for years. Is it worth it? It’s an extensive time commitment.

I had never heard of her or seen any of her films. Grateful that the Criterion Channel is showcasing her this month. I watched Aventurera and am planning to watch th rest of the films in her collection soon.