Let me just say at the top: Criterion is an awesome company; they do incredible work with preserving movies and keeping film culture vibrant. I have my own modest collection of DVDs and Blu-rays from the label. We all love watching our favorite stars and directors go into the Criterion closet and talk about their favorites. Their home entertainment releases feature erudite essays, engaging extras, and the commentary tracks are fantastic. But, what about the rest of cinema?
Many YouTube channels are now dedicated to the label where the hosts make a huge deal about "release announcements" the same way international bankers await minutes about the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve Board. We get the requisite "haul videos" of trips to Barnes & Noble during 50% off flash sales. The creators of these videos are sincere in their passion for film, but framing the history of cinema as a race to achieve Criterion status feels arid.
People want killer recommendations, and YouTube often delivers. Criterion provides their customers with a sense of taste. I'd hate to see film discourse evolve into comparing vintage wines, there's a much wider world of cinema out there.
If there is a counterpoint to Criterion culture, I would point to the Lex G podcast. Lex began podcasting in 2021, delivering long unfiltered riffs on the career of Tom Cruise or doing a free form deep dive into Brian De Palma's filmography. He lives in a small apartment, hates his cubicle job, often speaks of his misspent youth and his Hollywood dreams crashing with reality through sardonic anecdotes.
Lex often speaks of Gen Z movie culture, admiring their precocious approach to films. They idolize the Criterion Channel and mainlined Ozu and Bergman during high school. Their refined tastes are in stark contrast to the 80s generation who watched worn-out VHS tapes of The Last Starfighter or Lethal Weapon 2. International cinema, outside of the occasional Siskel and Ebert segment, was not part of the average 80s kid's cultural diet.
Lex uses movies to reflect on and make sense of his past, not as a signifier of status or taste. His relationship with movies often gets complicated. There was a string of episodes that got a bit dark with Lex lamenting he ever became a "movie guy" and had not embarked on a more practical path. While the middle-aged angst remains, Lex's attitude has been more positive over the past few years.
What makes the podcast special are the small details. Tales about being a movie obsessed kid in suburban Pittsburgh channel the wistfulness of Jean Shepherd. Recording your favorite movies on a cassette tape as they played on TV or going on video store sojourns to locate a copy of The Eiger Sanction. Much of movie discourse these days is more hyper-concerned with optics and checklist critiques, a consumerist tone permeates everything.
Canonizing for a niche audience serves a noble purpose, but movies are a popular medium and were never intended to be an intellectual obstacle course. Criterion preserves film; Lex G reminds us that films often shape us and the lives we've lived. Movies flow from all corners of culture, and most of them are forgotten with the passage of time. Movies are just as much about memory and identity as they are about cultural cachet.
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