A character passes by a shelf with lots of discs from the legendary Criterion Collection, but he has more important things to do instead of browsing films. A true cinephile couldn’t do this, no matter if he/she was followed by someone else. The scene is from Paul Schrader’s nihilistic The Canyons (2013) and it’s one of only a few times that we have seen Criterion discs to be featured. Here some more below, feel free to contact if you want to add any.
In Gustavo Taretto’s Medianeras (2011), the main character opens his survival backpack which contains the Criterion edition of Jacques Tati’s Play Time (1967).
In McG’s This Means War (2012), Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine are talking about Hitchcock. Criterion’s The Lady Vanishes (1938) is seen in the background.
In Miguel Arteta’s Youth in Revolt (2009), Michael Cera holds Federico Fellini’s La Strada (1954) but’s this is not enough to impress the girl he likes – he receives some insults from her boyfriend instead. Some more discs are visible while he’s browsing, Jacques Tati’s Play Time (1967), Monte Hellman’s Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), Jean-Luc Godard’s À bout de souffle (1960), Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express (1994).
In Marianna Palka’s Good Dick (2008), few scenes are shot inside Cinefile Video, Los Angeles. Some Criterion titles for sale are shown. Akira Kurosawa’s The Bad Sleep Well (1960), Nicolas Roeg’s Bad Timing (1980), Jean-Luc Godard’s Bande à Part (1964), Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 (1963) and Victor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive (1973).
At last, in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015) Thomas Mann is buying films and books from a special store that sells a wide range of Criterions, from Blu-Ray discs to Laserdiscs! Visible titles are Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank (2009), Andrei Tarkovsky’s Andrei Rublev (1966), Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory (1957), David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers (1988) and Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express (1994).
