In what looks like may become my monthly Criterion report, I managed to see almost all 18 expiring films I had put on my watch list for April. Not all, because at some point, I realized I just didn't want to see A Raisin in the Sun or Hollywood Shuffle. Instead, I added The Arbor, The Crimson Kimono (rewatch), Two Weeks in Another Town, and Some Like It Hot to the "expiring" list. And I ended up watching six other Criterion films on top of that.

April Criterion Ranked:
The Defiant Ones (1958)
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
House of Games (1987)
Klute (1971)
Footlight Parade (1933)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Arbor (2011)
Adaptation (2002)
La Nuit américaine (Day for Night) (1973)
Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
Vanya on 42nd Street (1994)
Shaft (1970)
Gas Food Lodging (1992)
Two Weeks in Another Town (1962)
The Crimson Kimono (1959)
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
The Getaway (1972)
My Dinner with Andre (1981)
Near Dark (1987)
Blithe Spirit (1945)
The Hunger (1983)
The Westerner (1940)
Vera Cruz (1954)
Thank God It's Friday (1978)
The Squeaker (1937)
Il Decameron (The Decameron) (1970)

I'd say the top 7 and bottom 7 are stand-outs in the sense that I either thought they were really good, or was rather disappointed in them for one reason or another. Oddly enough, the 6 non-expiring films we ended up watching all fell near the bottom of the rankings. And Il Decameron I flat out hated. After watching it, even the Math Greek (who chose it) decided we didn't need to see the rest of that trilogy.

The middle ones were all ranked fairly close together and mostly fall into the "I'm glad I watched (or rewatched) it but feel no need to revisit it again" category. Except for Shaft. I'd watch Shaft again for the clothes alone. I'd also probably watch Thank God It's Friday again because, while in no way a "good" film, it was a lot of fun. The '70s Style Icons was really one of Criterion's most enjoyable collections. I still have Foxy Brown and Shampoo to watch in that one.

And of course, the 20 new "expiring" films I've added to my May watchlist...

Unlike my April list, I am much more sure of the films in my May list as being either "want to" or "have to" (re)watches.

For the record, they are:
From the Rita Hayworth collection: Only Angels Have Wings, The Strawberry Blonde, You Were Never Lovelier, Cover Girl
Classics: On the Waterfront, 3:10 to Yuma
"Going Nuclear" double feature: Fail Safe, Dr. Strangelove
From the "Scores by Quincy Jones" collection: The Pawnbroker, In Cold Blood, Cactus Flower, $
From the Catherine Deneuve collection: Repulsion, Mississippi Mermaid
From the "Three by Peter Bogdanovich" collection: Targets, The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon
Then also Mauvais sang, Safe, and Meeks Cutoff.

On the Waterfront, 3:10 to Yuma, Dr. Strangelove, The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon, and Meeks Cutoff are all rewatches, but, except in the cases of 3:10 to Yuma and Meeks Cutoff, it has been decades. I watched those last two fairly recently, but I'm contemplating a westerns project so I want to have them fresh in my mind.

So many movies, so little time.

But at least my workload in May, especially after the first week or so, should be much lighter than it has been. And we're under shelter-in-place for at least another month so...

I still have Foxy Brown and Shampoo to watch in that one.

Oooh, both great but I particularly love Shampoo.

From the "Three by Peter Bogdanovich" collection: Targets, The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon

Sub out What's Up Doc for Targets and you've got a real 5-star triple feature. His early run when he was still with Polly Platt was so good.

erika, thanks for that review, I'm adding that one to my to-watch list.

Sub out What's Up Doc for Targets and you've got a real 5-star triple feature. His early run when he was still with Polly Platt was so good.

Truth. What's Up Doc? was in the '70s Style Icons collection but expired last month. I didn't rewatch it because I had just seen it not too long ago at the Castro. But I'm somewhat eager to see Targets since listening to Karina Longworth's podcast series on Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. Karloff was so great in the Lewton stuff I saw him in.

Agreed that Shampoo is good. I think it helps to keep in mind that it's at least half social commentary.

I saw You Were Never Lovelier on the big screen at AFI back in the late '80s. Should have been in color, but it's hard to go wrong with a team like Hayworth and Astaire.

I finally saw Booksmart on a plane. Very funny.

I loved Booksmart, but then I was a 1990s version of them(They were right to move ahead...if you miss your window like me, it just gets sad. Thanks for your comments about my post...the movie was beautiful and revolutionary but a bit hard to follow.

I'm trying out the whole virtual cinema thing -- namely, my local repertory theater has a list of films scheduled this week, and I bought a ticket to a new (!) film as if I was in the theater, and streamed it at home. It cost about as much as the price of a in-person ticket ($12) but I was happy to do it to support the local indie movie place (I understand this is a luxury many cannot afford.)

The movie I watched is called Driveways, a lo-fi slice-of-life story about a single mom who comes to clean up the house of her sister who just passed away, her 8 yo son in tow, and the tentative friendship that develops between the boy and a widowed Korean war vet next door played by the late great Brian Dennehy (he just passed away last month.) The mom and the boy are Asian-American (it's directed by Andrew Ahn, a Korean-American director) but in a way that's matter-of-fact, although culturally resonant nonetheless. All the actors are terrific, especially Dennehy. Made me choke up a couple of times, he did.

One of those lovely small films that linger, about kindness and human connections and regrets, but not at all in a sentimental way. I highly recommend it. FYI, there is a very brief glimpse of a dead cat earlier on in case that's triggering.

GOSH, I miss going to the movies.

Watching Vertigo. I had forgotten most of the movie. Probably because I really dislike it.