The challenge with the Criterion Channel is not finding something to recommend, but finding time to watch a streaming service comprised of nothing but classic, must-watch movies. Their September 2021 lineup is as impressive as ever with so many terrific films that are worth your time. Just twenty movies that are worth adding to your list include The Naked City, The Apartment, West Side Story, Putney Swope, The Panic in Needle Park, Sisters, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, My Dinner with Andre, Smithereens, Stranger Than Paradise, After Hours, Moonstruck, Do the Right Thing, The King of New York, Just Another Girl on the I.R.T., The Daytrippers, In the Cut, Man Push Cart, The Squid and the Whale, Margaret, and Frances Ha.
Here’s the full list of films coming to Criterion Channel in September 2021.
The Immigrant, Charles Chaplin, 1917
The Crowd, King Vidor, 1928
Speedy, Ted Wilde, 1928
The Clock, Vincente Minnelli, 1945
The Naked City, Jules Dassin, 1948
Little Fugitive, Morris Engel, Ruth Orkin, and Raymond Abrashkin, 1953
On the Bowery, Lionel Rogosin, 1956
An Affair to Remember, Leo McCarey, 1957
The Garment Jungle, Vincent Sherman, 1957
Shadows, John Cassavetes, 1959
The Apartment, Billy Wilder, 1960
West Side Story, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, 1961
The Incident, Larry Peerce, 1967
The Queen, Frank Simon, 1968
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, William Greaves, 1968
Putney Swope, Robert Downey Sr., 1969
The Angel Levine, Ján Kadár, 1970
The Out-of-Towners, Arthur Hiller, 1970
Born to Win, Ivan Passer, 1971
Little Murders, Alan Arkin, 1971
The Panic in Needle Park, Jerry Schatzberg, 1971
Ciao! Manhattan, John Palmer, 1972
Sisters, Brian De Palma, 1972
Super Fly, Gordon Parks Jr., 1972
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Joseph Sargent, 1974
God Told Me To, Larry Cohen, 1976
News from Home, Chantal Akerman, 1977
Eyes of Laura Mars, Irvin Kershner, 1978
Town Bloody Hall, D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, 1979
Permanent Vacation, Jim Jarmusch, 1980
Escape from New York, John Carpenter, 1981*
My Dinner with Andre, Louis Malle, 1981
Stations of the Elevated, Manfred Kirchheimer, 1981
Smithereens, Susan Seidelman, 1982
Variety, Bette Gordon, 1983
Los Sures, Diego Echeverria, 1984
Old Enough, Marisa Silver, 1984
Stranger Than Paradise, Jim Jarmusch, 1984
After Hours, Martin Scorsese, 1985
Five Corners, Tony Bill, 1987
Moonstruck, Norman Jewison, 1987
Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee, 1989
Sidewalk Stories, Charles Lane, 1989
The King of New York, Abel Ferrara, 1990
Metropolitan, Whit Stillman, 1990
Paris Is Burning, Jennie Livingston, 1990
Just Another Girl on the I.R.T., Leslie Harris, 1992
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Alan Rudolph, 1994
Rhythm Thief, Matthew Harrison, 1994
Smoke, Wayne Wang, 1995*
The Daytrippers, Greg Mottola, 1996
Mr. Jealousy, Noah Baumbach, 1997
Dark Days, Marc Singer, 2000
Downtown 81, Edo Bertoglio, 2000
In the Cut, Jane Campion, 2003
Brother to Brother, Rodney Evans, 2004
Man Push Cart, Ramin Bahrani, 2005
The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach, 2005
Chop Shop, Ramin Bahrani, 2007
Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, Tamra Davis, 2010
Margaret, Kenneth Lonergan, 2011
Frances Ha, Noah Baumbach, 2012
The Hottest August, Brett Story, 2019
*Available October 1