What’s All The Hulu-baloo About? This Week In Criterion’s Hulu Channel

Didn’t I just write one of these a week ago? Of course I did, because this is your destination for the best coverage of all the new titles Criterion puts up on their Hulu Plus page, and this week is no different. There’s fewer films (unless they decide to throw up another 30 when I least expect it) but in this case, less is more. And the lucky number is 13 this time. With worries of what the future for Hulu is, there are supposed talks that Google is definitely interested, which is interesting. Especially with their roll out of Google+ these past few days. If you like what you see, please sign up via this link. It does wonders for this article. But enough about that, you want to know about the movies. So let’s not make the good people wait.

The one that made my head explode was Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), directed by Ishirô Honda and Terry O. Morse. Seeing that one Criterion’s Hulu page was one for us kaiju nerds. Just as a warning, this is the Raymond Burr version of Gojira which means a bit of the kick the Japanese version had is gone. But it still has the message about nuclear weaponry and what it can do to a society. Hurting the people, destroying their land and a huge monster being the cause of it. But who is the huge monster?

One that makes me happy to see added is Ronald Neame’s Hopscotch (1980). A cat and mouse film concerning a CIA operative who writes a tell all book and now is wanted dead, it’s funny and thrilling all at once. And any film with Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson together must be watched. In the first 200 spine numbers, it’s one that feels a bit forgotten, so please take the time and check this one out.

Another one that made my brain melt a little was the rock opera Quadrophenia (1979). The Who’s lesser known musical, it doesn’t make this one any less enjoyable. It’s the Mods versus the Rockers, as we have good ol’ Jimmy Cooper (Phil Daniels), who hates the boring life he’s leading and only feels truly alive when he’s with his friends and listening to The Who and The High Numbers. Drugs are at play, keeping him up all night and in a state of joy while wishing he was somewhere else. Which is why they choose to go to Brighton Beach for the scooter run, where the hated Rockers are as well and they hope to defeat them. What’s great is that The Who wrote a rock opera that doesn’t shy away from the darkness and horrors of youth, like they did with Tommy. It’s about time this film gets the attention it deserves. Also starring a young Ray Winstone and Sting himself.

Breaker Morant (1980) is one that really interests me. Directed by Bruce Beredford, who went on to direct Driving Miss Daisy, is the lesser known of the Australian New Wave directors, which always saddened me. Already liking a bunch of his films (even his Hollywood fare), this film stars Edward Woodward as Lt. Harry ‘Breaker’ Morant, one of three lieutenants who are court martialed after executing some Boer prisoners. This is because they are being used as scapegoats by the General Staff but it doesn’t seem to go along as smoothly as they would hope to. A courtroom drama is something I can always get behind, especially by a skilled director as Beredford.

Criterion’s Hulu page is starting to be your one destination for Louis Malle films, and they’ve just added another. His film The Lovers (1958) , made a star of Jeanne Moreau, in this scandalous tale of a woman who freely had sex with any man she wanted to. Censored due to the overwhelming sexuality of the film, it’s another fairy tale for adults Malle has made, one that you feel a bit naughty for watching but almost remembering some version of which you might have read or dreamed of when you were younger. It’s one to behold and shows how Moreau grew as an actress in no time since Elevator to the Gallows.

Another huge surprise is Alfred Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent (1940), not because it doesn’t deserve a spot in the collection but because I thought Warner Bros. had the film on lockdown. Either they are more relaxed about their films or some are slipping through the cracks and Criterion is snatching them up. Especially since Hitchcock had such a presence within the collection and now have lost most of them over the years. Can this be a resurgence in the collection for the master? I hope so, especially international spy thrillers like this one. Joel McCrea stars and it’s just a fantastic rollercoaster ride of a movie and you can see Hitchcock being so sure of himself and for good reason. Hope to see an announcement of a Criterion edition in the next 6 months.

I really love it when Criterion adds a bunch of films not in any of their collections and this week is no different. History is Made at Night (1937), directed by Frank Borzage, sounds like another sure thing on their Hulu Plus page. Charles Boyer is Paul Dumond, a charming Parisian who Irene Vail (Jean Arthur) falls in love with. The problem is Bruce (Colin Clive), Irene’s ex-husband, doesn’t want to give her up and will stop at nothing to get her back. And no, this isn’t a romantic comedy because Bruce is psychotic and blackmails Irene to go back to NYC with him. Paul will not give up on her and he goes forth to save her.

A John Wayne movie I have never seen yet own? What’s wrong with me? Well, luckily I have Criterion to thank that now I can get on the bandwagon and watch The Long Voyage Home (1940), directed by John Ford the same year he had his film The Grapes of Wrath out. A genuine workhorse, this is the year following Stagecoach, which was added last week to the Hulu page, and if you haven’t seen one of the archetypes for the western as we know it, you need to get on that first. But this sounds like one of the more off the radar roles Wayne ever did (besides Genghis Khan, of course). Wayne is Olsen, a Swedish sailor who is a bit naive. On their ship a lot of mayhem occurs, and will everything end up on course or will it all sink in no time? Taken from a quartet of Eugene O’Neill plays, it boggles my mind why I haven’t sat down to watch this. Now I have no excuse.

Jacques Becker’s Casque d’Or (1952) is another in the tried and through genre of doomed love. Yes, I’m calling that a genre now. And this one is an exceptional one, with the beautiful Simone Signoret (who tends to always amaze in every performance) as Marie who falls in love with a reformed criminal, Manda (Serge Reggiani). The only problem is that it incited a rivalry in the criminal underground and people will die. A romantic tale with real consequences, a more updated Romeo and Juliet (and I’m not looking at you Baz Luhrmann).

The release of the week that has the best title by far is Hajami Sato’s Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968), which the Hulu page is comparing to films I love such as Bava’s Planet of the Vampires, Honda’s Matango, Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and Harvey’s Carnival of Souls. Not sure why this one passed me by, especially since Tarantino loved the shots of the plane that he used them in Kill Bill Vol. 1, because they looked so fake and beautiful. The genre nerd in me wants this film out on blu-ray right now, especially with that beginning showing birds with bloody wings against the windows of the plane because they fear something so horribly. I’m going to sit back and watch the rest unfold as each person gets picked off if they don’t stick together.

Paisan (1946) is Roberto Rossellini’s follow up to his film Rome Open City, and he doesn’t miss a beat. Consisting of 6 episodes, it tells the story of the liberation of Italy after World War II, showing the difficulty of language between the Italians and their American liberators, all told in a realistic sense that hovers in the documentary stage. With actors and non-actors in equal roles, it’s a war film that has a sweet side to it but it doesn’t sway from the harsh reality of it either.

Yotsuya Kaidan is the essential Japanese ghost story, having an influence on the majority of their horror films in the last 60 years. What’s interesting is that Kinoshita Keisuke took the ghostly elements out and still stuck with the story of betrayal, murder and revenge. In Yotsuya Kaidan I and II, he presents the ‘ghost’ as the husband’s guilt for having his wife poisoned. It gets very dark throughout the two parts and I don’t want to give too much away but if you’re looking for a straight up horror film, this isn’t the one for you. It’s a thriller that feels more at home with Diabolique than Ringu. More Keisuke should be in the collection, so hopefully this is a hint at things to come.

We’ve come to the last film to be features this week, but it’s a doozy. Seijun Suzuki’s Youth of the Beast (1963) was the first film I ever got to see in Suzuki’s library of film. And it smacked me across the face with its insane colors and whacked out visuals. It’s an ideal yakuza film to watch because it’s the basis for the majority of present day crime films from that part of the world and even here as well. Set in Tokyo, this isn’t the swinging 60’s but instead shows how vile and corrupt people are which always makes m happy in any crime film. Joe Shishido is amazing as the baby faced tough guy who navigating through this world of crime. It’s cool, it’s harsh and it’s a film that is sorely missed out on by people who love yakuza films. Watch this one first and find the similarities, intended and unintended alike.

And so ends another fantastic week of releases. A lot of films that aren’t featured, which starts all of us Criterion nerds in a frenzy of where they might end up down the line. If you like what you see here, please sign up with this link. Every little bit helps. Let us know about any gems you came across because of this column right down below. Until next week, keep on streaming.