![]() ![]() Shit is getting real over at the Criterion Channel, as the gold standard of cinephile streamers kicks off the new year with a deep and bracingly essential series of cinema vérité masterpieces that range from landmark political documentaries like Robert Drew’s “Primary,” defining works of portraiture like Shirley Clarke’s “Portrait of Jason,” and you-are-there concert films like “Woodstock” and “Gimme Shelter.” The series also provides a wonderful entrée to the faux-observational style of Abbas Kiarostami’s early work, which Criterion is contextualizing in a retrospective of the late director’s “childhood films” (including the immortal “Where Is the Friend’s House?”).įrom Direct Cinema to slice-of-life dramas, the Channel is also serving up eight of the formative television dramas that Mike Leigh created for the BBC during the 17-year gap between his first two features while a bit rougher around the edges than his later work, films like “Grown-Ups” and “Home Sweet Home” are too rich with unforgettable characters and heartbreaking drama of their own to be disregarded as mere blueprints for “Secrets and Lies” or whatnot.
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