The latest in Criterion’s online magazine: Six serial-killer classics and a close listen to TOOTSIE’s love theme

Plus: A new personal essay by Larissa Pham and a tribute to silent cinema’s unsung pioneers [Current]( HIGHLIGHTS DECEMBER 5, 2021 A roundup of recent articles from Criterion’s online magazine. Happy reading! [Is It a Crime?]( Six Women Writers and the Serial-Killer Movies That Thrill Them. Ranging from the slasher classic Black Christmas to David Fincher’s sprawling true-crime puzzle Zodiac, these tales of murder raise thorny questions about the pleasure and politics of spectatorship. By Megan Abbott, Angelica Jade Bastién, Elena Gorfinkel, Beatrice Loayza, Nadine Smith, and Kelli Weston WATCH [Several of the films covered in this collection of essays are playing now in the Criterion Channel’s True Crime series.]( [The Loves of Others]( A Couple’s Journey Through Film. In the latest entry of our First Person series, the author of the acclaimed book Pop Song explains how she came to her cinephilia—including her love of Agnès Varda’s The Gleaners and I—by learning to appreciate her partner’s favorite movies. By Larissa Pham Illustration by Xia Gordon READ MORE [In a special tribute to Agnès Varda published last year, four filmmakers explore their favorite scenes in the French master’s oeuvre.]( [In the Key of Queerness]( Hearing Liberation in Tootsie’s Love Theme. In the context of Sydney Pollack’s gender-crossing comedy, the hit ballad “It Might Be You” suggests that the plenitude of romantic possibility has the power to break down social boundaries. By Karen Tongson READ MORE [Previous articles in our Songbook series have examined Mike Leigh’s use of music by the Cure, the rock-and-roll epiphany in Cold War, and Fassbinder’s affinity for Kraftwerk.]( [Credit Where It’s Due]( Toward an Inclusive History of Silent Cinema. A string of recent programs, including at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival, have illuminated important actors and filmmakers whose success in their time challenges the impression that early cinema was exclusively the preserve of white men. By Pamela Hutchinson READ MORE [In 2018, critic Imogen Sara Smith reported on Pordenone’s John M. Stahl retrospective.]( [All in the Family]( Revelations and Omissions in Alan Berliner’s Home-Movie Collage. The latest article in our Deep Dives series looks closely at The Family Album, a poignant but limited view of American domestic life from the 1920s to the 1960s. By Radha Vatsal WATCH [The Family Album is now playing on the Criterion Channel.]( OLDIE BUT GOODIE [“To rediscover these films has been a revelation not just of the deep continuities in all his work, but of the world in which that work took shape.”]( —Geoffrey O’Brien on Alfred Hitchcock’s British films. See these early-career gems along with the Master of Suspense’s later work in Hitchcock for the Holidays, a series now playing on the Criterion Channel. THE DAILY [Satyajit Ray at 100]( The Academy Museum Opens a Two-Part Retrospective. Running now through December 29, the first half of the program presents fifteen features screening on 35 mm prints from the Academy Film Archive. READ MORE [David Hudson gathers tributes to the legendary Stephen Sondheim, who passed away last week.]( For further information on Criterion and our products, please visit our website at [criterion.com.]( To start streaming the Criterion Channel, please visit [criterionchannel.com.]( If you are not already on our mailing list and would like to be added, please [click here]( to register at [criterion.com.]( To unsubscribe, [click here.]( © 2021 The Criterion Collection :: 215 Park Ave S. New York, NY 10003