✳ Cinema, through other people’s eyes
Every film is a possibility.
Someone else’s favourite might be your next.
1,872 catalogue entries
682 visits & written lists
One mark for every catalogue entry.
A snapshot of a collection, and the people drawn to it.
01 / The collection
Before anyone makes a choice, there is the collection. Films, shorts, series, compilations. And boxes that hold entire worlds.
1,872
entries in the Criterion catalogue
1,718 film entries · 154 box sets
A selection leaves a trace
Across the indexed Closet visits and written lists, 1,199 current catalogue entries were selected directly at least once.
Each lit mark is a release someone chose. A box set stays one choice here.
Follow the recorded choices ↗And there is room to wander
673 catalogue entries have no direct selection in these sources. Some are included inside selected sets; others are simply waiting off the beaten path.
No recorded choice does not mean no admirers. It describes the coverage of this dataset.
Tap a mark to meet a film. Or browse the full catalogue ↗
02 / The invitations
A camera in the Closet. A list on a page. Two different occasions for people to share the films that stay with them.
Inside the Closet
Guests choose releases from Criterion’s shelves and talk about what they mean to them.
On the page
Criterion’s guest Top 10 series: personal selections accompanied by written commentary.
Why do 272 Top 10s contain 3,075 titles?
The number 272 counts articles, not films. Ties and grouped selections let a guest fit several titles into one position. These lists are separate from the Closet videos.
*The Closet source rows include one Criterion tote bag. It stays in the archive and is excluded from film rankings. These are structured page selections, not exhaustive transcripts of everything said on video.
03 / The favourites
Even the most frequently chosen film appears in a small share of all visits and lists. There are many ways into cinema.
Federico Fellini · 1963
41 of 682 visits & lists
Selection frequency describes this archive of guests. It is not an audience rating or a vote on the “best” film.
04 / The people
An actor, a writer, a filmmaker. Different creative lives, sometimes the same favourite. Compare how often each group chooses a film.
These groups can overlap: an actor may also be a director. Professional cohorts exclude joint and unknown-role events; “all events” includes them. Repeat appearances count as separate visits or lists. Differences here describe recorded choices, not a general rule about a profession.
05 / The decades
The collection is its own kind of film history. See where the catalogue is deepest, and which corners these guests have explored.
06 / The box sets
A guest can choose a whole body of work in one gesture. How you count that choice changes the story.
The default rankings count the selected set once. Opening it here adds this set’s selections to its mapped films, at most once per event.
The same archive, a different counting rule
One selected release on the outside.
A small film history on the inside.
Contents are mapped for 101 selected sets, with incomplete coverage. “Mapped films” may include different versions, shorts or supplements. Adding set contents is indirect inclusion, not proof that each film was individually praised.
07 / Your next film
Behind every number is a person and a choice. Start with someone you know. Or let an unfamiliar guest open a new door.
A place to begin, not an answer
Follow a favourite. Question a ranking. Find something you would never have found alone.
About this story
Based on the Criterion catalogue and all 410 Closet pages and 272 written lists in the indexes checked on 12 September 2026. All comparisons use this dated snapshot. Guest lists reflect the people Criterion invited and the releases they could choose.
Keep looking
Sources, coverage & counting methods ↗
The original taste map ↗
A year in the Closet ↗
IMDb and Letterboxd links are available in the explorer. Numeric ratings are not part of this release.