From Grady Hendrix: The Japanese Criterion Classics You Can’t Buy

Our favorite writer on Asian Cinema Grady Hendrix has a Film Comment article here about some of the Japanese titles that Criterion has in its vaults that are not available on DVD but that are available on Hulu. While many people rely on Hulu for repeats of network TV shows (punctuated by annoying commercials unless a bribe-like surcharge is paid), the most essential feature of the streaming service is their Criterion titles. It does not include all the titles Criterion has released, but to make up for that it includes many films that have never been released on home video formats.

As Hendrix says:

Hulu is a repository for everything that Criterion would never put on DVD, from Ironfinger (65) and Golden Eyes (68), two very strange James Bond knock-offs that feel like they were made by and for small children, to deep catalogue cuts from international masters like Nagisa Oshima (Criterion DVD = 8 movies; Hulu = 16). If you only know Nobuhiko Obayashi from his experimental haunted mansion movie, House (77), you owe it to yourself to check out his experimental true crime castration movie, Sada (98), or his ultra-experimental gothic short film Emotion (66), both of which are streaming. (To be fair, Emotion is included as a supplement on the HouseDVD but at 40 minutes it’s a nice stand-alone film.)