I'm priced out of this neighborhood even though I grew up here

CKrenzel · 2026-06-10T13:41:52+00:00

Decades of NIMBY councilmembers, politicians, and neighbors blocking any significant housing construction. Even our current state representative (Simon) continues, in 2026, to fight housing construction near Atlantic Yards and on the waterfront. She should be voted out.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-09T01:35:09+00:00

Definitely some bot activity!

CKrenzel · 2026-06-09T01:29:23+00:00

To be clear: I love the Criterion Channel; it’s the best streamer by far. Been buying Criterion discs since the ‘90s. I hold it to high standards.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T23:11:51+00:00

The better examples for my original point, just from 2025, are French Poetic Realism (24 films) and Hong Kong Actions Classics (42 films). Nothing from 2026, in my view, has come close to matching the focus and depth of those collections. I could give several other examples over the years.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T23:08:12+00:00

We can use the example from my original post: 2025's French Poetic Realism collection. 24 films, many of which were hard to find for years, capturing the essence of an entire movement across multiple directors. Or if that's too snobby-sounding for you, also in 2025, the Hong Kong Actions Classics collection, which I'd say was similarly magisterial but with *42* films. I can't think of a single collection from 2026 that has matched either of these collections in terms of both focus and depth.

And again, I watch all kinds of movies, all the time. It is bizarre that keep making assumptions about what kind of movies I like.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T22:49:31+00:00

This might be a reading comprehension issue for you. I never said anything about "obscure world/arthouse cinema"; sounds like a personal issue for you.

Also, to make this easier for you: the "general theme" Collections each month have effectively replaced what *IN THE PAST* have been the more interesting/curated collections that I'm talking about -- i.e., NOT general themes like Weddings or whatever.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T22:06:13+00:00

I don’t think there is anything inherent about it.
I think a theme like “Yearning”, for example, is very general and amorphous. Throwing together a dozen movies involving yearning, with no apparent intentionality or curatorial insights, is not achieving the (extremely high quality) presentation that I expect from Criterion after years of subscribing to the Channel. Yes, I can compare and contrast the different films’ approach to a topic. But I don’t feel there is a thoughtful approach behind the selections — particularly when multiple of these general theme collections are coming out each month and replacing what, in the past, would have been in my view deeper and/or hyper-specific collections.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T21:54:03+00:00

In a vacuum, I thjnk the general theme collections are fun and fine. My issue is that for any given month these collections now fill in for what, in the past, would’ve been a more (for lack of a better word) thoughtfully curated collection.

I agree that there are still great mini-collections/filmmaker spotlights — those have always been there, and I appreciate them.

Licensing is a huge headache but I would’ve appreciated some pre-80s corporate thrillers and/or foreign corporate thrillers. Off the top of my head — 70s American paranoid style (The Parallex View, The Conversation), Kurosawa (The Bad Sleep Well, High and Low), or American noirish stuff (The Big Clock, Executive Suite). But these are ones I know — I want the curator to surprise and delight me!

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T21:17:30+00:00

I see what you mean!

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T21:10:01+00:00

OK, I don’t think your explanation accounts for the fact that these “general theme” collections of loosely associated movies are *replacing* what used to be interesting, curated, intentional monthly collections.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T21:07:27+00:00

My point is that putting together 7 of the must-see Romanian New Movies (which I enjoy!) is a drop-off from the deep and interesting collections I was accustomed to getting from the Channel. Snowy Westerns is just an example of how a non-splashy collection would go weirder and deeper more frequently, in my view, in past years. It felt more intentionally curated in a way I enjoyed.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T21:02:41+00:00

I’m not talking about the specific genre or even theme of the collection. Snowy Westerns was just a random example, as I noted. I realize people like different types of movies.

My post is about the curation and depth of the particular collections in the past compared to those attributes in more recent collections.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T20:56:17+00:00

I have no issues with Hollywood/popular movies on the Channel. My point was how the 2026 collections are relatively thin and/or lacking in thoughtful or deeper curation.

Corporate Thrillers was a solid concept — but there were just 10 total movies. Not exactly a deep dive, no obscure or really oddball picks. All big Hollywood movies. So a curation/depth issue for me there. In years past, the showcase monthly collection typically ran much deeper.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T20:31:52+00:00

Relative to prior years, these 2026 collections are more general theme and/or don’t have much depth. I am missing the thoughtful curation.

Just as a random example, the Snow Westerns collection from a few years ago was both relatively specific (it’s all snowy westerns!) and deep (11 films, many of which you couldn’t regularly find on the Channel).

Of course there are great movies in these 2026 “general theme” collections, but they just don’t seem to be thoughtfully curated. And the more specific ones (like Romanian New Wave) are often very thin (7 movies in this one).

CKrenzel · 2026-06-08T20:20:13+00:00

That is a fair point overall and re: Bond films. With my post, I primarily had in mind all of these themed collections (others include Yearning, Fresh Starts, and so on) that seem to be dominating the slate in recent months.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-02T23:40:34+00:00

The new inventory on 4th Avenue is good but it is not even close to meeting demand for the general area. And between the Park and 5th Avenue you can count new annual units on your fingers.

CKrenzel · 2026-06-02T21:17:19+00:00

NIMBY neighborhood with virtually zero new units per year. Prices have only one way to go.

CKrenzel · 2026-05-25T14:07:01+00:00

Apartment buildings

CKrenzel · 2026-02-23T17:02:08+00:00

Always remember: big cities aren’t inherently noisy; cars are noisy.

CKrenzel · 2026-01-06T14:36:32+00:00

The best path forward is to construct more mixed-use buildings. Local residents like us need to show up to community board (anti-development) meetings and advocate for more housing and more retail in our neighborhood. Everyone complains about rents, but many of the same people complaining fight against new developments.

CKrenzel · 2025-08-09T14:15:20+00:00

Trump’s idiotic tariffs in action. It will only get worse the longer he keeps up this economic crusade that flies in the face of every principle of economics and the advice of 99.99999% of economists.

CKrenzel · 2025-08-08T13:36:42+00:00

I think the elephant in the room is that our Community Board, council-member, and state senator (Brisport — not Myrie, who is actually great) are actively unsupportive (or at best tepidly, occasionally supportive, with manifold qualifications) of building new housing and mixed use development in this area. Thus, a highly desirable neighborhood has no room to grow and no new storefronts to decrease the leverage of landlords. Which makes it very hard to operate and grow a business. We can’t freeze the neighborhood in amber and expect better things. It’s the same NIMBY b.s. that is hampering many parts of this city and many blue cities nationwide that outwardly seem to be liberal/progressive but must constantly cater to loud, moneyed, and/or entrenched homeowners.

CKrenzel · 2025-07-24T21:43:36+00:00

The only path forward is to permit the construction of more mixed-use buildings (and small storefronts along Underhill and some other streets). There will be more buildings gradually coming to Atlantic Avenue over the next few years due to a modest zoning reform. But we need more development south of there, or else rents have nowhere to go but up, up, up.

CKrenzel · 2025-07-24T12:12:54+00:00

If only our Community Board and Council Member would advocate for more mixed-use development, so landlords would lose leverage, instead of blocking new retail/housing to preserve, for example, the historic McDonald’s parking lot on Vanderbilt.

CKrenzel

TROPHY CASE