All videos in the world – all tiktoks and Instagram rolls you can consume – cannot convey an underrated aspect of Visiting Criterion Mobile Closet. It really smells, really Good.
At least it was my first reaction when I entered the well -stocked van at Toronto International Film Festival earlier this week. Freshly packed and sealed DVDs and Blu-rays, sharp plastic and disarmingly well vacuumed rug, which enters the van is an organized Cinephile dream. Everything is so neat and neat, so easy to find, just at hand.
If criterion does so in the van. It includes the latest titles, located and right, where I spent most of my visit to the mobile wardrobe. Indieview has visited the van with regularity since it first began: the newff After a visit to “Screen Talk” by Criterion’s own Peter Becker, on SXSWThe Even at home in la. This was my first time.
For its first transfer to international space, the van-designed van arrived to mimic the actual criterion for the NYC-Office of NYC-Office-TIFF for a four-day stay in an excellent location. Just across the street from TIFF Bell Lightbox Theater, the van published on King Street, which is closed for traffic during the first days of the party, the better to encourage walk and mix.
It was difficult to miss not only the van, but the spreading line outside it, which stretched down the street and doubled back on itself. During his four -day stay at the festival, Mobile Closet saw an estimated 400 and 500 guests per day; And just over the weekend went over 1,000 people through the van, which criterion noted is a new record for the mobile wardrobe. Criterion Brass told IndieWire that when it became really Busy, they would sometimes stack visitors and let people in three or four at a time.
But no problems there, because even people who did not go into the line and knew each other went away as friends (and some people who go into the line who are already acquaintances left the van on a new level: a couple engaged in the van on SXSW 2025). What better place to bind with other film fans than in Criterion Mobile Closet?
And what does a hour long wait get in the line? A free fabric bag, a guide to the collection and a polaroid souvenir of your choices. Purchases are limited to three discs each, but with a not too lably 40 percent of the entire bill. The van is filled with more than 1,700 movies, including each printed edition from Criterion collectionEclipse and Janus contemporary lines.
Real call: As a member of the press, I got an early, assigned place on Sunday morning. Take benefits when you can get them! The rest of my process was typical: you go into the van, go through a sweetheart little curtain and go into (fresh smelling) movie magic. Even if you have seen other wardrobe videos, it is quite exciting to take it in yourself, and the inner self is spacious, orderly and more than a little scary. If you want to record your visit, a practical telephone assembly is available for your use, and criterion movies also every visit on your own to potentially use in other videos and marketing materials.
My first and best recommendation: come up with a plan. I arrived with my three choices described, 4K upgrades for some perennial favorites. All three are fairly new (you don’t have to come up with a spine number memorized, the incredibly knowledgeable van will lead you to all the discs you are looking for), which sent me to the corner that contains the latest additions. Have both of my plan and A specific area to focus on help, there is only so A lot to look at.
The whales in question: William Friedkin’s “Magician” (Best Time’s Best Brok Cross on film Ever, even if you probably need to put your head between your knees while watching it), Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon” (a really incredible entry into stupid guy bio) and Paul Brickman’s “Risky Business” (The type of movie like a Latchkey child that I looked too often at too young at an age, now with even better image and sound). It went way too fast and it was far too fun.
My only regret? I should also have been in the line.
The next stop for the van has not yet been announced, but given that this time last year it was prepared to roll into the New York Film Festival, we would keep our eyes peeled for a NYC return and fast. Have you never been to the closet before? Take a gander at some videos of our favorite stars during their own visits when they share their choices.
