Kemp Powers’s Closet Picks 

An action movie of words is the best review I’ve ever heard for 12 angry men. Great picks!

I need another 20 minutes of listening to Kemp pick out and talk about movies...

0:18 - *12 ANGRY MEN* _dir. Sidney Lumet_ (1957) 0:51 - *WATERSHIP DOWN* _dir. Martin Rosen_ (1978) 1:52 - *DEEP COVER* _dir. Bill Duke_ (1992) 2:32 - *CRONOS* _dir. Guillermo del Toro_ (1993) 3:20 - *MATEWAN* _dir. John Sayles_ (1987) 4:10 - *ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI . . .* _dir. Regina King_ (2020)

I love his discussion when talking about Watership Down, it’s definitely one of the most important films to ever be made in the realm of animation

These are the best Closet Picks. Whenever someone really gets into it and talks about their personal relationship to all these movies, and how seeing them changed their lives. It's the best. I love Kemp.

Happy for him that One Night in Miami is in the Criterion Collection now.

What he said about animation is so true! He did a fantastic job, along with Pete Doctor and Mike Jones, when it came to making Soul 🙌. Excellent video as always!

Closet picks is lowkey the best way to get amazing movie recommendations

Yaphet Kotto in Paul Schrader's Blue Collar gives a similar speech to Chris Cooper in Maetwan. Great film--I'd certainly recommend it.

"I had no money but I wanted to go to the movies all the time" Been there, done that. You wrote One Night In Miami! I hesitated watching it because I already knew so much about the principals (except Jim Brown) that I just thought, how can it possibly live up to my expectations? Brilliantly exceeded them- absolutely amazing. You may or may not win the Academy Award - your work will never be forgotten. Matewan, Haskell Wexler cinematography - I went to the best theater in town to see the best possible print. Chris Cooper's _racism is used to keep us weak_ speech? This is also in Paul Schrader's Blue Collar about autoworkers in Detroit. Love Criterion. There's almost nothing that I haven't seen at least twice.

Didn't know who Kemp was until watching this though I really enjoyed and admired One Night In Miami. Naming 12 Angry Men as a touchstone and characterizing it as he did immediately resonated with me and with ONIM, which really brought interest and excitement solely with the dialogue.

Matewan is one of the 80's finest. John Sayles' masterpiece.

Extraordinary picks from an extraordinary writer.

Watership Down! What a choice!

I just watched One Night in Miami (literally; it finished about 5 minutes ago!) and then I see this in my recommended videos! Beautiful film, and Kemp seems like a lovely guy. So glad it got a Criterion release, it's very well-deserved

I like his pitch of Matewan. Going to need to check that one out now. Had not heard of it previously.

Deep cover is such a great pick kemp!!

This guy is such an amazing writer. So glad he was able to find success in One Night in Miami and Soul. Can't wait to see what he does next.

Loved the Key Theater in Georgetown. I saw Hal Hartley's Amateur there, back in the day. Had that little poster shop next door... Good times.

Great pics....especially Matewan! One Night in Miami will be on my watchlist.

Thank you so much for bringing back closet video !!!!!

This is fantastic. Something about anyone put in that room just excudes their inspiration,. Glad he shared his own film too. will check it out.

David lynch next please

ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI is My Fav Movie of 2021. Absolutely powerful and pure genius 😍😍😍

I would love to see these with less cuts. I want them longer

Any union organizing is never boring, Kemp. Wonderful picks by a wonderful man.

This needed to be half an hour! Great stuff.

Great descriptions and choices.

Can you guys invite Asghar Farhadi for a Closet Picks session?

Samesies on Watership Down: PBS, me at around 7 y.o., awed and terrified.

Would love to see what Matt Damon, Laura Dern and Bruce Dern, Johnny Depp, Emma Thompson would pick. Please LIST the movies they select.

To me, the best thing about Twelve Angry Men, (and the genius of the story) is that at the end, they don't have a capper showing whether or not the kid did the crime. It's not a tidy ending. They leave you, as the jury is left, never knowing for sure about the guilt or innocence. That's how being on a jury actually is.

So great seeing him get his hands on the Miami blu ray for the first time

Please add Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid to the collection. It's easily one of the greatest dark comedies of all time, right up there with The King of Comedy.

Fantastic episode, but another one where I see another film was in his stack that we didn't see so instead of watching naturally I kept trying to see what it was.

Love his picks. Watched Matewan in a film class and it was powerful.

One of my favorite 'Closet Picks'. Well done sir 😎

I love seeing him hold One Night in Miami. I bet that was a very touching experience.

Not enough of these posted regularly.Understandable with the pandemic but they are fascinating when you get people who aren't just snatch and grab but go into detail on their choices

Never heard of Matewan, snagged it, it’s amazing. Thank you, haha.

3:47 Very true. People need to work together to fight the corporations

This video inspired me to watch Matewan, and it's really incredible. Thank you Criterion!

when he said "one of my favorite animated films of all time" I was really hoping he'd pull out Jellyfish Eyes lol

So glad this guy is on the directing team for Across the Spiderverse!

We need more closet picks videos!!

Loved his comment about animation. It is definitely just another medium. Criterion really needs to release more animation

Ah man I had the same reaction to Watership Down as a kid. Love that

This is my favorite series!

What a sweet humble dude

you can tell he love's films.....more please!

Great picks!

this man needs to start a podcast where he talks abt movies

Awesome. Love these

getting to see your own movie in the closet must feel unreal

Woah, 4K! Sick, criterion!

Given that he worked on Soul, I wonder if he’s seen Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru.

great selection

Seems like a nice fella. Haven't seen his films.

Not mentioned but found among his picks: A Matter of Life and Death

"Buffalo 66" "Drugstore Cowboy" "Enternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind" All rightfully deserve the CC treatment.

Good picks

This guy is awesome!

Deep Cover is great.

These are great videos.

Imagine a PTA, Tarantino, Fincher, Villenueve, Chazelle, Coen's, Scorcese or Almodovar closet picks, my life would be complete

My reminder to watch Matewan!

Can we get Celine Sciamma in the closet?

I’m going to get in there some day

Any chance of Re-Releasing La Dolce Vita but this time on 4K UHD?

That was great.

These are always beloved and nearly always riveting. Criterion, please keep making the effort to give us more of the closet events with female thinkers and artists!

What would Jim Jarmusch pick, I wonder. Or Tilda

Deep Cover! god damn how good is Jeff Goldblum in that? he was terrifying! good choice

Great films!!

Is Soul getting a Criterion release?

Guillermo Del Toro is one of the filmmakers that I’ve let go. Can’t watch all these great movies in one lifetime. Have to let some go. And I think it’s one of the most important decisions I’ve made.

Loved Soul and Across the Spider-Verse 🙌🏽

His mention of DEEP COVER reminds me that ONE FALSE MOVE is not in the Collection yet. #Oversight

All DVDs? Can I buy Kemp a bluray player? like as a thank you for his work

Why are these getting so short? You all do not show all of the picks anymore!

Good choices. Quite a few new ones for a wannabe-cinephile like me.

Even this Criterion RU-vid video got 4K-ed!

It's shop until the closet is cleaned out =D

More closet videoes!

Honestly these could be a lot longer.

yes yes yes more WRITERS, please! too few, closet, too few.

I'd be in there "You guys got Guardians of the Galaxy? Where's Despicable Me 2?"

Deep cover

VERY excited for my copy of One Night In Miami to get here.

Please bring Denis Villeneuve to the closet!?

can you get David Lynch here?

🥰🥰🥰

If one day Criterion releases a podcast with people like him and everyone who has been in this closet, I would listen for the rest of my life

How do I get invited into the closet?

I've watched a few closet videos just out of genuine interest to see what gets picked. But, every film that gets mentioned, I've never seen or even heard of. Are these pretentious actors/writers choosing films on purpose that aren't mainstream and that the average person wouldn't know or heard off? I thought films the average person knows, for example, The Shinning, Pulp Fiction, They Live, Jaws, or Yojimbo, would have been mentioned.

I would prefer to see Kenny Powers’ closet picks.

Just let ari aster go in the closet next if not him let robert eggers

These videos are like crack

can't believe the teeeerrible movie this guy wrote got in the collection

Nice guy, boring picks.