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Seven minutes in heaven? How about three minutes in the Criterion Mobile Closet? For hundreds of Portland film buffs last weekend, the answer was God, yes, let me in there.
Cinephiles waited for hours for their three minutes in the Criterion Mobile Closet, an 18-foot van stocked with more than 1,000 titles. The van was parked on the South Park Blocks downtown May 29–31 as part of the Portland Art Museum’s Cinema Unbound Week.
Visits to the original Criterion Collection closet in New York have become a social media sensation over the past few years, with all kinds of celebrities—Robert De Niro, Guillermo del Toro, Sofia Coppola, Charli XCX, basically name anyone—selecting and reacting to some of their favorite movies of all time, and talking about what they liked in a brief, heavily edited interview.
The concept has become so popular that Criterion Collection, the film distribution and restoration company, has taken the act on the road since 2024 and re-created the mobile closet experience for mere mortals. It’s free, but there are no reservations.
A line of movie fans wrapped around the rose garden in front of the Portland Art Museum on Southwest Park Avenue last Friday, May 29, where the Criterion Mobile Closet parked for its first-ever visit to town. While in line, visitors perused a brochure of all of the Criterion titles available so they could make a game plan. In the closet, there’s a strict three-minute time limit and an assistant with a laser pointer helping people find their titles. Afterward, visitors may purchase their three selections at a 40% discount and bring them home in a commemorative tote.
The line became a mishmash of new friends-for-a-day—fellow film nerds discussing movies, holding places in line for each other, snacking—as they stood for hours on a drizzly, cool spring day waiting for their chance to stand in the back of a Freightliner MT45 step van. A chat down the line revealed a few twists of luck, both good and bad, and countless detailed lists of obscure films written in iPhone notes.
First to arrive was Eric Slehofer at 5:30 am. He had heard horror stories of people getting to the closet in Los Angeles at 9 am and still waiting until 6 pm. “I was like, that’s not going to be me.”
But Slehofer realized his mistake immediately.
“I showed up here that early and there was nobody here. There was a guy in the security SUV. I was like, this is a little silly.”
Slehofer left and rode the MAX for an hour or so—he works at TriMet—then came back. Around 7 am there were maybe half a dozen people. Criterion posted a sign for early birds that said they couldn’t form a line until 9:30 am. But at 9:30 there was some confusion and a misfortunate line-direction change, and Slehofer ended up about 50 people back, near the sign that read “Your estimated wait time is 1 hour,” despite arriving at dawn.
“It was a little chaotic,” he said. “I didn’t get here first just to be first, I just didn’t want to wait too long. Of course, I’ve already waited four hours, but whatever.”
Slehofer’s Criterion Mobile Closet list included dozens of movies organized in order of priority, with title, spine number, director, year and a link to its listing on the Criterion website.
“I did homework on this a few weeks ago to be ready,” he said.
At the very back of the line, just past the sign that read, “We have reached capacity today. The line is now closed. We’re sorry you missed out,” stood Chelsea Larson. A Criterion staffer told her to hang around in case a spot opened up, even though Larson technically didn’t make the cut. Larson not only took the day off work to be here, she rescheduled a trip to Sweden for a chance to browse the closet.
“I had a work trip to Stockholm, and I was supposed to leave today, but I’m leaving tomorrow because I have to do this. That’s a little dramatic of me, but it’s true.”
Larson is a self-proclaimed “movie freak” with the phrase “Cellar Door” tattooed in cursive on her arm. (Various writers have described it as the most beautiful phrase in the English language, but in Larson’s case, it’s a nod to a scene in the 2001 movie Donnie Darko.)
After this disappointment, though, came a stroke of luck. A staffer asked Larson and about a dozen others to gather around.
“We opened 10 minutes early so that means we’ll be able to get in two more groups. That is at 6:45 tonight. OK? So, you are in for the long haul.” Larson got a spot. Someone started to sing the 1998 Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey duet “When You Believe.”
Eight hours later, Larson went to movie heaven and made her picks: In the Mood for Love (2000), Ghost World (2001) and My Own Private Idaho (1991). The Criterion Collection staff gave Larson her picks for free as a consolation prize for being last in line. They also provided ample snacks and water and listened to her talk about the merits of Donnie Darko at length.
Early riser Eric Slehofer ended up with All That Jazz (1979), Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and the World of Wong Kar Wai box set—two from his “priorities” list and the box set from the “short list.” Despite his 5:30 am arrival, Slehofer got into the closet six hours later, at 11:30 am.
“I’m glad I didn’t have to be in line the whole day,” he says. The dawn arrival was about playing it safe. “Still a gamble since there are two things I know this city loves: movies and standing in line.”
