Your buddy Mike has argued and compained and whined about Jean-Luc Godard for years and years (decades, even, by this point) because he simply does not understand. Sure, I insist (like any other film scholar) that everybody with even a marginal interest in the French New Wave can't ignore Breathless - it's too important of a film to ignore (whether you think it's any good or not) - but even though I've probably only seen a third of the director's beyond-prolific output, I find his overall aesthetic sentiment to be that of a prententious, pompous bore.

And upon opening the booklet that arrives with 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her  - one of two brand-new Criterion Collection Godard DVDs - this perspective of mine was exacerbated. The first line of critic Amy Taubin's essay on the film starts: "The greatest film by the greatest post-1950s filmmaker, Jean-Luc Godard's 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her..." Ugh. Here we go again - a film that a certain sliver of the cinephilic elite will adore for its intellect and astute cultural assessment and most of us will barely make through.

The good news from this cranky critic, though, is that both 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her and Made in U.S.A. are some of the better Godard works I've seen. Yes, the kind of snobbery and boorish haughtiness that is unavoidable in other Godard works abound here, but somehow this brattiness serves these flicks well. The noir sensibilities and outlandish visual design of Made in U.S.A. make the film at the very least impressively inventive (not to mention gorgeous to look at, thanks to a stunning design...and Anna Karina, of course), and 2 or 3 Things's syntax is so oblique, so "meta" that I found myself intrigued enough simply to see what kind of bunny this director was trying to pull out of his hat.

It's not enough to make a believer out of me, but I can definitely state that when it comes to Godard - especially Godard on Criterion DVD - I've seen worse. Neither of these two films will appeal much to anyone not attuned to the particular wavelength of the acclaimed director, but with nice-looking transfers and an impressive wealth of goodies included, Godard-ites will find these to be lovely summer art-house treasures.