True! :D

I'm not going recommend you buy anything, but Wages of Fear might be worth viewing, I think it's pretty palatable to people who prefer conventional movies.

Criterion, to me, is for people who truly appreciate cinema/films. It's not for your casual/average movie watcher, as SonOfArathorn said. Some of them require some thinking, and are cerebral. You've to go in with an open-mind, be able to read between the lines, and try to interpret different things. Personally, I find most of the Criterion films to be fantastic.

The 400 Blows, The Seventh Seal, The Third Man, Days of Heaven, Paris, Texas, and Vivre Sa Vie. Those were my favorites.

I would recommend you look around the Criterion Collection thread for more info regarding Criterion films, or just post in the thread and ask for more suggestions there. I'm sure more folks will be glad to help you out in there. :)

for the same reason that gourmet cooking is so popular: it requires more effort and investment, but in the end is more rewarding. yes, many criterion films require more patience, open-mindedness and attention to grasp, but once you do, the payoff is 100 fold.

Paris, Texas looks pretty interesting. I might check that one out.

Criterion Collection releases the films for the film snobs.

If you must check 'em out (and I don't recommend blind-buying CC films), I would recommend something other than The Seventh Seal/Vivre Sa Vie. Yeah, I would never want to watch either of these films again. :shrug:

:rolleyes:

I don't know, I think comments like "Criterion, to me, is for people who truly appreciate cinema/films. It's not for your casual/average movie watcher" are pretty snobbish.

So sayeth the guy who minored in film studies in college. :shrug:
Just to tell you a little bit more about myself, the only director whom I loathe more than Bergman is Fellini. :) Ironically, the one film between the two of them that I actually think is brilliant is not in the Criterion Collection (Persona).

Anyway, I've seen like ten CC films that I would ever want to watch again and even fewer that anybody I know would ever want to watch again (e.g., my girlfriend, who is my primary film-watching partner).

And judging at the original poster's Blu-Ray collection, something tells me that it would be quite a jump/shock for him/her to blind-buy, say, The Seventh Seal...

But maybe I'm just a cynical a-hole. I went through my CC phase, but now I don't see the point. Good luck to the original poster.

EDIT: Alas, I'll try to contribute something constructive to the discussion at hand. I think a gentler introduction to the Criterion Collection would be found through its back-catalogue of DVDs, not through the limited selection of BRs that have been released so far.

For the casual filmgoer, I would recommend the likes of:
Rushmore/Royal Tenenbaums (d. Wes Anderson)
Diabolique/Wages of Fear (d. Henri-Georges Clouzot) - Wages is already on Blu, yes?
Charade (d. Stanley Donen) - I believe I saw the Blu is coming later this year?
Band of Outsiders (d. Jean-Luc Godard)
Throne of Blood/Yojimbo (d. Akira Kurosawa) - Yojimbo's on Blu
Do the Right Thing (d. Spike Lee) - Universal has a Blu-Ray release
Sullivan's Travels (d. Preston Sturges)
Jules and Jim (d. Francois Truffaut)
Ace in the Hole (d. Billy Wilder)

I don't like Wes Anderson, but I love Rushmore, I only buy Blu-Rays, is Rushmore supposed to be making a Criterion appearance on Blu-Ray any time soon, cuz I may pick that one up.

And in regards to my collection, I only buy movies my wife likes, I like alot of cinema, but she likes mainstreem crap, so I buy what she both enjoys as well as myself.

Nobody loves me. :(

Wow you do have me beat :) and me who try so hard to follow the good Canadian guy tradition :( Did I fail? :o :D

Thank for the answer on Studio Canal.

And why is there another Criterion thread started, just saw it in the listing? Will go and have a look, I suppose they will get merge.

About Cassavetes, ZIP will be finally sending me The Killing of a Chinese Bookie after more then two months, took a while but it's coming. I should receive it on Friday according to them and they are usally pretty spot on. I will be able to watch it during the weekend. It will be the first movie directed by him I get to see. I saw him as an actor in The Killers & The Dirty Doezen but I do not recall him at all.

Sweet... i dont even know what all this rep stuff is but i guess i want it?

i might curl up with my Aussie import of Picnic at Hanging Rock... then this weekend is the restored Metropolis at the Laemmele Theater...

I enjoy Criterion since it's one of the rare collection that will releases movies from Sergei Eisenstein, Akira Kurosawa, Yasurijo Ozu....Movies that just won't really get a wide releases like Avatar cause they will not be liked by a very large public :) So I am always happy for Criterion or Studio Canal and Kino for this, otherwise I would not be able to buy these movies. I don't buy every Criterion movies. Yes I guess some of the regulars in the main Criterion thread do buy all of them and I can't comment on their choices, it's up to them. I go and buy those that truly interest me but I will rent as many of the others I can manage. I am curious and a fan of cinema and so I will want to see them at least once. As for the snobs, well yes I suppose that certain people who enjoy Criterion may sound snobs at time but it's not exclusive to them let me tell you :)

As for what are the best movies to start to enjoy Criterion. Certain directors are a bit easier to get into then others and the movies of AKira Kurosawa do fall into that. You may want to rent Seven Samurai (DVD only for now) or catch on Blu-ray the movies Kagemusha, Ran, Yojimbo & Sanjuro. I think he is a fairly easy director to introduce yourself to Criterion. After that as per your taste there is so much but it's hard to recommend something. I would suggest to rent them one at a time and get introduce to them. There are so many excellent directors in Criterion Jean Renoir, Fredirico Fellini, François Truffaut, Ingmar Bergman.....just go into them with an open mind and of course don't approach them like a general Hollywood releases but give them time and they might surprise you.

Thing is, Criterion just releases movies. It doesn't make them. So there isn't much of a through line in their catalog beyond, they got the rights to it and they (for whatever reason) decided it was worth releasing.

And while I like a lot of films they have released, I am never going to see Salo, because I never want to watch it. I appreciate its unique place in cinema history, but that doesn't mean I would get anything positive out of watching it, Criterion or not.

So if you scan through the catalog and a couple films look interesting, then at least you know that the Criterion release will be a high quality release. But I wouldn't suggest blindly buying some of their films, especially if the likes of Wes Anderson seem too dark for your taste.

I'll put it simply:

Criterion made a lot of breakthroughs early on with original aspect ratios, bonuses, director's commentary, etc... They are a home video premium brand. They treat home video like a first class product, and not an afterthought like some others. Criterion will license a movie for home video distribution, and then give it the best possible release they can.

Criterion specializes in classics, foreign language films, and art films, and put great effort into quality transfers. Their films may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think we can all respect the quality of their presentations.

Just finished watching Hiroshima Mon Amour. Now one of my favorite Criterions', even though it's not on blu. Fantastic movie - there were spots that reminded me of Last Year at Marienbad (the memory conversations). :)

To me, blind buying is not a good idea. It surprises me the number of people that do this. I also would not advise buying a Criterion just to collect. That said, the reason people like Criterion is that they always have a great product, and it tends to be non-commercial films. Many people are just into mainstream movies, but if you truly love movies, then you are limiting yourself. Their customer service is superb. Send an email to Universal or Warner Brothers and see what happens. With Criterion you will get a personal response. Further, you may not like or appreciate The Seventh Seal. Fine. If it weren't for Criterion, the people that appreciate it might never get it, or if they did, it would be a crappy release. I say Criterion is the best company out there. Look at the Blu-ray release of Ran. Criterion's DVD is almost as good as the Studio Canal Blu-ray. Criterion's Kurosawa Blu-rays are amazing. Some may that they only release obscure art house films, yet Stagecoach came out Tuesday. If you can't be entertained by that, I truly feel sorry for you.