Criterion Collection Discussion

[Jimbo976]

I blind bought it and am very happy with it. It is certainly a different kind of film and some people may not enjoy it but I know I do.

[reallyagi]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

Blind buy it...... and if you don't like it, sell it to me for $20


I think it's a great movie, but the first half or so is mostly "Shaky Camera" work, so if that bothers you, it's something to consider.... also, it's not an "action" movie despite what the description may lead you to believe.....

Again, it's a great movie though

Shaky camera may bother me, but it wont ruin a good movie.
As for the action, I piss on action... Most of my favorite movie are low on action. I want to know what you guys like about Chungking Express though.

[Jimbo976]

Well there's lots of discussion on Chungking in this thread here:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=60375

The intent of this thread isn't likely to talk over a lot about individual titles.

[EricJ]

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
#64 The Third Man
#304 The Man Who Fell to Earth
#422 The Last Emperor
#450 Bottle Rocket
#453 Chungking Express
#458 El Norte

UPCOMING RELEASES OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCED.
#5 The 400 Blows
#36 The Wages of FEAR
#316 RAN
#462 The Last Metro
#467 In The Realm of the Senses

Originally Posted by Cordre69

Either I am way too young or way too uncultured but...I haven't seen a 1 of those movies on that list!

Either way...

(Click for trailers)
- Third Man is a mandatory rent-immediately; a "Usual Suspects"-style B/W-noir that, at the risk of SPOILERS, may or may not star a young Kane-era Orson Welles;
- Last Emperor is an eye-wowing 3-hr. everything-into-the-pot Oscar Best Picture epic about, well, the last 20th-century Emperor of China and why he turned out to be the Last;
- Ran is Akira Kurosawa's attempt to do his "Seven Samurai" epics in gorgeous Technicolor, retelling "King Lear" in the process.

(And those're pretty much the only required-reading on the list--
Tried renting "Man Who Fell to Earth", and Criterion's disk PQ looks good, but found it too painfully Buck Henry post-"Graduate" 70's-counter-cultural corny for its reputation )

A post on Criteron.com's forum hints at
CONTEMPT
THE COMPLETE MONTEREY POP
FOR ALL MANKIND
GIMME SHELTER
LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD
THE SEVENTH SEAL
WALKABOUT
(possible)
BLACK NARCISSUS
THE QATSI TRILOGY (doesn't MGM/Miramax still own these?),
but that's a collection of rumors that aren't swept regularly.

[salan]

It's quite sad that Criterion has decided to opt for Region A-locked releases. Otherwise I probably would have bought the majority of the movies.

Oh, well.

[ccfixx]

It's upsetting to see that Criterion is opting to leave off one of the special features that is on the standard DVD of "Ran" for the upcoming blu-ray. If anyone learns of any insight as to why this is, I'd love to hear.

A 35-minute video piece reconstructing Ran through Kurosawa’s paintings and sketches, created as part of the series Image: Kurosawa’s Continuity (NOTE: not included in the Blu-ray edition)

CC

[Jimbo976]

Originally Posted by salan

It's quite sad that Criterion has decided to opt for Region A-locked releases. Otherwise I probably would have bought the majority of the movies.

Oh, well.

Well they only have rights for selling these in certain subsets of the world. I believe that is the reason for the lock.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by EricJ

A post on Criteron.com's forum hints at
CONTEMPT

...but that's a collection of rumors that aren't swept regularly.

There isn't much not to trust about an upcoming Blu-ray release of this film

Ciao,
Pro-B

[JasonR]

Some Bottle Rocket packaging pictures from a previous post of mine.

Originally Posted by JasonR

Here you go....

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

There isn't much not to trust about an upcoming Blu-ray release of this film

Again, Qatsi Trilogy's a bit questionable, though:

I know MGM may have lost its Golan/Globus license in PowaQ's case, and ownership might have expired for KQ, but isn't Criterion out of the business of "borrowing" Other Studios' titles?
(And pretty much reduced to its own Janus and Rialto catalogues, and restored public domain like "Things to Come"?)

[Minimejer05]

Ive never heard or seen any of these films. Might have to check them out.

[reginaroadie]

I have THE THIRD MAN already. Havn't gone through it completely yet, but from what I saw and heard was fantastic.

I think I may pick up THE 400 BLOWS and WAGES OF FEAR. The former is just Film 101 for me. Any serious film lover has to see that movie. And the latter has been one film that I can never get my hands on, but the plot alone makes it sound so exciting that it could be my second blind buy after BARAKA.

Most of the others are rentals for me (that is if I can actually find them to borrow or rent).

[CheapChildren]

I'm going to get every film they release on Blu.

A company like that has earned my loyal business.

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

With the Criterion Collection, unlike just any "blu-ray release" it's a way of collecting without the fear of wasting money on blu-rays you truly have no interest in owning, such as High-School Musical, Norbit etc.... although there is an audience for those films, Criterion selects their movies based on achievements, or artistic qualities...

I wouldn't get Fat Girl even if it was free. Let alone on Blu-ray.

And I would rather buy The Day the Earth Stood Still than The Blob. But that's just me.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Again, Qatsi Trilogy's a bit questionable, though:

I know MGM may have lost its Golan/Globus license in PowaQ's case, and ownership might have expired for KQ, but isn't Criterion out of the business of "borrowing" Other Studios' titles?
(And pretty much reduced to its own Janus and Rialto catalogues, and restored public domain like "Things to Come"?)

I don't know, Eric -- I remember the glory days of the Criterion Collection, when they pretty much owned the laserdisc format and the studios could only try to match what they were doing. They haven't been a real force on DVD, and I feel that they will diminish further with Blu-Ray.

[Harvey Dent]

Bravo. Well said. My thoughts exactly.

Originally Posted by Beta Man

I can understand where you're coming from..... I guess some people collect blu-ray movies just to own them, or perhaps to have them available for others who may want to see them.... I myself don't want "Every" blu-ray movie out there, and currently don't find 700+ titles currently available as movies I want to own...... But it's quite obvious there are a good number of people here who have that many movies, and some have over 1,000

Where I find the Criterion Collection differs, is in the fact that they hand-select movies to give their "Royal Treatment" to..... so although the Criterion Collection had caused me to purchase some movies that I had never seen before, and quite frankly some that I had never heard of..... They were all good quality films..... I didn't like some of them then... and I don't like them now for that matter.... but I'm glad I own them, because I will re-watch them, show them to friends, etc... because most of them provoke conversation, thought, etc....

With the Criterion Collection, unlike just any "blu-ray release" it's a way of collecting without the fear of wasting money on blu-rays you truly have no interest in owning, such as High-School Musical, Norbit etc.... although there is an audience for those films, Criterion selects their movies based on achievements, or artistic qualities...

Maybe I'm just compensating for my inability to get those hard-to-find baseball cards when I was a kid... who knows....

Some people collect NASCAR plates, I collect Criterion Collection Films....

[mattconroy]

I'll be buying all the Criterion Blu-rays as well. Here are a few of the catalogue titles that I'd most like to see get the Blu-ray treatment:

• The Seventh Seal (there's a UK import available, but I'm holding off on getting it in hopes that Criterion add this one to their list)
• M
• Brazil
• Down by Law and/or Stranger Than Paradise
• Rashomon
• Au Revoir les Enfants
• Elevator to the Gallows

On a related note, has anyone heard anything further about Kino releasing titles on Blu-ray? There was an item last spring that mentioned Metropolis, but I have not heard anything since.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Grubert

I wouldn't get Fat Girl even if it was free. Let alone on Blu-ray.

And I would rather buy The Day the Earth Stood Still than The Blob. But that's just me.

I thought "Fat Girl" was good..... such a bizarre ending.... and the way the sisters interact with each other..... either way, to each his own!

And I'd rather buy The Day the Earth Stood Still AND The Blob

[Seretur]

I also intend to own all of them -- and so far I do, with the exception of The Last Emperor and Bottle Rocket, two titles I didn't feel too eager about to begin with. I'll get them in the coming months.

On the other hand everything that is coming up is a must-own for me, and the quality that Criterion has accorded to their Blu-ray lineup is exceptional. Their releases are fulfilling all my hopes, and often going above them.

Great to see this stickied, and nicely laid out! One question, though, Beta-man -- what's with the random capitalization of words in the titles?

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

I don't know, Eric -- I remember the glory days of the Criterion Collection, when they pretty much owned the laserdisc format and the studios could only try to match what they were doing. They haven't been a real force on DVD, and I feel that they will diminish further with Blu-Ray.

Of course, the days when Voyager/Criterion moved their LD prints over to That New DVD Thing was the days when Disney and MGM weren't interested in putting their movies on DVD or laserdisc (remember when Disney let Anchor Bay release all their back-titles?), and any itinerant company who wanted to sell James Bond, Spinal Tap, Time Bandits or Armageddon to such a "niche" market in 1998, that was their own funeral...

Studios don't feel like that today. Especially not even for Blu-ray.
Criterion can't go begging from studio door to studio door for "table scraps" anymore, now that studios know how valuable their own market is, Disney(/Miramax) and MGM are going to hold on to what they have, and Critey is left to their own Janus & Rialto bootstraps.
Neither of which involve the Qatsi's, AFAIK, but again, that's going on information from a few years ago.