The Criterion Collection

[jordan-r]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

Just saw this, it's August 31st

It totally deserves a Criterion release, I thought it was already out at least in the UK, but it's only on France and Norway.

Just checked his small filmography and if they release something by him, this seems the best candidate.

What a nice thing it'd be if they were to release this alongside an upgrade of The Fire Within, based on the same source material.

[rip63]

Originally Posted by t_rav

would anybody else love to see criterion release the changeling (1980, george c. Scott)? A classic that has sadly been ignored and/or forgotten in high def. This is the best/scariest ghost film ever, all done without any gore or special effects. You can see its influence on almost every ghost movie released after it. It would be deserving of criterion's excellent pq, aq and special features.

Not sure if hbo/warner still own the rights or not. It's just ridiculous it hasn't been put out on blu in the us.

yes!

[kylec123]

I didn't even know The Silence Of The Lambs was in the CC. I'd definitely pick up a BD release of that.

[Jerry Alien]

Originally Posted by llj

Honeymoon Killers--Can't believe it took me this long to get around to this. I'm a sucker for those 60s low budget, technically clunky, yet still beautifully shot East Coast independent films like this. Shirley Stoler is amazing. Despite her stern and frumpy appearance, there is still a vulnerability and prettiness to her that's quite touching, and that's all Stoler herself. Tony Lo Bianco is great as well, but he wisely lets Stoler lead the picture.

Hearing that it took them 4 rounds of electrocution to put down Martha Beck was quite disturbing, even though you cannot feel sorry for what she did to many of her victims. Her will to live certainly seemed strong.

Yeah, fantastic and underrated film. As a point of comparison, I think it is similar to the work of John Waters, but without any of the distancing effects of irony or humor. I suppose his films are, in a strange and admirable way, entirely sincere and empathetic, but I can see audiences (even - perhaps especially? - his fans) laughing at the characters or situations...

Honeymoon Killers I think is a more challenging and uncomfortable film because there's little room for condescension, or even judgement. I think it's one of the saddest crime films I've seen.

[theater dreamer]

To those of you who have not yet seen Roman Polanski's magnum opus The Pianist, HBO has just begun showing it again. It's simply one of the finest films I have ever seen, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. My hope is that, at some point, Criterion will acquire distribution rights in the United States, as it currently does not have a domestic release on Blu-ray.

The Pianist Official Trailer #1 - (2002) HD - YouTube

Adrien Brody received a well-deserved Best Actor Academy Award in 2002 for his portrayal of Władysław Szpilman.

The Pianist won three of the six Academy Awards for which it was nominated (Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor), as well as the prestigious Palme D'Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. In my humble opinion, it is the best picture of 2002, and one of the ten finest films of the decade.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

It's simply one of the finest films I have ever seen, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Strange that when i saw it, i forgot all about it shortly afterwards.. I don't remember a thing now.
I remember though at the time that I thought Schindler's List was a much better film.

[Huseyin]

Just put a couple of my new Criterions up on my channel update.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HIGIkAP7JI

[Polaroid]

Great job Scottie front page looks so much better!

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Strange that when i saw it, i forgot all about it shortly afterwards.. I don't remember a thing now.
I remember though at the time that I thought Schindler's List was a much better film.

Same here. I thought it was good but not memorable.

[theater dreamer]

And that's perfectly okay. No two people respond the exact same way to a film. Some movies will resonate with you. Others might not. I respect that, as you're absolutely entitled to your opinion. But they're really quite different films. About the only thing they share in common is the when and where. Both take place in Nazi-occupied Europe at the height of World War II, with the Holocaust providing the backdrop. But the narratives, and the central characters themselves, couldn't be more different.

[Show spoiler]Schindler's List, though much larger in scale, is really about one man's redemption. Oskar Schindler begins as a profiteer, a business man looking to make his fortune off the war by supplying the German army his enamelware. He's not even German; he's Czechoslovakian by birth, and he chooses to become a member of the Nazi Party "for expediency's sake". Initially, he demonstrates no concern for the victims of the war. His sole motivation is money, and he sees nothing else. To that point in his life, he'd failed at every other business venture, and his marriage was falling apart. He brags to his wife how he has more employees than his father ever did, all while whispers of concentration camps are growing louder all around him. When his wife tells him she'll stay with him if he'll promise that no man will ever mistake her as his mistress again, he promptly sticks her on a train back home. Though charismatic, he's not a very likable man.

But when he witnesses the clearing of the Ghetto, his attitude, and priorities begin to change. Before long, he's spending every Reichsmark his business has made to save as many of his workers as possible. After the war, his wife leaves him, and he fails at business. But Oskar Schindler found his humanity amidst the most horrific event in human history.

The Pianist, on the other hand, is about one man's survival. Wladyslaw Szpilman is a famous concert pianist living in Warsaw with his family when the Germans invade Poland. He is a kind, soft spoken man, and his first thought is to continue working to aid in his family's survival. He and his family are moved to the Warsaw Ghetto, and Szpilman joins the local resistance after seeing an entire family executed in the streets below. Soon, the Poles are ordered to trains for the concentration camp; Szpilman's life is saved when he is pulled out of the line by a friend working in the Jewish Ghetto police. He is forced to try and survive while the Germans hunt and execute anybody they can find that has stayed behind. In fact, if there is a redemption of sorts, it is that of a German officer who discovers Wladyslaw living in a building destroyed by German bombs. Instead of turning him in, which would undoubtedly end in Szpilman's death, he asks him to play the piano for him. The officer then helps him, bringing him food, and giving him his coat to stay warm.

While there are heart wrenching examples of the horrible violence that was visited on the Jews, The Pianist is really a character study. Adrien Brody's beautiful performance carries the film.

Perhaps a second viewing will change your opinion of the film. It was nominated for Best Picture in 2002 for good reason. Only five films that year were so honored.

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Strange that when i saw it, i forgot all about it shortly afterwards. I don't remember a thing now.
I remember though at the time that I thought Schindler's List was a much better film.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Strange that when i saw it, i forgot all about it shortly afterwards.. I don't remember a thing now.
I remember though at the time that I thought Schindler's List was a much better film.

I can remember bits and pieces of the Pianist, but I agree that my reaction was that Schindler's List was much better. Not that they're that similar, considering the settings and the kind of character focused on. Theater Dreamer's post above is excellent. Night and Fog is far better as well, but those two are even less comparable for obvious reasons. But, anything Holocaust-related tends to get lumped in as being the same kind of film.

And obviously both are light-years better than Life is Beautiful, Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS, and Jakob the Liar. :P

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by CPinheiro

Also I'd love if Criterion released another box with The State of Things and Lisbon Story, but it seems that Lisbon Story wasnt even in the retrospective so i dont think it has been restored.

I was thinking about this over the weekend, funnily enough. A STATE/LISBON two-pack would be fantastic. STATE is probably my favourite Wenders movie actually, though The American Friend might have recently toppled it. The director's cut of Until The End Of The World might wind up being the most essential release of 2016 if Criterion do it this year though.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Great job Scottie front page looks so much better!

Thank you.

It's still a work in progress. I figured that sorting from newest to oldest would be the best thing.

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by t_rav

Would anybody else love to see Criterion release The Changeling (1980, George C. Scott)? A classic that has sadly been ignored and/or forgotten in high def. This is the best/scariest ghost film ever, all done without any gore or special effects. You can see its influence on almost every ghost movie released after it. It would be deserving of Criterion's excellent PQ, AQ and special features.

Not sure if HBO/Warner still own the rights or not. It's just ridiculous it hasn't been put out on blu in the US.

It hasnt been forgotten, some folks involved with the film are trying to make it happen but theres an issue with the rights apparently, this was what Peter Medak told me when I asked him last August.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

I can remember bits and pieces of the Pianist, but I agree that my reaction was that Schindler's List was much better. Not that they're that similar, considering the settings and the kind of character focused on. Theater Dreamer's post above is excellent. Night and Fog is far better as well, but those two are even less comparable for obvious reasons. But, anything Holocaust-related tends to get lumped in as being the same kind of film.

And obviously both are light-years better than Life is Beautiful, Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS, and Jakob the Liar. :P

Not to mention The Day the Clown Cried. Seriously, I was originally disappointed in Schindler's List because I thought it focused too much on Schindler and not enough on the actually victims of the holocaust. The hype surrounding Schindler's List led me to expect the great holocaust film, something akin to Night and Fog or The Sorrow and the Pity. I see now, as Theater Dreamer pointed out, that the best way, perhaps the only way, to deal with something so big and so horrific is to make it personal. "A single death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic," as Joseph Stalin reputedly said.

I also think that Life is Beautiful is a wonderful film, but it's more along the lines of an old world fairly tale, except with Nazis and concentration camps instead of trolls and dragons.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

And obviously both are light-years better than...Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS...

But this was a great Holocaust-sploitation flick

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

And that's perfectly okay. No two people respond the exact same way to a film. Some movies will resonate with you. Others might not. I respect that, as you're absolutely entitled to your opinion. But they're really quite different films. About the only thing they share in common is the when and where. Both take place in Nazi-occupied Europe at the height of World War II, with the Holocaust providing the backdrop. But the narratives, and the central characters themselves, couldn't be more different.

[Show spoiler]Schindler's List, though much larger in scale, is really about one man's redemption. Oskar Schindler begins as a profiteer, a business man looking to make his fortune off the war by supplying the German army his enamelware. He's not even German; he's Czechoslovakian by birth, and he chooses to become a member of the Nazi Party "for expediency's sake". Initially, he demonstrates no concern for the victims of the war. His sole motivation is money, and he sees nothing else. To that point in his life, he'd failed at every other business venture, and his marriage was falling apart. He brags to his wife how he has more employees than his father ever did, all while whispers of concentration camps are growing louder all around him. When his wife tells him she'll stay with him if he'll promise that no man will ever mistake her as his mistress again, he promptly sticks her on a train back home. Though charismatic, he's not a very likable man.

But when he witnesses the clearing of the Ghetto, his attitude, and priorities begin to change. Before long, he's spending every Reichsmark his business has made to save as many of his workers as possible. After the war, his wife leaves him, and he fails at business. But Oskar Schindler found his humanity amidst the most horrific event in human history.

The Pianist, on the other hand, is about one man's survival. Wladyslaw Szpilman is a famous concert pianist living in Warsaw with his family when the Germans invade Poland. He is a kind, soft spoken man, and his first thought is to continue working to aid in his family's survival. He and his family are moved to the Warsaw Ghetto, and Szpilman joins the local resistance after seeing an entire family executed in the streets below. Soon, the Poles are ordered to trains for the concentration camp; Szpilman's life is saved when he is pulled out of the line by a friend working in the Jewish Ghetto police. He is forced to try and survive while the Germans hunt and execute anybody they can find that has stayed behind. In fact, if there is a redemption of sorts, it is that of a German officer who discovers Wladyslaw living in a building destroyed by German bombs. Instead of turning him in, which would undoubtedly end in Szpilman's death, he asks him to play the piano for him. The officer then helps him, bringing him food, and giving him his coat to stay warm.

While there are heart wrenching examples of the horrible violence that was visited on the Jews, The Pianist is really a character study. Adrien Brody's beautiful performance carries the film.

Perhaps a second viewing will change your opinion of the film. It was nominated for Best Picture in 2002 for good reason. Only five films that year were so honored.

I'm a big fan of The Pianist. It is #21 on my all-time list.
I have the KimchiDVD limited edition steelbook on blu. It is a beautiful set, but would love to see Criterion pick it up because of Polanski.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

It hasnt been forgotten, some folks involved with the film are trying to make it happen but theres an issue with the rights apparently, this was what Peter Medak told me when I asked him last August.

I'd love the Chagneling too.
I saw it once a couple of years ago and loved it.
I really think whoever got George C. Scott for the role of Scrooge in Christmas Carol, had seen him in this and that's why he thought of him.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

I was thinking about this over the weekend, funnily enough. A STATE/LISBON two-pack would be fantastic. STATE is probably my favourite Wenders movie actually, though The American Friend might have recently toppled it. The director's cut of Until The End Of The World might wind up being the most essential release of 2016 if Criterion do it this year though.

Interesting to try and determine just based on what we know now regarding Criterion's 2016 slate, which releases are the favorites to be release of the year.

For me A Brighter Summer Day, The Road Trilogy, and The New World look like the releases to beat so far.

[MikeZ.]

My copy of Easy Rider arrived yesterday, and I could swear it looked better than the 2009 Sony transfer, but it shouldn't.

When I did compare, I immediately noticed the difference in bass, from my beloved DTS to the Sony's Dolby TrueHD, which has more bass on the two Steppenwolf songs ( I preferred the bass increase ).

But visually...the Criterion looks better. To me.