The Criterion Collection

[mande2013]

Originally Posted by The Coconut God

Sadly, I think I'll skip this sale. I already bought a boatload of Criterions this summer, as well as Six Moral Tales a month ago. The shipping costs on Amazon are murderous at the moment, and with Mulholland Drive and Citizen Kane also coming in 4K in Europe, it would be best for me to wait. I might pair something up with The Red Shoes or The Piano in December-January if prices on Amazon remain low.

You're absolutely right about murderous shipping costs on Amazon at the moment, but the Criterion UHD prices may just manage to be digestible the occasional times Amazon price matches during a B&N sale. If Amazon is selling a $50 MSRP CC UHD at ~$25, and I'm desperate to own the film, I'll bite the bullet and pay the $40 or so it'll cost with the shipping and import duty add-ons, assuming there isn't a European David M-authored edition of the film from BFI, Arrow, StudioCanal, Carlotta, etc.

[Zorba]

Had to go to Barnes & Noble and grab a couple when I heard we were starting early.

[The Coconut God]

Originally Posted by mande2013

You're absolutely right about murderous shipping costs on Amazon at the moment, but the Criterion UHD prices may just manage to be digestible the occasional times Amazon price matches during a B&N sale. If Amazon is selling a $50 MSRP CC UHD at ~$25, and I'm desperate to own the film, I'll bite the bullet and pay the $40 or so it'll cost with the shipping and import duty add-ons, assuming there isn't a European David M-authored edition of the film from BFI, Arrow, StudioCanal, Carlotta, etc.

That's just the thing, StudioCanal has announced a 4K release of Mulholland Drive, and it is supposedly encoded by David M. Only the Collector's Edition at the moment, but a standard one will likely follow:

[Show spoiler]

Not sure about Kane, but I'm not in a rush with that one. To tell you the truth, I'll probably get the Criterion anyway, it seems like a cool release.

The one I want most from their early slate is The Piano, which I'll buy at 35$ if need be. I plan on getting The Red Shoes as well, but that's mostly to encourage them to release Black Narcissus, the one I actually want.

The problem with Amazon shipping is not only that the starting price is high, but that they're also asking for more than they used to for each added item. With VAT added on top of that, if I want to get multiple titles it's gonna skyrocket fast. Hopefully it will drop back at some point. If not, I'll still buy what I want eventually, there's just no need to make it a priority now...

[Mose Harper]

Ashes & Diamonds or A Man Escaped?

I'm going to be exchanging Shrinking Man for one of these two. Both would be blind buys.
I'd also be willing to consider suggestions of older releases as well.

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by Mose Harper

Ashes & Diamonds or A Man Escaped?

I'm going to be exchanging Shrinking Man for one of these two. Both would be blind buys.
I'd also be willing to consider suggestions of older releases as well.

I personally loved A Man Escaped much more because I find Bresson's cinematic style to be more engaging for me, although the common criticism with his films are his lack of emotions in his actor's performances.

Never really understood the love for Ashes & Diamonds, although if you like Rebel Without a Cause, then this may be one to check out. It's a pretty complex tale of the youth in WWII era.

[Knaldskalle]

Originally Posted by SGFfilmfan

Andrei Rublev instead. It's Tarkovsky's masterpiece.

Hello, I'm with Tarkovsky's Witnesses. Have you heard of Stalker our Lord and Savior?

[Casual_G4m3r]

As it's halloween night, I decided to watch the Criterion horror film House tonight. I had never seen this before, and wasn't quite sure what to expect.

This movie has some of the craziest editing I have ever seen in a film, and it works brilliantly in its favor. The tone of the film is also great. As I have seen a handful of anime series and films, the oddness, and tone of the film didn't bother me in the slightest.

It has a very whimsical quality in the beginning, with some slapstick comedy thrown in for good measure, before diving into the spooky stuff at the mansion. Overall, it certainly felt like a product of its time, but in the best way. Like a psychedelic nightmare with a dash of surrealism. I also wonder if Sam Raimi had seen this prior to making The Evil Dead, as I got some definite Evil Dead vibes while watching this.

The cast of young leads were kind of your typical screaming teenagers, while also retaining a sense of resourcefulness about them, especially Kung Fu. I also enjoyed the fact that each character had a distinct personality, and they all lent something unique to the group. All in all, I thought they did an excellent job, and found them to be fun kids to have as the main protagonists.

As I watched this on HBO Max, I will not dive into the technical aspects of the presentation here, but I thought the stream looked good enough for a first viewing, to see if I liked the film. I ended up liking considerably more than I had even expected to, and I'm now really hoping that this will get a UHD in the future.

I'll give this an easy 4/5 stars. It's a fantastic film, if you enjoy the zaniness it has to offer. Highly recommended!

[nitin]

Since Amazon is price matching B&N, and some of those are flowing through to Amazon AU, I have secured Ratcatcher and Theorem. Hoping to see some other price drops in the same vicinity to snatch those up too.

Shame neither B&N nor Amazon otherwise ship to Australia.

[Casual_G4m3r]

I have a question for the Tarkovsky fans here.

What would you all suggest is the best starting point for his films?

I was thinking Solaris, as it's the one I have heard talked about the most, however, I wasn't sure if that film would be a great example of his typical style.

I am under the impression that Tarkovsky has an "every frame a painting" type of visual style. Am I correct about that?

Anyone care to give me a quick and dirty on his work, and where to start?

[tatterdemalion]

Originally Posted by Casual_G4m3r

I have a question for the Tarkovsky fans here.

What would you all suggest is the best starting point for his films?

I was thinking Solaris, as it's the one I have heard talked about the most, however, I wasn't sure if that film would be a great example of his typical style.

I am under the impression that Tarkovsky has an "every frame a painting" type of visual style. Am I correct about that?

Anyone care to give me a quick and dirty on his work, and where to start?

I would just go in order of release. Ivan's Childhood will introduce you to his visual style while having a plot that's pretty straight forward. Once you get to Andrei Rublev and afterwards his story telling becomes more elliptical and amorphous, with the visual images becoming more important.

His images are painterly and can be very surreal and dreamlike;

[Show spoiler]he seems to love water and other objects falling indoors and people that seem to float in air;

but he's best known for long takes, so you have to be very patient with his films. Stalker starts off with a long shot that lasts, from memory here, I believe between 8-9 minutes. Most modern films have more edits in the first 20-30 minutes than that entire film has in 2hr 40m.

He pretty much personifies what art-house films are. Unlike Bergman and Kurosawa, and even Fellini, he never made a comedy or commercial type of film. Ivan's Childhood is the closest he ever came to being commercial.

[RBBrittain]

Originally Posted by The Coconut God

Not sure about Kane, but I'm not in a rush with that one. To tell you the truth, I'll probably get the Criterion anyway, it seems like a cool release.

WB is releasing Kane 4K Ultimate Collector’s Edition in the UK on Dec. 13; no pre-orders yet. https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Citiz...lu-ray/303266/ Edit: So instead of a Criterion, Britons are getting a miniature version of a WB Box’O’Swag(tm).

[koberulz]

I really want the new Kane doco, but not enough to double-dip at importing-Criterion-4Ks prices.

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by RBBrittain

WB is releasing Kane 4K Ultimate Collector’s Edition in the UK on Dec. 13; no pre-orders yet. https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Citiz...lu-ray/303266/ Edit: So instead of a Criterion, Britons are getting a miniature version of a WB Box’O’Swag(tm).

Oof. A bunch of trinkets, but only single-disc versions and probably less significant extras.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by jkoffman

Oof. A bunch of trinkets, but only single-disc versions and probably less significant extras.

Yeah, it just includes the same extras from the BD release, nothing new.

Special Features on Blu-ray:

•Separate Commentaries by Roger Ebert and Peter Bogdanovich

•Interviews with Ruth Warrick and Robert Wise

•Opening: World Premiere of Citizen Kane

•Still Photography with Commentary by Roger Ebert and More

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Casual_G4m3r

I was thinking Solaris, as it's the one I have heard talked about the most, however, I wasn't sure if that film would be a great example of his typical style.

Solaris is actually an archetype example of his style. Once you see Solaris, for good or for bad, you know what to expect from a Tarkovsky feature.

[Doc Moonlight]

During the flash sale, I decided to upgrade my copies of the Samurai Trilogy from DVD to Blu. When I pulled out the old DVDs (which I had actually bought to upgrade my Laserdiscs, way back when), I realized that they were stilled sealed. And then I noticed that they had Borders price tags on them. Hoo boy...

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by Doc Moonlight

During the flash sale, I decided to upgrade my copies of the Samurai Trilogy from DVD to Blu. When I pulled out the old DVDs (which I had actually bought to upgrade my Laserdiscs, way back when), I realized that they were stilled sealed. And then I noticed that they had Borders price tags on them. Hoo boy...

That borders tag intact might be worth some money!

[the sordid sentinel]

Snagged Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Incredible Shrinking Man from B&N. Taking it light this sale in anticipation of Black Friday.

[evilive]

Originally Posted by RBBrittain

WB is releasing Kane 4K Ultimate Collector’s Edition in the UK on Dec. 13; no pre-orders yet. https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Citiz...lu-ray/303266/ Edit: So instead of a Criterion, Britons are getting a miniature version of a WB Box’O’Swag(tm).

Damn, that's pretty nice. Might have to go this route.

[TenYearLurker]

Ordered the 4K releases of Uncut Gems, Menace II Society, Mulholland Drive, and Citizen Kane, plus the Melvin Van Peebles box set and Love & Basketball from B&N this morning. $200 for the whole haul after tax, not too shabby.