The Criterion Collection

[adamfeldman]

Amazing month. Fire on the Plain is one of the best "war is hell" films ever, it's totally brutal and harrowing. I'm also very excited for the Edward Yang comedies, which I've seen in very low-quality form and quite enjoyed — will be great to see them properly!

[DukeTogo84]

Just going to say don't sleep on Fires on the Plain. One of the more brutal war films out there and probably the best companion piece to The Human Condition trilogy. Fascinating look at what a human can endure or not endure.

[aladdin123]

Originally Posted by Driver78

These films aren't for everyone. Judging by the mostly positive feedback, I think Criterion's target audience is happy. In their eyes, Criterion has done their job.

And then there's the guy who posted "Weak ass month", and his comment has already been thanked by 8 users. But if Criterion had announced really big titles coming for UHD (as I said, nearly all truly big titles are already on BD), then we would have gotten rants from those who don't care about 4K and say that they would much rather get new to HD upgrades (SeanJoyce and DukeTogo84 come to mind). Impossible to please both groups at the same time. Sometimes I think if Criterion should have 10 slots every month, with 5 being new to HD worldwide and the other 5 being UHD upgrades. But even then, we would still get a lot of *****ing, just as what happens in every WAC announcement, when there are always pissed off and insufferable people whose complaints boil down to "not the films I care about", emphasis on "I". People just can't seem to understand how diverse films are, and they need to be more open to new experiences.

[Jaymole]

Fires on the Plain & The Burmese Harp are the 2 that are must buys for me.

[umop apisdn]

Originally Posted by borntorun_intheusa

Awesome to see Shoeshine get a release. Would love to see a Blu or 4K upgrade of The Children Are Watching Us. The more De Sica the better.

I would also love to see a 4K of Two Women. It's an essential film.

[umop apisdn]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I knew you'd be happy about that one at least

You should take one for the team and go to the DMV every month!

[apricissimus]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Just going to say don't sleep on Fires on the Plain. One of the more brutal war films out there and probably the best companion piece to The Human Condition trilogy. Fascinating look at what a human can endure or not endure.

I think I'm done with brutal and harrowing. There's enough of that in real life.

To each his own though.

[CelestialAgent]

Shoeshine doesn’t include the commentary, featurette, interviews and booklet from the Eureka DVD.

[CRASHLANDING]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Cairo Station (1958)

https://www.criterion.com/films/32722-cairo-station

[Show spoiler]

Wanted to put in a word for Cairo Station as well. Fascinating film is a neorealist time capsule for 1950s Egypt, superbly directed, and a pretty gripping story too - I was on edge through the entire closing act. So excited to finally be able to add it to my library.

Lots of great releases this month, but anyone that enjoys world cinema should not miss this one.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by apricissimus

I think I'm done with brutal and harrowing. There's enough of that in real life.

To each his own though.

Well, check out Burmese Harp as that one is kind of the polar opposite look at war. They are both reflective on the tragedy of the war, but done in much different ways.

[sabdo]

For my money, this is one of their strongest months in at least a few years, and quite likely, ever. I'm still holding out hope for a career-spanning Chahine box set because it seems like they've got the rights to a great deal of his stuff, but finally getting Cairo Station not only on BD, but in an English-friendly home media release of any kind is like a dream come true - and their first ever release of an Egyptian film, no less (and only their third Arab film by my count, if you choose to count The Battle of Algiers). That, plus Compensation, Shoeshine, two Ichikawa upgrades from DVD, and the Edward Yang double feature? (I'm not familiar with the Alice Wu film, but I'll take that, too.)

This is an absolutely incredible slate!

Edit: I also want to say, regarding the cover for Cairo Station - one of their strongest ever. Absolutely beautiful, and props to them for commissioning an Egyptian artist, who did a marvelous job capturing the unique aesthetic of mid-century hand-painted Egyptian film posters, which would usually depict featured players with subpar accuracy, at best - always something just off with the proportions of the facial features (some of them were absolute botch jobs, of course) - just like Hind Rostom on the Criterion cover, but the effect is achieved with subtlety.

Here's a great example from another Chahine film, often known in English as Dark Waters, in which the beautiful Faten Hamama is absolutely disfigured, and Omar Sharif is unrecognizable. I love it.

[Jexes23]

Originally Posted by Smegma

Weak ass month

Yep. None of these for me. July was awesome, should have guessed August would be a letdown.

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by aladdin123

And then there's the guy who posted "Weak ass month", and his comment has already been thanked by 8 users. But if Criterion had announced really big titles coming for UHD (as I said, nearly all truly big titles are already on BD), then we would have gotten rants from those who don't care about 4K and say that they would much rather get new to HD upgrades (SeanJoyce and DukeTogo84 come to mind). Impossible to please both groups at the same time. Sometimes I think if Criterion should have 10 slots every month, with 5 being new to HD worldwide and the other 5 being UHD upgrades. But even then, we would still get a lot of *****ing, just as what happens in every WAC announcement, when there are always pissed off and insufferable people whose complaints boil down to "not the films I care about", emphasis on "I". People just can't seem to understand how diverse films are, and they need to be more open to new experiences.

Any month without The Devils, from Criterion or Warner, is a weak ass month. If I wanted new experiences I’d go fly a kite.

[Sommerswerd]

Huge month if you are an Asian cinema fan. I love it.

[CRASHLANDING]

Originally Posted by Jexes23

Yep. None of these for me. July was awesome, should have guessed August would be a letdown.

It seems wild to me to that none of these appeal to you. You have an impressively diverse collection, and although it maybe leans slightly toward English-friendly stuff, I saw plenty of foreign films and other releases similar to these.

Just not a fan of Asian cinema generally? Or is it something different about each film? Not criticizing, taste is always a personal thing - but given how many people are cheering this slate, I'm genuinely amazed that someone wouldn't find anything interesting there, and would love to hear more.

[Watershipdownisgood]

Originally Posted by Jaymole

Fires on the Plain & The Burmese Harp are the 2 that are must buys for me.

Same very very excited about both of these I've been wanting new to HD Japanese titles from Criterion this year since Demon Pond came out last October.

[lemonlimebeats]

I guess the wait for Raise the Red Lantern to come to HD/4K (aside from the limited-time Imprint Zhang Yimou boxset that's long out-of-print) will have to chug on a little longer...but all of these Asian films coming to HD for the first time is still great news regardless. I just hope Red Lantern won't be too much longer...it premiered at a film festival in 4K over a year ago and it's been crickets since.

[eightslicesofpie]

Just finished watching Saving Face thanks to this announcement. Very good, will definitely pick it up in the next flash sale!

[DukeTogo84]

Well, this is probably the most excited I've been about a Criterion slate in a long time. Almost reminds me of the type of titles we get from Radiance. Very strong month.

[nicwood]

"Weak ass month" my ass! How can anyone not feel excited about what they’re bringing to the (4K) format is unbelievable to me.