The Criterion Collection

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by BillyJack

both her and Gary Marshall are great, I grew up watching Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley when I was younger

I rememeber she was also married to Rob Reiner (who also became a fine director) for a time.

She was also on The Odd Couple as Myrna, Oscar's secretary. I'm a huge L&S fan actually.

Rob's hit or miss with me. He's made some awesome films such as Spinal Tap (everyone seems to think Christopher Guest made this one because of his other output), Princess Bride, and Stand By Me, but Rumour Has It and The Bucket List were terrible.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

What do you think belongs in the Criterion collection then? I don't think it's a strange choice at all. It's no stranger than Salo, Blow Out, The Seventh Seal, or The Rules of the Game. Not everyone likes those, nor are they excited to have them in the collection. Criterion's trying to appeal to a wide audience with their releases, they can't make everyone happy all the time. You just don't like it, so don't buy it. There are others who do, and probably will buy it.

And yes, the sexism card is at play in some of the comments. As I pointed out, no one says that Wes Anderson slept around to make his film, nor do we comment on his looks, or criticise his film choices. We also don't say that the films he watches are because Criterion told him to, and imply that adding modern male directors is causing the Criterion collection's "quality" to diminish.
We also tend to attack Wes's FILMS more than we attack him as a person. There's the difference.

I haven't watched the film yet, but your comments about her being a rich brat with a fluff degree is a bit derogatory. So what if she took something you don't find valuable and has more money than someone else, it doesn't change the fact that students graduating from post-secondary and graduate school of any economical background and/or education can't find jobs, and have no idea what to do with their lives. Sometimes those "fluff" degrees get people jobs better than if they had studied a more "serious" degree.

I know plenty of people who were top of their class and took more serious degress like engineering and the sciences, and they can only get jobs working minimum wage jobs. They were told through high school and in university that by the time they'd graduate, there wqould be all kinds of jobs in the field as all the Boomers would have retired. Guess what? They didn't because of the recession. Another thing is that a lot of jobs which only required high school education now require a Bachelor's degree.

There are also a lot of kids who go to university because they are forced into it, and there's a stigma against community college, and often end up doing something they don't enjoy. There are plenty of reasons as to why people don't know what they're going to do once the finish a university degree, regardless of whether or not you think their degree is "important" or not.

I'm normally not so presumptuous to say what "deserves" to be in or out. It's really not a matter of "deserving" anyway as Criterion will never release the absolute best/most profitable films due to licensing. It's not like they can just grab any film they want.

Criterion has a mixed catalogue. There is no one "specialty". A small # of all time "classics", another set of under-appreciated for their time "classics", a few bigger/more popular modern films, a random selection of foreign films from different eras, and finally a random selection of more modern art-house indy films. There's really no ONE thing that they specialize in.

I would have to say that last bolded element in their collection is personally my LEAST favorite, but generally I'm OK with it being there because that's kind of a part of what Criterion does. Tiny Furniture just takes it to an extreme level with it's characters, micro-budget, and just the personality that I see on youtube (in the trailer, and in the longer clips/interviews I've seen). I just hate these types of people, and don't want to watch self-made movies about them. It's as simple as that. If she wants to make a movie that is not about herself, then whatever.

[Beta Man]

Watched Belle De Jour last night, and B&N finally delivered my copy of Gojira today, so my not-too-distant-future plans are set!

Shaping up to be a fine weekend!

[Guitar Joe]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

Watched Belle De Jour last night, and B&N finally delivered my copy of Gojira today, so my not-too-distant-future plans are set!

Shaping up to be a fine weekend!

I got both of those plus Rushmore yesterday, so of course, I immediately watched Revanche.

[cineclectic]

BohemianGraham, you have never seen this film and yet you defend it against the slightest criticism from those who have. And then on top of it, you're defending the idea that someone can decide not to watch movies based on preconceived notions and still be a professional who makes them and can enjoy all the critical praise and success they ever dreamed of because a bunch of dolts who don't know movies (but pretend they do) can make it possible for them. And yes, that includes capital interests, the critics who work for said interests and the sucker consumers who believe it and buy. It's almost a pandemic of forcefed consumerism that is spilling into places where it wasn't before such as Criterion.

Now in regards to this "sexism" and "prejudice about appearance" that you suggest in EVERY counterargument you've posted, it's all noise my friend. This classic straw man has been used by politicians for quite some time, but has recently been more frequently used in everyday discussion and arguments about Blu-ray releases on movie nerd message boards. Here's an important thing about sexism, racism and prejudice: THE OPINION HAS TO BE BASED AROUND SEX, RACE, APPEARANCE ETC. It may be convenient for you, the counter-arguer that the director whose work we are criticising and you are defending happens to be an overweight woman. I pointed this out in the first few posts I made and you just kept taking the bait to prove my point over and over.

So if you have netflix then i suggest you watch this movie tonight and then you'll be able to refute with some credence when you decide to try and call me and everyone else critisizing this piece of crap a prejudice sexist for pointing out your fallacious arguments.

[*DrStrangelove*]

Can we go back to talking about movies we care about?

[Presence]

Has anyone ever heard about the Vanishing [1988] getting an upgrade?

http://www.criterion.com/films/677-the-vanishing

[greekak229]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I really like Wes Anderson films, but sometimes I wonder if he slept with someone at Criterion to get almost all of his films in the collection.

Obviously he did. They couldn't have seen Darjeeling Limited and thought that was worthy of the collection without some sort of encounter taking place.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by pmontreux

Has anyone ever heard about the Vanishing [1988] getting an upgrade?

http://www.criterion.com/films/677-the-vanishing

I haven't but it's on TCMHD in the next week or so (I forget when, exactly).

Obviously that doesn't necessarily mean it had any new work done or that any kind of release is imminent but it does at least suggest hasn't been gathering dust either.

[Presence]

Originally Posted by octagon

I haven't but it's on TCMHD in the next week or so (I forget when, exactly).

Obviously that doesn't necessarily mean it had any new work done or that any kind of release is imminent but it does at least suggest hasn't been gathering dust either.

Wonderful. $250 a month for cable and TMC is the only package I don't have.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by pmontreux

Wonderful. $250 a month for cable and TMC is the only package I don't have.

I have Comcast in Chicago and until one of the recent (a year or so ago, I want to say) rounds of upgrades they carried the sd TCM but not TCMHD.

Talk about maddening...

[rkish]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

Watched Belle De Jour last night, and B&N finally delivered my copy of Gojira today, so my not-too-distant-future plans are set!

Shaping up to be a fine weekend!

Enjoy Beta! Nice to see you...haven't seen much of you lately...

[Presence]

Originally Posted by octagon

I have Comcast in Chicago and until one of the recent (a year or so ago, I want to say) rounds of upgrades they carried the sd TCM but not TCMHD.

Talk about maddening...

Bah, I just checked. No SD for me.

TMC always has a movie playing that I want to watch when I'm bored and flipping around but I know once I give in and finally get the channels they'll stop playing them.

[DetroitSquirreL]

Originally Posted by octagon

I have Comcast in Chicago and until one of the recent (a year or so ago, I want to say) rounds of upgrades they carried the sd TCM but not TCMHD.

Talk about maddening...

U-Verse here in Detroit has regular TCM but not TCMHD ....and I bought the HD package too

[DetroitSquirreL]

Originally Posted by BillyJack

Penny Marshall is not attractive and she has directed some good films

[DetroitSquirreL]

Originally Posted by *DrStrangelove*

Can we go back to talking about movies we care about?

[Darkcritic]

Originally Posted by *DrStrangelove*

Can we go back to talking about movies we care about?

+1 !!!

Really, this thread has been going incredibly far with the Lena Dunham argument . I remember a time when we actually discussed more things other than Dunham or Tiny Furniture. If everyone hates the film/her so much, I suggest we all forget about it. After all, the first step for something to vanish is by forgetting .

[silentblu]

Originally Posted by Darkcritic

+1 !!!

Really, this thread has been going incredibly far with the Lena Dunham argument . I remember a time when we actually discussed more things other than Dunham or Tiny Furniture. If everyone hates the film/her so much, I suggest we all forget about it. After all, the first step for something to vanish is by forgetting .

Someone trolled it back after a week? They are late and now no one cares.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

I know plenty of people who were top of their class and took more serious degress like engineering and the sciences, and they can only get jobs working minimum wage jobs. They were told through high school and in university that by the time they'd graduate, there wqould be all kinds of jobs in the field as all the Boomers would have retired. Guess what? They didn't because of the recession. Another thing is that a lot of jobs which only required high school education now require a Bachelor's degree.

IMO, a flawed assumption on several levels BG:

1. Many of us boomers have not yet retired - though gawd knows we keep trying - because our companies won't let us. An increasing number of firms will jump through enormous hoops and strike sweetheart deals just to keep older workers on staff. Why? According to the HR reps I've talked to (while practically begging them to put me out to pasture), generationally we have a better overall work ethic...are more multi-faceted in our experience...typically are more balanced and focused, having already worked through our personal 'shite'...and can communicate via real honest to goodness sentences, not just 142 character leet-speak tweets.

2. Companies actively retain boomers because they end up being less costly in the long run. When HR crunches the numbers each year, as a demographic, we tend to be more dependable...and loyal...so companies are more likely to recoup their hiring 'investment'. Typically, we are more likely to stay put and work through organizational issues instead of bolting for the door at the sight of any competitor waving a fatter paycheque with more indulgent perqs. Generationally (and generally) speaking we are less "fickle".

3. Many companies have also been burned too many times hiring out of the gate from the pool of young 'entitleds', often more interested in cultivating the perfect Zen work experience than delivering certifiable results. The concept of cost vs. benefit? Almost alien. Wants? Continually reframed as "needs". Getting the job done, and done right? Oh, "it's just another iteration". I could go on, but I see this self-absorbed BS play out every day. Weirdly, I get along wonderfully with all age groups, which is another reason why many companies are anxious to retain boomers; we tend to be less "tribal", at least internally, reserving most of those primitive instincts for the larger success of our company vs. its competitors.

4. Finally, most of us boomers also 'paid our dues' in crappy entry level jobs...often serially. I'd actually go so far as to say that anyone worth a toot at any level of an organization or in their own business has at some point done precisely that. In my own case, that was several recessions ago...arguably tenfold worse then because we didn't have the benefit of wider personal and peer internetworking. And woe be to anyone who left their academic cocoon and returned to a small or medium sized town. It was the farm, the factory, the service sector, or nothing. Our guidance counsellors in those days painted just as rosy and unrealistic picture of our post-graduate prospects too.

Just sayin'...

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by octagon

I haven't but it's on TCMHD in the next week or so (I forget when, exactly).

Obviously that doesn't necessarily mean it had any new work done or that any kind of release is imminent but it does at least suggest hasn't been gathering dust either.

It's this weekend, 2:00 AM EST Monday Morning, and it's in SD too. I have it set to record actually. It's on the Canadian channel too, and I only get TCM SD.

Speaking of TCM, it's only 4 more days before they kick off their 31 days of Oscar programming.

Originally Posted by DetroitSquirreL

I counter your yikes with this. She's a fantastic comedienne.