The Criterion Collection

[GoldMotel]

Just finished Chungking Express last night. A bit of an odd film but visually stunning. I quite enjoyed it.

[joie]

Originally Posted by SiqMachine

Yes, very much, but I'd rather have a Buñuel film that's not in the collection yet than an upgrade.

[CusackstheMan]

Originally Posted by GoldMotel

Just finished Chungking Express last night. A bit of an odd film but visually stunning. I quite enjoyed it.

I agree. Felt same way after I watched it.

[The Great Owl]

I wonder if Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World will ever be released by Criterion. It's an amazing little film that I revisit (via my old DVD) every few months.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

Well...uhm...that's just my opinion??? Rosemary's Baby was a good movie. A better than average thriller. Even memorable in measure. The Blu-ray was also very nice, and mostly faithful to the source.

Nonsense. The "mostly" part in your claim is beyond ridiculous.

A new 4K scan was struck from the original camera negative to create the new transfer and the presentation is about as faithful as it could be on Blu-ray.

One could only hope that all catalog releases were as "mostly faithful" as Criterion's Rosemary's Baby.

I should probably ask you to explain in detail what are these serious problems that make Criterion's release only "mostly faithful", but I doubt you could come up with anything substantial, or anything at all, to dismiss Lee Kline and Maria Palazzola's supervised transfer.


Pro-B

[CusackstheMan]

Criterion Collection forum community, I really appreciate the awesome amount of film info I received while reading this thread over the past few weeks. I've been truly addicted to Criterion films lately, and it's mainly due to my brother and this forum.

Now I would appreciate your opinion on this decision I have to make. I've gotten the green light from the wife to purchase three Criterion Blu-rays, out of the following list I've compiled. All of these will be blind buys:

Twelve Angry Men, Videodrome, In the Mood for Love, Seventh Seal, Bottle Rocket, and Paths of Glory.

Which three should I choose now? Tough choice since they're all great films? Here's some info that may help you. I'm a big Kubrick fan (paticularly 2001, Dr. Strangelove and Full Metal Jacket). And I own 4 Criterion Blus: Chungking Express (liked it alot), Rosemary's Baby (masterpiece of psycholgical horror). Paris, Texas (haven't watched it yet) and 8 1/2 (haven't watched yet).

I'm looking for films I want to watch over and over. Thanks in advance.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by CusackstheMan

Criterion Collection forum community, I really appreciate the awesome amount of film info I received while reading this thread over the past few weeks. I've been truly addicted to Criterion films lately, and it's mainly due to my brother and this forum.

Now I would appreciate your opinion on this decision I have to make. I've gotten the green light from the wife to purchase three Criterion Blu-rays, out of the following list I've compiled. All of these will be blind buys:

Twelve Angry Men, Videodrome, In the Mood for Love, Seventh Seal, Bottle Rocket, and Paths of Glory.

Which three should I choose now? Tough choice since they're all great films? Here's some info that may help you. I'm a big Kubrick fan. And I own 4 Criterion Blus: Chungking Express (liked it alot), Rosemary's Baby (masterpiece of psycholgical horror). Paris, Texas (haven't watched it yet) and 8 1/2 (haven't watched yet).

I'm looking for films I want to watch over and over. Thanks in advance.

Of the choices that you listed, I would go with 12 Angry Men, The Seventh Seal, and Videodrome.

...or you could make Army of Shadows and Le Cercle Rouge two of your three choices.

If I were you, I'd watch your copy of Paris, Texas right away. Harry Dean Stanton lends a coolness stamp to every single movie that he appears in.

[CusackstheMan]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Of the choices that you listed, I would go with 12 Angry Men, The Seventh Seal, and Videodrome.

...or you could make Army of Shadows and Le Cercle Rouge two of your three choices.

If I were you, I'd watch your copy of Paris, Texas right away. Harry Dean Stanton lends a coolness stamp to every single movie that he appears in.

Hmm...sounds like you would prefer Army of Shadows and LeCercle Rouge over my entire list. And thanks for the PT advice. I'll get right on that. Thanks for your input!

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by CusackstheMan

Twelve Angry Men, Videodrome, In the Mood for Love, Seventh Seal, Bottle Rocket, and Paths of Glory. Which three should I choose now? Here's some info that may help you. I'm a big Kubrick fan. And I own 4 Criterion Blus: Chungking Express (liked it alot), Rosemary's Baby (masterpiece of psycholgical horror). Paris, Texas (haven't watched it yet) and 8 1/2 (haven't watched yet).

Which three would you choose if you were me? I'm looking for films I want to watch over and over.

Definitely In the Mood for Love...also one of the Kubrick ones, since you mention--either Paths or The Killing...and for the third I'd also recommend Repulsion to go along with Rosemary's Baby. IF you just want the ones from your list instead, then I'd recommend Videodrome for the 3rd if it interests you.

[Hartley]

There's a retailer up here in southern Ontario called The Beat Goes On that sells gently used Blu-ray/DVDs and they've had a 40% off sale for Boxing Day so I managed to snag some crazy deals on a bunch of practically new Criterion Blus.

Le Beau Serge
The Organizer
Purple Noon
Quadrophenia
Rosemary's Baby
Fat Girl

All together for $125 (with taxes), less another $68 for traded in DVDs!

Still debating going back tonight to get Identification of a Woman for $12. If anyone here can recommend it as a blind buy that'd give me more peace of mind.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by CusackstheMan

Hmm...sounds like you would prefer Army of Shadows and LeCercle Rouge over my entire list. Thanks for your input!

I was being tongue-in-cheek, but my three favorite Criterions really are Melville's Le Samouraï, Army of Shadows, and Le Cercle Rouge. The two I recommended are the only ones on Blu-ray at this time, and I randomly recommend them whenever I get a chance.

Your list of choices is well-rounded. I would personally make 12 Angry Men the highest priority of those choices. That movie is astounding.

I received 12 Angry Men on Criterion DVD as a Christmas gift in 2011, but will strongly consider upgrading it to Blu-ray next time Barnes & Noble throws one of their 50% off shindigs.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by Hartley

Still debating going back tonight to get Identification of a Woman for $12. If anyone here can recommend it as a blind buy that'd give me more peace of mind.

It's an ok, but not great blind-buy. If you're a fan of Antonioni, then I'd recommend it.... if not, I'd read the review and if it sounds really appealing, go for it.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by CusackstheMan

Twelve Angry Men, Videodrome, In the Mood for Love, Seventh Seal, Bottle Rocket, and Paths of Glory.

12 Angry Men and Paths of Glory are two very safe blind buys. Not only are they great films, they're very accessible and very 'what you see is what you get'.

Seventh Seal doesn't strike me as the best blind buy candidate particularly if you're on a limited budget. With the exception of Fanny and Alexander Bergman films still kind of feel like homework assignments rather than enjoyable outings. I would never say 'don't get it' but it wouldn't be high on a blind buy list.

Videodrome also strikes me as an iffy blind buy. It's really good and I'm very glad I bought it but I always feel like I should add the words 'if you like that sort of thing' when I talk about it.

In the Mood for Love is really good and pretty safe but I'd have to say I connected far more strongly with Chungking Express. Chungking Express is out of print but if you're at all interested and can find it at a reasonable price you should jump on it now. In the Mood for Love won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Haven't seen Bottle Rocket.

Obligatory Blind Buy You Didn't Ask About Recommendation: Sweet Smell of Success

[CusackstheMan]

Originally Posted by octagon

12 Angry Men and Paths of Glory are two very safe blind buys. Not only are they great films, they're very accessible and very 'what you see is what you get'.

Seventh Seal doesn't strike me as the best blind buy candidate particularly if you're on a limited budget. With the exception of Fanny and Alexander Bergman films still kind of feel like homework assignments rather than enjoyable outings. I would never say 'don't get it' but it wouldn't be high on a blind buy list.

Videodrome also strikes me as an iffy blind buy. It's really good and I'm very glad I bought it but I always feel like I should add the words 'if you like that sort of thing' when I talk about it.

In the Mood for Love is really good and pretty safe but I'd have to say I connected far more strongly with Chungking Express. Chungking Express is out of print but if you're at all interested and can find it at a reasonable price you should jump on it now. In the Mood for Love won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Haven't seen Bottle Rocket.

Obligatory Blind Buy You Didn't Ask About Recommendation: Sweet Smell of Success

Thanks for the advice. By the way, you say Chungking Express is out of print, yet it's in stock on Amazon at a pretty good price. http://www.amazon.com/Chungking-Expr...ress+criterion

[Extremis]

Anyone have any recommendations?

[octagon]

Originally Posted by CusackstheMan

Thanks for the advice. By the way, you say Chungking Express is out of print, yet it's in stock on Amazon at a pretty good price. http://www.amazon.com/Chungking-Expr...ress+criterion

Retailers still have it in stock but once that stock is gone there won't be any more. That's why I say if you're at all interested in picking it up you should grab it sooner rather than later.

And it's well worth grabbing. It's kind of one of those 'if you like that sort of thing' titles but I absolutely loved it.

[CusackstheMan]

Originally Posted by octagon

Retailers still have it in stock but once that stock is gone there won't be any more. That's why I say if you're at all interested in picking it up you should grab it sooner rather than later.

And it's well worth grabbing. It's kind of one of those 'if you like that sort of thing' titles but I absolutely loved it.

Yes, I purchased it last week and liked it a lot.

[ZooTv]

Originally Posted by CusackstheMan

Twelve Angry Men, Videodrome, In the Mood for Love, Seventh Seal, Bottle Rocket, and Paths of Glory.

Which three should I choose now?

From the provided list I'd say 12 Angry Men (One of my top 5 films of all time), Videodrome, and Seventh Seal. If you were considering other titles, I'd also highly recommend Polanski's Repulsion & Kubrick's The Killing given your affinity for each director's work.

[Extremis]

Anything Wes Anderson is a safe blind buy.

[CusackstheMan]

Went with In the Mood for Love, 12 Angry Men and Paths of Glory. Videodrome and The Killing are now on my wish list. Thanks again.