The Criterion Collection

[zoodermin]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Briefly Responded to your Cronos question above.

How did 'Blimp look? The last time I saw it was on TCM HD, and even them i was blown away. Powell/Pressburger really had a knack for color and framing.

Thank you. The transfer is AMAZING. I was marveled of how beautiful it is. And it such a good film, one of the best purchases I've made.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

Thank you. The transfer is AMAZING. I was marveled of how beautiful it is. And it such a good film, one of the best purchases I've made.

I must admit, I missed some of the dialogue, but that was by no means a huge knock on the film. It's such an expansive and beautiful film about a friendship that is divided by war. I can't wait to see my copy soon.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Randyman94

I'll do some more deciding on which silent film to get. For the B&N sale
...
Only allowing myself $100 or so to spend.

I'm giving myself a cap of $200 for the Barnes & Noble sale, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

I want to upgrade my old Blu-rays of The Gold Rush, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator.
I also want to upgrade Yojimbo/Sanjuro and possibly High and Low.
More Bergman would be nice.
Lord of the Flies will be an obvious choice.

Other than the above, I'll have to marinate on this for a while. After revisiting 3:10 to Yuma this weekend, I'd like to find out more about Jubal.


I just finished watching Wild Strawberries. The Blu-ray is so much better than my old DVD edition. The final moments of this movie always get to me on an emotional level, especially now that I'm older. I'll write a review tomorrow.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

What do you think of Cronos and Howards End?

Howard's End is a great English chamber drama that masterfully interprets EM Forsters sprawling novel. It looks wonderful and has sterling performances from the lead cast.
Cronos is a pretty interesting movie, although not IMO a GREAT one. But the disc is still highly recommended because being a del Toro movie it comes with terrific extras, including audio commentary, a rather funny early short film he made and a visit to his man-cave where he keeps his various collections, which would either fill you with geeky joy or insane jealousy

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Have you seen Monsieur Verdoux Beta? My copy is still sitting unwatched on my shelf

It's my favorite Chaplin film from what I've seen thus far.

[zoodermin]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Howard's End is a great English chamber drama that masterfully interprets EM Forsters sprawling novel. It looks wonderful and has sterling performances from the lead cast.
Cronos is a pretty interesting movie, although not IMO a GREAT one. But the disc is still highly recommended because being a del Toro movie it comes with terrific extras, including audio commentary, a rather funny early short film he made and a visit to his man-cave where he keeps his various collections, which would either fill you with geeky joy or insane jealousy

Thanks for the input! I guess I'm gonna buy them.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by iScottie

It's my favorite Chaplin film from what I've seen thus far.

I bet the essay is very good. Ignatiy is one of the best young writers out there.

[RandyK]

Anyone familiar with this book? I'm hoping to take a film class next semester and this is the textbook.

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Movies-Introduction-Film-4th/dp/0393913023/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372129767&sr=1-1

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Randyman94

Anyone familiar with this book? I'm hoping to take a film class next semester and this is the textbook.

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Movies-Introduction-Film-4th/dp/0393913023/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372129767&sr=1-1

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the author or textbook. I have read about four different Intro to Film books in the past two years, though. My favorite being Film Art by David Bordwell & Kristen Thompson.

Let us know if the book is worth reading

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

Thanks, I'm intrigued by Cronos because I'm also buying The Devil's Backbone. I like Del Toro and Pan's Labyrinth is one of my favorite films but I haven't seen Cronos and I want an opinion on it.

It's a shame Cronos isn't very popular around here and hardly gets discussed. I always get a kick out of someone asking about it. It'll probably get more discussion when The Devil's Backbone gets released which is held in a higher regard.

Also, another reason why it may not get discussed very often is simply that there isn't a whole lot to discuss. It's a fresh take on the vampire genre but horror isn't of high interest to many Criterion collectors here so the discussions usually die pretty quickly.

Lack of interest in the genre + A simple film = next to no attention. Don't take that as a bad sign though. As I say, it makes me happy when people bring it up because I, personally love Cronos. If you like Del Toro and you appreciate hammer horror films, then I think you'll enjoy Cronos. It's simple yet very stylish. Luppi gives an exceptional performance as Jesus and the camera work is great. The picture and audio quality is also wonderful and it comes with great special features.

Perhaps I'm over selling it, I don't know. I'm a fan of Cronos so I could be a little biased in my recommendation. I own the UK release for it's 2 one hour interviews with Del Toro not on Criterion's release aswel.

I had a strong feeling I was going to like it but I ended up loving it. I've owned my UK release longer than my Criterion release but I've watched both about 10 times (combined) since owning them.

If you think you'll like it, you probably will. It's a much smaller scale production so don't expect the usual "big" nature of most of his films and it's certainly a little rough but I think all of that adds to it's charm. I'm not sure about others but I can personally recommend you get it. If you don't like it, sell it on ebay for $20 and someone will happily snatch it back up. Win Win.

EDIT: Plus, any Del Toro film is worth the purchase it if comes with a commentary by him. His commentaries are ALWAYS exceptional. I have a few favourite's when it comes to people who do commentary tracks, but Del Toro is definitely up the top, perhaps my no. 1 favourite. His commentaries go beyond excellence and into exhaustively incredible. The amount of fascinating information he packs into his commentaries is enough to feel like you've just experienced 3 masterpiece films. Kissing his ass a little? Definitely. They're so much fun to listen to.

[brandon_260]

I haven't seen Gold Rush yet (my copy is on its way), but I think Modern Times is one of the safest blind buys in the collection. It's really what jumpstarted my interest in silent film, albeit that start was very late. I've also got Monsieur Verdoux coming my way, which I am a bit more weary about (The Great Dictator was my least favorite Criterion Chaplin I've seen, The Circus being my least favorite overall), so I'm not sure how well that one will go over with me. Couldn't beat the B2G1 deal on those 29.xx titles on B&N though.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

I haven't seen Gold Rush yet (my copy is on its way), but I think Modern Times is one of the safest blind buys in the collection. It's really what jumpstarted my interest in silent film, albeit that start was very late. I've also got Monsieur Verdoux coming my way, which I am a bit more weary about (The Great Dictator was my least favorite Criterion Chaplin I've seen, The Circus being my least favorite overall), so I'm not sure how well that one will go over with me. Couldn't beat the B2G1 deal on those 29.xx titles on B&N though.

I could stare at Chaplin-related avatar all day long.

[Jett Rink]

Originally Posted by Randyman94

Anyone familiar with this book? I'm hoping to take a film class next semester and this is the textbook.

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Movies-Introduction-Film-4th/dp/0393913023/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372129767&sr=1-1

Yes, I used an earlier edition (3rd) of that book for a film class, it covers a lot of film history, all the way up to today. Top notch IMO, the author really knows his stuff and is not stuffy like other film textbook authors. It is a book I would buy just to have.

[jcez28]

Originally Posted by Jett Blu

Yes, I used an earlier edition (3rd) of that book for a film class, it covers a lot of film history, all the way up to today. Top notch IMO, the author really knows his stuff and is not stuffy like other film textbook authors. It is a book I would buy just to have.

really loved this book the information doesn't change all that much from editions I think they just added something on avatar 3d if I'm correct. Great book detailing the basics

[yhzmr]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm giving myself a cap of $200 for the Barnes & Noble sale, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

I want to upgrade my old Blu-rays of The Gold Rush, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator.
I also want to upgrade Yojimbo/Sanjuro and possibly High and Low.
More Bergman would be nice.
Lord of the Flies will be an obvious choice.

Other than the above, I'll have to marinate on this for a while. After revisiting 3:10 to Yuma this weekend, I'd like to find out more about Jubal.


I just finished watching Wild Strawberries. The Blu-ray is so much better than my old DVD edition. The final moments of this movie always get to me on an emotional level, especially now that I'm older. I'll write a review tomorrow.

I watched Jubal last week and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It was better than your average 50's western thanks to the fine cast and some nice directorial touches by Daves. If you like Shakespeare's Othello you'll like this and runs about $5 cheaper than your standard Criterion.

[Jr7936]

am I the only one who doesn't like modern times. I bought it during one of the criterion sales, and watched it once. tried to watch it a 2nd time and turned it off midway. didn't have any desire to watch it any more after that, so i traded it for another criterion or another movie i wanted more.

from my point of view i wouldn't call it a safe blind buy at all. for me safe blind buys would be thin red line, fish tank, carlos, shallow grave, harold and maude, badlands,

[DarkRyder]

For all those of you who are region-free, Masters of Cinema will be releasing Nosferatu on blu-ray in October!

https://twitter.com/Eurekavideo/stat...44803534131201

[rezpekt]

Originally Posted by DarkRyder

For all those of you who are region-free, Masters of Cinema will be releasing Nosferatu on blu-ray in October!

https://twitter.com/Eurekavideo/stat...44803534131201

Theatrical release in October, Blu-ray in November.

[RandyK]

Originally Posted by Jett Blu

Yes, I used an earlier edition (3rd) of that book for a film class, it covers a lot of film history, all the way up to today. Top notch IMO, the author really knows his stuff and is not stuffy like other film textbook authors. It is a book I would buy just to have.

Originally Posted by jcez28

really loved this book the information doesn't change all that much from editions I think they just added something on avatar 3d if I'm correct. Great book detailing the basics

Thanks guys. Can't wait to get registered so I can pick it up. Might get a head start on reading it too.

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by DarkRyder

For all those of you who are region-free, Masters of Cinema will be releasing Nosferatu on blu-ray in October!

https://twitter.com/Eurekavideo/stat...44803534131201

Can't wait. I'm glad I have a region free player. KINO will do their usual region A release with barely any extra's. MoC is always the way to go.