The Criterion Collection

[pro-bassoonist]

L. M. Kit Carson, an actor and writer who earned a following among devotees of independent film with his magazine journalism about movies and his own quirky films, died on Oct. 20 in Dallas, while visiting. He was 73.

As a screenwriter, Mr. Carson’s best-known film was “Paris, Texas” (1984), a skewed romantic tale directed by Wim Wenders about a fragmented American family starring Harry Dean Stanton as a man who returns from amnesiac oblivion and encounters his brother, his young son and his estranged wife. The film won the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Pro-B

[Vinyl]

Originally Posted by jw007

I have not! I will take a look at that film too.

I should add that Tokyo Story gave me a melancholic feel in the pit of my stomach...it made me think about my parents and family and how people need to listen and appreciate to them while they're still alive. This is a good film for people who take people for granted, especially parents. I had just watched The Tree of Life days earlier and it has a similar theme of parenting and children and that quote from that film is still is with me to this day (when Jessica Chastain's character says "Unless you love, your life will flash by"). This can be applied to this film too.

My first Ozu film was Late Spring. I love it and think it's better than Tokyo Story. Late Spring is highly recommended.

[SlickDamian]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

The Tree of Life is divine. I can't see who people can hate it. It full of beauty and explores so many themes throughout life. Jessica Chastain was perfect for the role of mother and was os beautiful and natural - I loved the contrast between her and Brad Pitts character and it really showed in the son and the conflicts he faced.

I adore the voice overs, especially Jessica Chastain's, so many beautiful lines. I love the one you quoted as well and it fitted so well with the visuals.

My god its an incredible film, need to watch it later!

Tree of Life: on love - YouTube

May be spoilerish - but had to share! Its such an incredible sequence, the music is so beautiful.

Another incredible sequence - this is at end of film so if you don't want spoilers then don't watch :P

The Tree of Life - Eternity - YouTube

I agree, Tree of Life is a masterwork. I don't think that any other movie has brought out feelings in me more.

I wonder if Tree of Life, The New World, and To the Wonder will come to Criterion? Those would be very nice releases, just like all of the other Malicks.

[SlickDamian]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Pro-B

I mentioned this a while back and no one noticed, haha. I guess that I don't have the same credibility as Dr. Svet

[Scottie]

Wow...the 4K restoration of The Vanishing is breathtaking.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

I mentioned this a while back and no one noticed, haha.

Sorry about that. I actually do not read the thread every day and did not see your post.

[Malickfan86]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

I think you can submit to Amazon that the price is lower elsewhere, but it might only be for pre-orders. Amazon Canada's stock says 3-5 weeks for shipping, so I think there's probably a stock issue, country wide. Chapters-Indigo is 1-3 weeks as well. Future Shop is the same as Best Buy, because they are Best Buy.

At this point, I'd wait for the B&N sale.

Thanks for your help. I'll cancel the pre-order when the B&N sale starts if I still haven't gotten it. I've got some BBYC points/other discounts. Any idea who Criterion's Canadian distributor is? I'd like to email them a complaint.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by Malickfan86

Thanks for your help. I'll cancel the pre-order when the B&N sale starts if I still haven't gotten it. I've got some BBYC points/other discounts. Any idea who Criterion's Canadian distributor is? I'd like to email them a complaint.

Wouldn't have a clue. Perhaps they just thought the film wouldn't be as popular. Also, I've been having issues getting various items I pre-order as of late. It took Amazon over a month after it had been released, to ship me a book I had pre-ordered. I also had to cancel my order of AHDN from Amazon and run into Future Shop. Dunno what's up.

[the sordid sentinel]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

The Tree of Life is divine. I can't see who people can hate it. It full of beauty and explores so many themes throughout life. Jessica Chastain was perfect for the role of mother and was os beautiful and natural - I loved the contrast between her and Brad Pitts character and it really showed in the son and the conflicts he faced.

I adore the voice overs, especially Jessica Chastain's, so many beautiful lines. I love the one you quoted as well and it fitted so well with the visuals.

My god its an incredible film, need to watch it later!

Tree of Life: on love - YouTube

May be spoilerish - but had to share! Its such an incredible sequence, the music is so beautiful.

Another incredible sequence - this is at end of film so if you don't want spoilers then don't watch :P

The Tree of Life - Eternity - YouTube

Agree with all of that and will add that no movie has ever captured the essence of what being a kid felt like on the the level TTOL did. Stand By Me was always my go to movie for that before TTOL came along.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

The Tree of Life is divine. I can't see who people can hate it. It full of beauty and explores so many themes throughout life. Jessica Chastain was perfect for the role of mother and was os beautiful and natural - I loved the contrast between her and Brad Pitts character and it really showed in the son and the conflicts he faced.

I adore the voice overs, especially Jessica Chastain's, so many beautiful lines. I love the one you quoted as well and it fitted so well with the visuals.

My god its an incredible film, need to watch it later!

Tree of Life: on love - YouTube

May be spoilerish - but had to share! Its such an incredible sequence, the music is so beautiful.

Another incredible sequence - this is at end of film so if you don't want spoilers then don't watch :P

The Tree of Life - Eternity - YouTube

It was my second time watching The Tree of Life and for me I enjoyed it and understood it more than my first, initial viewing in the theater where I was unhappy after seeing it and thought it was pretentious at the time. Perhaps my appreciation for film has only grown in the last few years ever since I started collecting and watching films in the Criterion Collection (starting in early 2011), so I developed more patience to sit through long, arduous films (or at least in my imagination that was the case).

Having seen The Tree of Life for the second time, I no longer think the film is too ambitious for its own good. I think its a near masterpiece now and Malick's work is unparalleled. My favorite of his films is still The New World and seeing this film in the Criterion Collection would be a dream.

I guess the only criticism I have of The Tree of Life is probably the underdevelopment of Sean Penn's "adult" character as he rarely talks much in the film. We see him on the screen looking pensive and introspective and emotionally "not all there", yet he never talks to us... and somehow maybe we don't need to hear him talk because we already know about him through his childhood, at least up until he was about 11 or 12 years old as portrayed in the story...but then there is that age gap between then and his current late-50 something age, where we don't know what he did in his life and so forth. And all this time I think this is really Terrence Malick's character and how he viewed his childhood or boyhood at the time.

[The Great Owl]

Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life was simply beautiful on the big screen. I saw it at one of Atlanta's oldest theaters, and the experience was immersive, to say the least.

I love how The Tree of Life juxtaposes a grand-scale depiction of the world's creation with an intimate portrayal of a small-town religious family, as if to show exactly how creation and evolution unfolded to result in the existence of this family. In a big picture sense, we are each small and insignificant, but also precious and unique. When a person dies, an entire universe inside that person's psyche disappears as well.

It was oddly refreshing to see a director swing for the fences to make such an ambitious movie that encompasses everything, in the vein of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. With The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick somehow holds it all together in a visually-entrancing way.

Speaking of big screen movie experiences...

Tonight, I went to a local theater to see my favorite horror film of all time, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

Oh man... I've seen Psycho a million times on small TV screens by way of late night showings, VHS tapes, DVD, and Blu-ray, but tonight was my first time seeing the movie on a big screen. In this setting, the movie got into my head more than ever before. This was a truly awesome way to celebrate Halloween.

Psycho is one of those films where it's best simply to forget about all of the pop culture references, comedic spoofs, and such so that you can immerse yourself in the movie with a fresh mindset. It really is the eeriest and creepiest flick out there.

[jrsl76]

Thanks for the heads up on Vampyr. I was waiting for a Blu upgrade, but given it has gone OOP, I grabbed a mint copy at a local Barnes & Nobles this evening.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Vinyl

My first Ozu film was Late Spring. I love it and think it's better than Tokyo Story. Late Spring is highly recommended.

I loved Tokyo Story and it deeply moved me, but Late Spring left me COMPLETELY cold. I just couldn't relate to it on any level and while intellectually I understood how big of a deal the sacrifices the characters were making were, it just left me totally flat, I guess maybe because I haven't dealt with any stifling relationships in which my presence was required to keep the other person running (well, that's basically my idea of the kind of experience that would be relatable to what Setsuko Harada's character is going through). It kinda put me off wanting to see more Ozu movies, in fact, since it seems to be widely considered his best besides Tokyo Story. Anyone have any Ozu recs for someone that loves Tokyo Story and doesn't like Late Spring, or am I hopeless? I wouldn't be surprised if I just caught it in the wrong mood or something and would like it on second watch.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Judex

I'm guessing it's a packaging thing. They'll probably remove the book and re-issue it in a standard DVD case. Which would be a shame.

It'd be fantastic if a blu ray was to follow soon.

I thought someone said the likelihood of a bluray upgrade was very low, like due to the quality of the source elements they had to work with it wouldn't really be able to look much better. It could have just been people posting on the forum with no official source for that, though.

I bought it during the last B&N sale and still haven't gotten around to watching it, I'm glad I did now! I did see it several years ago on that Image DVD, but it was nearly unwatchable so I didn't really get anything out of the experience.

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

I loved Tokyo Story and it deeply moved me, but Late Spring left me COMPLETELY cold. I just couldn't relate to it on any level and while intellectually I understood how big of a deal the sacrifices the characters were making were, it just left me totally flat, I guess maybe because I haven't dealt with any stifling relationships in which my presence was required to keep the other person running (well, that's basically my idea of the kind of experience that would be relatable to what Setsuko Harada's character is going through). It kinda put me off wanting to see more Ozu movies, in fact, since it seems to be widely considered his best besides Tokyo Story. Anyone have any Ozu recs for someone that loves Tokyo Story and doesn't like Late Spring, or am I hopeless? I wouldn't be surprised if I just caught it in the wrong mood or something and would like it on second watch.

My favorite of Ozu's sound films is probably FLOATING WEEDS, which Criterion has not yet upgraded to Blu-ray but is on a region-B from Eureka's Masters of Cinema series (which apparently has a few issues with the transfer, which may be why Criterion has been slow on a Blu-ray edition). I've also got the Criterion Eclipse set of silent Ozu, which are all well-worth watching, but haven't yet gotten around to getting the Eclipse set of late Ozu.

I recently discovered the somewhat similar, but what I found even more enjoyable and moving films of Ozu's friend and contemporary, Hiroshi Shimizu in the Eclipse set #15 of four movies. I really wish those would get Blu-ray upgrades, especially ORNAMENTAL HAIRPIN.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jw007

It was my second time watching The Tree of Life and for me I enjoyed it and understood it more than my first, initial viewing in the theater where I was unhappy after seeing it and thought it was pretentious at the time. Perhaps my appreciation for film has only grown in the last few years ever since I started collecting and watching films in the Criterion Collection (starting in early 2011), so I developed more patience to sit through long, arduous films (or at least in my imagination that was the case).

Having seen The Tree of Life for the second time, I no longer think the film is too ambitious for its own good. I think its a near masterpiece now and Malick's work is unparalleled. My favorite of his films is still The New World and seeing this film in the Criterion Collection would be a dream.

I guess the only criticism I have of The Tree of Life is probably the underdevelopment of Sean Penn's "adult" character as he rarely talks much in the film. We see him on the screen looking pensive and introspective and emotionally "not all there", yet he never talks to us... and somehow maybe we don't need to hear him talk because we already know about him through his childhood, at least up until he was about 11 or 12 years old as portrayed in the story...but then there is that age gap between then and his current late-50 something age, where we don't know what he did in his life and so forth. And all this time I think this is really Terrence Malick's character and how he viewed his childhood or boyhood at the time.

There is enough footage of Sean Penn's character to make another movie apparently - A LOT was cut, and I agree I wish they added more and developed it further, I mean I get why they had his scenes and for me they worked, but would have been nice to see more! even Sean Penn felt this way.

But I suppose you have to make sacrifices in the movie business to get the film sold and put out there.

It's definitely a film you need to see more than once and at first it can be a bit hard to follow/understand - but I mean I've seen it hundreds of times and know it off by heart haha.

I think one of the boys in the film was went to reflect Malick's brother,

Another tale suggests a darkness and artistic obsession ran in the family. His youngest brother, Larry, went to Spain to study with the guitarist Andres Segovia, but the young Malick was so frustrated by his lack of progress that he broke his own hands, and later committed suicide.

And in TTOL one of the sons did play a guitar and was musical.

http://vimeo.com/54835713

Its an extremely personal film and when you know these things it makes the film even sadder.

I loe how poetic and beautiful The New World is, I understand it can be hard for some to sit through, but the extended version for me is perfect, the acting was incredible, especially Q'orianka Kilcher - she was PERFECT and so beautiful in that role and the love between her and Colin Farrells character seemed so honest and genuine.

[DenOfEarth]

Who would love to see Richard Williams's The Theif and The Cobbler from Criterion in it's Director's Cut? a long lost cult animated gem with a fanbase and the recoobled cut has been bootleged over the years and since Miramax was kind enough to restore the Producer's Cut of Halloween 6, we need Criterion with Miramax to help restore the workprint cut of William's film and make it better than any booleg plus extras too.

[jw007]

I just finished watching over 3 hours of supplementary material from the Tokyo Story Criterion edition I have here, including the 2 hour documentary on Ozu. I learned even more! I can only wonder if Ozu might have made some films with "Winter" in the title after all those Spring, Summer and Fall films. I really want to check out The End of Summer and An Autumn Afternoon next... I like his later films that were in color.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

There is enough footage of Sean Penn's character to make another movie apparently - A LOT was cut, and I agree I wish they added more and developed it further, I mean I get why they had his scenes and for me they worked, but would have been nice to see more! even Sean Penn felt this way.

But I suppose you have to make sacrifices in the movie business to get the film sold and put out there.

It's definitely a film you need to see more than once and at first it can be a bit hard to follow/understand - but I mean I've seen it hundreds of times and know it off by heart haha.

I think one of the boys in the film was went to reflect Malick's brother,

And in TTOL one of the sons did play a guitar and was musical.

http://vimeo.com/54835713

Its an extremely personal film and when you know these things it makes the film even sadder.

I loe how poetic and beautiful The New World is, I understand it can be hard for some to sit through, but the extended version for me is perfect, the acting was incredible, especially Q'orianka Kilcher - she was PERFECT and so beautiful in that role and the love between her and Colin Farrells character seemed so honest and genuine.

Oh man, now I totally want to see that extended version of TTOL! Especially just to see those scenes of Sean Penn actually talking! Dang...

As for TNW, yes, the extended version of that is just beautiful...in my opinion, more Malick is always better. I probably could watch a 6 hour Malick film if something like this became available. Might have to start watching earlier in the evening though so I don't fall asleep around the 5th hour. Ha.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jw007

Oh man, now I totally want to see that extended version of TTOL! Especially just to see those scenes of Sean Penn actually talking! Dang...

As for TNW, yes, the extended version of that is just beautiful...in my opinion, more Malick is always better. I probably could watch a 6 hour Malick film if something like this became available. Might have to start watching earlier in the evening though so I don't fall asleep around the 5th hour. Ha.

I know! Where is the Thin Red Line extended version as well!? Would have been amazing if Criterion had that as an alternate version for their release.

I think most the stuff cut from TTOL was family scenes and stuff like that - rather than the experimental creation stuff. I hope we get to see it as it seems so depressing all these beautiful footage hidden away .

The film I am waiting for is A Voyage of Time - The creation sequence was incredible.... give me 3-6 hours of that and ill be in heaven.