The Criterion Collection

[CriterionBlues]

Originally Posted by nondiatonic

So, I'm going to make another blind buy this sale. It's either going to be The 400 Blows, Jules and Jim or Hiroshima mon Amour. Any thoughts (without giving away even the slightest shred of plot)?

I've never seen a Truffaut or a Resnais (!!). So, in order to make a more educated decision, I plan to watch one movie from each director that is not offered on BD currently.

From Truffaut I was thinking Shoot the Piano Player and from Resnais I was thinking Night and Fog. Will these give me a decent representation of each director (as well as one film can)?

For a safe blind buy, I would go with The 400 Blows. As for your last question, those are both outstanding movies, but Night and Fog is a documentary about the holocaust and not at all representative of his work. If you want to watch another Resnais, then Last Year at Marienbad is probably the way to go. Shoot the Piano Player is excellent, but remember that the blu is coming around the corner.

[bbusic95]

Long time lurker first time poster. I made an account to show this deal off though. It's not a blu ray, but I'm pretty sure this is the best criterion deal ever. I bought it within a minute of it being listed.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281741280747...747%26_rdc%3D1


I just got it in, and the guy only made 40 cents in profit after paying shipping.
I figured it'd be fake but it seems like a legit copy!

[nondiatonic]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

For a safe blind buy, I would go with The 400 Blows. As for your last question, those are both outstanding movies, but Night and Fog is a documentary about the holocaust and not at all representative of his work. If you want to watch another Resnais, then Last Year at Marienbad is probably the way to go. Shoot the Piano Player is excellent, but remember that the blu is coming around the corner.

I'm extremely intrigued by Last Year at Marienbad; however, it isn't on Hulu.

Thanks for the suggestion on The 400 Blows. I think I'll get that if I enjoy STPP. It seems like a good one to own given its weight as a revered classic.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by nondiatonic

I'm extremely intrigued by Last Year at Marienbad; however, it isn't on Hulu.

Thanks for the suggestion on The 400 Blows. I think I'll get that if I enjoy STPP. It seems like a good one to own given its weight as a revered classic.

Last Year at Marienbad is spellbinding filmmaking, albeit confounding.

[RojD]

Could anyone give some insight into some documentaries? I’m going to watch a bunch with a friend during vacation, and I’m trying to work out connections and threads among these directors and works.

Les Blank: Always for Pleasure
Joshua Oppenheimer: Act of Killing
Erroll Morris: Gates of Heaven/Vernon, Fla, Thin Blue Line, Brief History of Time
Maysles: Grey Gardens or something else
Steve James: Hoop Dreams
Pennebaker and Hegedus: The War Room

Did some of the directors influence the others? How do they vary in their approaches? These are probably the titles we're going to go with, but I’m looking for an interesting, logical way to sequence them.

What’s a good talking head, Ken Burns-style docs in Criterion?

(We’re also going to check out Leviathan and Manakamana, with their Sensory Ethnography Lab background)

[octagon]

Originally Posted by RojD

What’s a good talking head, Ken Burns-style docs in Criterion?

I've only watched a little more than half but Crumb was very engaging and very much in the interview-heavy style.

[CriterionBlues]

Originally Posted by nondiatonic

I'm extremely intrigued by Last Year at Marienbad; however, it isn't on Hulu.

It is sadly OOP, so you won't get it from anywhere Criterion without shelling out major bucks.

Both of the Truffauts are pretty celebrated, but The 400 Blows is as close to being universally praised as any FNW film. And deservedly so IMO.

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by RojD

Could anyone give some insight into some documentaries? I’m going to watch a bunch with a friend during vacation, and I’m trying to work out connections and threads among these directors and works.



Les Blank: Always for Pleasure

Joshua Oppenheimer: Act of Killing

Erroll Morris: Gates of Heaven/Vernon, Fla, Thin Blue Line, Brief History of Time

Maysles: Grey Gardens or something else

Steve James: Hoop Dreams

Pennebaker and Hegedus: The War Room



Did some of the directors influence the others? How do they vary in their approaches? These are probably the titles we're going to go with, but I’m looking for an interesting, logical way to sequence them.



What’s a good talking head, Ken Burns-style docs in Criterion?



(We’re also going to check out Leviathan and Manakamana, with their Sensory Ethnography Lab background)

Can't really answer your questions, but Harlan County, USA is one of the few Criterions I have on DVD. It's a fascinating look at coal towns and rural America. It was shocking to me and I'm in Kentucky. It and Ken Burns' Civil War are my favorite documentaries.

I'm also looking forward to seeing Thin Blue Line when it arrives from the BN sale.

Shoah is incredible if you want to immerse yourself in a 10 hour Criterion film.

[fdm]

Originally Posted by Andrew13

Has there been any updates on when we might expect upgrades of either Bergman's Faith Trilogy or Rossellini's War Trilogy? Contemplating picking one or both up during the sale, but their DVD only status is making me pause.

On another note, has there been any mention of a Berlin Alexanderplatz upgrade?

No news. But UK has blu-ray War Trilogy, so of those you mentioned this is the most likely one to get a bump sooner or later (sometimes it takes Criterion a long time to get around to doing blu-rays for titles that are out elsewhere, a Dreyer box upgrade could just as easily be in the cards too).

Berlin Alexanderplatz, it came out just around when Criterion was transitioning to blu-ray, I was jokingly (although still wishfully) speculating at the time that it would be their first blu-ray release. That said, the dvd set is gorgeous and aside from maybe a few spots, blu-ray probably wouldn't offer all that much more than what's already there, at least pq-wise; a lossless hd audio track perhaps could offer a similar small bump. I'm way behind, but it's one of my favorite Criterion box sets. No hesitation in recommending it as is.

Faith Trilogy, no rumors, so it could be next month or next year or... At least Bergman blu-rays are still trickling out every once in a while.

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by nondiatonic

So, I'm going to make another blind buy this sale. It's either going to be The 400 Blows, Jules and Jim or Hiroshima mon Amour. Any thoughts (without giving away even the slightest shred of plot)?

My favorite Truffaut film happens to be Jules and Jim. While I can respect The 400 Blows for its place in film history, I feel like Jules and Jim is the better picture overall. The three leads are brilliant, the story is engaging, and I felt a little closer to it than The 400 Blows. Either would be an excellent blind-buy, but I'm in favor of Jules and Jim.

Hiroshima mon amour is a beautiful film, too. If I didn't already own Jules and Jim, I would probably go with it.

[fdm]

Originally Posted by oxymoron1948

My planned order for 12 Criterion sale blu rays, to be shipped to England, has been derailed by B&N's suddenly-raised international shipping charges. The threatened charge of $81.87 seems slightly on the high side.

Until the launch of the new B & N website a few days ago, the international shipping charge for the order I had prepared was shown as about $20.00. More interestingly, the marginal charge for each extra blu ray as I built up my order was exactly $0.99 - in other words, if the shipping charge for 12 blu rays was $20.00, the charge for 13 would be $20.99.

It seems a remarkable coincidence that, just as we greet the launch of the new website, this marginal charge has increased six-fold - from $0.99 per extra blu ray to $5.99 per extra blu ray. This increase is somewhat in excess of the level of current inflation, and is one which will, I guess, deter many international buyers.

Maybe B & N have decided on making this mighty increase just as their new website is unveiled. However, my lurking suspicion is that the new website may have brought a fault in the calculation of international shipping charges - why go from $0.99 to $5.99? Why not $6.00?

I have of course contacted the B & N help line more than once since the start of the sale to ask about this, but despite friendly automated responses promising me a reply within 24 hours, silence reigns.

Have anyone else's suspicions been running on these lines?

My suspicion is they are using USPS for their shipping. It is very expensive to ship overseas any more via USPS (around 30 bucks or so to return a damaged BFI box set to the UK, for example, and that's as cheap as it gets), so maybe they realized that they weren't charging enough to cover their costs any more. Try weighing 12 Criterion blu-rays and some extra shipping materials and go to USPS website and see what you come up with. (That BFI box set I last returned weighed in at just under one pound, and like I said was in the 30 dollar ballpark.)

In the past, some of their overseas packages would take months to arrive to some places, perhaps they were doing shipping differently back then and gave up on that option after the lost packages, or complaints about how long it took, or who knows what. Or perhaps it's just no longer an option for them.

But, it could just as easily be that they screwed something up. Maybe we'll find out some day.

[JLant19]

I want to pick up a few more during the BN sale. Any recommendations on Sullivan's Travels, Palm Beach Story, Ministry of Fear, Anatomy of a Murder, It Happened One Night?

[fdm]

Originally Posted by Iamspartacus

DePalma seems to be either loved or loathed due to his obvious influences and his gratuitous nudity etc. I'm in the camp that likes him. Carlitos Way, Untouchables, Scarface, Body Double, Dressed to Kill, Obsession, Sisters, Femme Fatale, Passion, Blow Out, Casualties of War, and even Snake Eyes were all very likable to me. I still need to see Raising Cain.

Sounds about right for me too. Although I didn't make it very far into Casualties of War the couple times I tried. (Haven't seen Raising Cain yet either, or a few other mostly early ones.)

[nondiatonic]

Just finished Shoot the Piano Player. While I definitely enjoyed it, I don't know if I want to blind buy a Truffaut on its merits.

[Show spoiler]The entire flashback sequence of Charlie's former life culminating in his wife's suicide is absolutely brilliant. However, after that it faltered here and there. It never regained that level until the final shot back at the piano in the bar.

[fdm]

Originally Posted by JLant19

I want to pick up a few more during the BN sale. Any recommendations on Sullivan's Travels, Palm Beach Story, Ministry of Fear, Anatomy of a Murder, It Happened One Night?

I'm only 100% certain I've seen Sulivan's Travels and It Happened One Night, I don't think you could go wrong with either of those, though It Happened One Night is the probably the better of the two. Anatomy Of A Murder I may have seen, not sure, but it gets a lot of praise here as well.

[Partyslammer]

I finally upgraded my old Criterion DVD of Gimme Shelter to Blu-ray thanks to the current BN sale. In addition, they took the 20% coupon I got in the mail and another 10% via the membership. $15 bucks and change.

[WonderWeasel]

Originally Posted by RojD

Could anyone give some insight into some documentaries? I’m going to watch a bunch with a friend during vacation, and I’m trying to work out connections and threads among these directors and works.

Les Blank: Always for Pleasure
Joshua Oppenheimer: Act of Killing
Erroll Morris: Gates of Heaven/Vernon, Fla, Thin Blue Line, Brief History of Time
Maysles: Grey Gardens or something else
Steve James: Hoop Dreams
Pennebaker and Hegedus: The War Room

Did some of the directors influence the others? How do they vary in their approaches? These are probably the titles we're going to go with, but I’m looking for an interesting, logical way to sequence them.

What’s a good talking head, Ken Burns-style docs in Criterion?

(We’re also going to check out Leviathan and Manakamana, with their Sensory Ethnography Lab background)

I've only seen two of these: Grey Gardens and Hoop Dreams.

The Maysles seem to take a fly-on-the-wall approach, letting their subjects do most of the talking, and only interacting with them when necessary. This really works well in Grey Gardens; the delusions and eccentricities of the Beale ladies are more than enough to keep you entertained for the duration of the film.

Hoop Dreams is probably my favorite documentary of all-time. It's a basketball documentary, but it is equally about the lives of American inner-city youth. I was only 12 when I first saw it, and I remember it completely blowing my mind how different Gates and Agees' childhoods were from mine.

As far as comparing the two, Steve James's approach is definitely meant to evoke more emotion, while the Maysles don't seem to have as much of an agenda when it comes to how they want their film to make you feel. That's my opinion, anyway ☺

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by JLant19

I want to pick up a few more during the BN sale. Any recommendations on Sullivan's Travels, Palm Beach Story, Ministry of Fear, Anatomy of a Murder, It Happened One Night?

Anatomy. Definitely not Ministry.

[Lordy]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Anatomy. Definitely not Ministry.

Anatomy of a Murder is a must own.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by JLant19

I want to pick up a few more during the BN sale. Any recommendations on Sullivan's Travels, Palm Beach Story, Ministry of Fear, Anatomy of a Murder, It Happened One Night?

I own or will shortly own all of them and would recommend all five (even Ministry of Fear). If I had to choose only three though, I'd go with It Happened One Night, Sullivan's Travels, and either Anatomy of a Murder or The Palm Beach Story (depending on if you wanted to go all comedies or throw in a drama).