The Criterion Collection

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by waxHead

If you haven't seen it, you might also try Kurosawa's High and Low. It's more police procedural than noir, but it's still a pretty "dark" film.

that one I've seen, too. It is a good movie. I'm not nearly as high (no pun intended) on it as many others here are, though. I can probably list all of the Asian movies I've seen in my life here in one post and you've just named two of them.

[waxHead]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

that one I've seen, too. It is a good movie. I'm not nearly as high (no pun intended) on it as many others here are, though. I can probably list all of the Asian movies I've seen in my life here in one post and you've just named two of them.

You're clearly doing better in the Japanese film department than I originally thought

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Kwaidan will be my first Japanese blind buy, so wish me luck.

You should definitely try some of Ozu's films. If you like Indian movies, you will find a lot of similarity in the themes he handles. Of course no song and dance routines here, and the drama is very restrained and mannered. But yeah, very heart-tugging family oriented movies.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by ravenus

You should definitely try some of Ozu's films. If you like Indian movies, you will find a lot of similarity in the themes he handles. Of course no song and dance routines here, and the drama is very restrained and mannered. But yeah, very heart-tugging family oriented movies.

I agree, Tokyo Story, Late Spring, An Autumn Afternoon are all great.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by waxHead

You're clearly doing better in the Japanese film department than I originally thought

Thanks! Well, had I not seen either of those two, I'd come back with extremely happy returns - especially for Pale Flower.

not sure people care, but off the top of my head, here’s the Asian cinema I’ve seen:

Rashomon
High and Low
Yojimbo
Ikiru (absolutely loved it… all-time favorite!!)
Stray Dog
Pale Flower
Tokyo Drifter
Chungking Express
In The Mood For Love (just bought this one)
Tokyo Story
Like Father Like Son
Raise the Red Lantern
The King of Masks (Ebert showed this at his film festival and sold it as a movie that was good for kids. I remember liking it, so if I can recommend something that many might not have seen, check this one out. )
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115669/

and then the Satyajit Ray stuff, too, which I love!

But gosh… that’s about it.

[MifuneFan]

You need to watch Seven Samurai

[waxHead]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Thanks! Well, had I not seen either of those two, I'd come back with extremely happy returns - especially for Pale Flower.

You're welcome! I'll look through your list and see what else I can recommend.

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

You need to watch Seven Samurai

This.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I mostly blind buy films that are from genres that I like and am comfortable with – highly regarded American classics, the French New Wave, noir… I am more likely to take a chance on a film that is supposed to feature great cinematography (e.g. The River, Kwaidan) or on a blu-ray of an older film that has maybe undergone a restoration and/or has received top marks in the PQ department (e.g. How Green Was My Valley.) I remember the first time I tried to watch The Third Man on an old VHS tape close to 20 years ago. I couldn’t understand a single word of the spoken dialogue it was so bad. So, I still marvel when I am able to see (and hear) an old film in marvelous healthy condition.

Kwaidan will be my first Japanese blind buy, so wish me luck. As I mentioned earlier this week, I know next to nothing about Japanese film and I’d like to change that. Sometimes you just get the sense that you have evolved as a film lover and are ready to explore and love something different. Roger Ebert spoke very highly of Kwaidan. His reviews are another blind buy selling point for me.

Just in case you need some ideas

[prior]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Thanks! Well, had I not seen either of those two, I'd come back with extremely happy returns - especially for Pale Flower.

not sure people care, but off the top of my head, here’s the Asian cinema I’ve seen:

Rashomon
High and Low
Yojimbo
Ikiru (absolutely loved it… all-time favorite!!)
Stray Dog
Pale Flower
Tokyo Drifter
Chungking Express
In The Mood For Love (just bought this one)
Tokyo Story
Like Father Like Son
Raise the Red Lantern
The King of Masks (Ebert showed this at his film festival and sold it as a movie that was good for kids. I remember liking it, so if I can recommend something that many might not have seen, check this one out. )
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115669/

and then the Satyajit Ray stuff, too, which I love!

But gosh… that’s about it.

You could check out Seven Samurai, Throne Of Blood, Hidden Fortress, Red Beard, The Bad Sleep Well, Samurai Rebellion, The Ballad Of Narayama, Gate Of Hell, Kuroneko, The Life Of Oharu, Vengeance Is Mine, the Vengeance Trilogy, Yi Yi and Still Walking. I strongly recommend them all.

[waxHead]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

not sure people care, but off the top of my head, here’s the Asian cinema I’ve seen:

Though all of his films are from Hong Kong and not available from Criterion, I've enjoyed all of Johnnie To's films that I've seen. My favorites are Running Out of Time, Exiled, Throw Down, Election and Triad Election (Election 2). I've also seen Vengeance, Sparrow and Mad Detective, but I don't feel as strongly about these. His films are definitely more violent than earlier Asian cinema, but I found all of them to be excellent from a story and production standpoint. All of the above are available on Blu-ray, but all were imported.

[ShellOilJunior]

Does anyone else read the notes section for films on Criterion.com? Sometimes people will write pithy, insightful comments and they're interesting to read.

If you add a note to a film in your My Criterion then they add the note to film's page (Although, sometimes they're very slow to update adding new notes).

This is the page for Close-Up. I'm fortunate enough to be the first note for this great film:

[Show spoiler]

[bwdowiak]

Thanks, everyone, for the recommendations! I appreciate it. Every now and then the discussion will shift to Japanese and/or Asian cinema and I feel lost. I've got a good feeling about Autumn Afternoon, so I'll try that one soon. Shadepain - that will be a very helpful link! I'll pick out something somewhat random that you've given a high mark to and will report back.

[Banned User]

Why in the world so many people here don't list Harakiri is beyond me. One of the best japanese films in the collection IMO by a long shot. Amazing film both in the story and the cinematography.

I dare say I like it better then most Kurosawa films.

[deepbreathsanddeath]

I was looking on Criterions page for the AK 100 box set and thought of a few things.
1. I want a big box set like that so bad.
2. Thank you criterion for giving us a big box set like that in the Zatoichi set.
3. The AK 100 DVD set had a retail price of $399, the Zatoichi set is blu-ray AND DVD and the retail price is only $224.95, most of us got it for roughly $100 or less.

I imagine they retailed it so affordably to ensure sales but do you think this decision ultimately made them more money than if they retailed it for higher or do you think it possibly contributed to the somewhat stripped back (compared to the good old days) approach criterion takes to their overall product and packages which is no doubt due to some kind of financial stress?

Keeping in mind that the Zatoichi set came out during the brief dual format phase which was unsuccessful for a variety of reasons.

I got my Zatoichi set for about $120 AUD (the exchange rate sucks) but that works out to only $4.80 per movie. That's without even factoring in the DVD copies of every movie.
I feel truly lucky to get such an incredible box set for such a price. Arrow are selling their hellraiser trilogy for an average of £50 each which is only about $20 shy of what I payed for Zatoichi, just to give some perspective on what Criterion gave us.

So, again, do you think that was a smart business move? It was an extremely generous move, that's for sure. In a perfect world, I'd love to get another box set that size for that price but I can't see them ever doing it again.

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I was looking on Criterions page for the AK 100 box set and thought of a few things.
1. I want a big box set like that so bad.
2. Thank you criterion for giving us a big box set like that in the Zatoichi set.
3. The AK 100 DVD set had a retail price of $399, the Zatoichi set is blu-ray AND DVD and the retail price is only $224.95, most of us got it for roughly $100 or less.

I imagine they retailed it so affordably to ensure sales but do you think this decision ultimately made them more money than if they retailed it for higher or do you think it possibly contributed to the somewhat stripped back (compared to the good old days) approach criterion takes to their overall product and packages which is no doubt due to some kind of financial stress?

Keeping in mind that the Zatoichi set came out during the brief dual format phase which was unsuccessful for a variety of reasons.

I got my Zatoichi set for about $120 AUD (the exchange rate sucks) but that works out to only $4.80 per movie. That's without even factoring in the DVD copies of every movie.
I feel truly lucky to get such an incredible box set for such a price. Arrow are selling their hellraiser trilogy for an average of £50 each which is only about $20 shy of what I payed for Zatoichi, just to give some perspective on what Criterion gave us.

So, again, do you think that was a smart business move? It was an extremely generous move, that's for sure. In a perfect world, I'd love to get another box set that size for that price but I can't see them ever doing it again.

Love the Zatoichi set and design, but I personally wish they would just ditch DVD or offer a set without. Also wish they would try and get the rights to the TV show. Almost impossible to find them all on DVD

[Moe Szyslak]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

You need to watch Seven Samurai

Me too, recent blind buy

[waxHead]

Originally Posted by Moe Szyslak

Me too, recent blind buy

I have to add myself to that list. I only saw it once on DVD, and that was probably 12+ years ago now...

[MifuneFan]

You guys are killing me ..We need to set up a screening for Seven Samura and have all of you come see it together. Seeing that movie with a crowd would be quite fun too

[Fabs]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Thanks, everyone, for the recommendations! I appreciate it. Every now and then the discussion will shift to Japanese and/or Asian cinema and I feel lost. I've got a good feeling about Autumn Afternoon, so I'll try that one soon. Shadepain - that will be a very helpful link! I'll pick out something somewhat random that you've given a high mark to and will report back.

Beautiful is a word that can be overused, but An Autumn Afternoon is most deserving of using that word.

[belcherman]

Finally got to the B&N sale and picked up some new-ish releases:

Ride the Pink Horse
Odd Man Out
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
The Killers
Make Way for Tomorrow

I also picked up a title that has been on my wish list for a while. Recent chatter about it here helped me make up my mind.

Paris, Texas

The bad news, I've just had the floors done in my media room, so it may be a while before I get to watch any of them. Oh, well.