The Criterion Collection

[hoytereden]

My tally from the recent sale:

The River
Limelight
Hiroshima Mon Amour
The 400 Blows
The Wages of Fear
Late Spring
An Autumn Afternoon
The Bridge
Richard III
Four Feathers
Marketa Lazarova
Smiles of a Summer Night
A Day in the Country
The Palm Beach Story
The Royal Tenembaums
Scanners
Sullivan's Travels

All are either upgrades or films I've seen with the exception of Hiroshima, Bridge, and Tenembaums so I'm looking forward to seeing those for the first time

[ajnejedi]

Originally Posted by Vinyl

I like the directors cut also, the music is much better and more in-line with the feel of the film.

Are there many films where the theatrical version is universally considered better than the director's cut?

I heard that the theatrcal version of Empire Records is much better than the directors cut.

Although I don't think she worked in the film as a whole, Drew Barrymore's little speech about "cellar door" was hauntingly beautiful...

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Bob Kramer

Never met a girl in my life who liked Clockwork, that's all. C'mon, that's a film for males, for better or worse. I worked in an "Art House" video store in a college town for five years, not once did a woman rent it (or most of Kubrick's films for that matter).

A (female) friend of mine said to me in a discussion we had about Greenaway's The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, "I felt the same way about it as I did with A Clockwork Orange: It's one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life, and I hope to God I never see it again."

At any rate, just out of curiosity, I looked at the gender demographic breakdown for A Clockwork Orange's User Ratings at the IMDb.

Obviously, it doesn't account for women (or men, for that matter) who might decide not to watch it because they don't think they'd like it. Which might account for the actual numbers of men vs. women rating the film.

However, with respect to the people who've chosen to rate it there, the figures for male vs. female with respect to how much they liked it are by and large close enough to even to make no nevermind.

[Group] Votes Average
Males 337728 8.4
Females 66055 8.2
Aged under 18 2865 8.9
Males under 18 2220 8.9
Females under 18 620 8.7
Aged 18-29 197404 8.5
Males Aged 18-29 157425 8.5
Females Aged 18-29 38399 8.4
Aged 30-44 158728 8.3
Males Aged 30-44 136851 8.3
Females Aged 30-44 20084 8.1
Aged 45+ 36949 8.1
Males Aged 45+ 31532 8.1
Females Aged 45+ 4877 7.6

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Reddington

Final haul for the B&N sale. Almost all blind buys, which is what makes collecting Criterion releases so exciting, enjoyable, and educational.

Also have the BD of Last Year at Marienbad en route from a fellow forumer. Another blind buy, but a good price compared to elsewhere so decided to take the plunge.

Plenty to be getting on with before November.

Excellent picks! Enjoy the Marienbad disc. IMO, it's one of the crown jewels of the collection. Its replay value is off the charts.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Reddington

Final haul for the B&N sale. Almost all blind buys, which is what makes collecting Criterion releases so exciting, enjoyable, and educational.

Also have the BD of Last Year at Marienbad en route from a fellow forumer. Another blind buy, but a good price compared to elsewhere so decided to take the plunge.

Plenty to be getting on with before November.

Can't wait to hear what you think of High and Low, Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Battle of Algiers.

Three of my all-time favorites.

...filmmaking just doesn't get any better than that.

[diskspinner]

I finally decided to pull out Three Colors Trilogy set today and plan to watch one this weekend.

I have only watched "Blue" before I bought the criterion set. So I am thinking I will start with "White" and then "Red" and finally "Blue" unless anybody here strongly suggests otherwise. I played first 16 mins of White but cannot finish tonight, so I plan to start fresh on Saturday.

Also thanks everybody in this thread for your recommendations, my B&N haul this time around

[Show spoiler]WP_20150726_19_59_45_Pro.jpg

WP_20150803_07_44_39_Pro.jpg

and these online orders (yet to receive)

[Ray Jackson]

My final haul and the reason why I'm in the process of filing for bankruptcy:

-Insomnia (which I've already sold)
-Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
-Battle of Algiers
-Hiroshima Mon Amour
-Picnic at Hanging Rock
-Walkabout
-Don't Look Now
-Double Life of Veronique
-Three Colors trilogy
-Thief
-World on a Wire
-Friends of Eddie Coyle
-Carlos
-Vengeance Is Mine
-The Vanishing

All blind buys, except for Fear and Loathing and Battle of Algiers, which were dvd upgrades.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

Dressed to Kill Criterion

UPDATED E-mail response

Great news.

[deepbreathsanddeath]

I'd love to see criterion take a risk by putting out a box set for a lesser known but talented director such as Ming-liang Tsai. I've only seen one of his films and it was really good. I'd love to see more of his films get a really good HD treatment with extras.

I don't assume Criterion can just get whatever they want. They're not gods. There's a lot of great Asian cinema out there. I'd just love to see more from the under represented.

Now, in saying that... WKW is pretty well represented as it is, at least internationally but the dream would be for Criterion to release a WKW box set too. There's an unusually small amount of his films available in the U.S. I hope someone is planning something.
A few things to consider:

-Chungking Express rights expired. Nobody else has released it. Has someone else nabbed the rights? Or have criterion got them back and are waiting for something?
-They already have the rights to In The Mood for Love.
-Kino never released As Tears Gone By or Days of Being Wild.
-Kino's releases of Fallen Angels and Happy Together are OOP.
-Unreleased: Ashes of Time but articles from 2007/2008 say that Sony got the rights to it. Criterion have a deal with Sony.
-Unreleased: 2046. Sony owns the rights. Again, Criterion are chummy with them.
-Unreleased: My Blueberry Nights. Weinstein released it on DVD. I don't know what their relationship with Criterion is or if they even have a relationship. Criterion may choose to exclude this one from the box if it's the only one that might cause them issues. It's WKW's only English spoken film and is many peoples least favourite (I still think it's okay).
-The Grandmaster: Imagine if Criterion got this one? There's multiple cuts that people have paid high dollar from Korea just to see and own every version. If Criterion got this one too, they could include all 3 (or was there more on the market? I lost count).

What do you think of the idea of a box set for either of these filmmakers from Criterion?

Who are some other excellent Asian filmmakers you'd love to see represented in the collection?

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I'd love to see criterion take a risk by putting out a box set for a lesser known but talented director such as Ming-liang Tsai. I've only seen one of his films and it was really good. I'd love to see more of his films get a really good HD treatment with extras.

I don't assume Criterion can just get whatever they want. They're not gods. There's a lot of great Asian cinema out there. I'd just love to see more from the under represented.

Now, in saying that... WKW is pretty well represented as it is, at least internationally but the dream would be for Criterion to release a WKW box set too. There's an unusually small amount of his films available in the U.S. I hope someone is planning something.
A few things to consider:

-Chungking Express rights expired. Nobody else has released it. Has someone else nabbed the rights? Or have criterion got them back and are waiting for something?
-They already have the rights to In The Mood for Love.
-Kino never released As Tears Gone By or Days of Being Wild.
-Kino's releases of Fallen Angels and Happy Together are OOP.
-Unreleased: Ashes of Time but articles from 2007/2008 say that Sony got the rights to it. Criterion have a deal with Sony.
-Unreleased: 2046. Sony owns the rights. Again, Criterion are chummy with them.
-Unreleased: My Blueberry Nights. Weinstein released it on DVD. I don't know what their relationship with Criterion is or if they even have a relationship. Criterion may choose to exclude this one from the box if it's the only one that might cause them issues. It's WKW's only English spoken film and is many peoples least favourite (I still think it's okay).
-The Grandmaster: Imagine if Criterion got this one? There's multiple cuts that people have paid high dollar from Korea just to see and own every version. If Criterion got this one too, they could include all 3 (or was there more on the market? I lost count).

What do you think of the idea of a box set for either of these filmmakers from Criterion?

Who are some other excellent Asian filmmakers you'd love to see represented in the collection?

Ashes of Time has a region free BD release that's good from what I've seen. I would love to see the Yakuza Papers from Criterion. Maybe some films by Andrew Lau like Infernal Affairs.

[popcorntreect]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

Who are some other excellent Asian filmmakers you'd love to see represented in the collection?

Hsiao-hsien Hou

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

My final haul and the reason why I'm in the process of filing for bankruptcy:

-Insomnia (which I've already sold)
-Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
-Battle of Algiers
-Hiroshima Mon Amour
-Picnic at Hanging Rock
-Walkabout
-Don't Look Now
-Double Life of Veronique
-Three Colors trilogy
-Thief
-World on a Wire
-Friends of Eddie Coyle
-Carlos
-Vengeance Is Mine
-The Vanishing

All blind buys, except for Fear and Loathing and Battle of Algiers, which were dvd upgrades.

I see you went for that Hiroshima Mon Amour after all. Good luck.

Battle of Algiers is one of my favorite war movies; it's like terrorism 101, and it feels more relevant today than back then. Upgrading it is a no-brainier.

I personally found World on a Wire to be extremely long and slow, but as a sci-fi fan, I did find it interesting enough.

Insomnia is good. Double Life of Veronique is one of the most gorgeous films I've seen. Thief is slick. Vengeance is Mine is interesting. All good picks, boss.

[jmclick]

I have just finished a watching a film in the collection that has immediately become one of my favorite Criterion releases and one of my favorite documentaries of all time. It's Errol Morris' incredible The Thin Blue Line.

What an incredible experience! The film itself is mind-boggling in that Morris cynically set out to make a movie he could "sell", and ended up surprising even himself by making up an investigative masterpiece (yes, I'm using the "m"-word, but believe me, no other adjective will suffice) that actually altered the lives of his subjects in completely unexpected and profound ways. It's constructed like a mystery, and the resolution packs a real wallop!

But it's not just the film itself that's amazing ... Criterion has outdone itself with a small handful of potent supplements. Best of all is a recent in-depth interview with director Morris in which he details the choices he made in constructing the film, and the process he went through as a filmmaker and a human being when he realized what was being revealed to his camera. Fascinating! There's also a great interview with documentarian Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing) whose observations are both astute and enlightening, and a clip from an old Today broadcast which serves as a brief coda to the film.

I can't recommend this film highly enough. It's a superb example of just how powerful cinema can be, and an excellent addition to the Criterion Collection.

[Fabs]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I'd love to see criterion take a risk by putting out a box set for a lesser known but talented director such as Ming-liang Tsai. I've only seen one of his films and it was really good. I'd love to see more of his films get a really good HD treatment with extras.

I don't assume Criterion can just get whatever they want. They're not gods. There's a lot of great Asian cinema out there. I'd just love to see more from the under represented.

Now, in saying that... WKW is pretty well represented as it is, at least internationally but the dream would be for Criterion to release a WKW box set too. There's an unusually small amount of his films available in the U.S. I hope someone is planning something.
A few things to consider:

-Chungking Express rights expired. Nobody else has released it. Has someone else nabbed the rights? Or have criterion got them back and are waiting for something?
-They already have the rights to In The Mood for Love.
-Kino never released As Tears Gone By or Days of Being Wild.
-Kino's releases of Fallen Angels and Happy Together are OOP.
-Unreleased: Ashes of Time but articles from 2007/2008 say that Sony got the rights to it. Criterion have a deal with Sony.
-Unreleased: 2046. Sony owns the rights. Again, Criterion are chummy with them.
-Unreleased: My Blueberry Nights. Weinstein released it on DVD. I don't know what their relationship with Criterion is or if they even have a relationship. Criterion may choose to exclude this one from the box if it's the only one that might cause them issues. It's WKW's only English spoken film and is many peoples least favourite (I still think it's okay).
-The Grandmaster: Imagine if Criterion got this one? There's multiple cuts that people have paid high dollar from Korea just to see and own every version. If Criterion got this one too, they could include all 3 (or was there more on the market? I lost count).

What do you think of the idea of a box set for either of these filmmakers from Criterion?

Who are some other excellent Asian filmmakers you'd love to see represented in the collection?

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I see you went for that Hiroshima Mon Amour after all. Good luck.

Battle of Algiers is one of my favorite war movies; it's like terrorism 101, and it feels more relevant today than back then. Upgrading it is a no-brainier.

I personally found World on a Wire to be extremely long and slow, but as a sci-fi fan, I did find it interesting enough.

Insomnia is good. Double Life of Veronique is one of the most gorgeous films I've seen. Thief is slick. Vengeance is Mine is interesting. All good picks, boss.

I ended up falling love with Hiroshima Mon Amour.

One of the few blinds buys of the sale that I don't regret.

World On a Wire is really interesting, but not something I'll probably watch more than a couple of times. Was somewhat disappointed by the execution of the simulation world on screen. More of a noir film with the occasional conversation about the nature of reality imo.

I was flat-out disappointed by Insomnia. Certainly worth seeing, but I honestly think Nolan's version is better.

Didn't know what to make of Double Life of Veronique...liked it a lot more on the second viewing.

Thief is pretty good, but not a whole lot of meat to the story. Looks and sounds cool more than anything else.

I didn't like Vengeance is Mine...I actually thought it sucked, to be blunt about it. Will give it a second viewing and see if my opinion changes.

Picnic At Hanging Rock was the star of the blind buying show.

It might be in my all-time top ten now.

...and I've only seen it three times.

[Will G]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

Who are some other excellent Asian filmmakers you'd love to see represented in the collection?

If I could have one wish in the whole wide world, it would be for a blu-ray upgrade of the Teshigahara set. In my opinion, there is not a single film on this earth more worthy of this treatment then Woman In The Dunes. That being said, I would certainly go for a Ki-duk Kim release, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring would be nice. On the lesser known front, recently watched Shuji Terayama's Pastoral Hide & Seek, it was strange, yet beautiful, I think Criterion fans would dig this. It's a shame that after all these years we've yet to see a Yimou Zhang title. To Live & Raise The Red Lantern are both much needed editions to the collection. Last but not least, I hope to see upgrades of both Ugetsu & Onibaba sometime in the near future.

[KilloWertz]

After picking up one last one before the sale ended yesterday, it brought me to 22...

3:10 to Yuma
All That Heaven Allows
Being John Malkovich
The Black Stallion
Don't Look Now
The Fisher King
Foreign Correspondent
Le Havre
The Innocents
Judex
The Killers
Limelight
Odd Man Out
The Palm Beach Story
Repulsion
Ride the Pink Horse
Rosemary's Baby
Sullivan's Travels
Thief
Time Bandits
Tootsie
Walkabout

I hope I never go that crazy again during the B&N sales even though I'm very pleased with my picks...

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by KilloWertz

After picking up one last one before the sale ended yesterday, it brought me to 22...

3:10 to Yuma
All That Heaven Allows
Being John Malkovich
The Black Stallion
Don't Look Now
The Fisher King
Foreign Correspondent
Le Havre
The Innocents
Judex
The Killers
Limelight
Odd Man Out
The Palm Beach Story
Repulsion
Ride the Pink Horse
Rosemary's Baby
Sullivan's Travels
Thief
Time Bandits
Tootsie
Walkabout

I hope I never go that crazy again during the B&N sales even though I'm very pleased with my picks...

I think you're a lot braver than I am. I usually just stick with a few at a time.

The Killers was one of the last ones I blind-bought. It's a pretty good set, glad to have it.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I think you're a lot braver than I am. I usually just stick with a few at a time.

The Killers was one of the last ones I blind-bought. It's a pretty good set, glad to have it.

Hey Al, have you seen The Vanishing?

If so...did you like it?

...love it?

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I think you're a lot braver than I am. I usually just stick with a few at a time.

The Killers was one of the last ones I blind-bought. It's a pretty good set, glad to have it.

I was either brave or crazy since 16 of the 22 were blind buys.

I know which one is considered better, but it'll be interesting to see which one of the two I end up liking better whenever I end up watching both versions of The Killers. I'll probably just do it as a double feature on an off day from work.