The Criterion Collection

[Sifox211]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

...Nice to see some love (or at least interest) for Almodóvar. I was half expecting crickets when I asked my question. I think I'll pick it up and pray that something else follows from Criterion.

I've seen pretty much everything he's done since I saw Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown when it first came out (twice); including The Flower of my Secret (an underrated gem), All About My Mother, High Heels, Talk to Her, Bad Education, Volver, Broken Embraces and The Skin I Live In. I didn't go to see I'm So Excited - the trailer completely put me off.

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is great fun (I prefer the Spanish title which is a bit more compact, ¡Átame!) and I'm sure its not the only film to deal with Stockholm syndrome

I would love to see more Criterion releases of his films - maybe an Eclipse set of his early films if not a BD set of the more famous ones.

[Polaroid]

Im so excited! was pretty awesome, didn't want it to end, I wasn't expecting much from it based on trailers but was pleasantly surprised.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

I would love to see more Criterion releases of his films - maybe an Eclipse set of his early films if not a BD set of the more famous ones.

Not sure if you saw this here, but apparently there are more Almodovar titles coming:

Originally Posted by filmmusic

https://twitter.com/mfrushmore/statu...21124516282368

I doubt they would want to release them on a set though, at least the more famous ones deserve a standalone release, since I don't think Atame! was one of his more well known.

[deepseababy]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I think MD is more similar to Altman's Three Women. Have you seen that, Ray? If not, you should.

Agreed. Persona, 3 Women and Mulholland Drive make a great triple viewing. You could also arguably say Black Swan would fit in that threesome as well.

[D2Girls]

I've had the whole day to think about Mulholland Dr... and I've been trying oh so hard to NOT think about it. The more I do, the more I can't stop myself from going over the scenes.

It's hard to explain how I feel exactly, I'm not sure if I loved the movie, or hate it right now. I have this... like I have to say there was something about the movie, the characters, the acting, the Lynch-ness of it.. it was nauseatingly infectious, and I can't get the whole atmosphere of the movie out of my brain.

As I was thinking about the movie today, I realized what it was doing to me. I'm actually depressed.I think it has to do with the fact that I haven't come to terms that the main characters in the movie didn't get proper resolution. I'm doing my hardest to try and think about what happened on the it's own terms, or rather, Lynche's, and I try to tell myself that the reason the narrative is so ****ed has to do with the fact the first part of the movie was a TV pilot, the 2nd half that is causing me so much grief was shot as the ending after he had decided it was going to be a movie.

But something about... just the experience of the movie has left me feeling really bad... depressed, or something. Does anyone know how I'm feeling? Lol... like I said yesterday a few pages back, I was actually really really invested into the two main girls, maybe more then I gave them credit for. Betty isn't the most interesting character even, but I feel so bad when I have to rack my brain to make up my own conclusions about what happened to her, if that is even possible.

In any case, I've definitely decided I can't sell this off, I'm going to be keeping it and re watching it in the near future. I'm trying not to read any synopsis from other people, I want to try and come to my own conclusions.

Seriously though, **** Lynch for making me pull my hair out over this movie. And at the same time, I'm really happy that I was able to get this much out of the movie, even if it wasn't really all too positive.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by D2Girls

I've had the whole day to think about Mulholland Dr... and I've been trying oh so hard to NOT think about it. The more I do, the more I can't stop myself from going over the scenes.

It's hard to explain how I feel exactly, I'm not sure if I loved the movie, or hate it right now. I have this... like I have to say there was something about the movie, the characters, the acting, the Lynch-ness of it.. it was nauseatingly infectious, and I can't get the whole atmosphere of the movie out of my brain.

As I was thinking about the movie today, I realized what it was doing to me. I'm actually depressed.I think it has to do with the fact that I haven't come to terms that the main characters in the movie didn't get proper resolution. I'm doing my hardest to try and think about what happened on the it's own terms, or rather, Lynche's, and I try to tell myself that the reason the narrative is so ****ed has to do with the fact the first part of the movie was a TV pilot, the 2nd half that is causing me so much grief was shot as the ending after he had decided it was going to be a movie.

But something about... just the experience of the movie has left me feeling really bad... depressed, or something. Does anyone know how I'm feeling? Lol... like I said yesterday a few pages back, I was actually really really invested into the two main girls, maybe more then I gave them credit for. Betty isn't the most interesting character even, but I feel so bad when I have to rack my brain to make up my own conclusions about what happened to her, if that is even possible.

In any case, I've definitely decided I can't sell this off, I'm going to be keeping it and re watching it in the near future. I'm trying not to read any synopsis from other people, I want to try and come to my own conclusions.

Seriously though, **** Lynch for making me pull my hair out over this movie. And at the same time, I'm really happy that I was able to get this much out of the movie, even if it wasn't really all too positive.

I've given up trying to unlock the "secret" to Mulholland Drive...same with Eraserhead or Persona or many films like that.

I just know that they affect me in a very profound way.

...I tend to leave it at that.

[pedromvu]

On Mulholland Dr.

After too many days reading and trying to figure it out, I just decided to accept it and just enjoy it for what it is, all the scenes work pretty well individually, and at times achieves greatness even if when you think hard about it you still end up with loose ends, and it is because of this that I think I enjoyed more the second watch.

I think it conveys it's main ideas very well, but since most of it has a sense of a straightforward narrative, it could easily trick us into following it too closely and getting disappointed because it doesn't end in the way we would expect.

In contrast, a film like Persona feels to me much more abstract and difficult to get into, to the point that maybe I was disappointed because I was expecting something more like Mulholland Dr. based on most comments.

[jw007]

I watched The Thin Blue Line last night for the first time.

I was effin' blown away by this film.

WOW.

Even more so, that 40 minute Criterion interview with Errol Morris had my eyes and ears glued to the screen for every. single. second.

UNBELIEVABLE.

This isn't a documentary, it's history, it's innovation, it's life.

ASTOUNDING.

I heard for years about this documentary film. I now realize why its one of the greatest documentaries ever made.

INCREDIBLE.

It's beyond rare that a film decides the destiny for the characters its filming. This is The Thin Blue Line. It actually is "beyond film".

IN ITS OWN LEAGUE.

Director Errol Morris basically risked his own life to make this movie. His experience as a private detective no doubt paid off. But he became part of his own story. I learned so many things about the morality and philosophy of the death penalty. In the Errol Morris interview in the supplements, a moment of clarity hit me when he said that when it goes from a system of justice to a system of punishment, that is when it becomes completely unacceptable. I literally could not believe some of these characters in the film. What the hell was I watching? What on earth was wrong with some of these people? Where was this going? All these re-enactments of the event were a sign of reinterpretation, not reality. This film questions the viewer on whether or not some of these witnesses were telling the truth. It challenges us as human beings to ask these moral questions and come up with moral answers. What the hell?

With the haunting score by Philip Glass and hypnotic editing by Paul Barnes, this is what is called: a documentary tour de force. All the elements come together, the universe aligns, and all the film gods smile.

If you haven't seen it yet, run, not walk, to watch this. And in the upcoming B&N sale, buy it confidently. It's an American masterpiece.

[ijustblumyself]

Lynch's films are quite easy to understand once you stop trying to tie them to a linear narrative. I don't really get how people find Eraserhead to be impenetrable.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by jw007

I watched The Thin Blue Line last night for the first time.

I was effin' blown away by this film.

WOW.

Even more so, that 40 minute Criterion interview with Errol Morris had my eyes and ears glued to the screen for every. single. second.

UNBELIEVABLE.

This isn't a documentary, it's history, it's innovation, it's life.

ASTOUNDING.

I heard for years about this documentary film. I now realize why its one of the greatest documentaries ever made.

INCREDIBLE.

It's beyond rare that a film decides the destiny for the characters its filming. This is The Thin Blue Line. It actually is "beyond film".

IN ITS OWN LEAGUE.

Director Errol Morris basically risked his own life to make this movie. His experience as a private detective no doubt paid off. But he became part of his own story. I learned so many things about the morality and philosophy of the death penalty. In the Errol Morris interview in the supplements, a moment of clarity hit me when he said that when it goes from a system of justice to a system of punishment, that is when it becomes completely unacceptable. I literally could not believe some of these characters in the film. What the hell was I watching? What on earth was wrong with some of these people? Where was this going? All these re-enactments of the event were a sign of reinterpretation, not reality. This film questions the viewer on whether or not some of these witnesses were telling the truth. It challenges us as human beings to ask these moral questions and come up with moral answers. What the hell?

With the haunting score by Philip Glass and hypnotic editing by Paul Barnes, this is what is called: a documentary tour de force. All the elements come together, the universe aligns, and all the film gods smile.

If you haven't seen it yet, run, not walk, to watch this. And in the upcoming B&N sale, buy it confidently. It's an American masterpiece.

Don't do this to me bro.

I already have my list of five set in stone for the sale.

And I have vowed upon the lives of my unborn children to stick to that list.

...don't make this difficult.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by ijustblumyself

Lynch's films are quite easy to understand once you stop trying to tie them to a linear narrative. I don't really get how people find Eraserhead to be impenetrable.

David Lynch himself has said that he's never heard nor read an accurate description of what the film is really about.

...so I think it's perfectly reasonable to remain mystified by it, even after multiple viewings.

[Edward J Grug III]

I'm gonna skip the B&N sale to see all of these over two weeks in the cinema:

The Best Years of Our Lives
Citizen Kane
Singin' In The Rain
The Razor's Edge
The Grapes of Wrath
The Maltese Falcon
All About Eve
Casablanca
Spartacus
On the Waterfront
Gone With The Wind
The Searchers
It Happened One Night
How Green Was My Valley
Jane Eyre

(Also A Matter of Life and Death two weeks before at another festival)

[ijustblumyself]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

David Lynch himself has said that he's never heard nor read an accurate description of what the film is really about.

...so I think it's perfectly reasonable to remain mystified by it, even after multiple viewings.

He says that (mostly as a way to ensure every reading of the film is legitimate IMO, because he doesn't like to force interpretations on the viewer), but it's certainly a stretch to read it as anything OTHER than a film about the horrors of suburban isolation and the fear of adult responsibility (and by extension parenthood). I'm not saying that's the 'magic right answer', but I don't find the symbolism of Eraserhead to be overtly complex. And I don't mean that every image and moment in the film has a definitive 'meaning' (otherwise it would be boring and didactic), but I feel like it all circles around some pretty clearly spelled out themes and ideas.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by ijustblumyself

He says that (mostly as a way to ensure every reading of the film is legitimate IMO, because he doesn't like to force interpretations on the viewer), but it's certainly a stretch to read it as anything OTHER than a film about the horrors of suburban isolation and the fear of adult responsibility (and by extension parenthood). I'm not saying that's the 'magic right answer', but I don't find the symbolism of Eraserhead to be overtly complex.

I find it to be the kind of abstract film that contains open-ended symbolism that lends itself to an endless number of interpretations.

...so I've just stopped trying to figure it out and allowed myself to ponder the possible meanings while I watch it.

Same thing with Mulholland Drive.

Same thing with Lost Highway.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by jw007

I watched The Thin Blue Line last night for the first time.

I was effin' blown away by this film.

WOW.

Even more so, that 40 minute Criterion interview with Errol Morris had my eyes and ears glued to the screen for every. single. second.

UNBELIEVABLE.

This isn't a documentary, it's history, it's innovation, it's life.

ASTOUNDING.

I heard for years about this documentary film. I now realize why its one of the greatest documentaries ever made.

INCREDIBLE.

It's beyond rare that a film decides the destiny for the characters its filming. This is The Thin Blue Line. It actually is "beyond film".

IN ITS OWN LEAGUE.

Director Errol Morris basically risked his own life to make this movie. His experience as a private detective no doubt paid off. But he became part of his own story. I learned so many things about the morality and philosophy of the death penalty. In the Errol Morris interview in the supplements, a moment of clarity hit me when he said that when it goes from a system of justice to a system of punishment, that is when it becomes completely unacceptable. I literally could not believe some of these characters in the film. What the hell was I watching? What on earth was wrong with some of these people? Where was this going? All these re-enactments of the event were a sign of reinterpretation, not reality. This film questions the viewer on whether or not some of these witnesses were telling the truth. It challenges us as human beings to ask these moral questions and come up with moral answers. What the hell?

With the haunting score by Philip Glass and hypnotic editing by Paul Barnes, this is what is called: a documentary tour de force. All the elements come together, the universe aligns, and all the film gods smile.

If you haven't seen it yet, run, not walk, to watch this. And in the upcoming B&N sale, buy it confidently. It's an American masterpiece.

I have to second your recommendation, I don't usually purchase documentaries, but this, along with Hoop Dreams and Grizzly Man, are some of the best I have seen and deserve that everybody watch them.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

I have to second your recommendation, I don't usually purchase documentaries, but this, along with Hoop Dreams and Grizzly Man, are some of the best I have seen and deserve that everybody watch them.

I'll never forgive you for this.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I'll never forgive you for this.

You know that is really menacing, especially since I have to see that Bobby Peru face after reading your post, it makes me want to delete my post

Maybe I still can redeem myself, you can watch The Thin Blue Line and Hoop Dreams on Netflix instant.

BTW, which 5 titles ended up in your list for the B&N sale?

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

You know that is really menacing, especially since I have to see that Bobby Peru face after reading your post, it makes me want to delete my post

Maybe I still can redeem myself, you can watch The Thin Blue Line and Hoop Dreams on Netflix instant.

It's too late...I've already added it to my list.

Just one more small step towards bankruptcy and alcoholism.

...and it's all your fault.

1. Kwaidan
2. Mulholland Drive
3. Ikiru
4. In Cold Blood
5. The Devil's Backbone
6. The Thin Blue Line

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

L'Avventura and Grapes of Wrath are two films that I saw years ago and remember being bored to tears. I revisited them within the past few years and I now consider them great films. ..and Jules and Jim, as well. second watch for that one was within one year's time and I had a complete 180 on it.

I think that is mainly a result of growing as a film lover. I know for me I've seen so many films that most mainstream movies leave me rolling my eyes. The flashy camera work, Same tracking shots & angles, Same over used blocking and tons of other techniques, that were at one time fresh, I've seen done a million times and now bore me to tears.

Movies for the mainstream, since the beginning, have played down to the audience. So many movies spell everything out for audience members and even then go beyond that to make every point and motivation blatantly obvious. through exhibition, narration and setting stuff up early on to pay off later in the most unsubtle ways.

I know when I was younger I loved a lot of films I can't stand anymore. They are shallow and boring to me. On the flip side films I had no patience for or considered slow seem much deeper to me now. I don't need actions and motivations spelled out. Actually I prefer having to think and question characters intentions and motives. As in real life people are extremely complicated and almost always aren't cut and dry evil/good. The same goes for endings that are left open to interpretation which are usually far better then typical hollywood fair: good guy wins bad guy loses etc.

I think the more films you watch the more you learn to appreciate uniqueness and freshness. Hollywood gets one hit and tries to copy the same formula verbatim until audience members themselves grow tired and box office returns tank. Then its on to the next thing. There are so many standard camera moves/techniques in mainstream movies that just make me cringe everytime I see them and don't even get me started on the overuse of CGI. Most movies should have taglines "Leave intelligence at the door, no thought required"

[Scottie]

Janus Films updated their cover photo on Facebook with a picture from Chimes at Midnight.