The Criterion Collection

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

That;s interesting -- those are the exact and only 2 items in my collection that have issues. Really sad since Walkabout is one of my favorite movies, but I haven't got around to sending off for replacements yet.

All the others on the list I have checked and double checked in my played and Disc scan software and no problems. I specifically keep getting worried about several of the OOP items that are from the batch numbers with issues, but those play fine. I'm tempted just to send in the whole list, but that seems silly if they playing fine after 5 years.

Sending them in is no hassle, I promise. All I did was paste my return address label on the discs themselves so they would know who sent them and where to send the replacements, then dropped them into an envelope and mailed them first class. The replacements came hand-addressed in little cardboard cases, and were perfect. I mailed Summer Hours in on Friday, March 13 and received the replacement on Monday, March 30. I sent Walkabout in on June 12, and received the new disc on July 10. And I should remind you, I live in the boonies, where it sometimes takes 2 weeks for a first class letter to arrive from North Texas, less than 400 miles away.

By the way, if you've never dealt with the Criterion office, you have a very pleasant shock coming your way. They are incredibly kind, and unbelievably anxious to take care of their customers. I've never had any company treat me more respectfully, or honestly.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

Question on Paris, Texas...

I was working on a Top 10 list to see how many foreign films are now personal favorites. (A family member scoffed at me yesterday for "reading" so many movies.)
Is Paris, Texas considered a US release? German? French? All of the above?

Originally Posted by iScottie

I tend to consider films in American English to be United States films.

It's irrelevant, in my opinion, that Wim Wenders is a German director.

So many films in the last few decades have been international co-productions, and so many directors have made films in countries other than their own, that the concept of a film's "nationality" really doesn't have much meaning. I tend to go by the nationality of the director. But even that is fraught with problems.

For example, I don't have a problem considering Wong Kar-Wai's My Blueberry Nights to be a Hong Kong film, even though it's entirely in English, and was filmed in the US. But I stop short at considering The Last Emperor to be an Italian film.

And then you have instances of directors that have migrated from one country to another like Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang, Douglas Sirk, Ernst Lubitsch, et alia. And are Terry Gilliam's, or Stanley Kubrick's, films British or American?

Personally, I tend to think of all of Wenders's films to be German, but Paris, Texas tests this severely, as does The End of Violence and Hammett.

For your purposes, SkyAntoine, I'd suggest that you go by the film's primary language.

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

I received my final two selections during the 50% off B&N sale in the mail just moments ago: Ikiru and A Special Day. I saw Ikiru in my Japanese cinema class in college and really quite enjoyed it; Kurosawa is, of course, a genius, and that's clearly evident in Ikiru. Now, I've never seen A Special Day, nor have I seen any film by Scola, but I really like Mastroianni and Loren, so I'm thinking I'll probably enjoy it.

I'm currently watching The Talented Mr. Ripley and trying not to compare it to Purple Noon, which is actually rather easy since their tones are pretty different. I'll give a fuller report once it's over.

The Ikiru upgrade was marvelous to me. I've had to keep myself from gushing about it on here.

After Purple Noon check out Wender's The American Friend.

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

The Ikiru upgrade was marvelous to me. I've had to keep myself from gushing about it on here.

After Purple Noon check out Wender's The American Friend.

I'll have to pencil in a time this week/end to watch Ikiru and dig through the bonus features. I love how each release of a Kurosawa film comes with the accompanying It's Wonderful to Create, so I'll probably watch that first.

As for The Talented Mr. Ripley, I don't know exactly how I'm feeling about it. The film is completely different from Purple Noon, which was streamlined, slick and cool, with Delon nailing the character(s). I think Damon does very well, too, but his Tom Ripley is nerdier, more vulnerable, more calculating and complicated. Once you've seen Delon's performance, however, it's a bit difficult to align his Ripley with Damon's. I'm guessing Damon's Ripley is closer to Highsmith's, too. Now, it's been a while since I've seen Purple Noon, so I don't remember all of the details, but I do remember the tone of the film, and Minghella's interpretation of the novel, which I've never read, is tonally different from Clement's. And that's not a bad thing. Overall, the acting was pretty great (even Paltrow, whom I don't really like, did well) and the cinematography was gorgeous in many places. Side by side, I might like Purple Noon a bit more, but I think The Talented Mr. Ripley is still an interesting film and one that can, and probably should, be watched multiple times (plus, you know, the nudity is a nice addition and one that I won't ever complain about).

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

I'll have to pencil in a time this week/end to watch Ikiru and dig through the bonus features. I love how each release of a Kurosawa film comes with the accompanying It's Wonderful to Create, so I'll probably watch that first.

As for The Talented Mr. Ripley, I don't know exactly how I'm feeling about it. The film is completely different from Purple Noon, which was streamlined, slick and cool, with Delon nailing the character(s). I think Damon does very well, too, but his Tom Ripley is nerdier, more vulnerable, more calculating and complicated. Once you've seen Delon's performance, however, it's a bit difficult to align his Ripley with Damon's. I'm guessing Damon's Ripley is closer to Highsmith's, too. Now, it's been a while since I've seen Purple Noon, so I don't remember all of the details, but I do remember the tone of the film, and Minghella's interpretation of the novel, which I've never read, is tonally different from Clement's. And that's not a bad thing. Overall, the acting was pretty great (even Paltrow, whom I don't really like, did well) and the cinematography was gorgeous in many places. Side by side, I might like Purple Noon a bit more, but I think The Talented Mr. Ripley is still an interesting film and one that can, and probably should, be watched multiple times (plus, you know, the nudity is a nice addition and one that I won't ever complain about).

There have been some good attempts but I don't think any actor has nailed Highsmith's Ripley yet.

Purple Noon and The American Friend are different because they're looser adaptations of the respective novels. There are two ways to adapt: Stick to the text as much as possible (Best case: Maltese Falcon-like adaptation) or the "your book, my movie" approach which is what Clement and Wenders did well.

The ideal Ripley to me would've been John Dall. He'd pull off that role convincingly.

[jw007]

Finally posting my final haul from the 50% off sale from November!

[jw007]

Also, I wanted to add, I had a strange dream about the Apu Trilogy last night, and the craziest thing is, I haven't even watched the films yet!

I remember in my dream I was passing around a single Criterion slipcover for all 3 films and descriptions on them and walking from one row to another and eventually just handed it out to some people further in the back seats. The films were being screened in a lightened auditorium, kind of like in an educational lecture hall. It was totally illogical.

Later in the dream I remember being at my Grandmother's house and climbing thick vines up in the air with trees growing through her ceiling. I was waiting for people to stop climbing the ropes. Meanwhile, I had memories of the Merchant of Four Seasons running in my mind all this time, because in real life, I had just watched that film last night!

Sometime I just don't understand things.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by jw007

Also, I wanted to add, I had a strange dream about the Apu Trilogy last night, and the craziest thing is, I haven't even watched the films yet!

I remember in my dream I was passing around a single Criterion slipcover for all 3 films and descriptions on them and walking from one row to another and eventually just handed it out to some people further in the back seats. The films were being screened in a lightened auditorium, kind of like in an educational lecture hall. It was totally illogical.

Later in the dream I remember being at my Grandmother's house and climbing thick vines up in the air with trees growing through her ceiling. I was waiting for people to stop climbing the ropes. Meanwhile, I had memories of the Merchant of Four Seasons running in my mind all this time, because in real life, I had just watched that film last night!

Sometime I just don't understand things.

Lol, it has happened to me before but not recently, when I am dying of anticipation for a movie I am going to see in theaters the next day.

I think the time it happened to me, I was actually watching the film in my dream which is even weirder because in it you really think you are seeing the movie, but it might have nothing to do with the real movie, at least the story.

[The Great Owl]

I used a 20% Off coupon that I got in the mail from Barnes & Noble to purchase Downhill Racer this afternoon, since I was in the neighborhood of a store.

When I arrived home, I checked my mail and found that Barnes & Noble had sent me a $10 gift card to thank me for all of my apparent awesomeness this year. I guess that I will be purchasing Speedy this month after all.

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by jw007

Also, I wanted to add, I had a strange dream about the Apu Trilogy last night, and the craziest thing is, I haven't even watched the films yet!

I remember in my dream I was passing around a single Criterion slipcover for all 3 films and descriptions on them and walking from one row to another and eventually just handed it out to some people further in the back seats. The films were being screened in a lightened auditorium, kind of like in an educational lecture hall. It was totally illogical.

Later in the dream I remember being at my Grandmother's house and climbing thick vines up in the air with trees growing through her ceiling. I was waiting for people to stop climbing the ropes. Meanwhile, I had memories of the Merchant of Four Seasons running in my mind all this time, because in real life, I had just watched that film last night!

Sometime I just don't understand things.

I'm sure Scottie could interpret this to represent the mother-child relationship between Rosemary and her baby. I'm still on the fence whether or not he was serious about Rosemary's Baby as a tearjerker.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I used a 20% Off coupon that I got in the mail from Barnes & Noble to purchase Downhill Racer this afternoon, since I was in the neighborhood of a store.

When I arrived home, I checked my mail and found that Barnes & Noble had sent me a $10 gift card to thank me for all of my apparent awesomeness this year. I guess that I will be purchasing Speedy this month after all.

I got that $10 gift card too! Might use it in conjunction with the upcoming 40% off sale at B&N on a non-Criterion box set! (maybe the Twin Peaks one).

[jbieste]

Did yours include anything about being awesome? Mine didn't but did mention loyal, didn't quite make it to awesome I guess.

[joie]

With "Rosemary's Baby," you can ask whether Rosemary is suffering from a perceptual crisis. Is what is seen and heard from Rosemary's point of view reliable, real? Is Rosemary a reliable witness? If yes, then it's a straightup, supernatural horror story; if no, then Rosemary is psychotic, out of touch with reality. The story works either way, I think, but is a much more plausible story if there is not some supernatural agent at work in Rosemary's life.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

I'll have to pencil in a time this week/end to watch Ikiru and dig through the bonus features. I love how each release of a Kurosawa film comes with the accompanying It's Wonderful to Create, so I'll probably watch that first.

As for The Talented Mr. Ripley, I don't know exactly how I'm feeling about it. The film is completely different from Purple Noon, which was streamlined, slick and cool, with Delon nailing the character(s). I think Damon does very well, too, but his Tom Ripley is nerdier, more vulnerable, more calculating and complicated. Once you've seen Delon's performance, however, it's a bit difficult to align his Ripley with Damon's. I'm guessing Damon's Ripley is closer to Highsmith's, too. Now, it's been a while since I've seen Purple Noon, so I don't remember all of the details, but I do remember the tone of the film, and Minghella's interpretation of the novel, which I've never read, is tonally different from Clement's. And that's not a bad thing. Overall, the acting was pretty great (even Paltrow, whom I don't really like, did well) and the cinematography was gorgeous in many places. Side by side, I might like Purple Noon a bit more, but I think The Talented Mr. Ripley is still an interesting film and one that can, and probably should, be watched multiple times (plus, you know, the nudity is a nice addition and one that I won't ever complain about).

I've mentioned it before on this thread - that I'm not ashamed to say that The Talented Mr. Ripley would be on a list of my all time top 10 favorite movies. It has all the ingredients of a first rate thriller - cinematography, acting, wonderful location shooting, and a haunting score. Love it!

[Ray Jackson]

Final haul for this go around:

-Apu Trilogy
-Ikiru
-Yi Yi
-Kwaidan
-In Cold Blood
-Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
-Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
-The Devil's Backbone
-Ace In The Hole
-Seconds
-The Brood

...I'm hoping The Brood will give me a genuine scare.

[Rich Pure Doom]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I've mentioned it before on this thread - that I'm not ashamed to say that The Talented Mr. Ripley would be on a list of my all time top 10 favorite movies. It has all the ingredients of a first rate thriller - cinematography, acting, wonderful location shooting, and a haunting score. Love it!

I agree with you but I've always felt it goes on a bit too long and struggles finding a way to conclude.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Final haul for this go around:

-Apu Trilogy
-Ikiru
-Yi Yi
-Kwaidan
-In Cold Blood
-Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
-Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
-The Devil's Backbone
-Ace In The Hole
-Seconds
-The Brood

...I'm hoping The Brood will give me a genuine scare.

There's nothing scary about it.

...Unless you find body horror scary.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by iScottie

There's nothing scary about it.

...Unless you find body horror scary.

[the sordid sentinel]

Watched my Ikiru blu for the 1st time tonight. Probably the 4th time I've seen it over the yrs. and the ending never ceases to get a serious lump in my throat. Shimura always comes off as such a kind, warm hearted soul in just about everything he did. Makes his performance here that much more resonant.

Kurosawa always has things to say in his post war contemporary films about the whole Westernization thing Japan went through. While there are aspects of it I am sure he loved, you can tell there are other parts he was no fan of.

[saprano]

They need to remove those tiny plastic things inside the case, it's damaging the booklet. I haven't even opened 2 recent ones i got and i can see the top of them is slightly torn. When they slide they hit the plastic. The big piece that sits in the middle when you open the case can damage them too.

Why didn't they make a shelving compartment where the book can sit? PS4 cases are similar to Criterion and Sony does this with them. They really need to do something about this.

EDIT-

Wow, i knew i mentioned this months ago-

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...9#post10514929

How are they not addressing this issue?