The Criterion Collection

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

Well spotted; I have one too, sitting grinning at me from on top of my DeskJet printer

How many other posters in this thread have Ghibli plushes lying around the house?

I have a large Catbus in the corner. Had him since he was a kitten.

[Raif79]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

question for everyone - are the three films in the Samurai Trilogy 'great' films in the sense that a film like Harakiri is? or are they more aptly described as just 'fun' like I am assuming the Zatoichi films are?

I LOVED Kwaidan and Harakiri. Should I just stick to Kobayashi?

Along with the two mentioned above, Yojimbo is the only other samurai movie I've seen. I found things to admire about it, but kind of saw it more so as a film to strictly entertain. Needless to say, I still need to see Seven Samurai.

I love Harakiri and the Samurai Trilogy. They are so different from each other. Harakiri is a great story that unfolds from something small. It's very art-house. The Samurai trilogy is just a great drama/soap opera with some samurai moments. Neither are 'fun' like Zatoichi. Harakiri has moments that will make you smile and maybe yell "YES" at your screen. The Samurai Trilogy isn't like that at all.

If I HAD to compare the Samurai Trilogy to another movie, it'd be Chushingura (someone please put this on blu-ray already!).

[The Great Owl]

I was really floored when I finally watched Harakiri two nights ago. I never got around to writing anything extensive about my reaction to the movie, because of the David Bowie news yesterday, but it really is a Criterion title for the ages.

Harakiri never felt "homeworky" or unwieldy to me, as a handful of foreign films sometimes do, and I suspect that this is because of the real-time nature of the story, which unfolds quickly with some flashbacks in lieu of dialogue stories. I was also impressed at how much the socioeconomic aspects of the story could apply to our present times.

I cannot say a lot about the film without spoiling its treasures for potential viewers, so I'll leave it at that. It's one of the releases in the Criterion Collection.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

Well spotted; I have one too, sitting grinning at me from on top of my DeskJet printer

How many other posters in this thread have Ghibli plushes lying around the house?

We have a large Totoro living in the bedroom. My wife loves the character, but has never actually seen the film.

[silverlakephil]

Originally Posted by Banned User

I love the Samurai Trilogy. It doesn't rise up to Harakiri, but few movies do. You should definitely get Seven Samurai. Also a few other Criterions like The Hidden Fortress, Sword of Doom and Throne of Blood are other great films IMO if you've never seen them.. Though not a Samurai film Rashomon is another.

As far as ghost tales like Kwaiden, Kurenoko is pretty good, but IMO pales in comparison with Onibaba. Both sharing similarities.

It goes without saying that Seven Samurai is one the best films ever made period. This film should be on every serious film collector's shelf. Onibaba is just insane. I can't believe the same actress who plays the mother is also the mother in The Naked Island, two totally different people at opposite ends of the spectrum so to speak.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Ausjdm

Haha oops JW sorry man. I have no idea why I haven't seen it yet. Really no reason. Every sale I intend on buying it then like a random title I read about in here like Pale Flowers or Bad Timing bumps it down...

I'm glad you finally realize you need to buy this film, The Last Temptation of Christ, and not just watch it. Yes, this is a movie that belongs in every serious film collector's library.

[SammyJankis]

Always loved that Larson.

[colbyw]

Brie Larson is fantastic. LOVED her in Short Term 12, and everything else from 21 Jump Street to Trainwreck. She has a criterion top 10 list posted on criterion.com too (which I am sure most of you know). And I think she's gorgeous. Can't wait to see Room!

[Gusto-Guus]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

question for everyone - are the three films in the Samurai Trilogy 'great' films in the sense that a film like Harakiri is? or are they more aptly described as just 'fun' like I am assuming the Zatoichi films are?

I LOVED Kwaidan and Harakiri. Should I just stick to Kobayashi?

Along with the two mentioned above, Yojimbo is the only other samurai movie I've seen. I found things to admire about it, but kind of saw it more so as a film to strictly entertain. Needless to say, I still need to see Seven Samurai.

Samurai Rebellion is the closest movie to Harakiri in terms of style and meaning.

I watched it 2 weeks ago for free on Hulu when CC was offering it. Highly recommended.

[Sifox211]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

We have a large Totoro living in the bedroom. My wife loves the character, but has never actually seen the film.

That's amazing! Totoro is my joint favourite film, along with A Canterbury Tale. I love all the Ghibli's but Totoro has a special magic.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

That's amazing! Totoro is my joint favourite film, along with A Canterbury Tale. I love all the Ghibli's but Totoro has a special magic.

Amen. My top three are Totoro, Spirited Away, and Kiki.

[llj]

Originally Posted by Gusto-Guus

Samurai Rebellion is the closest movie to Harakiri in terms of style and meaning.

I watched it 2 weeks ago for free on Hulu when CC was offering it. Highly recommended.

Of course, Samurai Rebellion has the same director as well, Kobayashi.

I'd also recommend Samurai Spy, although it would probably be considered more "entertaining" than "art".

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by jw007

I'm glad you finally realize you need to buy this film, The Last Temptation of Christ, and not just watch it. Yes, this is a movie that belongs in every serious film collector's library.

I gave my copy away last year. I really liked that film when I first saw it in the 90's, but when I revisited it a few years ago I was less than impressed. It's partly due to the fact that I read the novel in the early 00's and don't think the film even comes close to capturing it, but it's also due to Scorsese's style, which I believe is ill-fitting. It's caught somewhere between grit and gloss and for me it's distracting.

Apart from Dafoe I thought the performances were pretty unremarkable as well.

Each to their own but that movie is a failure to me. A noble failure perhaps, but a failure nonetheless. Scorsese wasn't 100% pleased with the final result and it's easy to see why.

[mattyp4]

So I posted yesterday, searching for a copy of The Man Who Fell To Earth. Terrible, terrible timing, I know. But the truth of the matter is I've been looking for a "reasonably" priced copy for a few months now, ever since I saw Lazarus Off-Broadway. Bowie's death just made me a little more...frantic. (And perhaps willing to pay a less than reasonable price.)

Stupidly I used to own this but I sold it a few years back when I was trying to thin my collection. I had a feeling I was making a mistake.

But here's my question: Do OOP Criterion titles ever come BACK into print?? Considering there's not really an easy way to buy The Man Who Fell To Earth on disc right now, and given yesterday's news, I thought/hope Criterion would be trying to get it back in their catalog.

Wasn't Beauty and the Beast originally out of print before it was brought back?

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by mattyp4

So I posted yesterday, searching for a copy of The Man Who Fell To Earth. Terrible, terrible timing, I know. But the truth of the matter is I've been looking for a "reasonably" priced copy for a few months now, ever since I saw Lazarus Off-Broadway. Bowie's death just made me a little more...frantic. (And perhaps willing to pay a less than reasonable price.)

Stupidly I used to own this but I sold it a few years back when I was trying to thin my collection. I had a feeling I was making a mistake.

But here's my question: Do OOP Criterion titles ever come BACK into print?? Considering there's not really an easy way to buy The Man Who Fell To Earth on disc right now, and given yesterday's news, I thought/hope Criterion would be trying to get it back in their catalog.

Wasn't Beauty and the Beast originally out of print before it was brought back?

I know some of the Tati films were oop and then came back but that seemed to be an exception rather than the norm.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

That's amazing! Totoro is my joint favourite film, along with A Canterbury Tale. I love all the Ghibli's but Totoro has a special magic.

There's a store in London that specialises in Totoro merchandise. It's a strange, magical place. Totoro ranks as one of my favourite Ghibli films, alongside Spirited Away, but I'd probably have to go with The Wind Rises as their outright best. That absolutely broke me.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

I know some of the Tati films were oop and then came back but that seemed to be an exception rather than the norm.

In addition to the Tati's there was Time Bandits too, but I can't think of anything else that's come back in to print from the dvd or Blu-ray days of late. There was some speculation that The Man Who Fell To Earth would be back last year, based on a Facebook comment from someone purporting to be related to someone working on it, but never came to nought.

[colbyw]

Weren't the Hitchcock dvds (39 Steps and Lady Vanishes) OOP before the blu release? Or are you only talking about OOP on the same format?

[mattyp4]

Originally Posted by colbyw

Weren't the Hitchcock dvds (39 Steps and Lady Vanishes) OOP before the blu release? Or are you only talking about OOP on the same format?

Any. I guess it would be same format since The Man Who Fell To Earth was already available on Blu.

But I was just wondering what my chances were before I spend a mint on eBay!

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Under the Skin was my favorite of last year, Ex Machina was my favorite movie from this past year, and I'm also a big fan of Solaris (1972). I'm not really sure what this says about me. Maybe I just like chicks who aren't actually human. I dunno.

Hey, you're right on two out of three - Don't feel too bad! ;D