The Criterion Collection

[sawdustandtinsel]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

One thing Criterion usually does very well are the short description write ups on their movies. However, there is one they did for December that's lazy and specious at best. It's something a lesser label would stoop to doing. I'm not going to call it out by name (mainly because I'm not going to get into a debate because it's divisive) but you can probably guess.

2018 was an exceptionally strong year. I'm going to pivot the data and have something visual to share soon.

Originally Posted by caiman

Just say which one. I'm curious.

Obviously

[Show spoiler]A Dry White Season

and yeah, it's pretty bad.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

Other than Sayonara and Dry White Season (both of which I haven't seen) and maybe Viva Zapata!, I can't think of any undeserved Brando nomination.

“Sayonara” is a solid Brando performance but man is his Southern accent terrible. It just feels so out of place though I will say it never reaches unintentionally funny levels, at least for myself. Miiko Taka, Miyoshi Umeki and Red Buttons are definitely the highlight.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

I don't think you could argue that this one was undeserved. You could argue that he's not a proper Supporting Actor, though; for the 15 or 20 minutes that his character appears, he dominates the movie completely. It's basically a great short courtroom film in the middle of a good feature film.

The only thing I remember about the film is Brando’s appearance... whenever anybody says the word lozenge I think of Brando in this film offering someone a lozenge in the English accent he affects for his performance. It’s funny the things that stick in your mind after nearly thirty years.

[caiman]

Originally Posted by sawdustandtinsel

Obviously

[Show spoiler]A Dry White Season

and yeah, it's pretty bad.

I guess I'm an ignoramus. What's wrong with it?

[ravenus]

Not likely upgrading my Eureka disc of Forty Guns (unless I happen to click on a caps-a-holic link that gives me palpitations ), but Panique sounds like an interesting movie.

[LPMA]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

Criterion's releasing standalone versions of his more popular films.

I do wonder how profitable those post-boxset standalones will be. With the price of the box set it’s not hard to see a lot of people interested in Bergman in general pulling the trigger. Considering that the titles left are not (arguably) his biggest either, they might be a tough sell.

[Trace17]

I have no issues with them releasing some of the Bergman films as standalone discs. (I'm not super excited about them taking up "slots" in the release window either, but considering the scale of the Bergman set, I'll let it go)

What I do find...curious....is that Sawdust BD contains 1 (one) film introduction and 1 (one) written essay for $40 msrp. How is that not a $30 title?

I'm buying the set regardless but seriously...

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by LPMA

I do wonder how profitable those post-boxset standalones will be. With the price of the box set it’s not hard to see a lot of people interested in Bergman in general pulling the trigger. Considering that the titles left are not (arguably) his biggest either, they might be a tough sell.

There are doubtless a lot of people who already own his biggest titles, which have been available individually for some time, and would be more likely to simply add the couple they lack than to buy the entire set.

Anyone interested in Bergman who doesn't own any of the films would go for the set, clearly.

[ravenus]

I'm waiting for them to announce the date for the Bergman Trilogy, otherwise quite happy with the movies I have and am by no means a completist for his filmography.

I do wish they could have upgraded the Hiroshi Teshigahara trilogy as a whole. While I don't care so much for Pitfall, The Face of Another is a fantastic film (like Frankenheimer's Seconds). And if they could add his documentary on Antonio Gaudi that would be an amazing package.

[Reddington]

Further to recent discussion here, I did finally get a reply from Mulvaney about My Criterion. He said they are still working on it and the "relaunch" would be the beginning of next year, or earlier if things "fall into place." No specifics otherwise. Just passing it on.

[cropduster]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

Does anyone know if Killer of Sheep is available on FilmStruck? Or anywhere else?

Milestone Films released it on dvd.

https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/Killer-o...ion-DVD/17812/

https://www.milestonefilms.com/products/killer-of-sheep

[theEXORCIST]

Originally Posted by caiman

I guess I'm an ignoramus. What's wrong with it?

They used the same words that Nike did to describe Kaepernick

[cropduster]

Originally Posted by 812crew

To add on to my post above about "Valerie", what are some of your top Criterions that aren't directed by one of the giants of cinema? They have so much obscure stuff in the collection that I don't feel we talk about much here.

I recently watched Ko Nakahira's Crazed Fruit and immensely enjoyed it. The film takes place in a seaside town in Japan during the post WWII sexual revolution and tells the story of two brothers who fall in love with the same woman, who is hiding a secret that may lead to their demise. Even though I pretty much figured out how the film was going to end in the last 5 minutes, I was still blown away and shocked when what I thought was going to happen to certain characters in the end actually transpired on screen. Highly recommended. I really hope Criterion plans to upgrade this film to blu as well as release more Nikkatsu films from this time period.

Other top obscure/rarely talked about Criterions include:

-Orpheus(John Cocteau)
-The Housemaid (Kim Ki-Young)
-Il Sorpasso (Dino Risi)
-Woman in the Dunes, The Face of Another, Pitfall, Antonio Gaudi (Hiroshi Teshigahara)
-Canoa: A Shameful Memory (Felipe Cazals)
-Viridiana (Luis Bunuel)
-Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais)
-Jigoku (Nobuo Nakagawa)
-Under the Volcano (John Huston)
-The Last Wave (Peter Weir)
-Seconds (John Frankenheimer)
-Pale Flower (Masahiro Shinoda)
-Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (Elio Petri)
-Ride the Pink Horse (Robert Montgomery)
-They Live By Night (Nicholas Ray)
-And Everything Is Going Fine (Steven Soderbergh)

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by Reddington

Further to recent discussion here, I did finally get a reply from Mulvaney about My Criterion. He said they are still working on it and the "relaunch" would be the beginning of next year, or earlier if things "fall into place." No specifics otherwise. Just passing it on.

My guess was that the site redesign went over budget and that they had to push the My Criterion update into next year's budget. Mulvaney's reply jibes with that theory but, of course, I could be way off the mark.

To add to others' comments, I still haven't got used to the new web design. I hate, hate, hate infinite scrolling web pages on any site. I can't wait until that particular design fad becomes passé. Also, the old site had a ton of interesting content. It's still there, I suppose, but people will never see it now because it's buried behind a bunch of "flashy" images.

/end of rant.

[CQD84]

I'm definitely interested in Forty Guns and Panique. I literally laughed out loud when I read that this has been a "dry year" for Criterion. I respect anyone's opinion, but that's just wrong on so many levels.

[cropduster]

Originally Posted by The Sovereign

I've never seen it, but Panique looks really good.

It is. I've been hoping Criterion would release Panique ever since they released a Julien Duvivier Eclipse series a few years back and a DCP of Panique screened at my local cinema last year. I almost bought the French Blu-ray, which has no English subs, a few times(even though I only speak basic French).

PANIQUE - Trailer - YouTube

[caiman]

Originally Posted by theEXORCIST

They used the same words that Nike did to describe Kaepernick

Oh shit, yeah that slipped by me completely. Yeah that's pretty lame of them.

[MifuneFan]

So I'm late, but both Arrow and Criterion are releasing Bergman's The Serpent's Egg (1977)??

[javy]

Panique looks amazing, I gotta have that.

I'll be getting the Bergman set in November, but I'll still probably do something crazy like purchase Sawdust and Tinsel anyway. It will look great setting on the shelf as its own stand-alone release. (What kind of disorder is this?)

[Cremildo]

Lucrecia Martel’s Closet Picks - YouTube