The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

Just watched Bigger Than Life again for the first time in ages. What a disturbing and well made movie. Beautiful presentation.

Agreed. I thoroughly enjoyed this Criterion title. I love how the premise of Bigger Than Life could easily apply to current times, with the idea of someone neglecting to seek proper medical care for fear of the doctor bills and such. It's a tension-filled early "keeping up with the Jones" story. James Mason was the perfect choice for the lead role.

The Blu-ray looks incredible. The yellow paint of the taxicabs in a couple of scenes just jumps right out.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by iScottie

01. Fish Tank
02. Down By Law
03. Badlands
04. The Battle Of Algiers
05. Gomorrah

I'll support that ranking

[deepred]

I'd love for them to release A Nos Amours on blu-ray.

[ccg1978]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I'm guessing you didn't notice that The Third Man is OOP. Of the other five on your wish list, I'd rank them in the following, descending order:

(1) The Battle of Algiers
(2) Badlands
(3) Down by Law
(4) Gomorrah
(5) Fish Tank

I can still wish for The Third Man right?

[TheHighRoller]

Originally Posted by jw007

Name five Criterion blu-ray or dvd releases that you think have the best "main menu" (in terms of visuals, music and sounds). This menu also has to be memorable and original too.

Here is my top 5:

1. Chungking Express (awesome Cranberries song and dynamic visuals)
2. Quadrophenia (very cool words/dialogue wrapping around the motorcycle wheel)
3. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (DVD version - the amazing calligraphy brush strokes writing out the title)
4. The Thin Red Line (beautiful and moving score by Zimmer with powerful images from the film)
5. TIED: The Game (freakish images in a tv/tube pattern) and Videodrome (bizarre television themed images)

Wild card: Bottle Rocket or The Royal Tenenbaums (great animations!)

I completely agree with you with everything except Chungking Express (which I own but haven't seen yet) and Quadrophenia since I do not yet own it. Should I get it?


I have these on my wishlist for November, in order of most to least wanted:


The Trilogy of Life
Salo: Or the 120 Days of Sodom
Weekend (2011)
La double vie de Veronique
Nashville (I love Shelley Duvall)
On the Waterfront
The Ice Storm
Belle de Jour (I have seen this and loved it)
Traffic
Quadrophenia
Videodrome
El Norte (I loved this)
Au Revoir les enfants (I loved this as well)
The Earrings of Madame de...
Antichrist
Seven Samourai

[jw007]

Originally Posted by TheHighRoller

I completely agree with you with everything except Chungking Express (which I own but haven't seen yet) and Quadrophenia since I do not yet own it. Should I get it?

I think you'll love Quadrophenia if you're a fan of classic rock n' roll, the 1970s and British film. It's one of my favorite all-time releases by Criterion. The movie is absolutely brilliant too. Once you see the main menu on that BD, you'll know already you didn't waste your money. And oh, please oh please watch Chungking Express asap! It is OOP but that doesn't mean it is supposed to remain sealed in that shrinkwrap! Break that one out and enjoy!

[Yami]

Originally Posted by Yami

Eclipse titles available elsewhere on Blu-Ray

It's been almost a year since I last compiled this list, so here's an update


Equinox Flower (BFI, UK)
Late Autumn (BFI, UK)
Les misérables (Pathe, France) (Not English Friendly)*
No Regrets for Our Youth (Toho, Japan) (Not English Friendly)
One Wonderful Sunday (Toho, Japan) (Not English Friendly)
I Live in Fear (Toho, JP) (Not English Friendly)
Shadows in Paradise (Futurefilm, Finland) (Not English Friendly)*
Ariel (Futurefilm, Finland) (Not English Friendly)
The Match Factory Girl (Futurefilm, Finland) (Not English Friendly)*
Osaka Elegy (Artificial Eye, UK)
Sisters of the Gion (Artificial Eye, UK)
Street of Shame (Masters of Cinema, UK)
Sanshiro Sugata (Toho, Japan) (Not English Friendly)
The Most Beautiful (Toho, Japan) (Not English Friendly)
Sanshiro Sugata Part II (Toho, Japan) (Not English Friendly)
The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail (Toho, Japan) (Not English Friendly)
Leningrad Cowboys Go America (Futurefilm, Finland)
Daisies (Bildstörung, Germany) (Not English Friendly)

* Not out yet so I haven't got confirmation that they're not English friendly

[SammyJankis]

I'd hold Chungking Express higher if the second half of the picture was the entire film.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

I'll support that ranking

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Gomorrah would get my vote for the greatest gangster film of all time (even if I return to Once upon a Time in America more often). Like I have stated in the past, it tears down the house that Coppola & DePalma built. It fully exposes organized crime for the ugly, soulless monster that it really is; not through heavy-handed polemics, but through sheer intelligence. It is without a doubt the most well-researched Gangster film I can think of. The script, which Matteo Garrone had a hand in, alongside that of A Separation, is the most impressive of the last several years (in my eyes, of course).

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

The script, which Matteo Garrone had a hand in, alongside that of A Separation, is the most impressive of the last several years (in my eyes, of course).

I can't agree more on A Separation, of course

[Judex]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Gomorrah would get my vote for the greatest gangster film of all time (even if I return to Once upon a Time in America more often). Like I have stated in the past, it tears down the house that Coppola & DePalma built. It fully exposes organized crime for the ugly, soulless monster that it really is; not through heavy-handed polemics, but through sheer intelligence. It is without a doubt the most well-researched Gangster film I can think of. The script, which Matteo Garrone had a hand in, alongside that of A Separation, is the most impressive of the last several years (in my eyes, of course).

I completely agree with this.
Gomorrah is outstanding. It really does put the Hollywood glamorization of the Mafia to shame in showing how truly ugly and vicious that world is.
I'll (finally) be picking the Criterion blu up in this sale.


Here's another one of those wonderful pictures Criterion proudly take of their new releases.

[bwdowiak]

I watched Sweet Smell of Success last night for the first time. Great film! Another poster was asking about older Criterion films that aged very well and that don’t feel dated. This is definitely one of them!

Surely, the cinematography is great, but I was most captivated with Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco, the unscrupulous press agent who dreams of J.J. Hunsecker’s (Lancaster, of course) level of “success.”

Not necessarily a critique, but the noir-ish dialogue seems to get a bit excessive in the second half of the film and I wonder to myself, “How the hell do these guys know what each other is talking about?!”

Final thought.. I just recently saw Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street and I'm not sure I can recall many other movies where a pair of characters are soulless bastards to the extent that Hunsecker and Falco are in SSoS and Kitty and Johnny are, in Scarlet Street.

Sweet Smell of Success is worth about a 7/10 for me and a subsequent viewing, I’m sure, would bring it up to about an 8!

[Swift1246]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...u-ray_releases

Here is a list of potential upgrades we have to look forward to in the future!

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Gomorrah would get my vote for the greatest gangster film of all time (even if I return to Once upon a Time in America more often). Like I have stated in the past, it tears down the house that Coppola & DePalma built. It fully exposes organized crime for the ugly, soulless monster that it really is; not through heavy-handed polemics, but through sheer intelligence. It is without a doubt the most well-researched Gangster film I can think of. The script, which Matteo Garrone had a hand in, alongside that of A Separation, is the most impressive of the last several years (in my eyes, of course).

I didn't really like it. Had it been like the first ten minutes, I would probably loved it.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Judex

I completely agree with this.
Gomorrah is outstanding. It really does put the Hollywood glamorization of the Mafia to shame in showing how truly ugly and vicious that world is.
I'll (finally) be picking the Criterion blu up in this sale.


Here's another one of those wonderful pictures Criterion proudly take of their new releases.

Yes! This has been discussed in the past at length on this forum, but I did not find it confusing as many others have. Each of the stories it tells is, while full of detail & occurrence, pretty easy to grasp. It helps that the film is crosscuts between each of the stories so fluidly. It's a knock out release too, and worth every penny of the $20 or so you drop on it.

I haven't seen The Uninvited, but something tells me that is the perfect setting to show it off.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I watched Sweet Smell of Success last night for the first time. Great film! Another poster was asking about older Criterion films that aged very well and that don’t feel dated. This is definitely one of them!

Surely, the cinematography is great, but I was most captivated with Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco, the unscrupulous press agent who dreams of J.J. Hunsecker’s (Lancaster, of course) level of “success.”

Not necessarily a critique, but the noir-ish dialogue seems to get a bit excessive in the second half of the film and I wonder to myself, “How the hell do these guys know what each other is talking about?!”

Final thought.. I just recently saw Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street and I'm not sure I can recall many other movies where a pair of characters are soulless bastards to the extent that Hunsecker and Falco are in SSoS and Kitty and Johnny are, in Scarlet Street.

Sweet Smell of Success is worth about a 7/10 for me and a subsequent viewing, I’m sure, would bring it up to about an 8!

I was blown away by Sweet Smell of Success when I finally saw it a few months back, and I need to take the Blu-ray back out and spend a couple of days going through it to see all of the extras and enjoy multiple viewings. (Just as I'm doing with Laura right now.)

If you liked the cinematography in Sweet Smell of Success, then I enthusiastically recommend Melville's Two Men in Manhattan, which shares the same intense glow of New York City streetlights and signs and a similar overall aesthetic in terms of media portrayal. These two films would make a perfect double feature.

Tony Curtis also excels in The Defiant Ones, which I would love to see released as a Criterion title someday.

My Kino Blu-ray of Scarlet Street arrived a few days ago, so I'm looking forward to seeing the film in high definition for the first time. Woo hoo!

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I didn't really like it. Had it been like the first ten minutes, I would probably loved it.

I didn't love Gomorrah either. In all honesty, I only watched about 20 minutes of it and was finding it to be really boring. I ended up turning it off to put Seven Samurai on. So... in that regard, I guess I can't make any serious comment on it until I've seen the rest.

That was about 2 years ago and I just haven't gotten around to returning to it yet.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I watched Sweet Smell of Success last night for the first time. Great film! Another poster was asking about older Criterion films that aged very well and that don’t feel dated. This is definitely one of them!

Surely, the cinematography is great, but I was most captivated with Tony Curtis as Sidney Falco, the unscrupulous press agent who dreams of J.J. Hunsecker’s (Lancaster, of course) level of “success.”

Not necessarily a critique, but the noir-ish dialogue seems to get a bit excessive in the second half of the film and I wonder to myself, “How the hell do these guys know what each other is talking about?!”

Final thought.. I just recently saw Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street and I'm not sure I can recall many other movies where a pair of characters are soulless bastards to the extent that Hunsecker and Falco are in SSoS and Kitty and Johnny are, in Scarlet Street.

Sweet Smell of Success is worth about a 7/10 for me and a subsequent viewing, I’m sure, would bring it up to about an 8!

Yes! It's an amazing film for sure. I still to this day cannot think of a more unlikeable character than the one Burt Lancaster played. He even reminded me of a guy I used to work with that sometimes tried to stare me down all quietly whenever I was pissing him off unknowingly. Lancaster's character is absolutely hideous! He is so evil its ridiculous. This is what makes this film so great, because instead of a protagonist and an antagonist, we get TWO antagonists (Curtis can be the other one) and nobody is the good guy here. It's an unusual experience to say the least, but The Sweet Smell of Success is pure film noir and pure brilliance!

[jw007]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I didn't love Gomorrah either. In all honesty, I only watched about 20 minutes of it and was finding it to be really boring. I ended up turning it off to put Seven Samurai on. So... in that regard, I guess I can't make any serious comment on it until I've seen the rest.

That was about 2 years ago and I just haven't gotten around to returning to it yet.

Gomorrah is utterly amazing! ABD, you're once again cool for agreeing with me on this too. The film is totally realistic and its not like a Scorcese gangster movie at all. It's far more palpable and at times I feel like I'm watching a documentary film. Whoever says this is boring has gotta be delusional on all fronts. Watch this film again with an open mind.