The Criterion Collection

[joie]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Okay.. my turn to ask the community for a recommendation! I’m not really into blind buys, but there are a few films for which I have such a strong feeling that I will be pleased that I will occasionally trust me gut and pull the trigger. Heaven’s Gate as a blind buy worked out for me. I knew, prior to seeing it, that it had amazing cinematography. Watching it in SD just wasn’t going to cut it.

With that being said, I am certain that I will be buying Paris, Texas. In order to get free shipping, I need to (and want to, of course!) pick another.
Here are a few that I am considering:

M - I love Peter Lorre and I figure that it would be somewhat of a companion piece to the 3 early Hitchcock films which I do own.

Fanny and Alexander – I really liked the film Au Revoir les Enfants and while that movie may not have much in common with F & A, I like the idea of an epic foreign film telling a coming of age story. And, of course, I like the fact that it is considered Bergman’s most accessible film.

My Life as a Dog – same logic as F & A aside from the use of the adjective, ‘epic.’

Modern Times – my taste has just now been refined to the point where I can really appreciate silent films – that and the fact that these blu-ray restorations always make my jaw drop. I just saw City Lights for the first time and really enjoyed it. The universality of the story was most appealing and the boxing sequence was pure magic.

Or I could buy Badlands or Au Revoir les Enfants – two films I have seen and regard highly.

Any others I should be considering?

M is excellent.

[Show spoiler]It ends with M's impassioned argument against capital punishment. He argues compulsion (easily insanity) in his own defense. The argument occurs in a tense kangaroo court hastily assembled by a lynch mob. What happens before the "trial" occurs is also very good.

[StonesEGF]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Okay.. my turn to ask the community for a recommendation! I’m not really into blind buys, but there are a few films for which I have such a strong feeling that I will be pleased that I will occasionally trust me gut and pull the trigger. Heaven’s Gate as a blind buy worked out for me. I knew, prior to seeing it, that it had amazing cinematography. Watching it in SD just wasn’t going to cut it.

With that being said, I am certain that I will be buying Paris, Texas. In order to get free shipping, I need to (and want to, of course!) pick another.
Here are a few that I am considering:

M - I love Peter Lorre and I figure that it would be somewhat of a companion piece to the 3 early Hitchcock films which I do own.

Fanny and Alexander – I really liked the film Au Revoir les Enfants and while that movie may not have much in common with F & A, I like the idea of an epic foreign film telling a coming of age story. And, of course, I like the fact that it is considered Bergman’s most accessible film.

My Life as a Dog – same logic as F & A aside from the use of the adjective, ‘epic.’

Modern Times – my taste has just now been refined to the point where I can really appreciate silent films – that and the fact that these blu-ray restorations always make my jaw drop. I just saw City Lights for the first time and really enjoyed it. The universality of the story was most appealing and the boxing sequence was pure magic.

Or I could buy Badlands or Au Revoir les Enfants – two films I have seen and regard highly.

Any others I should be considering?

I love Badlands. You may also want to consider Days of Heaven (my favorite Malick film) or The Thin Red Line.

Night of the Hunter and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold would be my other two suggestions.

[xanman]

Tokyo Story looks absolutely memorizing on blu ray.

I did however pick up a copy where the DVD Disk 1 was loose and scratched to all hell so I replaced it this morning at B&N and picked up Kino's Nosferatu on blu ray since I forgot to grab it the other day

[octagon]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

M - I love Peter Lorre and I figure that it would be somewhat of a companion piece to the 3 early Hitchcock films which I do own.

Hitchcock was very strongly influenced by German Expressionism. I don't normally care for the 'oh, look, this is where X got the idea for Y' game. That kind of thinking is almost always a gross oversimplification.

But sometimes similarities really jump out at you and can make you wonder. Several times while watching Lang's The Testament of Dr Mabuse I couldn't help be reminded of Psycho.

Directors like Lang also heavily influenced American noir so it's not only a companion piece for Hitchcock, it's also a companion piece for a lot of good films.

And it's a pretty damn good movie just standing on its own two feet.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by xanman

Tokyo Story looks absolutely memorizing on blu ray.

I did however pick up a copy where the DVD Disk 1 was loose and scratched to all hell so I replaced it this morning at B&N and picked up Kino's Nosferatu on blu ray since I forgot to grab it the other day

My Kino Blu-ray of Nosferatu and my MoC Blu-ray of Sunrise both arrived at my doorstep a couple days ago. I'm making a double -feature weekend of them this weekend.

Nosferatu has always rocked my world. I'm convinced that the people who filmed it really did believe in vampires.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Okay.. my turn to ask the community for a recommendation! I’m not really into blind buys, but there are a few films for which I have such a strong feeling that I will be pleased that I will occasionally trust me gut and pull the trigger. Heaven’s Gate as a blind buy worked out for me. I knew, prior to seeing it, that it had amazing cinematography. Watching it in SD just wasn’t going to cut it.

With that being said, I am certain that I will be buying Paris, Texas. In order to get free shipping, I need to (and want to, of course!) pick another.
Here are a few that I am considering:

M - I love Peter Lorre and I figure that it would be somewhat of a companion piece to the 3 early Hitchcock films which I do own.

Fanny and Alexander – I really liked the film Au Revoir les Enfants and while that movie may not have much in common with F & A, I like the idea of an epic foreign film telling a coming of age story. And, of course, I like the fact that it is considered Bergman’s most accessible film.

My Life as a Dog – same logic as F & A aside from the use of the adjective, ‘epic.’

Modern Times – my taste has just now been refined to the point where I can really appreciate silent films – that and the fact that these blu-ray restorations always make my jaw drop. I just saw City Lights for the first time and really enjoyed it. The universality of the story was most appealing and the boxing sequence was pure magic.

Or I could buy Badlands or Au Revoir les Enfants – two films I have seen and regard highly.

Any others I should be considering?

I like more contemporary movies like Dazed and Confused (its a great package all around) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I also recommend two of my favorite (but brutal) films called Naked and Last Temptation of Christ.

[bwdowiak]

thanks for the picks, everyone! 2 votes for Night of the Hunter, M, and 12 Angry Men. I have seen 12 Angry Men and that is a good call - an essential film even in my minimalist collection. Same can probably be said about Night of the Hunter. I caught it once on TCM, but it was late and didn't finish it. Definitely held my interest, though, and will have to get back to it some day.

Leaning towards M. Lang's Scarlet Street, which I caught on Netflix is deliciously dark! Love to see more from Lang.

my interest has definitely piqued regarding Fanny and Alexander, too, so I got to figure this one out! thanks again

[PsychoWalrus]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Okay.. my turn to ask the community for a recommendation! I’m not really into blind buys, but there are a few films for which I have such a strong feeling that I will be pleased that I will occasionally trust me gut and pull the trigger. Heaven’s Gate as a blind buy worked out for me. I knew, prior to seeing it, that it had amazing cinematography. Watching it in SD just wasn’t going to cut it.

With that being said, I am certain that I will be buying Paris, Texas. In order to get free shipping, I need to (and want to, of course!) pick another.
Here are a few that I am considering:

M - I love Peter Lorre and I figure that it would be somewhat of a companion piece to the 3 early Hitchcock films which I do own.

Fanny and Alexander – I really liked the film Au Revoir les Enfants and while that movie may not have much in common with F & A, I like the idea of an epic foreign film telling a coming of age story. And, of course, I like the fact that it is considered Bergman’s most accessible film.

My Life as a Dog – same logic as F & A aside from the use of the adjective, ‘epic.’

Modern Times – my taste has just now been refined to the point where I can really appreciate silent films – that and the fact that these blu-ray restorations always make my jaw drop. I just saw City Lights for the first time and really enjoyed it. The universality of the story was most appealing and the boxing sequence was pure magic.

Or I could buy Badlands or Au Revoir les Enfants – two films I have seen and regard highly.

Any others I should be considering?

Modern Times, Fanny and Alexander, and M are all most owns and are all candidates for my top ten of all time. Fanny and Alexander is pretty astounding in blu-ray too. Just make sure to watch the mini-series version. For me, the story works better divided into chapters and watched over several days. Jealous that you'll be experiencing these for the first time!

[octagon]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Leaning towards M. Lang's Scarlet Street, which I caught on Netflix is deliciously dark! Love to see more from Lang.

If you liked Scarlet Street keep an eye out for The Woman in the Window. It was released a year earlier and also starred Edward G Robinson and Joan Bennett and might be my favorite Lang. Scarlet Street was a little more noirish where TWITW is more of a straight crime drama but they're both great.

[RandyK]

Originally Posted by octagon

If you liked Scarlet Street keep an eye out for The Woman in the Window. It was released a year earlier and also starred Edward G Robinson and Joan Bennett and might be my favorite Lang. Scarlet Street was a little more noirish where TWITW is more of a straight crime drama but they're both great.

This belongs in the unpopular opinion thread but I enjoyed Scarlet Street more than M.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by RandyK

This belongs in the unpopular opinion thread but I enjoyed Scarlet Street more than M.

Even in here that opinion might be more popular than you think

I can't even remember how many false starts I had before I finally got all the way through M. I would pop the tape in and before too long I would get...I don't know if restless is the right word but I would think 'eh, I'm just not in the mood for this'. (For whatever it's worth, I took a very similar path with The Third Man for some reason).

And as much as I've come to not only appreciate but enjoy M I'm not sure I would say it's more enjoyable than Scarlet Street.

Scarlet Street is pretty enjoyable.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by RandyK

This belongs in the unpopular opinion thread but I enjoyed Scarlet Street more than M.

Scarlet Street is one of the films in my stack waiting for me when I start to go through my "film noir marathon" in a week or so. It really will be a marathon, because I have over 26 film noir Blu-rays in the stack. I saw the film a few years ago and loved it, so the high definition viewing will be fun.

M is quite monumental in my collection, though, and Criterion knocked it out of the park with the transfer.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Okay.. my turn to ask the community for a recommendation! I’m not really into blind buys, but there are a few films for which I have such a strong feeling that I will be pleased that I will occasionally trust me gut and pull the trigger. Heaven’s Gate as a blind buy worked out for me. I knew, prior to seeing it, that it had amazing cinematography. Watching it in SD just wasn’t going to cut it.

With that being said, I am certain that I will be buying Paris, Texas. In order to get free shipping, I need to (and want to, of course!) pick another.
Here are a few that I am considering:

M - I love Peter Lorre and I figure that it would be somewhat of a companion piece to the 3 early Hitchcock films which I do own.

Fanny and Alexander – I really liked the film Au Revoir les Enfants and while that movie may not have much in common with F & A, I like the idea of an epic foreign film telling a coming of age story. And, of course, I like the fact that it is considered Bergman’s most accessible film.

My Life as a Dog – same logic as F & A aside from the use of the adjective, ‘epic.’

Modern Times – my taste has just now been refined to the point where I can really appreciate silent films – that and the fact that these blu-ray restorations always make my jaw drop. I just saw City Lights for the first time and really enjoyed it. The universality of the story was most appealing and the boxing sequence was pure magic.

Or I could buy Badlands or Au Revoir les Enfants – two films I have seen and regard highly.

Any others I should be considering?

Although M is the most influential film on the list — and a fantastic one at that — my vote goes to Fanny & Alexander. One of Bergman's best.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

M - I love Peter Lorre and I figure that it would be somewhat of a companion piece to the 3 early Hitchcock films which I do own.

Fanny and Alexander – I really liked the film Au Revoir les Enfants and while that movie may not have much in common with F & A, I like the idea of an epic foreign film telling a coming of age story. And, of course, I like the fact that it is considered Bergman’s most accessible film.

Or I could buy Badlands or Au Revoir les Enfants – two films I have seen and regard highly.

Any others I should be considering?

These are the two you should be debating between. If you're familiar with Bergman's work, go with Fanny. It's a different taste of Bergman, yet it still revolves around the typical themes he'd fixate on. It's warm, nostalgic, and just utterly brilliant. It's not my favorite Bergman, but I would have no problem with someone saying it's his best. Plus it's fitting for the holidays and whatnot.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by retablo

Although M is the most influential film on the list — and a fantastic one at that — my vote goes to Fanny & Alexander. One of Bergman's best.

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

These are the two you should be debating between. If you're familiar with Bergman's work, go with Fanny. It's a different taste of Bergman, yet it still revolves around the typical themes he'd fixate on. It's warm, nostalgic, and just utterly brilliant. It's not my favorite Bergman, but I would have no problem with someone saying it's his best. Plus it's fitting for the holidays and whatnot.

something about Fanny and Alexander is calling me. I've seen people say that it is somewhat of a holiday film. I like It's a Wonderful Life, but I just can't share the joy that my family has for the remainder of the holiday's usual suspects. I'd like to buy films that will endure the test of time and I'm hoping to accumulate some that I'll be able to watch with my son when he gets old enough. He is 2 months old. I'd rather him grow up on some of the silent comedies and I certainly don't want him to be averse to the idea of reading subtitles.

[Infernal King]

My guess is I'm the only person in this thread who holds the following opinion but here goes:

No matter how many Kurosawa films I watch, none of them inspire me to want to see them again. I just can't jump on the popular bandwagon of him being "one of the greatest filmmakers of all time", although I certainly think he's a good one. Criterion has released a lot of his filmography but the more I see, the more I realize that this guy isn't for me.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

something about Fanny and Alexander is calling me. I've seen people say that it is somewhat of a holiday film. I like It's a Wonderful Life, but I just can't share the joy that my family has for the remainder of the holiday's usual suspects. I'd like to buy films that will endure the test of time and I'm hoping to accumulate some that I'll be able to watch with my son when he gets old enough. He is 2 months old. I'd rather him grow up on some of the silent comedies and I certainly don't want him to be averse to the idea of reading subtitles.

Fanny & Alexander is wonderful. Really lingers with you too. My favourite Bergman so far.

[anthonyg]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

My guess is I'm the only person in this thread who holds the following opinion but here goes:

No matter how many Kurosawa films I watch, none of them inspire me to want to see them again. I just can't jump on the popular bandwagon of him being "one of the greatest filmmakers of all time", although I certainly think he's a good one. Criterion has released a lot of his filmography but the more I see, the more I realize that this guy isn't for me.

I don't own a single Kurosawa film outside of High and Low and Ikiru, his films are amazing but I too don't feel like revisiting them again.

[Tin Drum]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

something about Fanny and Alexander is calling me. I've seen people say that it is somewhat of a holiday film.

The beginning is holiday related...thereafter, I would not recommend a spirited family watch of this film with eggnog. It's a Bergman film through and through and that means some serious drama...

However, the film is magnificent. I finished it up it a week or so ago and it's still with me. Haunting film.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

My guess is I'm the only person in this thread who holds the following opinion but here goes:

No matter how many Kurosawa films I watch, none of them inspire me to want to see them again. I just can't jump on the popular bandwagon of him being "one of the greatest filmmakers of all time", although I certainly think he's a good one. Criterion has released a lot of his filmography but the more I see, the more I realize that this guy isn't for me.

I feel that way about some of his films. While they're well made, there's something about some of his work that just drives me crazy. Almost as if they drag along it certain parts. Plus I'm not big on some of the family drama films in general. There seem to be a lot of them in the CC/Eclipse library so I tend to stay away from them.