The Criterion Collection

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by Darkcritic

Thanks a lot ! Yeah, let hope that "Bullfighter/Matador" hint a few weeks ago means it is something that will finally happen .

I completely missed this! There was a hint at it??

Personally, I'd most love to see the films not available on dvd in the US yet...such as 'Tacones Lejanos' and 'Kika' (still need to see those two), but of course any of them would make me very, very happy.

[melo4mvp]

Just got done watching Orpheus. It was pretty good. It was my second Cocteau film. I think I liked Beauty and the Beast a little bit more though. Guess Amarcord is next

[octagon]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

Revanche and Blow Out don't seem to get much mention in thread. In my opinion they are both amazing films and some of the best blu-rays in the Criterion Collection.

Anybody else have any remarks about other (blu-ray) films in the collection that seem to be under the radar or underappreciated?

Bigger Than Life doesn't seem to pop up a lot and while that's half understandable it's a shame. At first glance it's pretty standard (and in a lot of ways it stays pretty standard after subsequent glances) but there really is quite a lot of 'there' there. It seems a little dated in the sense that it's not nearly as daring and subversive as it was at the time but even at that it holds up very well.

And it's absolutely gorgeous. The direction and cinematography are excellent to begin with but (DeLuxe, I think) color system they used really pops and the transfer brings that out very well.

I wouldn't put it on any 'you gotta get this' lists but it's very good.

[Guitar Joe]

I finally watched Pierrot le fou after buying it a couple of weeks ago.

It was the first Godard film I've seen, and I liked it.

Are all of his films this loosely structured? Which one should I check out next?

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by octagon

Bigger Than Life doesn't seem to pop up a lot and while that's half understandable it's a shame. At first glance it's pretty standard (and in a lot of ways it stays pretty standard after subsequent glances) but there really is quite a lot of 'there' there. It seems a little dated in the sense that it's not nearly as daring and subversive as it was at the time but even at that it holds up very well.

I thought Bigger Than Life was so completely average it left me scratching my head as to why it was even in the Criterion Collection. So I trundled off to the imdb to read some more about why it might have been significant in it's day, and read about one of the goofs in it (don't read it if you like BTL):

[Show spoiler]One scene where James Mason is in the bathroom looking at his medicine cabinet, the mirrored door swings back quickly and in it you can briefly see the director (presumably) sitting in a chair looking straight into the camera. It's so bad it might be deliberate; unfortunately once you've seen it you can never unsee it. The editor must have been either very lazy or fast asleep at the wheel!

Originally Posted by octagon

And it's absolutely gorgeous. The direction and cinematography are excellent to begin with but (DeLuxe, I think) color system they used really pops and the transfer brings that out very well.

Agree with you there, shame the film is so meh. I like James Mason a lot as an actor (Odd Man Out and The Man Between would make great Criterions) but he was pretty unconvincing (borderline hammy) in this one IMO

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by octagon

Bigger Than Life doesn't seem to pop up a lot and while that's half understandable it's a shame. At first glance it's pretty standard (and in a lot of ways it stays pretty standard after subsequent glances) but there really is quite a lot of 'there' there. It seems a little dated in the sense that it's not nearly as daring and subversive as it was at the time but even at that it holds up very well.

And it's absolutely gorgeous. The direction and cinematography are excellent to begin with but (DeLuxe, I think) color system they used really pops and the transfer brings that out very well.

I wouldn't put it on any 'you gotta get this' lists but it's very good.

Bigger Than Life was awesome. One of the best blind buys I've made.

I think it's kinda of surprising that the BBS set doesn't get talked about as much as some of the others, considering it has 7 films in it. It only really seems to be discussed during sales, as most of the time, people are complaining about Wes Anderson, or going on about what's not in the CC on BD.

[Drag0nFly]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

Bigger Than Life was awesome. One of the best blind buys I've made.

I think it's kinda of surprising that the BBS set doesn't get talked about as much as some of the others, considering it has 7 films in it. It only really seems to be discussed during sales, as most of the time, people are complaining about Wes Anderson, or going on about what's not in the CC on BD.

Agree about BTL. Very interesting role for James Mason as well.

I've yet to watch two of the films in the BBS collection (been saving them), but yeah, there is a lot of good material in there. Apart from the obvious Easy Rider one of my favorites is 'Five Easy Pieces'. The role of Helena Kallianiotes as the hitchhiker 'Palm Apodaca' and her (misguided?) reflections on life and human beings in particular, and the scene with Nicholson in the diner trying to order plain toast; which isn't on the (stone engraved) menu. It's hilarious. Great re-watchability factor.

[melo4mvp]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

Bigger Than Life was awesome. One of the best blind buys I've made.

I think it's kinda of surprising that the BBS set doesn't get talked about as much as some of the others, considering it has 7 films in it. It only really seems to be discussed during sales, as most of the time, people are complaining about Wes Anderson, or going on about what's not in the CC on BD.

Picked up Bigger Than Life on ebay as a blind buy the other day. Glad to see the good opinions on it.

[ShellOilJunior]

Branded to Kill/Tokyo Drifter sound like a lot of fun but I'm worried that they may be too popular so I won't like them.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Branded to Kill/Tokyo Drifter sound like a lot of fun but I'm worried that they may be too popular so I won't like them.

What does other people's perceptions of something have to do with your own?

[italy12]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

Revanche and Blow Out don't seem to get much mention in thread. In my opinion they are both amazing films and some of the best blu-rays in the Criterion Collection.

Anybody else have any remarks about other (blu-ray) films in the collection that seem to be under the radar or underappreciated?

Both great films. However, they were discussed at length when they were released and beyond. That's kind of the norm around here, although an older title (read: released earlier in CC's history) may get some love every now and again.

Some underrated (or under-discussed) gems in the collection: Secret of the Grain, A Christmas Tale, El Norte...just to name a few.

[italy12]

Originally Posted by Yankees0222

But the DVD was a digipack..... Normally if the DVD release is a digipack, so is the blu release

The Double Life of Veronique was not...I believe it was because of the size of the booklet. Someone will correct me if I am wrong, of course.

[italy12]

Originally Posted by ImportFanatic

Only multi-disc releases from Criterion are in digipack packaging now.

Breathless and Sweet Smell of Success are single discs, but because of their bigger booklets, they were housed in a digipak, not a clear case.

Double Life of Veronique and now Salo, it seems, are being released in a clear case when their DVD counterpart was released as a digi. I'll assume it is because of the book.

Criterion has expressed, in the past, their desire to use the more sturdy plastic cases for their releases, as their original packing method (the first 9 blus) were not so good.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

What does other people's perceptions of something have to do with your own?

I need sarcasm tags.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I need sarcasm tags.

Well played...

[RonSwanson]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Branded to Kill/Tokyo Drifter sound like a lot of fun but I'm worried that they may be too popular so I won't like them.

Please note your carefully hidden sarcasm in the future to prevent me from calling you a dumb***

[RonSwanson]

Originally Posted by melo4mvp

Just got done watching Orpheus. It was pretty good. It was my second Cocteau film. I think I liked Beauty and the Beast a little bit more though. Guess Amarcord is next

Melo, I'm jealous you are getting so many of my criterions

[jcs913]

Originally Posted by bugsy_pal

This is incorrect - Criterion released the original 9 blurays in slim digipaks with slipcovers that slid vertically over the book part. They then made replacement cases available for those who wanted them, and have replaced the digipak versions with plastic case versions for subsequent pressings.

However, sinece that time, a number of digipak releases have come out, with either 1 or 2 discs. Amarcord and The Sweet Smell of Success are single disc blurays in digibooks with book-style slipcases. I think Breathless was also a single-disc slipcased bluray. Night of the Hunter was a 2-disc bluray in slipcase.

I was talking about DVD releases, not blu-ray releases. The OP's question was about digipacks, which CC had plenty of releases on that format before blu-ray...

[dougotte]

Originally Posted by octagon

Bigger Than Life...

I finally saw Bigger Than Life last night. It was interesting, but I don't know if I'd recommend it. My first thought was that it had the mid-50s Sirkian split personality, both edging into the realism that blossomed in the 60s, yet also still having that melodramatic air left over from the 40s. It was also Sirkian in that it picked apart the facade of the growing middle-class suburban American lifestyle.

I agree that the cinematography was gorgeous.

Having only seen Barbara Rush in a few sci-fi flicks, I was very impressed with her acting here; she actually outshone Mason, IMO. And, wasn't she gorgeous?

I bet Mason's sacrilegious rants near the end must have been controversial when the film was released.

Did anybody notice Jerry Mathers (The Beaver) in the scene where Mason was watching the younger class?

Doug

[TylerDurden]

What I loved about The Killing was it's unintended humor. The movie has a very dark and serious noir tone but the ending had me chuckling. I love it when a film does that.