The Criterion Collection

[Danchez]

Can anyone suggest any Criterion releases for someone who is new to the collection? I have three releases so far, but they're all arguably "mainstream" titles. (The Darjeeling Limited, Bottle Rocket, and Dazed and Confused.)

To put it another way, which would be the one Criterion release that you value above all others, and you couldn't imagine not owning? I would love to pick up another title while the B&N sale is going on, to give my BD collection some "cultural depth," lol.

[Darkcritic]

Originally Posted by Danchez

Can anyone suggest any Criterion releases for someone who is new to the collection? I have three releases so far, but they're all arguably "mainstream" titles. (The Darjeeling Limited, Bottle Rocket, and Dazed and Confused.)

To put it another way, which would be the one Criterion release that you value above all others, and you couldn't imagine not owning? I would love to pick up another title while the B&N sale is going on, to give my BD collection some "cultural depth," lol.

If I have to choose my favorite releases I would definitely pick Army of Shadows by Melville and Diabolique by Clouzot. The quality of both films is that of the greatest masterworks I have ever seen. Really, the former is the best film I have seen so far this year while the later is my third best (Only beaten by The Battleship Potemkin). The PQ/AQ and extras in both releases are really worthwhile too, especially if you are into film in a more serious way (Don't want to stereotype, I just can't find better words to say so ). But all of this is based on what I currently own, releases like The Battle of Algiers by Pontecorvo and The Complete Jean Vigo by Vigo are said to go right up that alley too.

[melo4mvp]

Originally Posted by Danchez

Can anyone suggest any Criterion releases for someone who is new to the collection? I have three releases so far, but they're all arguably "mainstream" titles. (The Darjeeling Limited, Bottle Rocket, and Dazed and Confused.)

To put it another way, which would be the one Criterion release that you value above all others, and you couldn't imagine not owning? I would love to pick up another title while the B&N sale is going on, to give my BD collection some "cultural depth," lol.

My favorite release so far is The Seventh Seal.

[rock, stone]

Originally Posted by Danchez

Can anyone suggest any Criterion releases for someone who is new to the collection? I have three releases so far, but they're all arguably "mainstream" titles. (The Darjeeling Limited, Bottle Rocket, and Dazed and Confused.)

To put it another way, which would be the one Criterion release that you value above all others, and you couldn't imagine not owning? I would love to pick up another title while the B&N sale is going on, to give my BD collection some "cultural depth," lol.

I think Seven Samurai would be a good choice. It could be considered exotic by mainstream tastes if only by being subtitled and B&W, but is still very accessible to Western sensibilities. I have seen it at least a dozen times since I was a kid.

It is one of the obvious "classics" like Citizen Kane or Casablanca, but still an action adventure Samurai movie. That said, it is 3 hours of black and white subtitles, if you are up for that kind of thing. There are plenty of other great choices if you aren't.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Danchez

To put it another way, which would be the one Criterion release that you value above all others, and you couldn't imagine not owning? I would love to pick up another title while the B&N sale is going on, to give my BD collection some "cultural depth," lol.

The Sweet Smell of Glory on Sunday

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by Danchez

Can anyone suggest any Criterion releases for someone who is new to the collection? I have three releases so far, but they're all arguably "mainstream" titles. (The Darjeeling Limited, Bottle Rocket, and Dazed and Confused.)

To put it another way, which would be the one Criterion release that you value above all others, and you couldn't imagine not owning? I would love to pick up another title while the B&N sale is going on, to give my BD collection some "cultural depth," lol.

It's expensive, but the BBS box set. It's sever films, both obscure and "mainstream" ones can be found there. If that one's too much, then my next choice would be The Leopard or Night of the Hunter.

[Wally Q]

So far I’ve ordered:

Island of Lost Souls
The Killer / Killer’s Kiss
The Phantom Carriage
The Times of Harvey Milk

I plan on doing one more purchase with Che and another title but haven’t decided which. Believe it or not, I wasn’t completely enamored with Fear and Loathing when I tried watching it as a teenager so I’m hesitant to go with that one. Not exactly sure about Dazed & Confused since that would be a total blind buy (well… most of the Criterion Collection on my end are blind buys but I’m pretty much a self-taught homeschooled student of cinema). I think I may end up going with My Life as a Dog but I’m not entirely certain. I still have another week or two to decide but that’s where I am. I may still do two orders and be worse off than I was before!

[DionJP]

Videodrome, Che, Kagemusha, Paris, Texas, and Equinox on d.v.d. are my personal favorites. All are masterpieces in my opinion, with the exception of Equinox.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by Danchez

Can anyone suggest any Criterion releases for someone who is new to the collection? I have three releases so far, but they're all arguably "mainstream" titles. (The Darjeeling Limited, Bottle Rocket, and Dazed and Confused.)

To put it another way, which would be the one Criterion release that you value above all others, and you couldn't imagine not owning? I would love to pick up another title while the B&N sale is going on, to give my BD collection some "cultural depth," lol.

Instead of picking up only one, I recommend you pick up between ten and twenty
I guess my favourite film in the Collection is The Leopard (however, I actually have the BFI edition).
It was the release of The Thin Red Line that finally made me go region-free.
Seven Samurai is consistently ranked in the top ten films of all time.
Looking at the other recommendations, I can't say anything against those films either.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by drbikeshorts

Instead of picking up only one, I recommend you pick up between ten and twenty
I guess my favourite film in the Collection is The Leopard (however, I actually have the BFI edition).
It was the release of The Thin Red Line that finally made me go region-free.
Seven Samurai is consistently ranked in the top ten films of all time.
Looking at the other recommendations, I can't say anything against those films either.

Yay, another Leopard lover!

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

It was an easy for choice me melo4mvp. First up was Head, which I hadn't seen since it's original late 60s theatrical release, which I recalled liking (admiring?) more than any movie with the Monkees in it deserved.

You need to research on the Monkees before making comments like that. Sure they had catchy pop songs, and only Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith were able to play on the first couple albums (as 4th or 5th chair ones!), but they ended up rebelling against all that, and Head was the product of it.

Bob Rafelson's a bit of an ass, of course, and deliberately tried to run the movie into the ground at the time of release, but the Monkees are just as important in music history as several other groups in the 1960s. Everyone used session musicians, even the Beatles at one point. The Monkees were just more honest about it, and quite literally fought to be able to play their own instruments.

There's a lot of stuff on the "kiddie friendly" TV show that's subversive as hell too.

Also, there's this little gem of a son written by Micky Dolenz, that didn't get released until 1996, because the record company were horrified by the lyrical content in 1969:

Mommy and Daddy (Original, censored version)

[Show spoiler]
Ask your mommy and daddy, "What happened to the Indian?"
Ask your mommy and daddy to tell you where you really came from
Then mommy and daddy will probably turn and quickly walk away
Then ask your mommy and daddy who really killed J.F.K
Wa ta tick it ta too too...

Ask your mommy if she really gets off on all her - all her pills
Ask your Daddy, "Why doesn't that soldier care who he kills?"
After they've put you to sleep and tucked you safely down in your bed
Whisper Mommy and Daddy,
"Would it matter if the bullet went through my head?
If it was my blood spilling on the kitchen floor
If it was my blood, mommy, would you care a little more?"
Don't be surprised when they turn and start to cry
And tell your Mommy and Daddy, tell your mommy and daddy
Scream it to your mommy and daddy
They're living in a lie, a lie, a lie
It's all a lie, a lie, a lie
A lie, a lie...

Mommy and Daddy (Bowlderised, Album version)

[Show spoiler]Ask your mommy and daddy, "What happened to the Indian?
How come they're all living in places
With too much snow or too much sand?"
Tell your mommy, "I got a funny feeling deep inside of me"
Ask your daddy, "Is it really as bad as people make it seem?"

Wa ta tick it ta too too..

Ask your mommy why everybody swallows all those little pills
Ask your daddy why that soldier doesn't care who he kills
After they've put you to sleep and tucked you safely down in your bed
Whisper, "Mommy and Daddy would you rather that
I learned it from my friends, instead?
Do you think I'm to young to know, to see, to feel, or hear
My questions need an answer or a vaccuum will appear"
Don't be surprised if they turn and walk away
And tell your mommy and daddy that you love them anyway
That you love them anyway...
Give them a kiss
Love will set you free
Kings of EMI

My apologies for feeling so defensive towards the Monkees, but they do get a lot of flack due to misinformation and bad publicity that continues to follow them to this day.

Originally Posted by retablo

Have you seen Fanny & Alexander?

Nope, only Bergman I've watch has been The Seventh Seal, and I really enjoyed it, so I'm slowly seeking out his other films on the advice of my friend. My friend is really excited about the set coming out on Tuesday though.

[blkhrt]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

Just ordered High & Low, Island of Lost Souls and Still Walking from the B&N sale. I'm thinking that I may also order 2 more in a week or so. Leaning towards Close-Up and Broadcast News. Anybody think I should change these 2??

I haven't seen Close-Up, but I love Broadcast News. I have already watched it a couple of times in the last few months, and could probably watch it again tonight. There are so many delightful things about the movie.

Having said that, I know there are others on the forums who disagree, so take it all with a grain of salt.

[abintra]

If anyone might find it useful, here is a listing of the Criterion Blu-ray releases sorted by their They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? Top 1000 films ranking and a second sheet sorted by their IMDb weighted user rating (done recently but the vote amounts and, to a lesser degree, ratings are a moving target.. edit - ratings & votes up to date as of 11/4).

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...2c&output=html

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by DionJP

I was thinking that their last d.v.d. only release, Le enfance nue would be a good candidate....along with Louie Bluie, Letters from Fontainhas and the Josef von Sternberg boxset. Is it safe to say these won't be seeing a bluray release anytime soon? Any word of an upgrade of Do'des-kaden (I hope I got that right)?

Your list is probably pretty safe. Any Eclipse collection is probably safe (as far as CC blu's go). I haven't heard anything about a Do'des-kaden upgrade, but if you want to avoid titles that will likely upgrade, I'd stay away from anything directed by Kurosawa other than the Eclipse release.

[harry lime]

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. Who said Criterion is releasing this? I know there was a rumor going around back in 2009, a rumor without a source, that turned out not to be true. Now, I'm hearing about it again. Anyone know how reliable this is? Have they been working on it for the past 2 years? Or just empty rumors?

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

My apologies for feeling so defensive towards the Monkees, but they do get a lot of flack due to misinformation and bad publicity that continues to follow them to this day.

I think you're taking my tongue-in-cheek comments a bit literally BohemianGraham. After all, I saw Head theatrically when originally released, and it made enough of an impression that this was the first Blu I watched from the BBS Box.

And I do know enough of the Monkees backstory to appreciate what they were up against, some of which was amplified via the special features in this superb Criterion set. The thing is - and please remember this is just one film fan's opinion, and we're all entitled to that when it comes to something as subjective as art - The Monkees, as a group, were pretty welter weight talents who did not come together as a showbiz entity in any organic way...it was the result of a casting call, shaped by massive PR promotion and Agent manipulation. In fact, some of the cheekiest fun in Head were the various acknowledgements of that reality, but their inside career jibes only went so far. Sometimes watching those vignettes was like witnessing an elaborately staged therapy session.

Nevertheless, I felt enormous empathy for the artistic and spiritual cage they imprisoned themselves in by signing on NBC's dotted line. Perhaps they would have achieved more had that pop-redux TV phenomenon not occured. But alas, there is no parallel universe handy where we can test that theory. What they left as a legacy, although sometimes interesting, and even daring (relatively speaking), still seemed characterized by TV class superficiality, and doobie level political posturing. I mean, no reflection on their individual intelligence, but where's the subtext? Life as an experiment in self-imposed subjugation?

Merely my honest reaction - then as now - to what little of their work I had any interest in, saw, or enjoyed. I mean, we only get so many hours on this planet, and with all of world cinema at our disposal, The Monkees and Head still rank only as interesting and amusing oddities...again, that's just me.

[Takeshi666]

Any news on Naked Lunch or Häxan?

[italy12]

Originally Posted by Takeshi666

Any news on Naked Lunch or Häxan?

Criterion has already released these titles.

http://www.criterion.com is a good place to start, or PM ccfixx. He'll tell you what you need to know.

[jcs913]

Originally Posted by italy12

Criterion has already released these titles.

http://www.criterion.com is a good place to start, or PM ccfixx. He'll tell you what you need to know.

I'm sure CC would love to answer a lot of PM's about Criterion through PM. You know, good questions, like; Where can we get replacement cases, why are my packages always damaged during shipment, which coupon is the best to use during the sale? He loves these kind of inquiries....

[italy12]

Originally Posted by jcs913

I'm sure CC would love to answer a lot of PM's about Criterion through PM. You know, good questions, like; Where can we get replacement cases, why are my packages always damaged during shipment, which coupon is the best to use during the sale? He loves these kind of inquiries....

I want to PM him and ask him to look through my entire collection and recommend any or all films that I may or may not like based on what I both have and do not have. Also, what films may or may not fit into my budget based on what I either make or do not make each month or year. I would also like to know the condition of the cases I will be receiving from movies I order from online retailers or which local shops have these in stock, and at what prices. Also, which ones either come with or do not come with slipcovers, slip boxes, digipaks, or embellishments of any kind, and also the condition of these as well.

[jcs913]

Originally Posted by italy12

I want to PM him and ask him to look through my entire collection and recommend any or all films that I may or may not like based on what I both have and do not have. Also, what films may or may not fit into my budget based on what I either make or do not make each month or year. I would also like to know the condition of the cases I will be receiving from movies I order from online retailers or which local shops have these in stock, and at what prices. Also, which ones either come with or do not come with slipcovers, slip boxes, digipaks, or embellishments of any kind, and also the condition of these as well.

Those would be all great inquiries......