The Criterion Collection

[BluPix]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Kurosawa is a safe bet for me. I enjoyed all of the above very much to be honest. The era of the film is not an issue for me. Upon reading the description of M, I was immediately drawn in, although it seems there aren't a lot of reviews out there. You're the first to recommend The 400 Blows, although it looks nice as well. 8 1/2 and Orpheus seem to be popular as well.

I'm glad you don't limit yourself to era, as so many do. There are so many more films to discover that way.

All the films you mentioned are strong films. I find it surprising that no one mentioned Truffaut's classic The 400 Blows earlier or Lang's masterpiece M. They're two of the closest films to being "essential" that exist. And they're really not just two of the finest films on the Criterion label but two of the finest ever made, at least in my opinion. They are quite different from each other in tone.

If you would like to see another terrific classic that tells basically the same story as Cocteau's Orpheus but in a very different location and more colorful and musical tone, check out Black Orpheus. It's another of my favorites in the Criterion Collection.

Some other of my favorite Criterion films I'd highly recommend, just off the top of my head, include:

Umberto D. (which will be upgraded to blu in September)
Bicycle Thieves (on DVD)
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
The Last Emperor
Kes
Paths of Glory
Brazil (on DVD)
In the Mood for Love (which will be upgraded to blu in October)
Chungking Express
The Third Man (the Criterion version is out of print but the Studio Canal version is still readily available)
Fanny & Alexander
White Material
Gomorrah
Carlos
The Thin Red Line
Days of Heaven
Sweet Smell of Success
Walkabout
The 39 Steps
Harakiri
Tokyo Drifter
Yi Yi
Seven Samurai
Rashomon (which will be upgraded to blu in November)
Kagemusha
Ikiru (on DVD)
Hunger
Rosemary's Baby (which will be released in October)
Salo
Weekend (2011)
Black Sun (on DVD as part of the set Eclipse Series 28: The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara)
Victim (on DVD as part of the set Eclipse Series 25: Basil Dearden’s London Underground)
Videodrome
Wild Strawberries (on DVD)
Knife in the Water (on DVD)
La Haine
Le Havre
Anatomy of a Murder
Solaris (1972)
Harold and Maude
Stagecoach
Bigger than Life
Wings of Desire
Paris, Texas
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Last Temptation of Christ
Cronos
Easy Rider (part of the set America Lost and Found: the BBS Story)
The Last Picture Show (part of the set America Lost and Found: the BBS Story)
The Seventh Seal

I own a copy of nearly all the titles on this list. Not everyone would call all of them "required viewing" and they're not all for everyone, but these are some that are most memorable, fascinating or special for me. I'm sure there are many more.

Happy viewing and if you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

Deserving of a release? sure. He did say release(S) as well so he is talking about more than one of the announcements, hence obviously putting down Pasolini, Godard, or Kurosawa. Take your choice in which of the "many less deserving" he is talking about in favor of Lynch. Why I thought it was a joke.

[Show spoiler]
Mulholland Drive:
http://www.amazon.com/Mulholland-Dr-...lholland+drive

http://www.amazon.com/Mulholland-Dr-...lholland+drive

http://www.amazon.fr/Mulholland-Driv...5184211&sr=8-1

Now, can anyone show me where we can get this cut of Heaven's Gate Criterion is releasing?

My thoughts exactly. As I've said before, I much prefer seeing the films announced that either don't have a release or wouldn't get one by another company... it's why I personally consider the more accessible titles 'less deserving'. I'm definitely not getting/seeing Heaven's Gate for a while, but I like being able to do so once I decide to.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I can't really be bothered reading through all these posts, but I recently got a region free blu-ray player mostly so I can start my Criterion collection which I'm pumped about but unfortunately I just missed the last B&N sale so I was wondering if you guys knew when the next one would be (if they're usually the same times each year), and whether the usual 50% off sale applies to online orders aswel. Thankyou

Yes, it applies online...and hopefully it will be in November if they still plan on having one.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by octagon

I'm not a big fan of the 'more deserving' game but one could point to stuff like Traffic, Dazed and Confused, Fear and Loathing, The Blob, The Game, Blow Out, Something Wild and so forth and so on and make a 'well, wtf, why not this too' case for pretty much anything, no?

I'm confused as to which side you are taking. I agree with everything you said here, but nobody has said "Pasolini? Godard? Kurosawa? A version of a film in Heaven's Gate that has never been released? Those are not as deserving as Fear and Loathing!".

I agree, "wtf, why not this too" for anything. But the film in question is more available in R1 than any of the releases announced (blu-ray or not).

[retablo]

Originally Posted by jrsl76

The Last Days Of Disco was as well and that got the upgrade so who knows.

Criterion stated at the time that the source elements weren't good enough to warrant a blu-ray release. They wanted to, but made the judgment call then, so I doubt they would change their mind now.

[BluPix]

Originally Posted by DarkRyder

I just finished watching Yi Yi earlier today and I am absolutely in love! I don't like automatically putting films on any top list at all without further viewings, but I doubt this one will have any trouble getting into my top 10. It was so beautiful, funny, touching and...I am just at a loss for words. I want to watch more films like this!

How ironic. I just recommended Yi Yi to UNCMT9 in my previous post. It is indeed a terrific and beautiful drama, very much rooted in realism. Another film with a somewhat similar tone in a very human story (but with more offbeat humor) that I'd recommend is Le Havre.

[BluPix]

Originally Posted by oildude

Yi Yi is next up on my list as I work through my backlog of unwatched blind buy Criterions from last November's B&N sale. My new rule is no watching my newly acquired July titles until after I watch what I already have.

For some reason I was never in the mood to watch Yi Yi. Some of that has to do with finding the time to watch films longer than two hours with work and personal obligations getting in the way of movie watching, plus I have lots of other stuff to watch too.

Recently, I started doing something I never used to do with long films - watching them over a couple of nights (duh!). This weekend, I plan to sit down with Yi Yi and watch it straight through.

It's good you're finding the time. Watching a single film by breaking it into small installments over a couple days (or several days) is something I've done routinely for a long time. Given my busy schedule, it's really the most practical way for me to watch films at home. It usually happens while I eat dinner or breakfast (as when I eat I tend not to want to do anything more active than watching TV).

In any case Yi Yi is a fine film. I suspect you'll enjoy it. There's really very little to not like about it. It's like being a fly on the wall and observing the life of an extended family.

[Tony208]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

Deserving of a release? sure. He did say release(S) as well so he is talking about more than one of the announcements, hence obviously putting down Pasolini, Godard, or Kurosawa. Take your choice in which of the "many less deserving" he is talking about in favor of Lynch. Why I thought it was a joke.

Hey, how did you know what I had in mind...
Do you see a lot of things that aren't there?

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by Tony208

Hey, how did you know what I had in mind...
Do you see a lot of things that aren't there?

Anybody else see this post?

Originally Posted by Tony208

cmon... mulholland dr.

so many less deserving titles getting releases

not a mind reader, just a reader.

[Tony208]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

Anybody else see this post?



not a mind reader, just a reader.

a poor one at that when no one mentioned those movies
you came up with them all by yourself
they're not the only one getting a release
why don't you put more words in people's mouths

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by Tony208

a poor one at that when no one mentioned those movies
they're not the only one getting a release

What else?

[BluPix]

Originally Posted by Nicholas Vargo

Also another note for those who don't like the artwork for HEAVEN'S GATE, please note that with the exception of the title font, this was the artwork that they used for the initial teaser poster. I think it makes it look classy!

I personally like the cover graphics for Heaven's Gate. Since it's two discs, I'm also hoping it's a digipack. The graphics in Criterion's digipacks tend to be exquisite throughout.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by Tony208

a poor one at that when no one mentioned those movies
you came up with them all by yourself
they're not the only one getting a release
why don't you put more words in people's mouths

What are these

so many less deserving titles getting releases

that you speak of? And how far back are you going to stretch this to try and make your point?

[Tony208]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

What else?

Why don't you guess like you did before.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

I'm confused as to which side you are taking. I agree with everything you said here, but nobody has said "Pasolini? Godard? Kurosawa? A version of a film in Heaven's Gate that has never been released? Those are not as deserving as Fear and Loathing!".

I agree, "wtf, why not this too" for anything. But the film in question is more available in R1 than any of the releases announced (blu-ray or not).

I wasn't so much taking a side as killing time. I didn't read his post as being limited to this month's slate alone (though that is one way of reading it, I suppose).

FTR,, I do agree that if you limit it to this month's release you'd have a tough time arguing any of them are less deserving (not that there's any point to making that case in the first place) than Mulholland Drive.

[Show spoiler]If I had to take a side on the reduntant/unnecessary releases question I'd probably be a little in between anyway. I roll my eyes when people ask for The Fountain but I want a Spartacus release. I think 'wtf, just import it' when people talk about Tokyo Story but I kinda want them to release Rififi. And I was absolutely deeeeeeelighted by the Rosemary's Baby announcement even though there was no reason whatsoever Paramount couldn't have given that a perfectly fine release on their own.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by Tony208

Why don't you guess like you did before.

The End.

[Tony208]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

The End.

Here's a not so vague comment for you to interpret. Arrogant.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by Tony208

Here's a not so vague comment for you to interpret. Arrogant.

I tried to end it nicely as I saw you waved the white flag. You needed to comment more, so I guess I'll leave until the morning with the question still out there "which releases are less deserving"? Thanks.

[Tony208]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

I tried to end it nicely as I saw you waved the white flag. You needed to comment more, so I guess I'll leave until the morning with the question still out there "which releases are less deserving"? Thanks.

White flag... right. I could name a title other than the ones you mentioned, then what? We argue if it really is less deserving? That would be another pointless debate.

Don't presume to know what others are thinking.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by Tony208

White flag... right. I could name a title other than the ones you mentioned, then what? We argue if it really is less deserving?

Don't presume to know what others are thinking.

If it's taste, why make the comment then? You could have just said "release Mulholland Drive" like I do "release Glauber Rocha's films". No harm. The "don't presume what others are thinking" stuff is weird considering you made the comment and won't answer it, only leaving it up to "guesses" which in turn you call "putting words" in your mouth. Sorry about that.

So the arguing as it stands is you made the "less deserving films" comment. I made a guess as to you are talking about Criterion releases (in the Criterion thread) and about recent releases. You, deciding not to spread your truth among this forum, are saying I'm putting words in your mouth. What better way to prove me wrong than to tell which releases you are talking about? Instead we are going in circles, so it's either ended as a mystery, or it's answered. As of now, I couldn't care less.