The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Sherlock_Jr

It's been a favorite movie of mine for years now. Back when I taught a filmmaking class in Austin years ago, I used several scenes form Seconds as a reference.

I was sold on Seconds when people here compared it to an episode of The Twilight Zone. The fact that the cinematographer of Sweet Smell of Success worked it is icing on the cake, because I love that film.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by Snicket

August 16th is the listed release date, but that's probs just NY and LA. The good news is that this is this years indie darling ala Beasts of the Southern Wild, so a Oscar push is not out of the question. Bad news is that Criterion is not going to be able to touch it.

Beasts had Fox Searchlight backing it, not something as small as IFC, so the chances of Bodies Saints getting the same release pattern and recognition is much less likely.

[Snicket]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

Beasts had Fox Searchlight backing it, not something as small as IFC, so the chances of Bodies Saints getting the same release pattern and recognition is much less likely.

Its a good point, but if it can get a good Oscar bump and make some decent money so it can afford to expand good things may happen. As soon as it's head breaks above water a bigger distribution company with more cash than Criterion is going to scoop it up.

[Scottie]

[Indyjones]

Originally Posted by jw007

That is what I ended up doing the first time. I bought the 5 pack from their site.

However, I found another website that sells Criterion clear cases in wholesale quantity with better prices.

You can buy single cases or double cases here: http://stores.casetopia.com/-strse-B...Categories.bok

Thanks for the help peeps. Now to find the flick at a decent price. lol

[jrmac2000]

Does anyone have any experience with the Merchant Ivory Collection DVDs? Are they worth picking up?


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[Colkurtz88]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

I believe The Third Man, and Last Year at Marienbad both went out of print before they started to release movies going forward with the plastic cases, so there is plastic case versions sold, just replacement cases (at the time)

The Man Who Fell To Earth may fall into that category too.... not sure.

Wait a second. I recently bought a "Brand New" copy of The Third Man criterion version and it was in a plastic case. Does that mean it was originally sold via digipak, taken out then put into this replacement plastic case and then sealed?

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Colkurtz88

Wait a second. I recently bought a "Brand New" copy of The Third Man criterion version and it was in a plastic case. Does that mean it was originally sold via digipak, taken out then put into this replacement plastic case and then sealed?

No, I bought a copy in the plastic case directly from Barnes & Noble a couple months after it went out of print. It was definitely available in plastic.

[Colkurtz88]

Originally Posted by octagon

No, I bought a copy in the plastic case directly from Barnes & Noble a couple months after it went out of print. It was definitely available in plastic.

Oh ok Thanks, I was concerned there for a second that what I bought thinking was brand new, was actually a used copy. Wish I didn't wait so long to buy it!!!

[shortmartin]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

• This is from my write-up of Medium Cool in User Reviews:
  [ "The medium is the message.", according to communication philosopher Marshall McLuhan, and the title of Haskell Wexler's Medium Cool is taken from McLuhan's thesis that television is a "cool" medium in that it needs only minimal interaction from the viewer. ]

• Breathless is the Jean-Paul Belmondo movie.

I intentionally skipped over your review at first, since I hadn't yet seen Medium Cool, so that's why I asked these redundant questions.

Now that I've watched the film, I went back and read your review, which is superb. Thanks for pointing out the Belmondo/Godard references that appear in the movie, and Wexler's use of McLuhan as an explanatory model for thinking about the media, representation, meaning, reception, and control.

I also really, really like that you mention in the review the English Poor Laws - as it turns out I'm extremely interested in that topic. I'm a university professor and one of my areas of research specialization is precisely the contentious histories of social assistance in England and the United States, particularly in the US South, and the powerful influence of the Poor Laws on patterns of relief and the social meanings of welfare. As much as I would like to think that college history courses and the history classroom comprise an effective forum for relating knowledge about a topic like the Poor Laws, I agree with you that works of fiction and the cinema often do a much better job at this. (Though the academic work of the historian Michael Katz is especially informative when it comes to the Poor Laws.)

The accessibility and effectiveness of film for learning and thinking about history are among the core reasons that I love epics. Works like Ran, Kagemusha, and the Last Emperor draw me in not only because they are visually stunning - but also because they help me to visualize Japanese history and provide a context in which I can better understand different cultures and their pasts.

I try to watch one movie per day, but have been on a bender lately - in a couple of days watched Ran, Kagemusha, Heaven's Gate, 3:10 to Yuma, Medium Cool, Life is Sweet, 25th Hour, and the Descendants. Of these films my favorite is Heaven's Gate. I think that it's my absolute favorite western. As I've mentioned before, I find the fiddle and roller skating scene to be one of the best cinematic scenes ever. It's just so folksy. The special features interview with the fiddler/composer is great, contains lots of information about how the music was put together, and helps to explain how that scene was constructed. Apparently, Cimino asked all of the extras, local folks from the places in which the film was being shot, to indicate any special talents. The front man for the band that had been hired to perform in the movie indicated that he could roller skate - and that's how the scene was born.

Although the whole Eastern European immigrant subplot/context that is part of Heaven's Gate often gets chided as feeling tacked on or distracting, I actually find it to be one of the more charming and important aspects of the film: it complicates the meanings of manifest destiny, national identity and allegiance, and forms of social power that are represented in the film, and it is the basis for some wonderful cinematography of the huddled masses lurching west and for the remarkable folk/fusion music.

Ran and Kagemusha - I'd seen them before but had forgotten their grandiosity, the lush colors, the ways that history blends together with fantasy, and the masterful direction of Kurosawa. He really threw everything into these later works, as though each would perhaps be his last.

[brandon_260]

Looks like I've secured myself a copy of Marienbad!

Also, since I just found out I had TCM yesterday, I decided to look at their schedule for the next couple months. All of July, they are running Truffaut marathons on Friday night, starting with The Adventures of Antoine Dionel on the 5th. I think I might make a night of it and watch them all, or at least from Antoine and Colette to Love on the Run.

[broganreynik]

I guess the B2G1 sale is a no go at B&N? Or do they start later than midnight?

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by broganreynik

I guess the B2G1 sale is a no go at B&N? Or do they start later than midnight?

It usually happens around 2-3, if I recall correctly. Same with the 50% off sale. It usually takes forever for them to update their site.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by iScottie

It usually happens around 2-3, if I recall correctly. Same with the 50% off sale. It usually takes forever for them to update their site.

That's supposed to start tonight?

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

That's supposed to start tonight?

No idea lol

[deepbreathsanddeath]

If anyone finds out if/when the B2G1 sale overlaps with the 40% off sale, could someone be kind enough to let me know what time that'll be in Melbourne, Australia? I'm really strapped for cash at the moment and have fallen a little behind on Criterions. Definitely need to catch up and this will be a great chance to catch up if indeed it does happen.

[Sporkies]

So I see that the Criterion Y tu mamá también popped up under the recently listed section of this site yesterday, but I don't see any mention of an announcement anywhere. Obviously I missed something; what is it?

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Colkurtz88

Wait a second. I recently bought a "Brand New" copy of The Third Man criterion version and it was in a plastic case. Does that mean it was originally sold via digipak, taken out then put into this replacement plastic case and then sealed?

I just lost an eBAY auction a few hours ago for The Third Man blu-ray. I bid up to $85 but it ended up selling for like $158. I just can't see myself spending anything higher than $100 on any movie, period. How much did you end up paying for your copy? Just curious.

I wonder if I'll ever get lucky finding a nice used copy of The Third Man and end up not spending too much money. This would be a miracle of course. Will I give in and spend triple digits eventually? Or will I wait another year or two and somehow find this at a better price? Hmmmmm.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by jw007

I just lost an eBAY auction a few hours ago for The Third Man blu-ray. I bid up to $85 but it ended up selling for like $158. I just can't see myself spending anything higher than $100 on any movie, period. How much did you end up paying for your copy? Just curious.

I thought of pointing it out earlier but didn't, the OP actually meant The Man Who Fell to Earth, which originally came out in digipak and CC was offering replacement cases. That's OOP too, but definitely not hit anywhere near Third Man prices, probably because there's 1) it's a less famous and more experimental movie 2) an awesome B-region BD from SC/Optimum can be had for a sub-10GBP price, last I saw.

[Dustin Putman]

I finally watched Catherine Breillat's Fat Girl last night, and wow, this film really threw me for an unexpected loop. I knew very little about it going in and was instantly immersed in this tough, realistic examination of two adolescent sisters and the emotional repercussions that come to both of them when the elder, thinner, more conventionally beautiful sister loses her virginity. The final third I dare not give away, least of all the final unforgettable minutes, but Breillat was able to fill every frame with a sense of encroaching danger and unease, until...well...I was left very disturbed at the film's closing comment on the fallibility of life--and our ultimate fates. I loved this film.