The Criterion Collection

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by SimBelm

Haha only Lavant could make that track cool.

Speaking of which, what's your take on Tokyo!? I just ordered it a couple nights ago.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by TheHighRoller

They do?! Is there any proof?

It's strange that all Melville titles are expired except for Le Samourai. Hopefully they announce this in December or something! They did Alain Delon last December

Le Samourai has a different rightsholder to the other Melville films so there was no reason for it to go out of print

[Yami]

Originally Posted by SimBelm

Haha only Lavant could make that track cool.

It saddens me that Criterion haven't released a single one of his films. I desperately want a Blu-Ray release of Carax's Alex Trilogy (Boy Meets Girl/Mauvais Sang/Les Amants du Pont-Neuf)

[Edward J Grug III]

Closer look at the Zatoichi design:

http://d3-14.tumblr.com/post/5836844...-designing-and

[starman15317]

I wonder if Criterion would be able to release David Cronenberg's Crash. I wouldn't have interest in owning it, but it could use an upgrade. Plus Criterion could release the commentary from the LD.

[Kevin Ridge]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

The Leopard is 900 different kinds of awesome. It's a beautiful Blu-ray, and the attention to detail is staggering.

Here's my long-winded User Review of the movie...

[Show spoiler]The Criterion Collection has a reputation for releasing understated masterpieces that benefit from minimalism and subtlety. Luchino Visconti's The Leopard, by contrast, is an epic in every sense of the word, and it marches across the screen with a grandiose opulence that demands undivided attention. Like Gone with the Wind or The Godfather, The Leopard is a lengthy film that can intimidate a prospective viewer simply by way of its perceived immensity in scope. Before I finally cleared my schedule and sat down to enjoy this 1963 Italian production that clocks in at over three hours, I felt the same anticipatory head rush that one might feel when starting the first page of an expansive Tolstoy novel.

The Leopard takes place in nineteenth century Italy, and outlines a series of pivotal events in life of the Don Fabrizio, Prince of Salina, a nobleman played with an undeniable larger-than-life presence by American actor Burt Lancaster, as he realizes that his aristocratic way of life is endangered in the face of political revolutions and social shifts in the wake of Giuseppe Garibaldi landing on the coast of Sicily in 1860 and the ensuing unification of Italy. The Prince views the shifting allegiances of his nephew, Tancredi (Alain Delon), as "ignoble", but also understands Tancredi's wisdom concerning the need to evolve with the tide in order to preserve status and prestige. When Tancredi's romance with the gorgeous Angelica (Claudia Cardinale) figures into the equation to maintain wealth and ambition, The Leopard mesmerizes with its multiple undercurrents of jealousy, resentment, and best-laid plans that splash together during an elaborate ballroom scene that takes up most of the final hour of the film. Burt Lancaster's Prince Fabrizio hovers about the celebrations with a unique dignity to show that an aging lion is still a lion.

Some eager online research into the nineteenth century unification of Italy may benefit the viewer, but Visconti's The Leopard is ultimately an intimate meditation on the loss of a way of life, and one man's acceptance of his own inevitable mortality. One does not need to have a scholarly understanding of the Italian politics at hand to identify with the Prince of Salina as he stares tearfully into a mirror while the cacophony of the ballroom festivities is heard from a few feet away.

The Leopard is a joy to behold in all its cinematic scope, and I found myself pausing the film at certain points or replaying certain scenes simply to marvel at the beauty. A scene with the Prince and Don Ciccio, where the two debate about an election on a hilltop during a rabbit hunt while mountains and valleys spread out endlessly on the horizon, is one of the most wondrous sights that I have ever enjoyed during a high definition movie presentation. The Leopard is everything that I had hoped it would be, and this epic masterpiece is given a lovely treatment on this Criterion Blu-ray.

Nice review. One of the special features goes into some of the history at the time period. I too don't think it's essential to read up beforehand when watching but it is good to know more about Italy to get a better idea of things after. Did you happen to watch the American version yet? From the special features everyone seemed to think it was not good but Criterion still includes it as an extra.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Side note: I hope you know about the $5 off Amazon deal.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...=1#post7990115

Thanks for the heads up! That's not for me, though. I have a rule on Facebook that I never repost updates, I never share memes, and I never share ads on my wall. My policy is that everything I post has to be an original thought of mine. I don't have the heart to spam my friends with that Amazon chain ad.

Not judging anybody who actually does use this discount, of course, but it's just not my personal policy on Facebook.

(Most of the stuff that I order from Amazon is by way of cheaper third-party sellers, anyway.)

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Kevin Ridge

Nice review. One of the special features goes into some of the history at the time period. I too don't think it's essential to read up beforehand when watching but it is good to know more about Italy to get a better idea of things after. Did you happen to watch the American version yet? From the special features everyone seemed to think it was not good but Criterion still includes it as an extra.

Nope. I sadly haven't watched that short American version yet.

This is a shortcoming of mine with certain Criterion offerings. I love watching the five plus hour televised version of Bergman's Fanny and Alexander, but I've never seen the shorter theatrical version. I love the Italian version of The Leopard, but have not seen the abbreviated American version. I'm sure that I would learn a lot from checking out the shortened alternate versions, but I just always seem to gravitate to the full versions when I get the hankering to revisit the films.
When I go to a barbecue ribs restaurant, I'm there to get the full rack. The half rack of ribs won't satisfy me if I know that the full rack is right there within my grasp. I guess that I look at movies the same way.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Thanks for the heads up! That's not for me, though. I have a rule on Facebook that I never repost updates, I never share memes, and I never share ads on my wall. My policy is that everything I post has to be an original thought of mine. I don't have the heart to spam my friends with that Amazon chain ad.

Not judging anybody who actually does use this discount, of course, but it's just not my personal policy on Facebook.

(Most of the stuff that I order from Amazon is by way of cheaper third-party sellers, anyway.)

You could always just..make another facebook account

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

You could always just..make another facebook account

Ain't nobody got time for that.

(It's not a bad idea, though.)

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Jeffery678

I promised myself that I wouldn't double dip. Then I bought The Third Man again, now I've got Ran lined up in my sights for May

Nice! Let me know what you think about The Third Man, if you bought the StudioCanal Blu-ray. I'm still holding tight to my Criterion DVD of that film.

[Sherlock_Jr]

Originally Posted by TheHighRoller

Oh, and Le Samourai definitely should have been released on Blu-ray by now.

If the master was any good, it would have been. They planned to. But they saw the elements and turned it down.

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, and am now listening to William Friedkin's excellent commentary track in the background.

I've seen Vertigo about a million times, but this was my first time seeing it in high definition, and I'm floored. What a beautiful beautiful transfer...

On the surface, this is not Criterion-related.
On a sub-level, though, it's distinctly Criterion-related. Chris Marker's amazing film, La Jetée, is a beautiful science fiction homage to Vertigo, while Marker's documentary, Sans Soleil, which plays out as a "travelogue" in the same way that we play movies in our own minds, just as James Stewart's Ferguson is stuck on a visual loop of sorts that plays through his mind in the Hitchcock film.

Vertigo is such a sad film in a way, because we all have those happy moments or encounters that we idealize in retrospect and try to recapture to no avail. It's like the Woody Allen film, Annie Hall, where he is trying to recreate a lobster preparation moment with another girlfriend.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Sherlock_Jr

If the master was any good, it would have been. They planned to. But they saw the elements and turned it down.

Thanks for the clarification earlier. I've ordered the Pathe Blu-ray of Le Samourai as a placeholder (out of morbid curiosity to see that master) until something better comes along.

[Kevin Ridge]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Nope. I sadly haven't watched that short American version yet.

This is a shortcoming of mine with certain Criterion offerings. I love watching the five plus hour televised version of Bergman's Fanny and Alexander, but I've never seen the shorter theatrical version. I love the Italian version of The Leopard, but have not seen the abbreviated American version. I'm sure that I would learn a lot from checking out the shortened alternate versions, but I just always seem to gravitate to the full versions when I get the hankering to revisit the films.
When I go to a barbecue ribs restaurant, I'm there to get the full rack. The half rack of ribs won't satisfy me if I know that the full rack is right there within my grasp. I guess that I look at movies the same way.

I usually try to watch the theatrical versions first. Though when it came to The Goldrush I went with the 1942 version. I still need to see the longer 1925 one. Also haven't got around to watching the American Godzilla one. The English version of M was much below the original. I have yet to see Fanny and Alexander but already decided on watching the theatrical version first.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Kevin Ridge

I usually try to watch the theatrical versions first. Though when it came to The Goldrush I went with the 1942 version. I still need to see the longer 1925 one. Also haven't got around to watching the American Godzilla one. The English version of M was much below the original. I have yet to see Fanny and Alexander but already decided on watching the theatrical version first.

I grew up watching the American version of Godzilla, and I will always love it dearly. My mind was blown when I saw the original Japanese version at a theatrical showing several years ago, though. The Criterion package is perfect, because the commentary tracks make a good case for both editions.
I always return to the Japanese version primarily, because it's such an effective nail-biter of a story, but I do have a soft spot for the presence of Raymond Burr (Rear Window) in the Americanized film.

I watched the 1925 original of The Gold Rush first, but made a point to watch the 1942 simply because it's not just an abbreviated version, but a Chaplin-endorsed definitive edition. I like the 1925 version a lot better, despite the affinity of the masses for the subsequent edition.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

You could always just..make another facebook account

Wish I had an account to use for this stuff....(I mean, I don't want one, but I'd love the promotion..)

[madmojo]

Originally Posted by Yami

Le Samourai has a different rightsholder to the other Melville films so there was no reason for it to go out of print

They also still own the rights to Le Deuxieme Souffle.

[Sherlock_Jr]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Thanks for the clarification earlier. I've ordered the Pathe Blu-ray of Le Samourai as a placeholder (out of morbid curiosity to see that master) until something better comes along.

That's just what I've heard from a reliable source. But I have no idea if they are pursuing a new master, if they still plan to release it, or what the status is at the present time.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I grew up watching the American version of Godzilla, and I will always love it dearly. My mind was blown when I saw the original Japanese version at a theatrical showing several years ago, though. The Criterion package is perfect, because the commentary tracks make a good case for both editions.
I always return to the Japanese version primarily, because it's such an effective nail-biter of a story, but I do have a soft spot for the presence of Raymond Burr (Rear Window) in the Americanized film.

Same here. Saw lots of those '50s and early '60s Japanese horror/Sci-Fi films on TV and even some in the theater. Good times!