The Criterion Collection

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Meek12345

Thanks for reminding me of that quote from Ford. Makes me laugh every time. Brad Pitt comes to mind after reading all of these posts about actors with more star quality than acting ability. I think he was good in Twelve Monkeys and Se7en. However, I think that Taraji Henson and Cate Blanchett acted circles around him in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I still haven't seen The Tree Of Life and some of his other critically praised performances (The Assassination of Jesse James) though.

I actually think Pitt has better acting chops than he's given credit for, though he's found himself in a lot of lousy movies. And it's funny you should mention 12 Monkeys as one of the times he was "good". Quite frankly, I think his performance is a shameless copy of Dennis Hopper's from Apocalypse Now.

What do you think of the releases of Sunset Blvd. and The Apartment?

I blush to admit that I don't have a copy of the Blu-ray of The Apartment yet, so I can't comment. But I think The Great Owl can tell you about it. The Sunset Blvd. Blu, though, is terrific.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I would love a Criterion release of The Warriors, but unfortunately, Warner Bros. currently has the rights due to their Paramount deal.

I'm not sure to what extent Warner's rights as a distributor of Paramount titles go. I don't know if they go beyond Warner producing and distributing the discs. They're still on the Paramount label.

Warner certainly has the rights to include Paramount titles in their boxed sets, but the deal doesn't appear to stop Paramount from licensing out their titles to other parties, such as Olive Films.

If Criterion wants to release a Walter Hill film, I vote for The Long Riders.

[ycbbh]

Originally Posted by jayembee

And I'd be remiss in not bringing up a couple of Kipling classics: Gunga Din (RKO, 1939) and Kim (MGM, 1950). Or the Kipling associational title: John Huston's wonderful The Man Who Would Be King.

Man Who Would Be King is a great film but it wasn't shot anywhere near India, kind of like Black Narcissus

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by ycbbh

Man Who Would Be King is a great film but it wasn't shot anywhere near India, kind of like Black Narcissus

Well, the original request said "I'm really interested in checking out more Indian films or films set in India."

The Man Who Would Be King qualifies, regardless of where it was filmed.

[Majin Blu]

I was wondering, is there a site or a thread that has a list of Criterions that are out of print or about to go out of print?

[ycbbh]

Not saying it doesn't count just pointing that you're not actually seeing India, or as it is now the AfPak border region, in the film

[natureboy]

Originally Posted by reelgeek

I was wondering, is there a site or a thread that has a list of Criterions that are out of print or about to go out of print?

Hell, the Wikipedia page is as good as any to easily see what's out of print (and on blu-ray):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...u-ray_releases

Nicely color-coded.

As for what's about to go out of print... your guess is as good as anyone's. Nothing has recently been announced as about to go OOP to my knowledge.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Meek12345

What do you think of the releases of Sunset Blvd. and The Apartment?

The current Blu-rays of Sunset Boulevard and The Apartment both have my highest recommendation. I wrote User Reviews for both that can be found on their respective pages on this site.

You cannot go wrong with Billy Wilder's films that are currently available on Blu-ray. He's probably my third all-time favorite director, behind Hitchcock and Melville.

[Majin Blu]

Originally Posted by natureboy

Hell, the Wikipedia page is as good as any to easily see what's out of print (and on blu-ray):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...u-ray_releases

Nicely color-coded.

As for what's about to go out of print... your guess is as good as anyone's. Nothing has recently been announced as about to go OOP to my knowledge.

Oh okay. Thanks!

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by Meek12345

What do you think of the releases of Sunset Blvd. and The Apartment?

I will keep it simple: These are some of the greatest films made and the blu-rays contain marvelous transfers.

I would also recommend Ace in the Hole, Double indemnityand Lost Weekend (for dramas); Some like it Hot and Stalag 17 (for comedies). Billy Wilder is one of the great Hollywood directors.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

I will keep it simple: These are some of the greatest films made and the blu-rays contain marvelous transfers.

I would also recommend Ace in the Hole, Double indemnityand Lost Weekend (for dramas); Some like it Hot and Stalag 17 (for comedies). Billy Wilder is one of the great Hollywood directors.

I watched Stalag 17 for the first time a few weeks ago. I thought it was a great movie, but I really don't get the comedy label. There are a few parts that are humorous but not enough to call it a comedy IMO. Still, a solid movie from beginning to end!

[RojD]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

I will keep it simple: These are some of the greatest films made and the blu-rays contain marvelous transfers.

I would also recommend Ace in the Hole, Double indemnityand Lost Weekend (for dramas); Some like it Hot and Stalag 17 (for comedies). Billy Wilder is one of the great Hollywood directors.

Agreed. I was surprised at how contemporary Ace in the Hole is, and Double Indemnity is genre-setting noir. Lost Weekend is still powerful and disturbing. I like the nuance in the script of The Apartment, both for the Baxter character and for the ethical issues script raises. Again, very contemporary. And, in a Criterion vein, didn't Wilder script People on Sunday?

[hoytereden]

Watching TCM, especially during their annual 31 Days of Oscar showings, I see many films I think would be good Criterion candidates. Stanley Kramer's On the Beach is one of those. An intelligent, touching, frightening look at a doomsday scenario wherein a sub and her crew dock at, perhaps, the last vestiges of civilization.

[jayembee]

Another film set in India that just occurred to me: City of Joy from Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields, The Mission).

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by RojD

Agreed. I was surprised at how contemporary Ace in the Hole is, and Double Indemnity is genre-setting noir. Lost Weekend is still powerful and disturbing. I like the nuance in the script of The Apartment, both for the Baxter character and for the ethical issues script raises. Again, very contemporary. And, in a Criterion vein, didn't Wilder script People on Sunday?

True

Here is a quote from the website Mental_floss, an article about Billy Wilder

Begin quote

When Thomas Keneally published Schindler's Ark in 1983, Wilder tried to get the film rights to the book so he could make it his final film. With Wilder at the helm, the film would certainly have been quite different. After the director came to America, most of his family, including his mother, grandmother, and stepfather, were killed at Auschwitz, and Wilder wanted to make the Schindler film as a tribute to them.

However, Wilder hit a pretty big roadblock even as early as 1983: Steven Spielberg already owned the rights. Wilder tried to talk Spielberg into letting him direct the film, but to no avail. When Schindler's List eventually came out ten years later, Wilder admitted that while he would have made the picture very differently, Spielberg did a terrific job and crafted "a very important picture."�

End quote


Although I like Spielberg's film, it would be great to see a Billy Wilder version of Schindler's List.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Here is a quote from the website Mental_floss, an article about Billy Wilder

Begin quote

When Thomas Keneally published Schindler's Ark in 1983, Wilder tried to get the film rights to the book so he could make it his final film. With Wilder at the helm, the film would certainly have been quite different. After the director came to America, most of his family, including his mother, grandmother, and stepfather, were killed at Auschwitz, and Wilder wanted to make the Schindler film as a tribute to them.

However, Wilder hit a pretty big roadblock even as early as 1983: Steven Spielberg already owned the rights. Wilder tried to talk Spielberg into letting him direct the film, but to no avail. When Schindler's List eventually came out ten years later, Wilder admitted that while he would have made the picture very differently, Spielberg did a terrific job and crafted "a very important picture."�

End quote

Although I like Spielberg's film, it would be great to see a Billy Wilder version of Schindler's List.

I would like to have seen a Billy Wilder version of the Schindler story.

Wilder's 1945 short documentary, Death Mills, is included as an extra on the Kino Blu-ray of the Orson Welles movie, The Stranger. It's an unflinchingly graphic and disturbing look at the aftermath of the Nazi concentration camps. It's a sobering documentary, to say the least, and, because it's tough to reconcile the graphic nature of the documentary with Wilder's comic sensibilities in his subsequent films, it just goes to show the seriousness of the commitment that many filmmakers had to contributing to the war effort back then.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by smoss469

I watched Stalag 17 for the first time a few weeks ago. I thought it was a great movie, but I really don't get the comedy label. There are a few parts that are humorous but not enough to call it a comedy IMO. Still, a solid movie from beginning to end!

I would call it the best episode of Hogan's Heroes.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by smoss469

I watched Stalag 17 for the first time a few weeks ago. I thought it was a great movie, but I really don't get the comedy label. There are a few parts that are humorous but not enough to call it a comedy IMO. Still, a solid movie from beginning to end!

I just watched this a couple of days ago. It's a dark comedy, not a "laugh out loud" comedy. Though I felt there were some almost slapstick like moments in it.

Obviously it treaded on some more serious ground as well. However I wouldn't call it a straight up drama either, nor was it a war film. It doesn't really fit into any one genre. I really enjoyed it though.

[skylog]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I'm really interested in checking out more Indian films or films set in India. I only have The River (French Import) and The Darjeeling Limited I believe but I'm interrelated in getting the Satyajit Ray's films. Can anyone recommend great films set in India with beautiful cinematography?

not a film, but i enjoyed the documentary "the story of india." the blu-ray is not the best, picture-wise, but it is serviceable.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

I just watched this a couple of days ago. It's a dark comedy, not a "laugh out loud" comedy. Though I felt there were some almost slapstick like moments in it.

Obviously it treaded on some more serious ground as well. However I wouldn't call it a straight up drama either, nor was it a war film. It doesn't really fit into any one genre. I really enjoyed it though.

Wilder's Stalag 17 makes a fine double feature with Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion, because both movies are so adept at balancing "crowd pleaser" comedy moments with serious subject matter. There's a great sequence in La Grande Illusion when the prisoners are putting a play together where some of them are dressed as women for the roles, and there's a real brilliance to how the scene uses humor to underline the trauma felt by these men because of their isolation from the rest of the world. Stalag 17 achieves a similar balance throughout its story, and it drives home the idea that, even in our darkest moments, we can often find it in ourselves to smile and laugh at something.

I have to chuckle every time Robert Strauss's "Animal" appears onscreen during Stalag 17. What a great character...