The Criterion Collection

[jw007]

I had one amazing deal today at B&N. I bought 2 more Criterions: Breaking the Waves and...... Red River.

I used the $8/40 coupon on Red River and I got it for $14+tax (normally $49.99)! I also used a 15% coupon on Breaking the Waves (and still have a 20% coupon left that expires Sunday).

Last night I watched Breaking the Waves for the first time and I was so impressed that I just had to buy this today. It's phenomenally tragic and difficult to watch but I feel like this would be an important film to add to my movie library.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

Oh boy.

Yuck. This sounds gross.

I have not watched any Noé films, but my interest in changing that is almost non-existant. I've neither felt personally interested nor are they very well received by most of the critics and people that I follow closely.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by musick

only extremes with you and no middle ground


still sticking with this fictitious 19 minute scene, I guess you saw a version many of us haven't

The old "double it for effect" rule.

[blu-bry]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

I'm the same. Love Hulot/Tati, hate Bean. I know that Hulot is a cited reference on Bean, but I really don't see it. I think a lot of it has to do with the way that Hulot blends in to his world: the humour comes not from the character so much as the bigger canvas and his interactions with that, whereas I see Bean as little more than a gurning clown, not to mention the central figure in any Bean show.

I've also witnessed first hand just how tough a sell Tati can be with some audiences. I've screened his films a number of times to different people of different ages at different levels of academia, from university education to casual evening classism and his work always proves divisive. Pacing is the most common complaint, with Mon Oncle and Playtime particularly lengthy, for comedies at least, and quite unusual shapes, structurally.

I think that people who are sour on Tati should at least see Mon Oncle before closing the book on him. I enjoyed it more than Playtime. For some reason Playtime just didn't click with me.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by musick

still sticking with this fictitious 19 minute scene, I guess you saw a version many of us haven't

Time is relative.

To me it felt like 19 minutes. A total of 97 minutes I will never get back. I will never watch a film with multiple cautionary signs around the movie poster saying

NO REFUND

While many of you might indulge in Noé films, I will be watching some Ozu and Bresson films this weekend.

Again, to each his own

[blu-bry]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

While many of you might indulge in Noé films, I will be watching some Ozu and Bresson films this weekend.

Again, to each his own

Sounds very wise. Garbage in, garbage out.

[R o d]

Originally Posted by jw007

I recently had proclaimed Lars Von Trier as my least favorite director but I'm giving it another shot with him and I think its paying off.

Then you should also see Melancholia if you haven't already. Wonderfully evocative imagery with a compelling score that works beautifully with the dramatic themes of the film.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by blu-bry

I think that people who are sour on Tati should at least see Mon Oncle before closing the book on him. I enjoyed it more than Playtime. For some reason Playtime just didn't click with me.

I confess that, in general, Mon Oncle doesn't grab me the way his other films do. On the other hand, that water-spouting fish sculpture just cracks me up every time it's on screen.

[olivianewtonyawn]

Just watched Persona (along with all supplements) which was a blind buy for me and my first Bergman. Frankly, I felt like the film flew by. I could have watched a few more hours of this one. Really loved it.

What should my next Bergman be? Also, is Persona his best?

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by olivianewtonyawn

Just watched Persona (along with all supplements) which was a blind buy for me and my first Bergman. Frankly, I felt like the film flew by. I could have watched a few more hours of this one. Really loved it.

What should my next Bergman be? Also, is Persona his best?

I say watch the "Faith Trilogy." Winter Light is my absolute favorite Bergman.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by olivianewtonyawn

Just watched Persona (along with all supplements) which was a blind buy for me and my first Bergman. Frankly, I felt like the film flew by. I could have watched a few more hours of this one. Really loved it.

What should my next Bergman be? Also, is Persona his best?

My favourite is Fanny and Alexander.

[jayj15]

Originally Posted by olivianewtonyawn

Just watched Persona (along with all supplements) which was a blind buy for me and my first Bergman. Frankly, I felt like the film flew by. I could have watched a few more hours of this one. Really loved it.

What should my next Bergman be? Also, is Persona his best?

Seventh Seal or Wild Strawberries are my favorite.

[aes3728]

Originally Posted by olivianewtonyawn

Just watched Persona (along with all supplements) which was a blind buy for me and my first Bergman. Frankly, I felt like the film flew by. I could have watched a few more hours of this one. Really loved it.

What should my next Bergman be? Also, is Persona his best?

Wild Strawberries is my favorite

[Scottie]

I am in the process of watching Ali: Fear Eats The Soul, my first Fassbinder film, and I am enjoying it.

Am I wrong to assume that this is practically a remake of All That Heaven Allows, but with a different country and different standards?

[joie]

I've never thought there's anything special about a Criterion release. It's just one of the places a film goes to die. It may get a better casket, be made-up and costumed better than it might otherwise be, but did it look like that while it was alive?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using hunt-and-peck with a stylus.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by joie

I've never thought there's anything special about a Criterion release. It's just one of the places a film goes to die. It may get a better casket, be made-up and costumed better than it might otherwise be, but did it look like that while it was alive?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using hunt-and-peck with a stylus.

Oh how we all missed your nuggets of wisdom!

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I am in the process of watching Ali: Fear Eats The Soul, my first Fassbinder film, and I am enjoying it.

Am I wrong to assume that this is practically a remake of All That Heaven Allows, but with a different country and different standards?

http://www.criterion.com/films/152-a...-eats-the-soul

The wildly prolific German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder paid homage to his cinematic hero Douglas Sirk with this update of that filmmaker’s 1955 All That Heaven Allows. A lonely widow (Brigitte Mira) meets a much younger Arab worker (El Hedi ben Salem) in a bar during a rainstorm. They fall in love, to their own surprise—and to the outright shock of their families, colleagues, and drinking buddies. In Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, Fassbinder expertly uses the emotional power of classic Hollywood melodrama to expose the racial tensions underlying contemporary German culture.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by olivianewtonyawn

Just watched Persona (along with all supplements) which was a blind buy for me and my first Bergman. Frankly, I felt like the film flew by. I could have watched a few more hours of this one. Really loved it.

What should my next Bergman be? Also, is Persona his best?

To your last question, in my opinion, it is a strong yes.

Persona has all the features that make a Bergman film a Bergman film: a great psychological drama, cinematography by the master Sven Nykvist, Liv Ullmann, etc...

If you liked Persona, I am almost certain you would enjoy Hour of the Wolf. It has a similar style and atmosphere. It has not been released on blu-ray yet, hopefully in the near future. The Silence is another film that falls in the same vein.

There are many film masterpieces by Bergman. It really depends on the film content you want to see. Films about religious dilemmas (The Seventh Seal, Winter Light), epic family dramas (Fanny and Alexander or Through a Glass Darkly ), about aging (Wild Strawberries), marriage (Scenes from a Marriage).

Even what some people consider his lesser films, The Passion of Anna or The Serpent's Egg (with David Carradine) are great in my opinion.

You cannot go wrong with Bergman. Have fun exploring his filmography.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by joie

I've never thought there's anything special about a Criterion release. It's just one of the places a film goes to die.

You really think that? I think it is the complete opposite. It's where movies are given new life - Often completely resurrected from the dead.

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by joie

I've never thought there's anything special about a Criterion release. It's just one of the places a film goes to die. It may get a better casket, be made-up and costumed better than it might otherwise be, but did it look like that while it was alive?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using hunt-and-peck with a stylus.

Cause that makes sense.