The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Fascinating read on the films Douglas is most proud of:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kirk-d...b_6290742.html

That was a great read.

It's a shame not to see Out of the Past on there, since that's my personal all-time favorite, but the films on the list that I've seen are all spot-on.

I'm never going to rest easy until Criterion or somebody else picks up Lonely Are the Brave as a Blu-ray title. It's such a strangely charismatic, yet bleak, masterpiece.

[ShellOilJunior]

I can't complain too much about cover art with the year Criterion had in 2014.

I won't single out a few releases (because I'll undoubtedly leave out so many great films) but 2014 was a GREAT year for releases!

[The Great Owl]

I picked up the Criterion Blu-ray of Tootsie at Barnes & Noble for only $12. Not bad at all.

I used the 40% off sale in conjunction with my membership discount and a $10 gift card.

I'm looking forward to getting into this one in a few days. I have to watch the last two films in The Omen Trilogy first.


While I was waiting in line at Barnes & Noble, I spotted the new disc-only edition of Batman: The Complete Series, and had to ponder for a good minute or so about whether or not to pull the trigger. I decided not to, mostly because of finances, but also because WB has yet to implement a disc-replacement policy for the defects listed on the site review here. My obsession with Julie Newmar's Catwoman and my eagerness to see Vincent Price in a TV series will have to be put on hold for a while to come.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I picked up the Criterion Blu-ray of Tootsie for only $12. Not bad at all.

I used the 40% off sale in conjunction with my membership discount and a $10 gift card.

I'm looking forward to getting into this one in a few days. I have to watch the last two films in The Omen Trilogy first.

Is Tootsie a good blind buy, if you want something fun that you can sit back to and just indulge on? Not really got many Criterion I can do that with, Last Days of Disco is like that... just sit back and just relax without having to over think every scene lol

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I can't complain too much about cover art with the year Criterion had in 2014.

I won't single out a few releases (because I'll undoubtedly leave out so many great films) but 2014 was a GREAT year for releases!

We've had an amazing year and I am so grateful I just wish they kept with DF tbh, even if they used those new 3 disc cases lol....

[ijustblumyself]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

What are some great 'life changing' films in collection? This will obviously be a bit personal and vary - just want to see more films that make you think, and question yourself and your life, I know it sounds corny but oh well :P

It's hard to explain, but like something that questions everything you believe and makes you see things on a different scale...

I'm not looking for a list of your fave films in collection, but something more than that, even if its just one film . Even if its a certain scene form a film, let me know which or post a clip!

Will be exciting to see what people suggest!

Red, Solaris, Nashville and Fanny and Alexander all made me think about the way people interact and the way the world works in different ways. There are some films in the collection that I think are better, but these are the ones that affected me in the way you speak of!

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by ijustblumyself

Red, Solaris, Nashville and Fanny and Alexander all made me think about the way people interact and the way the world works in different ways. There are some films in the collection that I think are better, but these are the ones that affected me in the way you speak of!

Solaris is incredible, it definitely requires patience and time though I think any Tarkovsky can be considered important and change the way we see things to be honest!

That reminds me I need to finish Nashville, I started to watch but had to rush out so had to stop! >.<

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Is Tootsie a good blind buy, if you want something fun that you can sit back to and just indulge on? Not really got many Criterion I can do that with, Last Days of Disco is like that... just sit back and just relax without having to over think every scene lol

To my extreme discredit, I have not yet seen Tootsie. I've always heard great things, though, and I have fond memories of the movie's time of release. Tootsie was insanely popular back in the day during my childhood, and it stayed at the small local theater for at least a couple of months. I remember seeing the movie ads in the paper and thinking, "Tootsie is still playing here?"

I have a craving for most things 1980s, and Tootsie will hit that sweet spot.

The Zatoichi box set and the DVD of Wait Until Dark are probably the best blind buys of all time, methinks.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

To my extreme discredit, I have not yet seen Tootsie. I've always heard great things, though, and I have fond memories of the movie's time of release. Tootsie was insanely popular back in the day during my childhood, and it stayed at the small local theater for at least a couple of months. I remember seeing the movie ads in the paper and thinking, "Tootsie is still playing here?"

I have a craving for most things 1980s, and Tootsie will hit that sweet spot.

The Zatoichi box set and the DVD of Wait Until Dark are probably the best blind buys of all time, methinks.

Ah ok I wish I could get the nostaglic feeling from Tootsie but never saw when I was young sadly, it certainly looks fun lol! I tend to watch a lot of cheese films for nostalgia reasons, such a guilty pleasure! I even started to watch the first pokemon the other day and my god its an incredible feeling lol, even if they subject is pretty bad lol!

100% agree on Zatoichi, its an INCREDIBLE set, you don't just get these incredible films, but you get beautiful packaging and so much stunning artwork included in it - it hits all the senses and definitely gets you in the mood! The price is pretty incredible too for what you are getting!

Some of my all time fave blind buys are:

The Innocents
Marketa Lazarova
The Double Life of Veronique

[atlantajoseph]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

What are some great 'life changing' films in collection?

Everything I've seen from Ingmar Bergman's oeuvre from The Seventh Seal forward has moved the earth under my feet.

If we're including work not in the Collection but by one of its directors, LVT's Melancholia was a revelation.

[atlantajoseph]

... and Nights of Cabiria.

... and The Times of Harvey Milk.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

What are some great 'life changing' films in collection? This will obviously be a bit personal and vary - just want to see more films that make you think, and question yourself and your life, I know it sounds corny but oh well

It's hard to explain, but like something that questions everything you believe and makes you see things on a different scale...

I'm not looking for a list of your fave films in collection, but something more than that, even if its just one film . Even if its a certain scene form a film, let me know which or post a clip!

Will be exciting to see what people suggest!

Jean-Pierre Melville's Army of Shadows is the first "life-changing" title that comes to mind.

Army of Shadows is my favorite war film, it's my favorite Blu-ray in the Criterion Collection, and it's one of my all-time top 10 films of all time in general. Although the question of what constitutes a "life-changing" film is not necessarily reflective of one's favorite cinema, I hold this title in such high regard because it did leave a notable mark on my psyche.

The reason is that Army of Shadows is the most patriotic film that I have ever seen, and that, perhaps more than Casablanca or many other films set in World War II, it conveys the willingness that people of that time had to surrendering their lives as mere cogs in a wheel in a fight against evil. The characters in Army of Shadows are based on real figures of the French Resistance who probably knew that their individual existences were doomed, but that any efforts to hinder the Nazi threat were worth the risk.

I am always reminded of two great quotes...

"The only necessity for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

"We did not inherit this world from our ancestors. We are borrowing it from our descendants."

Army of Shadows captures that spirit of sacrifice amazingly well, and I tend to think of it whenever I want to complain about the comparably low salaries of environmental protection workers like myself.

Jean-Pierre Melville's Léon Morin, Priest is also adept at conveying the same themes.

These films did not compel me to question my beliefs, per se, but they did open my eyes further to the notion that the needs of the many are greater than my own needs.

[atlantajoseph]

Wow, great case for Army of Shadows Great Owl... will have to revisit that one soon.

[toddly6666]

I hope Criterion releases one more to complete the trilogy after Thin Red Line and Thin Blue Line.

[nondiatonic]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

What are some great 'life changing' films in collection? [...]

Tokyo Story made me reexamine my relationship with my family (specifically my elders), and it gave me a perspective on how parents and grandparents feel about the time they have with their (grand)children

[Show spoiler](especially as they start to think about their own mortality).

Taste of Cherry deeply affected me with its reflection on the gift of life

[Show spoiler] and the choice to live regardless of circumstance.

Short Cuts simply enriched my life.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Cries and Whispers artwork also looks like this XD

Considering Bergman's film came out in 1972, and has numerous shots in the film that are exactly what Criterion used for the cover, I'd say these other films look like Bergman, and not the other way around. The film also has white titles that match the cover, so, again, Bergman did it first.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by nondiatonic

Tokyo Story made me reexamine my relationship with my family (specifically my elders), and it gave me a perspective on how parents and grandparents feel about the time they have with their (grand)childen

[Show spoiler](especially as they start to think about their own mortality).

Tokyo Story had a profound impact on me as well for many of the same reasons.

[belcherman]

Add me to the list of folks who are underwhelmed by the cover art for Cries aind Whispers. Not only is it uninspired graphically, it's not really representative of the film. The head shot on the cover would lead you to believe that there is only one main character (as in Safe) when it's more of an ensemble piece. It's not like there isn't better art out there.



or this:



Cries and Whispers may be the worst Criterion cover of 2015 (I know it's early, but I don't see how they can beat it).

As for 2014, my vote for worst cover art goes to The Big Chill. My vote for best cover for 2014 goes to the Tati box.

[bugsy_pal]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

That was a great read.

It's a shame not to see Out of the Past on there, since that's my personal all-time favorite, but the films on the list that I've seen are all spot-on.

I'm never going to rest easy until Criterion or somebody else picks up Lonely Are the Brave as a Blu-ray title. It's such a strangely charismatic, yet bleak, masterpiece.

Agree with you re Lonely Are the Brave - I have the German bluray and it's pretty good. The film deserves to be seen in the best possible quality.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by belcherman

As for 2014, my vote for worst cover art goes to The Big Chill.

The cover art for The Big Chill looks like one of those preppy clothing ads that were so ubiquitous in the early 1980s, and it seems to me that this is probably part of the point. When those characters were younger, they probably never in a million years imagined that they would look or dress like that when they grew up.

Slightly on the subject...

If any of you think that the soundtrack to The Big Chill is blandly generic, then check out the songs on Guardians of the Galaxy. The soundtrack to that Marvel film makes The Big Chill look like the most edgy collection of songs ever put together on record. Guardians of the Galaxy is an awesomely fun and engaging film in so many ways, but that soundtrack...

[bugsy_pal]

Originally Posted by jw007

What would you say is your favorite documentary film?

My top 5 FAVORITE documentaries are:

1. Dark Days (amazing and original documentary of homeless people living in the subway tunnels underneath NYC)
2. Mule Skinner Blues (the first time I saw this hilarious documentary film I couldn't stop laughing at times. It's total entertainment)
3. Supersize Me (guilty pleasure and highly entertaining, plus the dangers of fast food is well documented here)
4. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (a fascinating story about a famous Japanese sushi chef and his dedicated, upscale clientele)
5. Nostalgia for the Light (beautifully photographed and moving, poignant story on Chilean political prisoners)

A couple of my faves:

Hearts of Darkness (on the making of Apocalypse Now)
Burden of Dreams
Wonders of the Solar System / Universe / Life (BBC)