The Criterion Collection

[spockzombie]

Originally Posted by Yami

Fantastic news: Criterion to release Orson Welles' Othello in Fall 2015!

Fantastic news indeed!!!

I know what I'll be getting first at next years 50% off Criterion BN sale.

[ShellOilJunior]

Seasons Greetings from the Bishop:

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

This current coupon has a specific code and can only be used once. The Black Friday coupon had the same code for everybody, and so you could use that one more than once (though, you weren't technically supposed to).

I used my 30% off code, in conjunction with my 10% off membership, to get Snowpiercer for $12, so I'm pretty happy.

Thanks, I figured that might be the case... saved me a trip back to BN at lunch today.


On a non-Criterion related note, I finally hit 1,000 posts last night. Took a long time, but pretty cool.

[The Great Owl]

The thread discussion compelled me to take advantage of the Barnes & Noble 40% off sale to purchase the last three John Ford films that I do not yet own on Blu-ray, since I probably will not find them at a cheaper price any time soon.

Fort Apache
The Horse Soldiers
The Sun Shines Bright

I plan to watch My Darling Clementine this weekend, and possibly some of my other holdouts in my unwatched stack (Rio Grande, How Green Was My Valley, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance).


I'm thinking that, in 2015, I might limit myself to $150 a month for Blu-ray purchases for several months. This will allow me to catch up on my still-unwatched Blu-ray stack, but also give me plenty of funds to buy limited-edition discs or priority movies.

[obscurelabel]

Originally Posted by Yami

Fantastic news: Criterion to release Orson Welles' Othello in Fall 2015!

It would really be wonderful if the original soundtrack would be included as an option. Since so much money and effort was spent by Beatrice Welles to do the new version that likely won't happen. It's not that the new version is all bad (I think it's very good in its own right), it just isn't Orson Welles's work. I remember seeing a feature on the new soundtrack (probably on the Image DVD) and their discussions of the limitations of the original, including sync problems with the dialog and lip movements. While this may very well have been due to the limited budget (as they stated), such mismatches are present in ALL of Welles's films, and I would contend that it is impossible to discount the possibility that this was an artistic choice of Welles.

Anyway, just on the basis of it being original it should be included. Have both, what are you afraid of

[ShellOilJunior]

Has anyone watched Welles' Don Quijote on Amazon? I'm curious to see it but am worried the PQ quality is going to be bad.

[Clare2904]

Daft question here, the Poll, I only answer using films connected to 2014?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Has anyone watched Welles' Don Quijote on Amazon? I'm curious to see it but am worried the PQ quality is going to be bad.

I have not seen it yet.

I've got the Olive Films Blu-ray of Orson Welles's Macbeth coming to me in the mail from Amazon, since I ordered it shortly after enjoying a rocking double feature of Roman Polanski's Macbeth and Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood a couple weeks back. Amazon sat on the order for a long while, for some reason, but it should be arriving any day now.

I've come to enjoy Welle's brand of overwrought performances, and I love my Blu-rays of The Third Man, Touch of Evil, The Lady from Shanghai, Jane Eyre, Citizen Kane, and The Stranger. I even don't mind his appearance in A Safe Place that much.

That said, I'm not really feeling F is For Fake right now, so that will probably wait until a future Criterion sale.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Clare2904

Daft question here, the Poll, I only answer using films connected to 2014?

Yes.

[Clare2904]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Yes.

Voted

I think I got it right, the difference between a release and new spine etc.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

1. How Green Was My Valley
2. The Searchers
3. Mogambo (why are people ignoring this one? is it because it's a remake?)
4. Fort Apache
5. Mary of Scotland (again, why is this overlooked?)

There are several more, and admittedly, I had issues narrowing down my top 5.

That's why people (well, me, anyway) are ignoring Mogambo and Mary of Scotland, and many, many other fine John Ford films. bwdowiak asked for a "Top 5", so I limited it to five.

Back in the day, when someone would ask what my Top Ten Westerns were, I had two lists: My Top Ten Westerns and My Top Ten Westerns Not Directed By John Ford.

[Rich Pure Doom]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

The thread discussion compelled me to take advantage of the Barnes & Noble 40% off sale to purchase the last three John Ford films that I do not yet own on Blu-ray, since I probably will not find them at a cheaper price any time soon.

Fort Apache
The Horse Soldiers
The Sun Shines Bright

I plan to watch My Darling Clementine this weekend, and possibly some of my other holdouts in my unwatched stack (Rio Grande, How Green Was My Valley, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance).


I'm thinking that, in 2015, I might limit myself to $150 a month for Blu-ray purchases for several months. This will allow me to catch up on my still-unwatched Blu-ray stack, but also give me plenty of funds to buy limited-edition discs or priority movies.

You certainly won't regret any of those three purchases.

[bwdowiak]

hey, thanks everyone for your enthusiastic replies about your favorite John Ford films. I definitely have a few that inched up to the top of my "to buy" list.

I might be wrong, but my perception is that John Ford isn't exactly a 'sexy' director. I never thought I'd consider myself a fan as I was one of those who would say, "I don't like westerns." good stuff, though, to be sure.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

hey, thanks everyone for your enthusiastic replies about your favorite John Ford films. I definitely have a few that inched up to the top of my "to buy" list.

I might be wrong, but my perception is that John Ford isn't exactly a 'sexy' director. I never thought I'd consider myself a fan as I was one of those who would say, "I don't like westerns." good stuff, though, to be sure.

I don't know, I think he's pretty sexy His collaborations with John Wayne will ensure that he isn't forgotten, although he did so much more in his career. Now, William Wyler, there's a guy who gets overlooked. Although he didn't have a distinctive style like Ford did, his canon of great films is as impressive as any Hollywood director. Bringing the subject back to Criterion, I really wish they would release The Heiress.

[Yami]

Ford's Pilgrimage doesn't get nearly as much attention as it should, in my opinion. I'd rate it as one of his very best. I don't really want to give anything away, but there's some beautiful Murnau-esque photography and it's a superb character study of a mother

[Show spoiler]and her journey as she comes to understand her culpability for her son's death

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I might be wrong, but my perception is that John Ford isn't exactly a 'sexy' director. I never thought I'd consider myself a fan as I was one of those who would say, "I don't like westerns." good stuff, though, to be sure.

I've always enjoyed a good western, but I particularly love watching them in high definition on Blu-ray. The wide open spaces of the landscapes look great in the format.

My jaw hit the floor the first time I saw The Searchers on Blu-ray.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I don't know, I think he's pretty sexy His collaborations with John Wayne will ensure that he isn't forgotten, although he did so much more in his career. Now, William Wyler, there's a guy who gets overlooked. Although he didn't have a distinctive style like Ford did, his canon of great films is as impressive as any Hollywood director. Bringing the subject back to Criterion, I really wish they would release The Heiress.

I had never heard of Wyler’s film The Big Country until I was browsing through titles at Fox Connect’s last 50% off sale. I couldn’t find anything I wanted to pair it with, so I held off. Looking forward to that blind buy, though, as the film has great reviews on this site and all over the web.

Here’s a deal that can’t be beat. At the next Fox sale (which I’m sure there’ll be one) I’ll get The Big Country and Ford’s Horse Soldiers for half off of $9.99/each, so 10 bucks for the two of them!! I love great deals about as much as I love great films, so I can’t wait.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I've always enjoyed a good western, but I particularly love watching them in high definition on Blu-ray. The wide open spaces of the landscapes look great in the format.

My jaw hit the floor the first time I saw The Searchers on Blu-ray.

mine hit the floor for How Green Was My Valley! stunning!

[Marlow27]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Somebody's going to have a sad, sad Christmas holiday.

(Sundays and Cybele is a wonderful movie, though.)

If you like it, then you should check out the Twilight Time Blu-ray of Rapture before it's gone. Sundays and Cybele and Rapture were both incredible blind buys for me.

In fact, I almost wrote in Sundays and Cybele as my favorite Criterion blind buy in the year-end poll, but ended up choosing Il Sorpasso instead. 2014 has been a great year.

I came really close to buying Sundays and Cybele as a blind buy during the last sale, but ended up choosing not to…however, after reading this sites wonderful bluray review of it, as well as a couple of others, I became even closer to buying it, and I think your post is the topper, and I'm gonna just go buy it, because it really does intrigue me very much!

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I had never heard of Wyler’s film The Big Country until I was browsing through titles at Fox Connect’s last 50% off sale. I couldn’t find anything I wanted to pair it with, so I held off. Looking forward to that blind buy, though, as the film has great reviews on this site and all over the web.

Here’s a deal that can’t be beat. At the next Fox sale (which I’m sure there’ll be one) I’ll get The Big Country and Ford’s Horse Soldiers for half off of $9.99/each, so 10 bucks for the two of them!! I love great deals about as much as I love great films, so I can’t wait.

The Horse Soldiers is also included in Fox's John Wayne Film Collection 7-disc box set. It's currently going for about $32 on Amazon but can be had for about $20 during Foxconnect's 50% off sale. Some good movies (The Big Trail), some not-so-good (The Longest Day), and some strange (The Barbarian and the Geisha) but a good deal overall.