The Criterion Collection

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

I would VERY, VERY strongly advise against Scanners, it's probably the most flawed of his early films. The lead performance is famously bland and the plot is a bit haphazard and it doesn't have the same thematic richness as all his other major pictures from Shivers through Naked Lunch. It seems like he got halfway through writing the script and then was told he had to film it before he could polish it. Ironically, I think that he actually was writing Videodrome as that was being filmed and that turned out amazingly.

The Fly is his biggest "hit" and is probably my favorite. It's more accessible than most of his other stuff, naturally, but it is VERY gruesome so be ready for that.

Videodrome is quite a bit more complex than The Fly plotwise, if you're fine with movies where reality is intentionally ambiguous then it's a fine starting point.

A History of Violence is the one that's probably the most accessible to mainstream audiences, it's far less disgusting than The Fly. I like it a fair amount, but I would rate it about in the middle of his catalog. It got great reviews when it came out but seems to have faded in the minds of Cronenberg fans over time. It might be a good starting point, though.

Dead Ringers has a lot of people who consider it his masterwork, it's where he really started getting away from goriness and horror. "Crash" also has quite a following of people who consider it his best - that one is famous for how much it offended people, it is extremely sexually explicit.

I'd highly recommend The Dead Zone, but that one is SO accessible that it barely feels like a Cronenberg movie. It's one of my favorite horror movies of the 80s, though.

Ones to avoid at first would be Map to the Stars (yuck), Cosmopolis (INCREDIBLY divisive), Shivers/Rabid (I love both, but they are a bit less mature than later ones), The Brood (if you're not a big horror fan you might want to be careful with this one, but it's a big step up in quality and thematic richness from Shivers/Rabid), A Dangerous Method/Spider/Eastern Promises (not Cronenbergy enough), M Butterfly (widely considered his weakest, it's alright), Scanners (I have watched this 5 or 6 times now and still don't understand how it can be considered anything other than one of his worst movies), and probably Naked Lunch, which is good but pretty wild and fairly non-essential in the grand scheme of his catalog.

I loved the performances in MAP TO THE STARS, my main issue was the poor fire special effects lol

[Polaroid]

Grrr

B&N has shipped 2/8 items.

I asked to have them grouped... god I swear fi they decide to hit me with customs charge son each package I'll be mad lol.

Or I will just refuse to pay and have them returned to sender and make them lose a few quid on delivery >.>.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Grrr

B&N has shipped 2/8 items.

I asked to have them grouped...

Yes, I hate it when they do that.
Maybe it's because they don't have stock of certain blurays? I don't understand.
In the last Criterion sale in August, the last Bluray of my order was shipped 1 month (!!!!) after the first had shipped!

My order of 4 Blurays came in 3 seperate packages (2 + 1 + 1).
Maybe they do that because if a package is lost, they will need to substitute less.
Imagine eg. if a package with 20 Blurays is lost.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Yes, I hate it when they do that.
Maybe it's because they don't have stock of certain blurays? I don't understand.
In the last Criterion sale in August, the last Bluray of my order was shipped 1 month (!!!!) after the first had shipped!

My order of 4 Blurays came in 3 seperate packages (2 + 1 + 1).
Maybe they do that because if a package is lost, they will need to substitute less.
Imagine eg. if a package with 20 Blurays is lost.

I blame all the Americans here :P they all have easy access to B&N sale and probably thought.. hmm lets annoy the British collectors :P

I kid of course, but yeah its annoying when they delay it so long. Blowitoutthere can be slow for us Brits too... best company was DvdWorldUSA which ship preorders upto 2 weeks early to us in UK! :O

[Sifox211]

In the last sale I made three orders of five titles each (no boxsets). In the end they shipped thirteen packages (several on the same day)! At least for eleven titles I had no risk of customs.

[filmmusic]

Just submitted my order.
unfortunately only 2 releases since I want to spend money in other non-Criterion Blurays too.

Got:
-The Man Who knew too much (blind buy, but I have watched the remake, and want to collect all Hitchcock films)
-Three Colors Trilogy (Blanc is a blind buy. i was concerned about this due to the Blue framing issue, but since a corrected release doesn't seem to be out, I thought to buy it in the end. Hope I don't see a new announcement now for a new release! )
Also hope I receive a pack with the corrected Blanc disc.
it should be like this, right?

[CriterionBlues]

Originally Posted by Gusto-Guus

Where do you keep them all? Mind sharing a picture?

Right now they are spread out among about 4-5 different shelving units. We're working on a new one to put in my "film geek man cave" but that still has a ways to go. It's not the shelving, but the TV and all that stuff. I'll share pictures of that when it is finished.

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Grrr

B&N has shipped 2/8 items.

I asked to have them grouped... god I swear fi they decide to hit me with customs charge son each package I'll be mad lol.

Or I will just refuse to pay and have them returned to sender and make them lose a few quid on delivery >.>.

I think that's done because they're shipping from different warehouses.

[SkyAntoine]

After BN cancelled my eBay order of four Zatoichi sets and one Les Blank set, I sent them a message...

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

Dear barnesandnobleinc,

This is very frustrating to have multiple orders canceled with no explanation. Are you going to refund the time I put into viewing your listings last night, too? Not happy...

The response I got from them just now...

Originally Posted by barnesandnobleinc

Thank you for your email regarding

“Les Blank: Always for Pleasure' (Blu-ray Disc, 2014, 3-Disc Set, Criterion...
Item number:351574891027

Due to our aggressive pricing on eBay, we quickly sold through the available inventory we had for the item referenced above and caused the cancellation of this order.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

We value your patronage, and it is disconcerting to hear of your disappointment. We hope that you will allow us the opportunity to serve you in the future.

- barnesandnobleinc

Yeah, right. Why not just say, "We messed up big time and had to cancel."
I'll show them...I'm not giving them $7.50 for Red Balloon this 50% sale!

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

After BN cancelled my eBay order of four Zatoichi sets and one Les Blank set, I sent them a message...


The response I got from them just now...


Yeah, right. Why not just say, "We messed up big time and had to cancel."
I'll show them...I'm not giving them $7.50 for Red Balloon this 50% sale!

well, it seems some people are getting theirs, so their explanation may be true.

regardless, I have found that B&N will bend over backwards to make their customers happy.

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

well, it seems some people are getting theirs, so their explanation may be true.



regardless, I have found that B&N will bend over backwards to make their customers happy.

Are people getting Zatoichi? I was one of the first ones in. I think they had only sold 4 when I placed my order.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

After BN cancelled my eBay order of four Zatoichi sets and one Les Blank set, I sent them a message...


The response I got from them just now...


Yeah, right. Why not just say, "We messed up big time and had to cancel."
I'll show them...I'm not giving them $7.50 for Red Balloon this 50% sale!

I didn't realize that they were canceling orders. I wonder if it was the multiple copies of the same item that did it?

I feel a little bad that my order shipped.

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I didn't realize that they were canceling orders. I wonder if it was the multiple copies of the same item that did it?

I feel a little bad that my order shipped.

Did you get Zatoichi or other box sets? My Berlin Alexanderplatz was the only one that shipped.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

Are people getting Zatoichi? I was one of the first ones in. I think they had only sold 4 when I placed my order.

They cancelled mine, too, and I was won of the first 10 to purchase that title. I had also ordered the Jacques Demy box set and the David Lean / Noel Coward set, and those were cancelled as well.

The only items that they haven't cancelled were the Martin Scorsese World Cinema set and the Les Blank set ... but since they haven't shipped those yet, I'm honestly not expecting that I'll receive them. Ah, well ... at least my local store takes care of me.

[Dr_Bedlo]

I was on the fence about the Les Blank blu-ray. I decided to take a shot at it since it was down to $29.99. It seems to have shipped, now I'm really looking forward to watching it when it arrives.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

Did you get Zatoichi or other box sets? My Berlin Alexanderplatz was the only one that shipped.

I picked up Alexanderplatz and the Paul Robeson set (no one else must buy this because it's been oop forever and B&N always has stock) and both shipped.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Something like this.

01. L'Avventura
02. Chungking Express
03. La Dolce Vita
04. Fanny and Alexander
05. The Great Beauty
06. In the Mood for Love
07. Modern Times
08. Mulholland Drive
09. Tokyo Story
10. Y Tu Mamá También

The Double Life of Veronique isn't even in your top ten?

I thought that was one of your favorite films?

...I thought you were some sort of Kieslowski super fan?

[Ray Jackson]

Some of you seem to be obsessed with this Zatoichi set.

Is it really that good?

I like the Lone Wolf and Cub series.

...is it better than Lone Wolf and Cub?

[Polaroid]

My lovely new pictures

I also have a Judex one in my dining room but too lazy to take a pic

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

The Double Life of Veronique isn't even in your top ten?

I thought that was one of your favorite films?

...I thought you were some sort of Kieslowski super fan?

I was going to say the exact same thing lol!

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

The Double Life of Veronique isn't even in your top ten?

I thought that was one of your favorite films?

...I thought you were some sort of Kieslowski super fan?

It is one of my favorite films...

...But so are the others.