The Criterion Collection

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Well ... that would be something completely different, wouldn't it?

Terrifying is the first word that enters my mind although Slim did save us from a Martian invasion.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jayembee

It is a captivating film. I have the laserdisc that was released by Image/Kino. As far as I know, neither Kino nor anyone else ever released it in the US on DVD.

Another must-see film from the same director, Tian Zhuangzhuang, is The Blue Kite, released on DVD by Kino -- still in print; I'd love for Kino to upgrade it to Blu. It's remarkable on its own, but even better as part of a triple feature with Chen Kai-ge's Farewell My Concubine and Zhang Yi-mou's To Live in showing life under China's Cultural Revolution in the 60s (though each film begins a ways before that).

I sent a PM to the Kino rep who posts in the Kino thread about these two titles. He said they lost the rights to Horse Thief before they started releasing DVDs, and he thinks they've lost the rights to The Blue Kite as well (I was assuming they still had the rights, and the DVD was still in print, since one can still buy it directly from Kino). But he'd pass the suggestion about a Blu-ray release up the line.

[CriterionBlues]

Originally Posted by bright75

I'm not up to speed on licensing and rumours as much as most of you. So I ask, any reason for me to be optimistic that Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner will be a Criterion release at some point? Flat out love the movie, don't have a region free player for the UK blu which has some nice extras.

I would wager that Criterion has the rights to put it out, plus there is a phantom page for Tony Richardson. Although that is more likely for A Taste of Honey in the near future since it was hinted.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by mja345

Of the Stillman trilogy, I'd personally rank them

1) Barcelona
2) Metropolitan
3) Last Days of Disco

And "The Last Days of Disco" would be a distant third for me. "Barcelona" is an absolutely fantastic film.

I agree with you word for word.

[theater dreamer]

These past few days, I've been exploring a lot of the films within the Collection that I've not paid as much attention to thus far, and I keep finding works that speak to me. The latest revelations are Ernst Lubitschs' To Be of Not To Be, Götz Spielmann's Revanche, and Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast. I'm having a hell of a time narrowing down my order right now. I have seven or eight Criterions I want to buy tonight; Belle de jour is locked in, 3 Women, Day For Night, Kwaidan, Wings of Desire and Autumn Sonata have me hypnotized, and they're all jockeying for position like race car drivers at the start of 24 Heures du Mans. And don't get me started on the documentaries that I'm wanting; they'll have to wait until next month, unfortunately. Yet, I also want several from Kino Lorber, including The Blue Angel, Sherlock Jr/Three Ages, and Battleship Potemkin, as well as a slew or films from Warner Brothers, namely Out of the Past, Key Largo, The Petrified Forest, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and The Wrong Man.

You know what, gang? Self-imposed budgets suck balls! But, I digress. Moving right along...

I love black humor. I really do. Unfortunately, we've become so politically correct in America, laughing at taboo subjects has become an anathema. We are so uptight when it comes to things like sexuality, and the human body. So, when I came upon the 3 Reasons for To Be or Not To Be, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was a sadness knowing that the film represented Carole Lombard's final performance, sure, but that was tempered by the knowledge that she went out in high style. I hesitate to ask this, but how many of you have seen/own this Criterion release, and is it as great as it looks? Jack Benny and Carole Lombard seems to be a match made in screwball heaven.

Lubitsch's work preceded Mel Brooks' The Producers by twenty-five years, and that was made after the war was over. Spoofing Hitler, and Nazi Germany while World War II was still ongoing took incredible nerve. And, understandably, a lot of people were horrified. But how better to live with the knowledge of what happened in Europe than to laugh at, and thereby diminish the monster who set that chain of events in motion? Some would rather not discuss the Holocaust at all. I understand that the subject is exceedingly difficult to broach, even now. I have family that immigrated from Poland to the United States, and I also have German lineage. But, it's my opinion that the worse thing that we could ever do is pretend as if those millions of innocent men, women and children never existed.

I am working up the courage to buy Shoah, and will do so either at the next Barnes & Noble 50% off sale, or when Criterion does their next Flash sale.

[theater dreamer]

Oh, one more thing. I'd like to gauge the amount of interest some of you might have in a monthly in-depth discussion of films within the Criterion Collection. I've been mulling this over for a while, now, and since I have the time, and will for the foreseeable future, I'd like to host these discussions. I finished Roger Ebert's Awake in the Dark a few nights ago (and have proceeded to devour François Truffaut's Hitchcock: A Definitive Study of Alfred Hitchcock), and reading about how he used to host similar discussions at film festivals has intrigued me. We won't be able to partake in a frame-by-frame analysis of great films like he did, but Ebert lamented the end of the campus film societies. I would love to rekindle this kind of analysis on our forum.

Basically, I'd start a sister thread, and it would function exclusively as an open forum, if you will, for talking about pre-selected films. I would announce two films per month, spaced out two weeks apart, allowing everybody interested to either purchase or rent the film, watch it, and compose their thoughts for our discussion. I'd like to stick to the films available on Hulu Plus, for the most part, as it would help to keep the costs down, thereby encouraging more people to join us. This would also allow us to include films that have not yet been released on Blu-ray.

We can work out the particulars, but I'd like to know if any of you are interested in doing this? You can post something here, or send me a private message with any thoughts/suggestions you may have.

Thank you!

Bill

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Oh, one more thing. I'd like to gauge the amount of interest some of you might have in a monthly in-depth discussion of films within the Criterion Collection. I've been mulling this over for a while, now, and since I have the time, and will for the foreseeable future, I'd like to host these discussions. I finished Roger Ebert's Awake in the Dark a few nights ago (and have proceeded to devour François Truffaut's Hitchcock: A Definitive Study of Alfred Hitchcock), and reading about how he used to host similar discussions at film festivals has intrigued me. We won't be able to partake in a frame-by-frame analysis of great films like he did, but Ebert lamented the end of the campus film societies. I would love to rekindle this kind of analysis on our forum.

Basically, I'd start a sister thread, and it would function exclusively as an open forum, if you will, for talking about pre-selected films. I would announce two films per month, spaced out two weeks apart, allowing everybody interested to either purchase or rent the film, watch it, and compose their thoughts for our discussion. I'd like to stick to the films available on Hulu Plus, for the most part, as it would help to keep the costs down, thereby encouraging more people to join us. This would also allow us to include films that have not yet been released on Blu-ray.

We can work out the particulars, but I'd like to know if any of you are interested in doing this? You can post something here, or send me a private message with any thoughts/suggestions you may have.

Thank you!

Bill

It's a fun idea, but, sadly, it's been attempted here before a handful of times over the past two or three years*, and the routine falls dead after a few weeks.

It might just be that there's a difference between us individually deciding, often on the spur of the moment (at least in my case), on which movie to watch from one day to the next, versus feeling obligated, in a "homeworky" sense, to watch a particular movie for the purposes of a thread discussion.

I really do decide on the spur-of-the-moment a lot of the time. I'll plan to watch something highbrow on the Criterion or Cohen label tomorrow night, for example, but, when I get home from work, I change my mind. "Ahhhh...no...I'm going to watch Invasion USA instead."

* I just now realized, while writing the first sentence of this post, that I've been on Blu-ray.com for over three years now. Whoa...

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

It's a fun idea, but, sadly, it's been attempted here before a handful of times over the past two or three years*, and the routine falls dead after a few weeks.

It might just be that there's a difference between us individually deciding, often on the spur of the moment (at least in my case), on which movie to watch from one day to the next, versus feeling obligated, in a "homeworky" sense, to watch a particular movie for the purposes of a thread discussion.

I really do decide on the spur-of-the-moment a lot of the time. I'll plan to watch something highbrow on the Criterion or Cohen label tomorrow night, for example, but, when I get home from work, I change my mind. "Ahhhh...no...I'm going to watch Invasion USA instead."

* I just now realized, while writing the first sentence of this post, that I've been on Blu-ray.com for over three years now. Whoa...

Well, I have absolutely nothing against trying something again. Just because it didn't work before doesn't mean it won't work this time.

Believe me: I'm a golfer. If I didn't have this state of mind, I would have given up years ago.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Lubitsch's work preceded Mel Brooks' The Producers by twenty-five years, and that was made after the war was over. Spoofing Hitler, and Nazi Germany while World War II was still ongoing took incredible nerve. And, understandably, a lot of people were horrified. But how better to live with the knowledge of what happened in Europe than to laugh at, and thereby diminish the monster who set that chain of events in motion?

Well, it's not like Lubitsch was the first to spoof Hitler. In 1940, there were two I can think of. First in production was Chaplin's The Great Dictator. First in release was the Three Stooges short, "You Natzy Spy!", which had a "sequel" the following year, "I'll Never Heil Again".

Anyway, if anything, it was even nervier for films like these to be made before the US entered WWII, as there was a significant mood of isolationism in this country at the time, and movies like these were seen as pro-war propaganda.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

To be honest, most of the comedy that I've enjoyed -- as I'm not a huge comedy fan -- is modern, or relatively modern anyways. I haven't seen many older comedies, though I've definitely seen some great Cary Grant comedies. His Girl Friday is one of the funniest films I've ever seen, for example. The writing in that movie -- holy cow. You practically need to be on an adrenaline drug to keep up!

I'm the opposite, at least in one way. I say that I'm not a fan of comedy, but it's generally in the context of current or relatively recent movies and TV sitcoms. I love comedies from the Golden Age of Hollywood (His Girl Friday is a perfect example; Bringing Up Baby is another). Modern comedies I find to be largely off-putting; notable exceptions being the Coens and Woody Allen.

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Well, it's not like Lubitsch was the first to spoof Hitler. In 1940, there were two I can think of. First in production was Chaplin's The Great Dictator. First in release was the Three Stooges short, "You Natzy Spy!", which had a "sequel" the following year, "I'll Never Heil Again".

Anyway, if anything, it was even nervier for films like these to be made before the US entered WWII, as there was a significant mood of isolationism in this country at the time, and movies like these were seen as pro-war propaganda.

I agree with you, to a point. Morale might have been low, but I wonder how much Americans really knew about what was going on in Europe at the time. They were aware of the fighting, but were they aware of the genocide taking place at the hands of the Nazis that early? Also, it stands to reason that filming on To Be Or Not To Be was already underway before we entered the war. While we were supplying our allies in Europe with planes, munitions, etc from early on in the war, our own military didn't get into the fight, of course, until the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Carole Lombard died in a plane crash on January 16th, 1942, just five weeks after the attack on Pearl. While a screwball comedy wouldn't have nearly the shooting schedule that an epic film of that era would, I have to believe that it took more than four weeks to do the entire film, from script approval and pre-production, to shooting and final editing/re-shoots.

[SammyJankis]

I'll have to echo shadedpain's notion and say that Brighter Summer Day will probably be my release of the year. I won't even bother discussing it so soon after my viewing. There's so much to unpack from its domino effect of a story. There isn't a wasted minute. One thing I will say, after seeing three of Yang's films, I remain in awe at how successfully he uses composition. I don't recall him ever using an establishing shot. He transitions from sequence to sequence, always contributing to every little thread while being immaculately framed.

Watched the interview with Chen Chang, which gave me more of a proper insight into Yang's way of working. Anxious to watch the documentary tomorrow.

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

I'll have to echo shadedpain's notion that Brighter Summer Day will be my release of the year. I won't even bother discussing it so soon after my viewing. There's so much to unpack from its domino effect of a story. There isn't a wasted minute. One thing I will say, after seeing three of Yang's films, I remain in awe at how successfully he uses composition. I don't recall him ever using an establishing shot. He transitions from sequence to sequence, always contributing to every little thread while being immaculately framed.

Watched the interview with Chen Chang, which gave me more of a proper insight into Yang's way of working. Anxious to watch the documentary tomorrow.

Interesting. This is Edward Yang's work, so I'll have to add that to my list of films to buy.

I wonder if this will be added to Hulu?

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

I'll have to echo shadedpain's notion and say that Brighter Summer Day will probably be my release of the year. I won't even bother discussing it so soon after my viewing. There's so much to unpack from its domino effect of a story. There isn't a wasted minute. One thing I will say, after seeing three of Yang's films, I remain in awe at how successfully he uses composition. I don't recall him ever using an establishing shot. He transitions from sequence to sequence, always contributing to every little thread while being immaculately framed.

Watched the interview with Chen Chang, which gave me more of a proper insight into Yang's way of working. Anxious to watch the documentary tomorrow.

I'm really itching to watch my copy. However, I don't know when I'll have time to sit for four straight hours and watch it straight through.

[theater dreamer]

While I'm narrowing down my order for tonight, do any of our regulars here have an opinion on Erik Skjoldbjærg's Insomnia? It's not on Hulu, so I can't watch it before buying (I mean, I could rent it, but why?) I love Stellan Skarsgård's work, though I've long felt he was a tad underutilized by American directors. The man has immense range, so I guess I'm looking to find work that's a little more up to his capabilities as an actor. And, the description lists this as "one of his greatest performances." Accurate?

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

While I'm narrowing down my order for tonight, do any of our regulars here have an opinion on Erik Skjoldbjærg's Insomnia? It's not on Hulu, so I can't watch it before buying (I mean, I could rent it, but why?) I love Stellan Skarsgård's work, though I've long felt he was a tad underutilized by American directors. The man has immense range, so I guess I'm looking to find work that's a little more up to his capabilities as an actor. And, the description lists this as "one of his greatest performances." Accurate?

It's a very good movie. I've seen countless Skargård films and I'd argue that it's one of his best performances.

I saw the after I had seen the American remake by Christopher Nolan and it was night and day difference in terms of atmosphere and mood. Furthermore, the final image is one of the most haunting I've seen in contemporary cinema.

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by iScottie

It's a very good movie. I've seen countless Skargård films and I'd argue that it's one of his best performances.

I saw the after I had seen the American remake by Christopher Nolan and it was night and day difference in terms of atmosphere and mood. Furthermore, the final image is one of the most haunting I've seen in contemporary cinema.

Thanks, Scottie. I'll add that to my list.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

While I'm narrowing down my order for tonight, do any of our regulars here have an opinion on Erik Skjoldbjærg's Insomnia? It's not on Hulu, so I can't watch it before buying (I mean, I could rent it, but why?) I love Stellan Skarsgård's work, though I've long felt he was a tad underutilized by American directors. The man has immense range, so I guess I'm looking to find work that's a little more up to his capabilities as an actor. And, the description lists this as "one of his greatest performances." Accurate?

I think its a fantastic film, but my heart still goes with Chris Nolan's remake starring Al Pacino. There's just something about the style of Nolan's films that I find just a tad more superior to Skjoldbjærg (but he's a fine director too). Have you seen the remake too, Bill?

By the way, I wanted to weigh in real quickly on the political correctness debate... I agree with you that people in the USA are more "PC" than ever. But to throw a pun in there, I've always been too MAC.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by iScottie

It's a very good movie. I've seen countless Skargård films and I'd argue that it's one of his best performances.

I saw the after I had seen the American remake by Christopher Nolan and it was night and day difference in terms of atmosphere and mood. Furthermore, the final image is one of the most haunting I've seen in contemporary cinema.

Hmm.

I thought the Nolan version was actually superior.

Now, maybe that's because I'm a Nolan-ite. Maybe it's because I just liked the look of it better. I honestly can't tell you. And trust me, I am no huge post-GF2 Pacino fan.

You know what I think it is? I'm a very big Wally Pfister fan. So that was probably a big part of it.


EDIT: Ninja'd AGAIN by jw007 -- dammit!@

[belcherman]

Can we get back to talking about movies?