The Criterion Collection

[Gambit1138]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

So I'm late, but both Arrow and Criterion are releasing Bergman's The Serpent's Egg (1977)??

Yep. It's a truly strange happenstance. Maybe Criterion only has the rights to release it in the box set, but not as a standalone?

[Tobydammit]

Panique is a masterpiece, and Duvivier is cinema's forgotten giant. He was a colossus who mastered almost every genre in a very long and prolific career, starting with some astonishing silent films. See it especially if you like noir. Duvivier was Jean Renoir's favourite director, equally admired by others including Welles and, yes, even Speilberg who studied and copied the master's 'human touch' in such classics as 'Poil de Carotte'.

[willtopower]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

So I'm late, but both Arrow and Criterion are releasing Bergman's The Serpent's Egg (1977)??

I'm glad someone with your credibility asked because I thought I was completely missing something here.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by dkelly26666

Every single video or article now has threads of people slamming the crap out of John Lennon. The most irritating of all is the John Lennon Official Facebook Page. Every single post is trolled to hell and back with Lennon-hate. I don't know why those people "Like" and follow the page to begin with, other than to troll. I stopped following it because I was sick of it. I don't know why the admins of that page allow all of that. It's making real fans stop going there. Any article on Yahoo or anything like that about Lennon also gets filled with hate comments. It's weird because all of this just started in the past year or two. Apparently, it's becoming a thing to dismiss Brando, too.

well, I suppose if someone is going to troll, shoot for the stars.. go after something or someone that is pretty much universally loved.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

well, I suppose if someone is going to troll, shoot for the stars.. go after something or someone that is pretty much universally loved.

Well I think the recent criticisms of John Lennon stem from the fact that for a celebrity to be liked these days, he or she has to pretty much be a saint. You'd think Lennon would fall into this category, but he was just a human being with flaws and foibles like the rest of us so people now give him flak for disagreeing with his left-wing politics, or for being abusive and/or neglectful to his first wife and son Julian, or for cheating on Yoko, or whatever other issue they may take exception to.

The flak people give Brando these days seems to be based primarily (or solely) on Last Tango in Paris and the revelations, taken waaay out of context btw, by Bertolucci about how they filmed the butter scene in that film with Schneider.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

Well I think the recent criticisms of John Lennon stem from the fact that for a celebrity to be liked these days, he or she has to pretty much be a saint. You'd think Lennon would fall into this category, but he was just a human being with flaws and foibles like the rest of us so people now give him flak for disagreeing with his left-wing politics, or for being abusive and/or neglectful to his first wife and son Julian, or for cheating on Yoko, or whatever other issue they may take exception to.

The flak people give Brando these days seems to be based primarily (or solely) on Last Tango in Paris and the revelations, taken waaay out of context btw, by Bertolucci about how they filmed the butter scene in that film with Schneider.

I honestly think that the hate for both Lennon and Brando has more to do with their liberal politics than anything they might have done. Haters gonna hate and recent revelations only add fuel to the fire. I'm not defending anyone here. As you say, both Brando and Lennon were far from saints.

As for the butter scene, I'm not sure how out of context things were taken. I think the story around that was pretty much confirmed by Schneider. It's reprehensible if true, and I have no reason to believe that it isn't.

Back on topic, what are the chances for a Criterion release of Last Tango in Paris? It would fit in with their recent spate of MGM double-dippers, but would Criterion be afraid to touch it?

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I honestly think that the hate for both Lennon and Brando has more to do with their liberal politics than anything they might have done. Haters gonna hate and recent revelations only add fuel to the fire. I'm not defending anyone here. As you say, both Brando and Lennon were far from saints.

Actually, a lot of the criticism directed towards Lennon originates from people who identify as liberal, particularly when it comes to things like the domestic abuse and cheating allegations. I hate to the use the term "SJW" but it's the same group of people who go apoplectic at Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Not saying those things are "good" or "right" but, you know, put things in their proper context in the bigger picture.

Originally Posted by belcherman

As for the butter scene, I'm not sure how out of context things were taken. I think the story around that was pretty much confirmed by Schneider. It's reprehensible if true, and I have no reason to believe that it isn't.

Back on topic, what are the chances for a Criterion release of Last Tango in Paris? It would fit in with their recent spate of MGM double-dippers, but would Criterion be afraid to touch it?

I don't want to open a can of worms but nothing I have read from Schneider herself comes even close to what people are accusing Brando or Bertolucci of doing. Again, I'm not saying what they DID do was a great thing, but people are taking Bertolucci's own words and twisting them around to make it seem even worse than what either he or Schneider ever said happened.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

Actually, a lot of the criticism directed towards Lennon originates from people who identify as liberal, particularly when it comes to things like the domestic abuse and cheating allegations. I hate to the use the term "SJW" but it's the same group of people who go apoplectic at Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Not saying those things are "good" or "right" but, you know, put things in their proper context in the bigger picture.

I still go apopletic when I see Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I thought it was stupid when I saw it 40-odd years ago, and I think it's stupid now. Not only is it tasteless and offensive, but it detracts from the rest of the film. Apparently, Blake Edwards thought the film needed more comedy, so he hired his friend Mickey Rooney to play the character over the top, against the objections of the screenwriter George Axelrod. I love Breakfast at Tiffany's, but that characterization is like a giant pustulent zit on Audrey Hepburn's face. It goes beyond being politically incorrect. It's not correct on any level.

Sorry, rant over.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I still go apopletic when I see Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I thought it was stupid when I saw it 40-odd years ago, and I think it's stupid now. Not only is it tasteless and offensive, but it detracts from the rest of the film. Apparently, Blake Edwards thought the film needed more comedy, so he hired his friend Mickey Rooney to play the character over the top, against the objections of the screenwriter George Axelrod. I love Breakfast at Tiffany's, but that characterization is like a giant pustulent zit on Audrey Hepburn's face. It goes beyond being politically incorrect. It's not correct on any level.

Sorry, rant over.

Oh, I'm not saying it's not stupid or offensive, it's just that people always single out that performance and that film as being horribly racist, ignoring the fact that Hollywood films were rife with white people playing racial stereotypes pretty much all the time until the mid-80s or so.

[mrjohnnyb]

Does anyone know the dates of the Criterion Fall Flash Sales for the past five-or-so years? I know that it was October 17th in 2016, October 6th in 2015, and October 1st in 2013, but I have no idea about the rest.

I'm just trying to plan ahead for this one as I have a number of products that I am interested in purchasing.

[StarDestroyer52]

Just placed my pre-order this morning for Forty Guns.

[StarDestroyer52]

I would argue the hate for Lennon comes for different reasons for different people: some conservatives hate his left-wing beliefs with a passion, some hate him for terrible treatment of his son Julian and first wife, Cynthia. Third, there are those who think Yoko Ono is the devil incarnate. Four, there are those who believe many of his jabs at McCartney were childish. Finally, hating on popular and successful artists is apparently the cool thing for many people.

I'm not a huge fan of Lennon's solo work, I would put him behind Harrison and McCartney(maybe its because I prefer those silly love songs). I would sum Lennon up as a very skilled singer/songwriter who is flawed like all of us.

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

The flak people give Brando these days seems to be based primarily (or solely) on Last Tango in Paris and the revelations, taken waaay out of context btw, by Bertolucci about how they filmed the butter scene in that film with Schneider.

Since I was the first (only?) person in this thread to criticize Brando, I felt the need to respond to this because of how off-base it is.

I have a pretty complicated history with Brando; in short, I like the guy but I certainly don't accord him the almost-pious adulation he receives from most film admirers. I think that the "myth" around him grew disproportionate to what we actually got on screen, which resulted in several undeserving nominations. A Dry White Season is one of them; Julius Caesar is another. Sayonara to. Viva Zapata! is questionable.

Now that said, I think A Streetcar Named Desire is dynamite, On the Waterfront is one of my favorite films of the 50s, I consider The Godfather possibly the best American movie ever made and I regularly tout his work in Last Tango in Paris as the greatest leading male performance in the English language.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by SeanJoyce

Since I was the first (only?) person in this thread to criticize Brando, I felt the need to respond to this because of how off-base it is.

I have a pretty complicated history with Brando; in short, I like the guy but I certainly don't accord him the almost-pious adulation he receives from most film admirers. I think that the "myth" around him grew disproportionate to what we actually got on screen, which resulted in several undeserving nominations. A Dry White Season is one of them; Julius Caesar is another. Sayonara to. Viva Zapata! is questionable.

Now that said, I think A Streetcar Named Desire is dynamite, On the Waterfront is one of my favorite films of the 50s, I consider The Godfather possibly the best American movie ever made and I regularly tout his work in Last Tango in Paris as the greatest leading male performance in the English language.

My post wasn’t anything to do with legit criticism of his acting ability or film career which is fair game but the social media vitriol directed at him solely based on misinterpretation of Bertolucci’s claims, just as I have no problem with people disliking John Lennon’s music.

[ShellOilJunior]

Criterion 2018

[willtopower]

Do you have a link for that or did you assemble that yourself?

I went to the Criterion website but didn't really see anything. Then again, not very good at navigating the website either...

[koberulz]

From upthread:

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

2018 was an exceptionally strong year. I'm going to pivot the data and have something visual to share soon.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by willtopower

Do you have a link for that or did you assemble that yourself?

I went to the Criterion website but didn't really see anything. Then again, not very good at navigating the website either...

No link. Done in Excel 2016.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Criterion 2018

Thank you. That must have taken quite a while to assemble.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by regeyer

Thank you. That must have taken quite a while to assemble.

A good 15 minutes. I've been teaching Excel for 8-9 years. For me it's a lot of fun. It sure beats Outlook.