The Criterion Collection

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by StarDestroyer52

Count me in for Some Like it Hot. Now if we can just get The Lost Weekend.

And Five Graves To Cairo, A Foreign Affair and Major and The Minor!

[CQD84]

There is a new Godzilla movie coming out next May, so maybe Criterion will wait until around that time next year to release a box set? Just a thought.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

And Five Graves To Cairo, A Foreign Affair and Major and The Minor!

I wonder if any of those are part of the new Kino-Universal deal.

[DEN7ER]

Hello all, im sure this has to have been brought up but ANY word/rumor on a possible Criterion release of:

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

It's an absolutely perfect film for what Criterion prides themselves on. the blu-had no features or commentaries & there's the director's cut that only few have seen. Not to mention the abysmal treatment it was given by the studio.

I remember there were some revival screenings in NYC a few years back and some petition fanfare too..

[blkhrt]

Originally Posted by DEN7ER

Hello all, im sure this has to have been brought up but ANY word/rumor on a possible Criterion release of:

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

It's an absolutely perfect film for what Criterion prides themselves on. the blu-had no features or commentaries & there's the director's cut that only few have seen. Not to mention the abysmal treatment it was given by the studio.

I remember there were some revival screenings in NYC a few years back and some petition fanfare too..

This came up a while back. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem likely:

https://theplaylist.net/andrew-domin...ford-20161201/

[theater dreamer]

Psst. Hey, Criterion. Since you're already getting Some Like it Hot, and The Lost Weekend has never gotten a domestic blu issue, I've got a suggestion for the box set to follow up your glorious Ingmar Bergman retrospective:

Billy Wilder

You've already got Ace in the Hole. A Foreign Affair, as previously noted, needs a blu-ray release, as do The Spirit of St. Louis and Five Graves to Cairo.

Some Like it Hot
A Foreign Affair (hello again, Miss Dietrich!)
Ace in the Hole
The Lost Weekend
The Spirit of St. Louis
Five Graves to Cairo

That's the beginning of a pretty sexy box set. Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemon, Tony Curtis, Kirk Douglas, Jimmy Stewart, Anne Baxter, Jean Arthur, Ray Milland, Jane Wyman....some serious star power, and they're working with one of the truly great directors in history.


"I want a Billy Wilder set. For Christmas. Boop-boop-de-boop."


Oh, and while we're on the subject of Jack Lemon, I saw his pal Walter Matthau this morning on TCM in a fantastic film by Sidney Lumet, co-starring Henry Fonda. Fail-Safe. If you haven't seen this, gang, you need to. It was released in 1964, but its premise retains its frightening edge over fifty years later. It's a cold war suspense-thriller extraordinaire. And, it would be the perfect compliment to The Manchurian Candidate.


Go ahead, Mr. President. Call Criterion, and tell them to release Fail-Safe on blu-ray.

[Gacivory]

I have been dying for Fail-Safe! Give me a release of Prince of The City too! More Lumet!!!

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Oh, and while we're on the subject of Jack Lemon, I saw his pal Walter Matthau this morning on TCM in a fantastic film by Sidney Lumet, co-starring Henry Fonda. Fail-Safe. If you haven't seen this, gang, you need to. It was released in 1964, but its premise retains its frightening edge over fifty years later. It's a cold war suspense-thriller extraordinaire. And, it would be the perfect compliment to The Manchurian Candidate.

A truly frightening film. Incredibly well made.

Would make a great Criterion release - especially if they could double it up with the Clooney/Dreyfuss version, broadcast live on CBS in 2000.

[Black Sun]

I really wish they would release a standalone The Last Picture show. And why did the America Lost and Found set skyrocket in price?

[Al_The_Strange]

How could I forget? I had this bad boy on order from B&N too, and it appeared in my mailbox today.



Wasn't sure about King Hu after seeing Legend of the Mountain (suffice to say it wasn't to my taste), but I was pretty happy to find that Dragon Inn aligned with the more action-packed classics I took a liking to (namely Touch of Zen and Come Drink With Me).

There is some camp to Dragon Inn, but the action sure is punchy. Choreography is pretty advanced for a film of this vintage, to say nothing of the rapid cutting and wire-fu effects. What really keeps my eyes glued to this (as with the two other films I like) is the palatable plotting and character beats--these are hardly the most in-depth movies ever made, but I can't help but to feel at home with them thanks to the way they channel typical good guy, bad guy archetypes. Whether in physical combat or duels of wits, the film inhabits a certain energy, color, and pattern that mirrors other action-movie favorites of mine (and it feels like the same kinds of things that makes me gravitate towards Sergio Leone's early westerns, Bond movies, Spielberg and Lucas' most popular work, John Woo, and hell, maybe even Michael Bay). Seems like there's something refreshing about seeing simple, good ol' good guys-vs-bag guys brawl in an inn.

Of course, the story evolves into gorgeous mountains and plains and such. Because reasons. Frankly, one thing I find off about Hu's work is the politics that are supposed to drive these stories--they tend to go in one ear and out the other for me. The whole spy thing feels irrelevant to this movie--you just take one look at the characters, the way they're framed and posed--and you'll know who's who. Snappy dialogue keeps each scene interesting, but if the movie omitted its opening infodump, it would not have impacted my appreciation much.

Sadly, this Blu-Ray is not quite up to snuff. At least while I had it playing in my 4K player, thinking that up-scaling it would be a good idea for some reason. I popped the disc into my PS3 to view the film in its native 1080p res, and my conclusion is: I gotta stop upscaling stuff because the 4K player makes it all look soft. On a normal player, sharpness and detail are rather pleasing, but not always consistent. Film is a bit on the yellow side, with iffy contrast levels. About the same as Touch of Zen--you gotta take the good with the bad. Sound is what it is--mono. Won't blow you away, but it's faithful.

Quality is probably at the mercy of all the other hands involved with restoration, so I don't fault Criterion for anything. Plenty happy with the film.

[RojD]

Originally Posted by MoneyLover

Not "far fewer". I looked through the titles Criterion already released on Blu-ray and The Seventh Seal is the only one with differing special features (and newer restoration for the box set!). Even then, Bergman Island documentary will be included in the upcoming set. I suspect there'll be a dedicated special features disc considering that if we substract standalone titles there's 15 discs for 27 titles, so likely 2 titles per disc + 1 disc for special features.

Good insight. Thanks. I like special features, so that will be a factor for me.

Does anyone have an idea of the dimensions of the set? Since the photo shows it to be about two disc-diameters tall, I don't think it's going to fit on my selves. I'm already planning where to put it.

[dressedtokill]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

And Five Graves To Cairo, A Foreign Affair and Major and The Minor!

Shudder

[Hoke Moseley]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

I have been dying for Fail-Safe! Give me a release of sprinter of The City too! More Lumet!!!

This autocorrect had me very confused for a minute.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by Hoke Moseley

This autocorrect had me very confused for a minute.

It was an outright disaster!

[ShellOilJunior]

Criterion is really stepping up to the plate and taking advantage of the opportunities the current state of physical media is giving them.
39 Bergman film set on Thursday, Some Like it Hot on Friday...

I can't ask for anything more. I'll leave this exchange from Some Like it Hot:

Sugar: [admiring a large fish trophy] What is it?
Junior: It's a member of the herring family.
Sugar: A herring? Isn't it amazing how they get those big fish into those little glass jars?
Junior: They shrink when they're marinated.

[Joshitaka]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

How could I forget? I had this bad boy on order from B&N too, and it appeared in my mailbox today.



Wasn't sure about King Hu after seeing Legend of the Mountain (suffice to say it wasn't to my taste), but I was pretty happy to find that Dragon Inn aligned with the more action-packed classics I took a liking to (namely Touch of Zen and Come Drink With Me).

There is some camp to Dragon Inn, but the action sure is punchy. Choreography is pretty advanced for a film of this vintage, to say nothing of the rapid cutting and wire-fu effects. What really keeps my eyes glued to this (as with the two other films I like) is the palatable plotting and character beats--these are hardly the most in-depth movies ever made, but I can't help but to feel at home with them thanks to the way they channel typical good guy, bad guy archetypes. Whether in physical combat or duels of wits, the film inhabits a certain energy, color, and pattern that mirrors other action-movie favorites of mine (and it feels like the same kinds of things that makes me gravitate towards Sergio Leone's early westerns, Bond movies, Spielberg and Lucas' most popular work, John Woo, and hell, maybe even Michael Bay). Seems like there's something refreshing about seeing simple, good ol' good guys-vs-bag guys brawl in an inn.

Of course, the story evolves into gorgeous mountains and plains and such. Because reasons. Frankly, one thing I find off about Hu's work is the politics that are supposed to drive these stories--they tend to go in one ear and out the other for me. The whole spy thing feels irrelevant to this movie--you just take one look at the characters, the way they're framed and posed--and you'll know who's who. Snappy dialogue keeps each scene interesting, but if the movie omitted its opening infodump, it would not have impacted my appreciation much.

Sadly, this Blu-Ray is not quite up to snuff. At least while I had it playing in my 4K player, thinking that up-scaling it would be a good idea for some reason. I popped the disc into my PS3 to view the film in its native 1080p res, and my conclusion is: I gotta stop upscaling stuff because the 4K player makes it all look soft. On a normal player, sharpness and detail are rather pleasing, but not always consistent. Film is a bit on the yellow side, with iffy contrast levels. About the same as Touch of Zen--you gotta take the good with the bad. Sound is what it is--mono. Won't blow you away, but it's faithful.

Quality is probably at the mercy of all the other hands involved with restoration, so I don't fault Criterion for anything. Plenty happy with the film.

Was thinking about blind buying this, but I got burned on my last blind buy. And I don't like to have excess volumes that I don't care for all that much laying around. I like to think of my collection as the cream. But Criterions are so damn tempting...

[Scottie]

A happy 100th birthday to the late great Ingmar Bergman.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Joshitaka

Was thinking about blind buying this, but I got burned on my last blind buy. And I don't like to have excess volumes that I don't care for all that much laying around. I like to think of my collection as the cream. But Criterions are so damn tempting...

I hear you--blind-buying CC discs is like playing Russian Roulette with your eyeballs and money. I almost didn't get Dragon Inn myself, especially when I kept reading comments here and there that it wasn't quite as good as Touch of Zen. Although I agree that ToZ is the worthier film, DI is still one of the safer recommendations, especially if you love martial arts films.

[bradnoyes]

Blind bought the Whit Stillman trilogy in the B&N sale and was kind of regretting it at first. But then I binge-watched all the movies yesterday and I'm sure glad I got them. Took me a little while to get into Metropolitan but once I did, I was hooked. Really fell in love with the style and tone of these movies. For me it was Barcelona > Metropolitan > Last Days of Disco. But I really liked them all. I rarely rewatch movies quickly but they're the kind of films I already feel like revisiting the day after watching.

[The Sovereign]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Oh, and while we're on the subject of Jack Lemon, I saw his pal Walter Matthau this morning on TCM in a fantastic film by Sidney Lumet, co-starring Henry Fonda. Fail-Safe. If you haven't seen this, gang, you need to. It was released in 1964, but its premise retains its frightening edge over fifty years later. It's a cold war suspense-thriller extraordinaire. And, it would be the perfect compliment to The Manchurian Candidate.

I'd also recommend pairing it with Dr. Strangelove, just to lighten the theme. Or you could go a different way and pair it with 12 Angry Men. But you're right - Fail-Safe would be a terrific addition for Criterion.