The Criterion Collection

[postmodel]

Well, according to the official Divine page, John Waters has just completed the Odorama card that will be included in the Criterion release of Polyester!

And Polyester is on the way. John Waters just wrapped up the finishing touches on the included Odorama™️ card.

https://www.facebook.com/22840154386...&v=i&sfns=xmwa

[Kyle15]

Polyester is fair game for an announcement now. TASTY!

[AaronJ]

I've never been able to get into Waters' stuff, but I have great respect for the man and his work. Great news for fans of his work.

[nitin]

Followed up my rewatch of Stranger Than Paradise with a rewatch of Repo Man. And like the former, got on this one’s wavelength a lot more too this time around. It still doesn’t quite bring the end together IMHO but it’s such a charmingly odd and fun ride till then. Helped along by a fantastic soundtrack and some seriously stunning cinematography by the great Robby Muller.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I've never been able to get into Waters' stuff, but I have great respect for the man and his work. Great news for fans of his work.

I favor his early stuff over his later "mainstream" attempts. I feel like he lets the viewer into his own uniquely perverse family universe. There's nothing else quite like it and the images stay with you forever. Maybe that makes it art, I don't know, but it's definitely important cinema.

[145gtw]

Just received my copy of Funny Games. Been looking forward to sitting down with this one again for quite some time now.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I favor his early stuff over his later "mainstream" attempts. I feel like he lets the viewer into his own uniquely perverse family universe. There's nothing else quite like it and the images stay with you forever. Maybe that makes it art, I don't know, but it's definitely important cinema.

Well, that's why I said that I respect him and his work. Whether or not it appeals to me isn't the point. Someone can produce great art that doesn't appeal to me. This doesn't happen in this thread very often at all, for obvious reasons, but you see this false idea drawn all the time. "I don't like it, so it sucks." There are reasons we all have to dislike or simply not connect with a particular film.

I mean, if someone wants to take something apart piece by piece and dissect all the reasons the production of this particular film failed, then that's one thing. But thinking that it's "bad" because one didn't like it -- we have too much of that. Way more people seem to need to understand the difference between taste and quality.

Originally Posted by 145gtw

Just received my copy of Funny Games. Been looking forward to sitting down with this one again for quite some time now.

You're not well, are you?

J/K -- great movie. Disturbing, but excellent.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I've never been able to get into Waters' stuff, but I have great respect for the man and his work. Great news for fans of his work.

Originally Posted by belcherman

I favor his early stuff over his later "mainstream" attempts. I feel like he lets the viewer into his own uniquely perverse family universe. There's nothing else quite like it and the images stay with you forever. Maybe that makes it art, I don't know, but it's definitely important cinema.

I'm a big fan since seeing a midnight showing of Pink Flamingos back in the '70s. There was a theater in Georgetown (D.C.) that would have really offbeat films for midnight features and some of Waters' early films were part of the rotation.
I like most of his films and I absolutely love hearing him talk about them. His commentaries are some of my favorites.

[javy]

I purchased BFI's Blu-ray of Separation (1968) which was directed by Jack Bond, and written and starring Jane Arden. This film is exactly everything that I wanted it to be: an exquisitely shot, existential, surreal, avant-garde film on feminism.

A couple scenes I want to mention.

I love the scene when Jane's boyfriend asks her about her husband and it then cuts to a flashback of the husband introducing himself as a "modern-man", at which point he sits down at a piano and plays some sublimely cool jazz and hums along with a cigarette in is mouth. The film then cuts back to Jane describing her husband as a man who believes in the freedom of women. Though she goes into it with more detail with dialogue that is just impeccable.

Another scene is at an indoor swimming pool. A woman, laying on her stomach getting a massage, is describing an encounter which has terrified her. As she's telling the story a man walks up to her, kneels down and appears to be listening to her. Every time the story takes a more horrifying turn the man who knelt down slaps her in the face. With every slap she becomes more hysterical. What is significant about this is, she doesn't pay any attention to the man who's slapping her, it's as if he isn't even there. She doesn't become hysterical because he slaps her but because of the emotional turmoil she has experienced. The slaps are merely symbolic of, well, you be the judge.

The fragmented narrative, the acting, the story, the cinematography, the editing and direction are all amazing. I love this film.

Criterion should release this film on Blu-ray for those who aren't region-free, and to also give it further exposure which it rightfully deserves.

[nitin]

Next up on the revisit list was Kaneto Shindo’s Kuroneko. And seeing it via the Criterion blu ray was like experiencing a completely different movie than via the old Eureka DVD. The creepy atmosphere is the key reason to see this film and the blu does very well by the cinematography and score.

It’s still not on the same level as either Onibaba or The Naked Island but Shindo is a master and his direction here is largely faultless. It also has surprisingly effective emotional pull in the second half that I was not expecting.

[The Sovereign]

Every time I see Onibaba mentioned, I wonder when or if Criterion will ever give it an upgrade to BD. There are films in their catalog that I can understand might not be at the top of that list, but I don't understand the continued omissions of The Lady Eve, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Red Beard, The Spirit of the Beehive, Floating Weeds, La strada, Hobson's Choice, Closely Watched Trains, and others. I know Criterion has lost the rights to many films we'd like to see from them, but I believe the ones I listed are all still active in their DVD production - when do they get to move into the 21st Century?

[Xtempo]

Why is Madadayo only available in the AK 100 boxset and not stand alone? Everything else I either have or on my wishlist as separate from the boxset. I don't really want to the get boxset just for one movie.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by The Sovereign

Every time I see Onibaba mentioned, I wonder when or if Criterion will ever give it an upgrade to BD. There are films in their catalog that I can understand might not be at the top of that list, but I don't understand the continued omissions of The Lady Eve, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Red Beard, The Spirit of the Beehive, Floating Weeds, La strada, Hobson's Choice, Closely Watched Trains, and others. I know Criterion has lost the rights to many films we'd like to see from them, but I believe the ones I listed are all still active in their DVD production - when do they get to move into the 21st Century?

I think we'll see films like The Lady Eve, Floating Weeds, and La Strada. BFI is screening the first one in cinemas and its Fellini's 100th next year and I think its safe we see a Fellini boxset now that SC and Criterion look to be working together again. More Ozu should also be coming as a bunch of them got new 4K restorations releases last year in Japan including Floating Weeds.

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I mean, if someone wants to take something apart piece by piece and dissect all the reasons the production of this particular film failed, then that's one thing. But thinking that it's "bad" because one didn't like it -- we have too much of that. Way more people seem to need to understand the difference between taste and quality..

But that distinction isn't always easy to make, especially in the case of Waters. His films railed against traditional ideas of 'quality', kind of like a punk musician who could barely play his guitar but made a fine racket anyway. In that sense, it's perfectly acceptable to say that his films are 'bad' and lack 'quality' because overall, well.........they do.

I doubt many people would seriously argue for the artistic worth of Waters' films, especially his 70's ones. They are enjoyed more as 'paracinema' and often defended largely for political reasons, especially in academia.

Having said that, I do broadly agree with you that many people would benefit from broadening their outlook.

[CQD84]

So the August titles will likely be announced this Wednesday (5/15). Any guesses? I'm still hoping for a standalone release of The Last Picture Show. I will not shut up about it until it's announced.

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by CQD84

So the August titles will likely be announced this Wednesday (5/15). Any guesses?

Not a guess; more of a wish: a standalone release of Bergman's The Passion of Anna or After the Rehearsal would make my day a bit happier.

[professorwho]

When?!

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by CQD84

So the August titles will likely be announced this Wednesday (5/15). Any guesses? I'm still hoping for a standalone release of The Last Picture Show. I will not shut up about it until it's announced.

I’ve got a feeling “Bamboozeled” will be at least one. Personally, I think the ship sailed long ago for a stand-alone “The Last Picture Show”. There is an International Sony Blu that utilizes the same master and includes some of the Criterion extras (the Bogdanovich commentary and interview in addition to “Picture This”).

[yoloswegmaster420]

Criterion releasing 'The Other Side of the Wind': http://www.projectionboothpodcast.co...WRzfZ1yS8J_C4c

Go to 1:50:45 to hear the confirmation

[Member-222782]

Grabbed the "Classic Hitchcock" set that has had a price slash (got it for $54 after I applied a bit of Amazon credit) - been meaning to grab all of the films in the set but never pulled the trigger. It's just the regular BDs bundled together in a rather flimsy box but I'm glad to finally own these films in what I'm sure will be typically excellent Criterion editions.