The Criterion Collection

[nitin]

Originally Posted by NeoNical

I'm having a hard time deciding which director I should watch first:

Abbas Kiarostrami
VS.
Satyajit Ray

Who should I watch first?

I'm pretty sure I can handle slow cinema now since I watched Jeanne Dielman and all the Tarkovsky films already without losing attention too much (I dozed off on Ivan's Childhood and Andrei Rublev sadly. I will have to revisit them soon). But I much prefer the more influential or the more important director. So who should I watch first if I pretended to be someone who's new to world cinema (Even though I'm not but I would like to watch the easiest and better director first) Thanks in advance to those who reply to my question.

I have seen 5 or 6 Kiarostami and really liked quite a few of those and all have been worth watching. I have seen one Satyajit Ray so far, The Music Room which I saw last year, and it is now my second favourite movie of all time.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by jw007

What are good Criterions to watch during times of chaos, disorder, and civil unrest?

Medium Cool.

[CinemaBlu]

Rainer Werner Fassbinder would have turned 75 today.

I'll be watching a couple of his films to commemorate the occasion.

A trailer for his biopic was released a little while ago.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...61&postcount=2

[The Sovereign]

Originally Posted by jw007

What are good Criterions to watch during times of chaos, disorder, and civil unrest?

Right now, I'm being drawn back to movies like Naked Lunch, Eraserhead, and Brazil. But for something more grounded, I'd recommend Nashville. Planning a rewatch myself in the next few days.

[albabe]

Originally Posted by Reddington

Yes. It always used to start around the Fourth of July holiday and run until the end of the month. For the last couple of years it has started just before the end of June (from memory, the 27th in 2019), and finished the first week of August.

Thanx!

Is the B&N Sale just 50% off Criterion?

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by albabe

Thanx!

Is the B&N Sale just 50% off Criterion?

Yes

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by jw007

What are good Criterions to watch during times of chaos, disorder, and civil unrest?

SALO is a very uplifting film about how to contain chaos, disorder and civil unrest.

[skylark68]

Will "Z" ever get a bluray release?

Medium Cool is a good one for showing some unrest.

[softunderbelly]

Originally Posted by jw007

What are good Criterions to watch during times of chaos, disorder, and civil unrest?

You might find La haine and If.... of interest.

[Egbert Souse]

Brazil would be my go-to for right now.

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by albabe

Thanx!

Is the B&N Sale just 50% off Criterion?

They used to do a 40% off movies promo in the run up to the Criterion 50% event, but not for probably a couple of years now. I forget exactly, but I think it covered most titles, including Criterion. Our esteemed fellow member hariseldon is the best source for the details of these sales.

[Ray Jackson]

When might the next 50% off flash sale be?

The Criterion sale...not the B&N sale.

[DaBargainHunta]

Orlando (1992)



Orlando is slow and strange, but it's beautifully shot, well-acted, and - most importantly - kept my attention throughout.

The movie starts off in the year 1600 with Tilda Swinton playing a male Lord looking for love. Yes, Tilda begins the movie as a man. I can't say I was ever fully convinced that Tilda was male, or that Quentin Crisp - playing Queen Elizabeth I - was female, but I assume the "illusion" was more effective when the movie first came out in 1992 and Tilda was still largely unknown.

Lord Orlando lives through the next 400 years, first as a man and then a woman. I don't think that's a spoiler, because it's the known premise of both the film and the Virginia Woolf book it's based on (which I haven't read). The story uses this strange scenario to explore class and gender through the ages. Tilda's character seems bemused and oddly detached by the situation, even slyly speaking and nodding to the camera at times - like an Elizabethan-era Zack Morris.

DaBargainHunta's Decree: Even though this is the expiring movie I was looking forward to the most, there's a reason I kept putting it off until the end. This is definitely not something I would recommend to everyone - it clearly requires a more adventurous cinematic palate - but this is exactly the kind of long and strange trip I've come to expect from the remotest corners of The Criterion Channel.

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

When might the next 50% off flash sale be?

The Criterion sale...not the B&N sale.

October.

Ran the 15th-16th in 2019.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Reddington

October.

Ran the 15th-16th in 2019.

Well that sucks.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jw007

What are good Criterions to watch during times of chaos, disorder, and civil unrest?

I'd go along with the suggestion of Do the Right Thing. And maybe Matewan.

Or Nineteen Eighty-Four, which is some ways seems the exact opposite of "chaos, disorder, and civil unrest". But...is it?

[Cholly]

Originally Posted by jw007

What are good Criterions to watch during times of chaos, disorder, and civil unrest?

Investigation Of a Citizen Above Suspicion.

[latehong]

Originally Posted by jw007

What are good Criterions to watch during times of chaos, disorder, and civil unrest?

These are not my "best" picks, but I want to give a shoutout to the underseen: The Organizer (1963) and The Times of Harvey Milk (1984).



And even if you didn't like it before, please give another chance to Heaven's Gate (1980). I think it will be able to resonate with more people deeply in this climate. Also, it will make a great double feature with another political western epic, the director's cut of Ride with the Devil (1999).

[LordSummerIsle]

I wish Criterion would start pushing out more samurai classics. There are so many great ones from the 1950s, and history shows us that samurai films are big sellers for Criterion. I don't know if it's because Toho is difficult to work with?

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by LordSummerIsle

I wish Criterion would start pushing out more samurai classics. There are so many great ones from the 1950s, and history shows us that samurai films are big sellers for Criterion. I don't know if it's because Toho is difficult to work with?

Perhaps.

List of Samurai Films That You May Not Have Heard Of:

[Show spoiler]Samurai Assassin (1965)
Chushingura (1962)
Samurai Banners (1969)
Goyokin (1969)
Hitokiri (1969)
Bandits Vs. Samurai Squadron (1978) (I give this a 4/10. Decent action, horrible story. Skip)
Sasaki Kojiro (1967)
Life of an Expert Swordsman (1959)
Shinsengumi (1969)
Yagyu Secret Scrolls (1957)
The Story of Osaka Castle (1961)
Machibuse (1971)
Rise Against the Sword (1966)
Shikonmado A.K.A Whirlwind (1964)
Sword for Hire (1952)
The Secret of the Urn (1966)
Samurai Wolf (1966) (THERE IS A SEQUEL)
Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice (1972)
The Loyal 47 Ronin (1958)
Samurai Vendetta (1959)
Hanzo the Razor: The Snare (1973)
Demon of Mount Oe (1960)
Agent Shiranui (1960) (Same thing as Zatoichi)
Any Zatoichi Film
Ronin Gai (1990)
Any Lone Wolf and Cub Film

Of course there are millions of more films that I may have not mentioned yet but those are a few wonderful films that I have heard about. Go check them out if you're willing to pay for cheap and trash looking DVDs or OOP DVD treasures.