The Criterion Collection

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by lemonski

I watched Brief Encounter for the first time last night...very late. It had me hooked from the first minute - not the type of film that is usually my bag, but I thought it was terrific.

Anyway, can anyone tell me if is there a separate Criterion release for Brief Encounter? There is a blu-ray.com database entry for it, with cover art and the blue Criterion sticker, but it says "Release not available". Is it only available in the $60 "Lean directs Coward" box set? If so why do they have a separate database entry for it?

Thanks

It's only available in the boxed set, yes...it does have a page here but every film in a set does, even if not available separately.

I think it's the best film of the set. It's the type of story we've seen a billion times, but it's just done so well and hits every emotional note just right without becoming too melodramatic. (There is a separate DVD release, though)

[retablo]

Originally Posted by lemonski

I watched Brief Encounter for the first time last night...very late. It had me hooked from the first minute - not the type of film that is usually my bag, but I thought it was terrific.

Actually my favorite Lean, even over Lawrence, Bridge and Zhivago... and one of my favorite "love stories" ever.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by lemonski

I watched Brief Encounter for the first time last night...very late. It had me hooked from the first minute - not the type of film that is usually my bag, but I thought it was terrific.

I bought the set so I obviously didn't expect them to suck but yeah, I was also pretty surprised at how much I loved Brief Encounter. And yes, I didn't really think about this either while watching it or while yammering about it afterward but it really does grab you right from the start.

And as much as I love Trevor Howard I never really thought of him as a lead let alone a romantic lead and he was fantastic.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

It's only available in the boxed set, yes...it does have a page here but every film in a set does, even if not available separately.

I think it's the best film of the set. It's the type of story we've seen a billion times, but it's just done so well and hits every emotional note just right without becoming too melodramatic. (There is a separate DVD release, though)

Just to add, it effectively uses Rachmaninoff piano concerto no.3 as a leitmotif. Great movie

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by octagon

I bought the set so I obviously didn't expect them to suck but yeah, I was also pretty surprised at how much I loved Brief Encounter. And yes, I didn't really think about this either while watching it or while yammering about it afterward but it really does grab you right from the start.

And as much as I love Trevor Howard I never really thought of him as a lead let alone a romantic lead and he was fantastic.

Your comment about Trevor Howard is very true.

I remember him mostly by his supporting role in The Third Man. He brings great balance to the film against Orson Wells' amoralistic character.

[Snicket]

So today is Pi day...announcements are tomorrow...Are we going to get Pi announced!?!?! #Conspiracytheory

On that note I watched The Wrestler today for the first time, man I am becoming more and more of a fan of his films.

[georgec]

Wow it's already that time of the month again.

[Cinemach]

Another note about the great Brief Encounter: the scene in Stephen's flat inspired Billy Wilder's The Apartment.

I've already resigned myself to pick up the Lean set during the next sale, no fail. Well the fact that I haven't picked it up already is the fail, considering I love the period and have a particular yen for British cinema.

[MitchA17]

Originally Posted by Snicket

So today is Pi day...announcements are tomorrow...Are we going to get Pi announced!?!?! #Conspiracytheory

On that note I watched The Wrestler today for the first time, man I am becoming more and more of a fan of his films.

Noah is definitly one of my most anticipated 2014 films.

[Show spoiler]

[BJKH]

Will the 1963 film Lord of the Flies be ever released by Criterion on Blu-ray? I noticed they have a DVD of it available on there website. I just finished reading Lord of the Flies in English Class and we watched the remake but it wasn't any good. Do you guys think the 1963 film will ever be released on Blu-ray?

[starman15317]

Originally Posted by BJKH

Will the 1963 film Lord of the Flies be ever released by Criterion on Blu-ray? I noticed they have a DVD of it available on there website. I just finished reading Lord of the Flies in English Class and we watched the remake but it wasn't any good. Do you guys think the 1963 film will ever be released on Blu-ray?

I've been hearing rumors about it coming to Blu-Ray from Criterion.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by BJKH

Will the 1963 film Lord of the Flies be ever released by Criterion on Blu-ray? I noticed they have a DVD of it available on there website. I just finished reading Lord of the Flies in English Class and we watched the remake but it wasn't any good. Do you guys think the 1963 film will ever be released on Blu-ray?

I sure hope so. Maybe tomorrow...........

[BJKH]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

I sure hope so. Maybe tomorrow...........

Criterion is announcing new titles tomorrow?

[Spire]

Every 15th of the month they do. (Right?)

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by georgec

Wow it's already that time of the month again.

I know...feels like we JUST had them

[SammyJankis]

Yes.

[tonylopez]

Last months announcements were the weakest so far this year IMO. Still, this year has been fairly great with titles and the 15th of every month brings me a little bit of that feeling I had Christmas morning as a child.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by tonylopez

Last months announcements were the weakest so far this year IMO. Still, this year has been fairly great with titles and the 15th of every month brings me a little bit of that feeling I had Christmas morning as a child.

Fingers crossed we get those Antonioni upgrades.

[The Great Owl]

A fun and unlikely double-feature tonight. I watched my Criterion Blu-ray of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal and my recently-acquired Blu-ray of one of my favorite horror movies, The Blair Witch Project.

The Seventh Seal takes place in a time when superstition runs amok and society openly accepts the notion of supernatural intervention in our lives, despite the apparent silence of God and Satan during the story and despite the fact that people are accustomed to surviving by their own resources in the harshest of conditions. The Blair Witch Project, by contrast, brings us into current times, where superstitions have been largely dismissed as fiction and a cast of characters with no outdoor survival instincts is confronted with events that defy explanation.

I am probably misinterpreting The Seventh Seal on a grand scale, but the movie always makes me laugh, and leaves me with a smile and a feeling of blissful tranquility. Much of this is probably due to the circumstances surrounding my first viewing of the film. I blind-bought the old Criterion DVD copy a few years ago (the DVD with Death on the cover), and watched it on a cloudless Saturday morning in the fall when the sun was shining through my windows, and I was in a pleasant mood from enjoying time with friends the night before, then an early run with my training group earlier in the morning. Despite the heavyweight "big big questions" subject matter of The Seventh Seal, my first viewing took place on a perfect day when I was perfectly happy, so I sort of hovered over the movie on a buoyant cloud in the same way that one might watch a Will Ferrell comedy. The comedic aspects of the film were magnified a dozen times, and, although I did not try to understand the film on that first viewing, I took home a general idea that, although life itself is often a skewed tragedy of missed opportunities, poor timing, struggle, and loss, the best thing that we can usually do is simply to laugh about it all.
There's a scene in The Seventh Seal when Antonius Block is enjoying a picnic of strawberries and fresh milk with great company, and he savors the moment to let that happiness sink in. This scene strikes me as one of those times when I look around and realize that, at that particular moment in time, I am truly happy, even if it's for no tangible reason. I always feel the same way during each subsequent viewing of the film, and those good feelings reverberate each time.
It's a wondrous work of cinema.

The Blair Witch Project ironically makes me happy in that it reminds me of life and culture back in the 1990s, and also because I'm always strangely gratified when I'm watching a horror movie that actually works. This is a divisive movie, to say the least, but I've always been one of the fans and defenders.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Fingers crossed we get those Antonioni upgrades.

I really hope the wait isn't much longer for those...there's too many of these rumored titles that get thrown around all the time but still don't get announced.