The Criterion Collection

[Thomas Veil]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I like how a lot of the 1950s films indirectly addressed the difficulties that many men experienced post-WWII. Many of the film noir stories touch on the darker undercurrents of this decade when people were struggling to get a foothold in society, but other films, such as Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause and Bigger Than Life, discussed the struggles of fitting in with a more upfront approach. The politics of the era, with the arms race, the Red Scare, and such, also led to a myriad of cinematic greats.

I just love the combination of cynicism and earnestness in 1950s movies. The films are golden for all ages and mindsets.

The 1950s was also a great decade on other shores, as evidenced by the French gangster films, Kurosawa's samurai masterpieces, and such.

Many of these films also look spectacular in high definition restorations.

One film I can't believe hasn't even made it to DVD yet is Bright Victory (1951) Starring Arthur Kennedy (also a very small part for Rock Hudson) Mr. Kennedy earned a best actor nomination for his role as a blinded vet. Wish Criterion would take a look at this and get it some over-due respect.

[bdmartin134]

sooooooooo… I said only one day ago I was limiting myself to two titles; "Seconds" and "City Lights".. Well walked into B&N today and walked out with Earrings of Madame de, Seconds, and Bicycle Thieves(dvd). Little buzzed and the clerk girl was all in on the sale. Was looking for her to stop me……she didn't.
City Lights next week.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

well, it was Kurt Cobain's favorite film, too. I don't know if that does anything for you, but there you go...

as for me, I am considering making it a blind buy although I generally don't like doing that. The trailer alone nearly moved me to tears, so I have a good feeling about it.

I absolutely adore Paris, Texas. It's such an immersive film. It's such a warm story. It's such a ..... @$#(%$^*!@%&^@()**^&^$$##!

Didn't know Cobain liked it too. Fascinating.

[jw007]

Nicholas Ray or Nicholas Roeg?

Which director do you prefer more?

(Roeg for me)

Quick trivia: both directors were/are Leos, born August 7 and August 15.

[cooney]

Just got a smoking deal on the Cassavetes set by planning ahead with Raise gift certificates, using those to buy a $75 gift card for the bonus $10 card to use next month along with my 20% coupon an 10% discount. I kinda forgot how much jockeying goes on during these sales.

[Al_The_Strange]

My B&N order:

A Man Escaped
The Organizer
Pale Flower
Seconds
The Uninvited

Hope I picked some good ones.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Danchez

Eyes Without A Face
La Notte
The Uninvited

I'm thinking more along the lines of "collection essentials," rather than personal favorites. Any feedback would be awesome!

I doubt The Uninvited could be described as an essential. It's not even a top tier eerie film - The Innocents or The Haunting or Carnival of Souls would blow it out of the water in that regard.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Criterion does not have the market on a specific type of film. The Blob is a fun and interesting slice of 1950s pop culture that probably just happened to slide into the Criterion equation at just the right time with respect to studio rights and such.

Which is why I'm so pissed that C*H*U*D* was an April Fool's Joke and not an actual announcement. They still have time to repent and actually put it out

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

My B&N order:

A Man Escaped
The Organizer
Pale Flower
Seconds
The Uninvited

Hope I picked some good ones.

I'm not sure if YOU would like all those. Especially The Organizer.

[thecalm_7]

With fellow CC fans in and out of B&N now with the sale, are the Dual Formats in DVD (Tall/G1) or Blu-Ray (Short/G2) Cases?

Also, three more Qs.

~DVD of The Man who Fell to Earth came in a slip with a book, I just got a blu of it, no book/slip. Is my Blu Complete (Disc, digipack, booklet)

~ My new copy of Videodrome has no book, the DVD did, I contacted CC via email 3 times over a year, and not a single reply, did it come with a booklet, how do I get it or get a response

~ Last Emperor Extended cut, why no Blu?

Thanks in advance

[vader4]

At this sale I got...
Badlands
Ivan's Childhood
Solaris
The Secret of the Grain
Wild Strawberries

I'm think Andrei Tarkovsky will be one of my favorite directors by the time I finish with his films.

What do you guys think the chances of Mulholland Drive being announced next sale are? Every announcement since that hint toward it have been disappointing to me.

[Xtempo]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

My B&N order:

A Man Escaped
The Organizer
Pale Flower
Seconds
The Uninvited

Hope I picked some good ones.

I also picked up Pale Flower hoping I watch it soon but I hate night shifts since it basically ruins my schedule.

I might get another one this sale but I need to save some money

does anyone know when the next Criterion flash sale is next year?

[Infernal King]

Originally Posted by vader4

What do you guys think the chances of Mulholland Drive being announced next sale are? Every announcement since that hint toward it have been disappointing to me.

I'm right there with you on this and really hope that Mulholland Drive will be announced ASAP.

Originally Posted by Xtempo

does anyone know when the next Criterion flash sale is next year?

Usually it's in February.

[jw007]

Here is my list of Criterion Blu-rays I plan to buy for this B&N sale:

La Notte
John Cassavetes Box Set
City Lights
Frances Ha
Tokyo Story
Godzilla
Black Moon
Hunger
Breathless
3 Women

Thoughts or comments? (I know Breathless and Godzilla should have been in my collection long ago)

I've seen all these movies except City Lights, Tokyo Story, La Notte and most of the Cassavettes films.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by thecalm_7

~DVD of The Man who Fell to Earth came in a slip with a book, I just got a blu of it, no book/slip. Is my Blu Complete (Disc, digipack, booklet)

The DVD came with a copy of the source novel, but not the blu-ray.

My new copy of Videodrome has no book, the DVD did, I contacted CC via email 3 times over a year, and not a single reply, did it come with a booklet, how do I get it or get a response

It did come with a booklet. From CC's own site "A booklet featuring essays by writers Carrie Rickey, Tim Lucas, and Gary Indiana". Which e-mail did you contact? orders@criterion.com is the one for order support.

Last Emperor Extended cut, why no Blu?

Possibly because the extended edition, which was made for Italian Television (and is NOT a director's cut) requires a separate license, which they didn't want to get into. They screwed up their release as is, by acceding to Storaro's butchered 2:1 ratio.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by ravenus

I doubt The Uninvited could be described as an essential. It's not even a top tier eerie film - The Innocents or The Haunting or Carnival of Souls would blow it out of the water in that regard.

Ackchurly, it is. It's often listed with The Innocents & The Haunting as one of the best Ghost movies ever.

[hustlermane]

I'm as big a Lynch fan as anyone (he was my "first love" in cinema as I was just starting, and my opinion of him hasn't dipped as I've discovered more and more) but I'm not sure how much they could do with the package (outside killer PQ and AQ, which to be fair, justifies them (MD/Eraserhead) enough already) - Lynch more than anyone is a proponent of letting his works speak for themselves. He's always been reluctant to do anything closely related to a commentary and doesn't even believe in chapter breaks on dvds. On blu they'd be essential to any cinephile's library, but I just wonder how helpful or supportive he would be in putting the package together considering how Criterion loves working with alive directors on releases for their films. Unless the extras were Lynch's music or meditation related (not a dig at the man, just an illustration of where his priorities and interests for the moment seem to lie) I just wonder how likely these packages actually are.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

Ackchurly, it is. It's often listed with The Innocents & The Haunting as one of the best Ghost movies ever.

Welllllll, sort of. It's a good enough ghost/haunted house story and very well made but it's a little too light in tone for me to put it in that company.

It's not The Ghost and Mr Chicken or Topper but it's not The Innocents or The Haunting (or The Shining or The Others or Stir of Echoes for that matter) either.

[Tin Drum]

Watched Homicide yesterday and Episode One of Fanny & Alexander last night.

Still processing the Mamet film. As usual, he provides that signature stilted dialogue but somehow it just works more times than not. For a dvd - the shootout scene sounded very, very good on my system.

Really enjoyed the first episode of F&A. Beautiful cinematography and I can't wait to start on episode 2.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by octagon

Welllllll, sort of. It's a good enough ghost/haunted house story and very well made but it's a little too light in tone for me to put it in that company.

Not addressing your individual perception, I was reporting the consensus/commonality of critics polls, etc.