The Criterion Collection

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

For Lino Ventura fans, the Olive Films title, Greed in the Sun, is one of the best previously-undiscovered gems of my Blu-ray purchases last year.

I guess he's got two other films out on blu-ray right now, too. The Great Spy Chase and Monsieur Gangster. I think they are both considered comedies. Wouldn't mind seeing them some time, but don't think I'll be blind buying them at close to $20 each.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I guess he's got two other films out on blu-ray right now, too. The Great Spy Chase and Monsieur Gangster. I think they are both considered comedies. Wouldn't mind seeing them some time, but don't think I'll be blind buying them at close to $20 each.

Monsieur Gangster was good, but I didn't pay nearly $20. I got it for $12.34 from Amazon.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Ausjdm

Totally agree with your review JW I told ya it was a great movie! And oh yes an OS with Scarlett is something I would buy in a heartbeat lol

Her voice was powerful and so adorable in the movie. Yet, I kept thinking she is the archetypal "hipster" voice, sensitive in many areas and prone to debate. I think hipsters around the world will embrace this new film as their voice of reason. This is what shall happen when people are so in love with their technology, they'll actually physically merge with it (such as that final scene in that first Star Trek movie when V-ger morphed with Captain Decker). Well, maybe not physically, but emotionally, future humans will literally become delusional and accepting that artificial intelligence will be a viable replacement for human emotion. Humans might evolve to the point where we are already partly artificial, with all these implants we'll have in our eyes and brains, that forming a relationship with a disembodied intelligence could be an option. But I do like the whole idea in Her, about using a surrogate sex partner and attaching the disembodied operating system to the human body to act as an intermediary between human and computer. I thought that scene was brilliant and uncanny - I could see a future sex industry that uses this type of technology and the price will not be cheap.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by jw007

Her voice was powerful and so adorable in the movie. Yet, I kept thinking she is the archetypal "hipster" voice, sensitive in many areas and prone to debate. I think hipsters around the world will embrace this new film as their voice of reason.

That depends on your nebulous definition of the word--
Having already suffered through "Being John Malkovich", I tend to think of Spike Jonze as the definitive "hipster", who finds easy jokes in negativity, shows no identification with his characters whatsoever, punishes any character with public humiliation for the 21st-century crime of showing the slightest bit of hope or optimism, and generally channel-clicks his way through a world he only smugly views as voyeur.
(Oh, look, he's putting extras on the BJM disk...And they're all pointless extras, to satirize DVD-extra fans! That's so cutting-edge! Oh, look, a computer user is in love with his computer, because he's too isolated from the world around him...What a sensitive metaphoric character portrayal!)
And I'll assume the "It's all such artifice to him, he can't even direct them under his own name" thing was just a bit of vanity from his music-video days.

Expecting "warmth" from a Jonze film is like expecting sweetness from a Coen Bros. film.

[momaw]

Originally Posted by Cinemach

Finally watched that one recently after picking it up a few sales ago. It's definitely a cinematic assault that you should be in the mood for to watch (I started and stopped several times beforehand), meaning: be prepared for three hours of not knowing who is who, what's really happening, and all of that because chances are you'll just get frustrated. At least on your first viewing, perhaps.

That's not to say that the film is especially avant-garde in narrative - there is a story, and though the plot is circumspect with flashbacks from what I was able to gather it generally flows in chronological order. There is no narrative hand-holding though. Further adding to possible frustrations is the fact that the relationship between image and sound is largely converse to what one is used to in traditional forms of cinema.

But if you can take leave of such proprieties and give yourself over to the film at hand - at least for the first viewing(s) - you'll find a stylized approximation of the Middle Ages fairly unique in the cinema. I'm not entirely sure I loved it that much - well, at least in proportion to the praise it gets from quarters like this one - but it's certainly unlike practically anything I've seen before and worth a gander for the adventurous. If even for a different shade of your Game of Thrones fix even, haha.

And in terms of the Criterion package, which I look forward to exploring further forthwith, it is a standard-bearer for the label.

Originally Posted by Roninblues

It was my best blind buy last year.

Originally Posted by Polaroid

I bought recently, having little knowledge of the film.

Watched about half of it now, had to turn off as need to pop out do stuff but oh my lord, its mesmerising, enchanting, haunting... its incredible!

The cinematography is out of this world, the score is PERFECT.

I can't believe I haven't heard of this sooner! it's like a mix of Bergman and Tarkovsky, even some sorts reminded me of Malick.

I thought I would maybe get a bit bored but the pacing is perfect and Ive not felt bored or anything yet, it's incredible!

Ok, with this additional praise I have just hit the "buy" button on amazon. Also threw in Chinatown (unrelated to the "other" conversation going on here, I just remember being mesmerized by the film when I first saw it as a much younger man) and Black Rain because again, I saw it when I was much younger and remember enjoying it very much.

I wanted to pick up the 3 remaining Japanese criterion blu-rays missing from my collection but they weren't sold by amazon proper and the seller doesn't ship international. I've noticed this a lot on amazon (a few of the eclipse I want are also not sold by Amazon). What is with amazon only selling some of the criterion collection itself and the rest being sold by other parties (with pages setup to look like it's an amazon product page)? I really don't want to go back to Barnes and Nobel for those few but may have no choice. Just seems very strange that a giant like amazon doesn't stock the full collection in it's own right.

[brandon_260]

A new restoration has been done with Alphaville, so we may see Criterion pick up the rights to the film again. I didn't love it when I saw it a year or so ago, but I'm going to see it again next weekend (albeit a archival print and not the new restoration) and I'm hoping it leaves a bigger impact.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by momaw

Also threw in Chinatown (unrelated to the "other" conversation going on here, I just remember being mesmerized by the film when I first saw it as a much younger man) and Black Rain because again, I saw it when I was much younger and remember enjoying it very much.

Never did care for that Ridley Scott film, except for Yûsaku Matsuda as the bad guy. The man was phenomenal, and I was crushed when I heard that while he was filming this, he was suffering from stomach cancer, and died shortly after production was finished.

On the other hand, I loved the other 1989 film titled Black Rain, the Shôhei Imamura film about the aftermath of the atom bomb drop on Hiroshima. I'd love to get that on Blu-ray.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

A new restoration has been done with Alphaville, so we may see Criterion pick up the rights to the film again.

I'm pretty sure that this is owned by StudioCanal, so a Criterion release is unlikely.

[thebard]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

A new restoration has been done with Alphaville, so we may see Criterion pick up the rights to the film again. I didn't love it when I saw it a year or so ago, but I'm going to see it again next weekend (albeit a archival print and not the new restoration) and I'm hoping it leaves a bigger impact.

Yes, I posted earlier that a Japanese release was pending... but alas, no English subs:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Alpha...Blu-ray/86675/

Here's hoping...

[spanky87]

"Until Tess I had never had the impression of making the film that corresponded exactly to my deepest feelings. Tess is that film. Tess is 'my' film, the film of my mature years." - Roman Polanski

[smoss469]

I printed off the replacement sleeve from the Zatoichi thread, ordered a 9 disc case and put everything together today. I have some fine trimming to do to eliminate the white unprinted parts around the edge but otherwise I'm happy with it.

Pros:

Fits on a shelf
Protects the discs better
Easier to get the discs in/out of the package

Cons:

Blue case instead of clear, my OCD is screaming.

I have and will keep the original box as well as the DVD's (those are still in the crappy cardboard pages in the box)

[Alexander the Drake]

Originally Posted by momaw

I wanted to pick up the 3 remaining Japanese criterion blu-rays missing from my collection but they weren't sold by amazon proper and the seller doesn't ship international. I've noticed this a lot on amazon (a few of the eclipse I want are also not sold by Amazon). What is with amazon only selling some of the criterion collection itself and the rest being sold by other parties (with pages setup to look like it's an amazon product page)?

Assuming you're not trying for out-of-print titles, sometimes when Amazon's out of stock or another vendor has a much lower price, their system puts up that version first as the default page and you have to go to "More Buying Choices" on the right-hand sidebar to get the Amazon version if they still have it. You can see an example of this at Amazon.ca for the digibook of All Quiet On The Western Front, which when searched for takes you to a $17.99 version from a third-party seller who fulfills through Amazon, while Amazon.ca's own version is priced at $28.57.

As for me, just went and splurged on my first intentional Criterion purchase to console myself for just barely having missed getting the free autographed Royal Flash from Twilight Time yesterday when I tried to order their stuff.

The Last Emperor isn't my first actual Criterion BD purchase, since Amazon.ca had a few on lightning sale over the holidays and I skimmed the available info and essentially blind-bought a bunch of them on general principle while they were cheap-ish. But it's the first one I've ever meant to own, off my personal list.

I'd been thinking of waiting until it got upgraded to BR+DVD since the DVD also has the extended cut, but Criterion only seems to do that when the BRs have gone out of stock for some time and that doesn't seem likely to happen any time soon (and I don't want to risk Criterion losing the license in the meantime).

So when I saw it on sale for just $30 CAD + GST from a Canadian vendor, it seemed like a pretty good alternative use of the money I'd been intending to spend on those TT limited releases. (This probably sounds ludicrously expensive to people who can take advantage of periodic 50% off/BOGO sales and free shipping and no customs fees down in the States, but that's basically about the lowest local price level a standard Criterion release will generally fall to, as far as I can tell).

Anyway, I think I'm going to open up and watch one of my holiday Criterions over supper to celebrate.

Probably David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch (unless that turns out to be inadvisable to view while eating), which will be my second Cronenberg film experience ever (not counting his guest role in Don McKellar's Last Night, which unfortunately has yet to get even a decent DVD release, much less a good BR).

First one I saw was M Butterfly, which CBC aired many years ago as one of their late night movies during the insomniac hours, and also happens to have a very good performance from The Last Emperor's John Lone. I recently managed to track down a new copy of Sony's blink-and-you'll-be-haunting-eBay-for-it-for DVD release from a couple of years ago which I'd have bought on sight if I'd known they'd finally put it out then.

I know it's atypical of Cronenberg's films and not at all in the usual style which people expect of him, but if Criterion ever gets bored enough or starts to run out of readily licensable first-tier material, I'd love for them to put out a release for M Butterfly with all the usual supplements. The Sony DVD has a decently interesting featurette interview with the director, but it's not nearly enough for a film that's got a fairly complex adapted-from-a-true-story-to-make-interesting-points-about-cultural-and-gender-role-intersections-and-assumptions background.

[Ausjdm]

Originally Posted by jw007

Her voice was powerful and so adorable in the movie. Yet, I kept thinking she is the archetypal "hipster" voice, sensitive in many areas and prone to debate. I think hipsters around the world will embrace this new film as their voice of reason. This is what shall happen when people are so in love with their technology, they'll actually physically merge with it (such as that final scene in that first Star Trek movie when V-ger morphed with Captain Decker). Well, maybe not physically, but emotionally, future humans will literally become delusional and accepting that artificial intelligence will be a viable replacement for human emotion. Humans might evolve to the point where we are already partly artificial, with all these implants we'll have in our eyes and brains, that forming a relationship with a disembodied intelligence could be an option. But I do like the whole idea in Her, about using a surrogate sex partner and attaching the disembodied operating system to the human body to act as an intermediary between human and computer. I thought that scene was brilliant and uncanny - I could see a future sex industry that uses this type of technology and the price will not be cheap.

Oh god that surrogate scene was so strange I totally would had the same reaction!

We were talking about Polanski I love his work and wanna get more do you guys recommend Cul-de-sac and Tess? They look good but the trailers are eh.

[morg999]

Has anyone received a shipping notice for La Vie de Bohème from B&N..?? It released 2 days ago, and status is still "scheduled ship date 1-21" They shipped both Thief and Rififi on 1-11, I got those on 1-13...wonder what's up?

[spanky87]

Originally Posted by Ausjdm

Oh god that surrogate scene was so strange I totally would had the same reaction!

We were talking about Polanski I love his work and wanna get more do you guys recommend Cul-de-sac and Tess? They look good but the trailers are eh.

Tess 100%. Well done adaptation of a classic novel, Nastassja Kinski's best performance and one of the best ever for an actor under 20 years old. Stunning cinematography that the new 4k restoration brings to life like never before, and a 3 hour run time that never feels exhausting since the film is completely engrossing. I'd say it ranks as one of Polanski's very best masterpieces up there with Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Expecting "warmth" from a Jonze film is like expecting sweetness from a Coen Bros. film.

I feel like Raising Arizona is full of sweetness...

[Oblivion138]

Originally Posted by EricJ

That depends on your nebulous definition of the word--
Having already suffered through "Being John Malkovich", I tend to think of Spike Jonze as the definitive "hipster", who finds easy jokes in negativity, shows no identification with his characters whatsoever, punishes any character with public humiliation for the 21st-century crime of showing the slightest bit of hope or optimism, and generally channel-clicks his way through a world he only smugly views as voyeur.
(Oh, look, he's putting extras on the BJM disk...And they're all pointless extras, to satirize DVD-extra fans! That's so cutting-edge! Oh, look, a computer user is in love with his computer, because he's too isolated from the world around him...What a sensitive metaphoric character portrayal!)
And I'll assume the "It's all such artifice to him, he can't even direct them under his own name" thing was just a bit of vanity from his music-video days.

Expecting "warmth" from a Jonze film is like expecting sweetness from a Coen Bros. film.

Translation: "I can judge a director (both as an artist and as a person) completely and utterly, based on one film."

Talk about smug.

[Carletty]

Originally Posted by morg999

Has anyone received a shipping notice for La Vie de Bohème from B&N..?? It released 2 days ago, and status is still "scheduled ship date 1-21" They shipped both Thief and Rififi on 1-11, I got those on 1-13...wonder what's up?

No, I'm waiting as well.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by morg999

Has anyone received a shipping notice for La Vie de Bohème from B&N..?? It released 2 days ago, and status is still "scheduled ship date 1-21" They shipped both Thief and Rififi on 1-11, I got those on 1-13...wonder what's up?

I'm waiting on La Vie de Bohème and Thief.

[StLouisRibs]

Very, very happy with the AFI Interview extra on Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World - I really enjoyed this series when it was on annually, and I do hope that it's given serious consideration for future American films to include the uncut interviews that are apparently available.