The Criterion Collection

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I tend to have a pretty strongly stated opinion about things.. considering my comments on The Red Shoes, Hiroshima mon Amour, High and Low, Kes, Tati, Like Someone in Love, Tree of Life, I'm wondering if people are beginning to think that I don't like anything. I'll spare you folks the commentary, but I can add Fish Tank to that list, too, as I was a bit underwhelmed.

Not really - we all like different things, Im not a fan of Film Noir and doubt i'd ever buy that genre from Criterion, well except Kubricks films.

[Helikaon]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

from my post on March 24th...

I, too, watched The Red Shoes for the first time this weekend. I, however, think that I stand on the side of the fence with jayembee. Not really a fan, and that was, for me, surprising. I can't say that I was underwhelmed or even disappointed because it is a wonderful looking film and the long ballet sequence is some kind of technical achievement.

[Show spoiler]I think that, as a director, you have to have some kind of balls and be uber-confident in what you have created to have that last line - "Julian, take off the red shoes." I admire that audacity. I thought it was totally bad-a$$ and it really worked for me.

BUT... there is no story for the first 100 minutes of this film!! Nothing! Just ballet and behind the scenes theater shenanigans. For many films, we frequently say, "oh you don't have to like sports to relate to this story," or "you don't have to be into God-speak to like Leon Morin," but for this one.. I feel that you have to have some kind of interest in ballet to get into it. Now, I know, that nearly everyone will tell me that I am wrong. That is obvious by the amount of love that this film receives from posters on this thread. I was surprised, though.

Prior to seeing any of the P&P films, I really thought that a film about a group of nuns would be far less interesting, but I was wrong. Black Narcissus was great. The Red Shoes, for me, was 'ok' at best.

These are definitely some valid points. I didn't have any interest in ballet prior to watching this film, but I did afterwards.

I think The Red Shoes was a very personal film for Powell & Pressburger. It has been stated many times that they based their ballet company on Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, but I think it also reflects their own production company. It shows that making a movie is like putting on a ballet performance -- it's a team effort. Diaghilev was famous for saying he never really had any talent himself other than bring other great talents together. He had Picasso, Stravinsky and Nijinsky. The Archers had Brian Easdale, Jack Cardiff, Hein Heckroth and Moira Shearer, to name but a few. The end result is something that brings so many different art forms together, something only film can do.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I don't think I fully appreciated 8 1/2 until I had seen it on the big screen several years ago. One of the most-inspired films I've seen. Fellini's visual metaphors are incredible. I love the opening.

hmm...
looking at imdb
a "neither here nor there" fact, but Fellini died on the exact same day as River Phoenix - 10/31/93

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

BUT... there is no story for the first 100 minutes of this film!! Nothing! Just ballet and behind the scenes theater shenanigans. For many films, we frequently say, "oh you don't have to like sports to relate to this story," or "you don't have to be into God-speak to like Leon Morin," but for this one.. I feel that you have to have some kind of interest in ballet to get into it.

Originally Posted by Helikaon

I think The Red Shoes was a very personal film for Powell & Pressburger. It has been stated many times that they based their ballet company on Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, but I think it also reflects their own production company. It shows that making a movie is like putting on a ballet performance -- it's a team effort.

The backstage shenanigans were the story, as the "gimmick" was that there weren't many stories about the cutthroat backstage life of real ballet divas--
Like Black Swan without the Weird Stuff, White Nights without the Reagan-80's Red-fear plot, or The Turning Point without the drink-sloshing.

That we actually had a new ballet made for the film was the draw (as opposed to just scenes from existing classics, like Turning Point), but wasn't central to the plot itself outside of just framing the metaphor for the backstage story of the manager and the dancer.

[Helikaon]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I don't think I fully appreciated 8 1/2 until I had seen it on the big screen several years ago. One of the most-inspired films I've seen. Fellini's visual metaphors are incredible. I love the opening.

It's a wonder I took to it the way I did, because it was the first Fellini film I saw and far from his most accessible. I usually tell people to ease into it by watching a few others first. But for me it was love at first sight, and it opened the world of cinema for me.

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

hmm...
looking at imdb
a "neither here nor there" fact, but Fellini died on the exact same day as River Phoenix - 10/31/93

Hah, sad and funny. Some people are famous for dying on the same day, like Bergman and Antonioni. I met Fellini's last mistress a few years ago (she's a famous Dutch author) and she told me she was still in love with him. He was the love of her life, apparently, though he treated her like sh*t.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by EricJ

The backstage shenanigans were the story, as the "gimmick" was that there weren't many stories about the cutthroat backstage life of real ballet divas--
Like Black Swan without the Weird Stuff, White Nights without the Reagan-80's Red-fear plot, or The Turning Point without the drink-sloshing.

That we actually had a new ballet made for the film was the draw (as opposed to just scenes from existing classics, like Turning Point), but wasn't central to the plot itself outside of just framing the metaphor for the backstage story of the manager and the dancer.

Tad off topic but speaking of Black Swan...

Would LOVE Requiem for a Dream in the collection - I got UK Blu and its great but would love it in the Criterion Collection

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Tad off topic but speaking of Black Swan...

Would LOVE Requiem for a Dream in the collection - I got UK Blu and its great but would love it in the Criterion Collection

Requiem would actually fit very well into the collection. Pi hasn't come to U.S. blu yet right? That could be one Criterion puts out. Never seen that one though but I'm sure it's very artistic.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jlk5844

Requiem would actually fit very well into the collection. Pi hasn't come to U.S. blu yet right? That could be one Criterion puts out. Never seen that one though but I'm sure it's very artistic.

Omg how did I forget about Pi - I always found Pi and Requiem to be connected.

Bit like The Wrestler and Black swan and The Fountain and Noah.

Pi would deserve its own release, not like as a supplement to Requiem though (like other criterion that have another film as extra)..

Pi is pretty amazing though, I love it

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I don't think I fully appreciated 8 1/2 until I had seen it on the big screen several years ago. One of the most-inspired films I've seen. Fellini's visual metaphors are incredible. I love the opening.

I've seen it twice with the Blu-ray and I still can't wrap my head around it.

Something always happens around the 45 minute mark or so where my brain shuts off and I get lost.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by LPMA

I'm exactly the same and I have about the same amount. Lots of blind buys, but after hearing about them and reading, I just have to get them.

I own 148 Criterion movies on Blu-ray, and I own 35 Criterion movies on DVD.

Most of the Criterion titles that I own were blind buys, but, as someone else here said, they were carefully researched blind buys according to genre, director, actors, and such. I have absolutely no regrets about any of my Criterion purchases. That's not to say that I do not like some titles a lot better than others or that I do not have least favorites, because I definitely revisit movies like Le Samouraï or The Third Man a lot more than I go back to movies like Nashville, but I do consider all of my Criterion titles to be worthwhile purchases, and I have no desire to part with any of them.

I always seem to find new Criterion titles to add to my collection, but I'm also quite content with what I've got now.

There are a handful of Criterion titles that I simply have no desire ever to purchase, based on my research, namely Salo, Tiny Furniture, Trilogy of Life, Antichrist, and Grey Gardens. I may be wrong about these titles, but my gut feelings about movies are usually right. I'm cool with that, because I have no need for the entire Collection or even close to the entire Collection.

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I don't think I fully appreciated 8 1/2 until I had seen it on the big screen several years ago. One of the most-inspired films I've seen. Fellini's visual metaphors are incredible. I love the opening.

I agree with this sentiment, it is a joy to watch a movie like that on the big screen. Mainly because no distractions to take away your attention in the cinema. That probably helps a lot more than you think it does. Then you are free to be engrossed in a film.

That's how I saw The Third Man and Alphaville, and man it was totally worth it.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I own 148 Criterion movies on Blu-ray, and I own 35 Criterion movies on DVD.

Most of the Criterion titles that I own were blind buys, but they were carefully researched blind buys according to genre, director, actors, and such. I have absolutely no regrets about any of my Criterion purchases. That's not to say that I do not like some titles a lot better than others or that I do not have least favorites, because I definitely revisit movies like Le Samouraï or The Third Man a lot more than I go back to movies like Nashville, but I do consider all of my Criterion titles to be worthwhile purchases, and I have no desire to part with any of them.

I always seem to find new Criterion titles to add to my collection, but I'm also quite content with what I've got now.

There are a handful of Criterion titles that I simply have no desire ever to purchase, based on my research, namely Salo, Tiny Furniture, Trilogy of Life, Antichrist, and Grey Gardens. I may be wrong about these titles, but my gut feelings about movies are usually right. I'm cool with that, because I have no need for the entire Collection or even close to the entire Collection.

some of my favourites! :'(

[ultlife2013]

I can never get behind the dismissal of Lena Dunham's work. No sir, that is not for me.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

There are a handful of Criterion titles that I simply have no desire ever to purchase, based on my research, namely Salo, Tiny Furniture, Trilogy of Life, Antichrist, and Grey Gardens. I may be wrong about these titles, but my gut feelings about movies are usually right. I'm cool with that, because I have no need for the entire Collection or even close to the entire Collection.

Originally Posted by Polaroid

some of my favourites!

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

I can never get behind the dismissal of Lena Dunham's work. No sir, that is not for me.

It's not so much that I'm afraid that they'll be bad movies as it is that I've got bigger fish to fry when it comes to spending my money on titles that I am sure that I'll want to watch multiple times.

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

It's not so much that I'm afraid that they'll be bad movies as it is that I've got bigger fish to fry when it comes to spending my money on titles that I am sure that I'll want to watch multiple times.

Netflix it if you can.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

I can never get behind the dismissal of Lena Dunham's work. No sir, that is not for me.

Frances Ha was surprisingly delightful.

Other than that I don't tend to have much patience for white, privileged New Yorkers wringing their hands about how gosh darned tough life in New York can be sometimes.

Woody Allen at least turned whinging into a schtick but even that got pretty old pretty fast. You have go back decades for it to be interesting or entertaining.

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

There are a handful of Criterion titles that I simply have no desire ever to purchase, based on my research, namely Salo, Tiny Furniture, Trilogy of Life, Antichrist, and Grey Gardens. I may be wrong about these titles, but my gut feelings about movies are usually right. I'm cool with that, because I have no need for the entire Collection or even close to the entire Collection.

I purchased Salo based purely on the controversy and my subsequent morbid curiosity due to that part of me that gets a kick out of watching f*cked up movies. Disturbing movies have a power to them, that hold your attention when you want to look away. I find them fascinating, maybe because I never have to experience these horrible things in my mellow daily existence. My thoughts on the film after watching it a few months ago are that it's not utter trash, but I didn't see it as some misunderstood masterpiece either. You're right, it is definitely not the film that is infinitely watchable. For some, once or even never is enough. But if you do give it a watch, I suggest you do so a second time before dismissing the film. The shocking subject matter will likely overwhelm your thoughts on the film the first time you experience it, and it is necessary to see it again with the eyes adjusted, so to speak. It has some merits, but in no way is it one of my favorite movies. Hell no.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

Netflix it if you can.

But since you can't, Hulu+ it instead.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jlk5844

I purchased Salo based purely on the controversy and my subsequent morbid curiosity due to that part of me that gets a kick out of watching f*cked up movies. Disturbing movies have a power to them, that hold your attention when you want to look away. I find them fascinating, maybe because I never have to experience these horrible things in my mellow daily existence. My thoughts on the film after watching it a few months ago are that it's not utter trash, but I didn't see it as some misunderstood masterpiece either. You're right, it is definitely not the film that is infinitely watchable. For some, once or even never is enough. But if you do give it a watch, I suggest you do so a second time before dismissing the film. The shocking subject matter will likely overwhelm your thoughts on the film the first time you experience it, and it is necessary to see it again with the eyes adjusted, so to speak. It has some merits, but in no way is it one of my favorite movies. Hell no.

Its an incredible films, despite the grotesque parts its a gorgeous film, the sets used etc - I also love that it is based on The Divine Comedy which in itself is brilliant.

I love real transgressive cinema - wheres Sweet Movie bluray upgrade

[jhiggy23]

Some Criterions that I love and think are ignored in terms of discussion and recommendation in this thread are as follows:

Au Revoir Les Enfants
Everlasting Moments
Le Havre
Orpheus
Purple Noon
Umberto D
Red Desert