The Criterion Collection

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by LPMA

Today's haul! (But don't tell the blind buy police...)

[Show spoiler]

If Godzilla and AHDN were "blind buys" (ie. in the same pile as Salo, Antichrist and Life Aquatic), it would be my citizen duty to report.

(Blind-buying operates on the principle of "You'll watch anything", which can cheapen any of the titles in the pile, but some more so in particular.)

[jlk5844]

^

Where's the "no thanks" button?

[Oblivion138]

Originally Posted by LPMA

Today's haul! (But don't tell the blind buy police...)

[Show spoiler]

Great haul! I've got a dozen of those titles myself, and there are several others there that I plan on picking up in the future. Wish I had the cash right now to walk out of B&N with a stack like that!

Originally Posted by EricJ

If Godzilla and AHDN were "blind buys" (ie. in the same pile as Salo, Antichrist and Life Aquatic), it would be my citizen duty to report.

(Blind-buying operates on the principle of "You'll watch anything", which can cheapen any of the titles in the pile, but some more so in particular.)

Horse hockey!

[fdm]

Originally Posted by Jakamarak

Although later posts have changed this to just be the "saddest film," you originally asked for "the single most emotionally devastating work in the Collection?" Although I can name many, the one that floored me like no other was Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Initially, it seems sweet and ridiculously colorful and maybe even silly, then by the final scene it's clear that, despite all the artifice, Demy has unexpectedly found a way to cut through to something sad and beautiful and true about the human experience. And the use of Michel Legrand's music -- particularly at the end -- just kills me.

The last time I watched it, probably egged on by seeing the trailer a bit beforehand, the scene at the train station somewhat early on was similar. Only my second watch, but went by so quickly.

The music, yes, before discovering/diving into Demy fairly recently (a few years back), I'd only been exposed to Legrand thru some of his jazz music, which didn't do much for me really. But Demy + Legrand is magic.

(Jules + Jim is probably my other most favorite French film soundtrack.)

[fdm]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

Bong Joon Ho's DVD Picks - YouTube
The guy really likes his Criterions.

Every time recently I've see their closet, it inspires me to want to do something better to organize my collection. Every time.

(Kind of like people who quit smoking, just about every other week.)

Ah well, at least my Criterions are actually organized now!

[fdm]

Originally Posted by iScottie

The group of people are dancing to the band (The Big Chill and All That Jazz, respectively). The raisin really seems to be irrelevant to that whole section of the newsletter, hence it's location further back.

Il Sorpasso...

[fdm]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Check out this lineup of movies that will be showing at the Landmark Midtown theatre here in Atlanta this fall...

Tue, Sep 16: This Is Spinal Tap (1984), directed by Rob Reiner.
Tue, Sep 23: Ran (1985), directed by Akira Kurosawa. 35mm print!
Tue, Sep 30: Jules and Jim (1962), directed by François Truffaut.
Tue, Oct 7: M (1931), directed by Fritz Lang.
Tue, Oct 14: Tokyo Story (1953), directed by Yasujirô Ozu.
Tue, Oct 21: Lord of the Flies (1963), directed by Peter Brook.
Tue, Oct 28: Elevator to the Gallows (1958), directed by Louis Malle. 35mm print!
Tue, Nov 4: I Vitelloni (1953), directed by Federico Fellini. 35mm print!
Tue, Nov 11: Contempt (1963), directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

These all look quite tempting but the one that I have the most urgency to see is Fritz Lang's M. I'm also planning to hit Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows.

Ozu's Tokyo Story might have to be a priority as well.

I love that they're showing my favorite Fellini film, I Vitelloni.

Ran is pretty sweet on the big screen. At least it was when it first came out.

(Jules and Jim too.)

[Polaroid]

Judex came first plastic case dual format, and I love the size of it.

Wish all Criterion plastic cases were this big feels awesome lol and really stands out.

Ugh wish the 2 disc was on left for DVD's and the bluray was on right :/

[Tin Drum]

Originally Posted by Kevin Ridge

After I watched The Wages of Fear I immediately came on this thread and posted how my initial reaction to the end was to laugh out loud and questioning how should that be my response to things. This movie was such a crazy suspense ride though. I made my case for the other characters doing what they had to do but Mario was the big question mark. You are stunned by his incredible arrogance after all he went through to be that reckless in the end. I love it.

Along with the entire film I absolutely loved the shocking ending. He felt invincible and, yet, he really wasn't.

[ShellOilJunior]

Out of the Past is coming to Blu-ray!

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=14450

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by blkhrt

[Show spoiler]

From Criterion's Facebook page. A possible future release?

To quote Fred Astaire, "Heaven...I'm in Heaven..."

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I think it's one of the top 5 scripts of all-time. I rank Judgment at Nuremberg as the best script of all-time. For SSOS, I think the writing is genius and is presented so well by the actors. It doesn't come across as purposely clever of forced.

For Judgment, I think the script is very eloquent and an incredible achievement to be able to present arguments regarding complicity in the Holocaust. Anyone else a fan of the film?

You'd be hard pressed to throw a stone in any random direction and not hit someone who's a fan of Judgment at Nuremberg. I remember back in the days of rec.video.dvd-releases on Usenet, when it appeared on many wish-lists for DVD release. I keep hoping that any day now we'll get an announcement that Kino Lorber Studio Classics will be releasing it on Blu-ray.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Watched Picnic at Hanging Rick last night and found it very interesting. A good film no doubt, and I have no problem about its lack of resolution. I'd love to hear people's theories about it; I've read multiple but I'm curious as to others' thoughts, especially since there is purposely no resolution and the clues seem to contrast.

Ya know, I've seen Picnic at Hanging Rock any number of times over the past 40 years, and to be honest, I've never actually thought much about what happened. I'm with Ebert in thinking that there probably isn't an explanation that anyone could come up with that wouldn't seem so prosaic that it would take away from the mystery.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by jayembee

You'd be hard pressed to throw a stone in any random direction and not hit someone who's a fan of Judgment at Nuremberg. I remember back in the days of rec.video.dvd-releases on Usenet, when it appeared on many wish-lists for DVD release. I keep hoping that any day now we'll get an announcement that Kino Lorber Studio Classics will be releasing it on Blu-ray.

That'd be great! Just a very powerful film. As a former prosecutor, I sometimes find courtroom movies to be hard to appreciate (although not always; 12 Angry Men, Anatomy of a Murder, etc.) because they're so unrealistic that it takes me out of the story. But Judgment's writing and arguments are just astounding.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Ya know, I've seen Picnic at Hanging Rock any number of times over the past 40 years, and to be honest, I've never actually thought much about what happened. I'm with Ebert in thinking that there probably isn't an explanation that anyone could come up with that wouldn't seem so prosaic that it would take away from the mystery.

That was my thought as well. Some films scatter clues to lead to one explanation, while some are vague in order to promote discussion. While I wasn't blown away by Picnic, I thought its lack of explanation was entirely appropriate.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

I've seen four Ray films, three of them within the last week, and they are all masterpieces. The Apu Trilogy feels less like three separate works than it does as three acts of one large film. After each film finished, I got the same feeling as watching one of the miniseries in the collection, like Fanny and Alexander. Apu is such a tragic character and watching the way he progressively deals with death differently over those six hours is pretty incredible. I was lucky enough that my viewing of the third and final installment was via a newly restored 35mm print, which looked jaw dropping compared to the lowrent DVD rips of the other two films.

I was lucky enough to have my first viewing of the Apu Trilogy on 35mm in a theater back in the 90s. I bought a UK DVD set of the trilogy about 10 years ago. I agree with you about it feeling like a real honest-to-God trilogy in that while each has its own storyline, there's an overall arc to the character that runs through all three films. When Criterion finally gets around to releasing it, I assume (well, hope) that they'll release them as a set rather than individually.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Ya know, I've seen Picnic at Hanging Rock any number of times over the past 40 years, and to be honest, I've never actually thought much about what happened. I'm with Ebert in thinking that there probably isn't an explanation that anyone could come up with that wouldn't seem so prosaic that it would take away from the mystery.

A few of my thoughts on the mystery of Picnic at Hanging Rock...

[Show spoiler]I think that the girls were eaten by crocodiles. In Australia, it's always the crocodiles. Always.

In all seriousness, though, I've never really troubled myself with piecing together a resolution for the story in Picnic at Hanging Rock. For me, the point of the book and of the movie lies in the effect of the disappearances on the other characters.

[Brent L.]

Every now and then I look up OOP titles that I own on eBay just to see what they are doing. Will the price for The Third Man ever stop going up or dip at all? What is the story on what happened with that title exactly? How copies of it supposedly were even printed? Man, I'm so glad I bought it on day one.

[nymets24]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

A few of my thoughts on the mystery of Picnic at Hanging Rock...

[Show spoiler]I think that the girls were eaten by crocodiles. In Australia, it's always the crocodiles. Always.

In all seriousness, though, I've never really troubled myself with piecing together a resolution for the story in Picnic at Hanging Rock. For me, the point of the book and of the movie lies in the effect of the disappearances on the other characters.

I thought it was always the

[Show spoiler]dingos

?

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by iScottie

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=1&theater

Originally Posted by RandyK

How long before a "Criterion are releasing Carrie" thread pops up?

Well, it's not like it won't be welcome. I haven't seen MGM's Blu-ray releases, but I'm given to understand they leave something to be desired. On the other hand, people might be surprised to learn that Criterion's LD editions were 1.33:1 (albeit open matte) even while being a "Director Approved Edition" (DePalma wanted it that way).