The Criterion Collection

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

Actually, I'm more excited for Oct-Nov titles. This month my only gotta-have is The Innocents with Macbeth and Eraserhead as I'm pick them up later titles since the following two months are gonna be rough on the bank account.

Agree, without a doubt October and November have some of the best releases of the entire criterion collection.

Lynch is an overrated director in my opinion. The best aspect of his films is the dark tone, atmosphere which he produces with his film style. He is, in my opinion, a gateway for the young cinephiles to reach better independent films.

[BTTF_]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

I'm pretty sure Fat Girl contains my least favorite ending in the Criterion Collection.

The ending to KES made me want to throw things.

Originally Posted by ParticleDan

My copy of Summer Hours is now freezing at the 55 minute mark, despite working just fine in the past. This makes the second Criterion disc to spontaneously fail on me ( the other being Walkabout). Anyone else having similar problems with older discs?

My Walkabout does that too. I bought it pre-owned, so I figured that it was a problem inherited from it's original owner.

[MitchA17]

Slightly off-topic, but the most recent episode of Comedy Central's Drunk History showed that comedian Patrick Walsh has a pretty decent collection (toys a bit with my OCD tendency to sort by spine number rather than title, but it's still nice).

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching the Criterion Blu-ray of For All Mankind, and I'm hugely impressed.

I normally do not bother with documentaries, and this is the only feature documentary in my collection, but I purchased it because I had a strong gut feeling due to the presence of the Brian Eno music and such. My instincts were spot-on, and I loved the uncannily ethereal effect of this film.

Earlier this evening, I watched my Blu-ray of the outstanding science fiction film, Under the Skin, and I decided on For All Mankind as a follow-up because I liked the idea of chasing down an outsider's viewpoint of Earth in Under the Skin with real-life astronaut accounts of visiting the moon. As it turns out, these two movies make a wonderful double feature.

I'm listening to the commentary track right now as I type, and I'm in admiration of Al Reinert's ability to create such an engaging 80-minute feature from a vast array of sources, thus keeping the focus on the missions themselves. I love how the white knuckle aspects of the undertakings are combined with moments of wistful levity. An early moment in For All Mankind, where the camera show the elevator ride up to the capsule from the viewpoint of the astronauts, gives a sense of the enormity of the rocket and really conveys the nervous apprehension that these trained astronauts must have felt at the time.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I just finished watching the Criterion Blu-ray of For All Mankind, and I'm hugely impressed.

I normally do not bother with documentaries, and this is the only feature documentary in my collection, but I purchased it because I had a strong gut feeling due to the presence of the Brian Eno music and such. My instincts were spot-on, and I loved the uncannily ethereal effect of this film.

Earlier this evening, I watched my Blu-ray of the outstanding science fiction film, Under the Skin, and I decided on For All Mankind as a follow-up because I liked the idea of chasing down an outsider's viewpoint of Earth in Under the Skin with real-life astronaut accounts of visiting the moon. As it turns out, these two movies make a wonderful double feature.

I'm listening to the commentary track right now as I type, and I'm in admiration of Al Reinert's ability to create such an engaging 80-minute feature from a vast array of sources, thus keeping the focus on the missions themselves. I love how the white knuckle aspects of the undertakings are combined with moments of wistful levity. An early moment in For All Mankind, where the camera show the elevator ride up to the capsule from the viewpoint of the astronauts, gives a sense of the enormity of the rocket and really conveys the nervous apprehension that these trained astronauts must have felt at the time.

One of the things I took away from that brilliant documentary film is the whole spirituality theme when the astronauts were transformed after looking at Planet Earth from space. It gave me an epiphany that if human beings were humbled on a mass scale along the lines of these NASA astronauts, and saw their little fragile planet from the surface of the moon, the world would be a bit more peaceful. Also, its amazing how Reinart was able to have access to the original film elements that were stored in a freezer that the NASA astronauts shot and now we are able to experience their crystal clear film footage in high definition. For all those conspiracy theorists out there that think men never went to the moon, they should all watch this film and see the truth, because this stuff is real and not shot in some studio.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jw007

For all those conspiracy theorists out there that think men never went to the moon, they should all watch this film and see the truth, because this stuff is real and not shot in some studio.

My grandfather on my mother's side died in 1980, when I was in second grade. At some point after his death, my mother told me that he never believed that the lunar landings were real. He always suspected that they were elaborately staged television events.

[malakaheso]

Even Alex Jones doesn't believe the moon landing was a conspiracy, and that guys thinks almost everything is a conspiracy

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I just finished watching the Criterion Blu-ray of For All Mankind, and I'm hugely impressed.

I normally do not bother with documentaries, and this is the only feature documentary in my collection, but I purchased it because I had a strong gut feeling due to the presence of the Brian Eno music and such. My instincts were spot-on, and I loved the uncannily ethereal effect of this film.

Earlier this evening, I watched my Blu-ray of the outstanding science fiction film, Under the Skin, and I decided on For All Mankind as a follow-up because I liked the idea of chasing down an outsider's viewpoint of Earth in Under the Skin with real-life astronaut accounts of visiting the moon. As it turns out, these two movies make a wonderful double feature.

I'm listening to the commentary track right now as I type, and I'm in admiration of Al Reinert's ability to create such an engaging 80-minute feature from a vast array of sources, thus keeping the focus on the missions themselves. I love how the white knuckle aspects of the undertakings are combined with moments of wistful levity. An early moment in For All Mankind, where the camera show the elevator ride up to the capsule from the viewpoint of the astronauts, gives a sense of the enormity of the rocket and really conveys the nervous apprehension that these trained astronauts must have felt at the time.

It was such a wondrous time to live through, as well. With all the domestic and foreign turmoil the country was going through, it was something that generated national pride along with the hope that maybe through space exploration peaceful cooperation could come about with the Russians and help thaw some of the Cold War tensions. I can remember watching the Apollo 11 moon landing with my dad who became a pilot in the '20s and him remarking about how far we had come from those early days of aviation to landing on the moon in roughly 40 years. It's a great memory.

[AlexHarvey]

Originally Posted by belcherman

This is why I haven't bought Volume IV of the series. I know that the gap between II and IV would bug me and that gap that would be an expensive itch to scratch

That gap ( Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 3) isn't that expensive. If you hurry you can get this boxset from Amazon Canada for $39.18, which converts roughly to $35.67 American. You will have to pay shipping to America.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

My friend was telling me how mad this ending made him, so naturally I had to rent it. I assumed that the director had respect for the viewer, given how far she went with the nudity. If she's going to depict these two characters in these situations, then I need to know it's being done for a reason. Giving us an ending as preposterous as that is a slap in the face and makes the content in retrospect seem insulting.

I thought the ending was fine and worked well with the story and the character, my only fault was how sudden and rushed it came across - it could have been made to work a little better - but either way I will don't think it ruined the film in any way.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

My grandfather on my mother's side died in 1980, when I was in second grade. At some point after his death, my mother told me that he never believed that the lunar landings were real. He always suspected that they were elaborately staged television events.

Originally Posted by malakaheso

Even Alex Jones doesn't believe the moon landing was a conspiracy, and that guys thinks almost everything is a conspiracy

I always figure that if there was even the remotest possibility that any fakery was going on the Russians would've been all over it. As it was, they acknowledged that it had happened but, on the other hand, declared that they never had any intention of sending a cosmonaut to the moon, thus there had never been a "space race" so the Americans hadn't won anything.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by AlexHarvey

That gap ( Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 3) isn't that expensive. If you hurry you can get this boxset from Amazon Canada for $39.18, which converts roughly to $35.67 American. You will have to pay shipping to America.

Thanks for the tip, but I think I missed that train. I'll just hope that TCM releases some more copies at some point.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

I always figure that if there was even the remotest possibility that any fakery was going on the Russians would've been all over it. As it was, they acknowledged that it had happened but, on the other hand, declared that they never had any intention of sending a cosmonaut to the moon, thus there had never been a "space race" so the Americans hadn't won anything.

The best response to the question of whether you guys actually landed on the moon, courtesy of Buzz Aldrin himself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wptn5RE2I-k

[minister_x]

Originally Posted by MitchA17

Slightly off-topic, but the most recent episode of Comedy Central's Drunk History showed that comedian Patrick Walsh has a pretty decent collection (toys a bit with my OCD tendency to sort by spine number rather than title, but it's still nice).

Are you kidding? I feel the exact opposite way - I don't understand how anyone could *not* sort by spine number!

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by minister_x

Are you kidding? I feel the exact opposite way - I don't understand how anyone could *not* sort by spine number!

They probably know the alphabet by heart, unlike every Criterion spine number, and like to be able to find their movies.

That might just be me though.

[minister_x]

Yes, yes, okay I appreciate sorting by spine makes finding a movie harder (although some people - myself included - locate by colour too, in the sense that I know where Monsoon Wedding is because it's a bright orange spine). However the out-of-order numbering of the spines would irritate me in the same way that non-alphabetised ordering would irritate others.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by minister_x

Yes, yes, okay I appreciate sorting by spine makes finding a movie harder (although some people - myself included - locate by colour too, in the sense that I know where Monsoon Wedding is because it's a bright orange spine). However the out-of-order numbering of the spines would irritate me in the same way that non-alphabetised ordering would irritate others.

Fair enough.

Do you organize by straight spine # all the way through mixing the different case types?

[minister_x]

Originally Posted by sc1957

Geez... I never even LOOK at the spine numbers. I have no idea what the numbers are for the films I own.

Alright, calm down I guess I'm in a minority! I like the ordering of numbers.

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Fair enough.

Do you organize by straight spine # all the way through mixing the different case types?

I've tried both, and I'm not sure which I prefer. Currently they are separated (which gives consistent height, but slightly defeats my wanting to order by spine...). Maybe I should do neither and follow on from my comments above - arranging across the colour spectrum!

At least it doesn't annoy me in the way that orientation does - I can't decide which way to put my digipacks on the shelf. Things like the BBS box seem to 'naturally' go such that all the titles are easily accessible on the outside. But whilst I like that idea - especially with the titles with paperbacks in them - some titles are less interesting that way round (Shoah is a plain colour facing that way, but has a background picture facing the other way).

I know all of the above doesn't matter, but I'm quite happy when it's those minor things being the 'problem' - the discs/content are of course the most important thing!

[spargs]

I organize my Criterions by spine number on my shelves as well, with the Blu-rays separate from the DVDs. My non-Criterions are all organized alphabetically.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I just finished watching the Criterion Blu-ray of For All Mankind, and I'm hugely impressed.

I normally do not bother with documentaries, and this is the only feature documentary in my collection, but I purchased it because I had a strong gut feeling due to the presence of the Brian Eno music and such. My instincts were spot-on, and I loved the uncannily ethereal effect of this film.

Earlier this evening, I watched my Blu-ray of the outstanding science fiction film, Under the Skin, and I decided on For All Mankind as a follow-up because I liked the idea of chasing down an outsider's viewpoint of Earth in Under the Skin with real-life astronaut accounts of visiting the moon. As it turns out, these two movies make a wonderful double feature.

I'm listening to the commentary track right now as I type, and I'm in admiration of Al Reinert's ability to create such an engaging 80-minute feature from a vast array of sources, thus keeping the focus on the missions themselves. I love how the white knuckle aspects of the undertakings are combined with moments of wistful levity. An early moment in For All Mankind, where the camera show the elevator ride up to the capsule from the viewpoint of the astronauts, gives a sense of the enormity of the rocket and really conveys the nervous apprehension that these trained astronauts must have felt at the time.

In The Shadow Of The Moon is also well worth a watch. If you're region free, the UK True Inspiration collection can usually be had for about £8 and includes this and 2 other films (Motorcycle Diaries and Touching the Void).