The Criterion Collection

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

TSPDT's 2021 1,000 Greatest Films List has been posted. They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? (TSPDT) is a modest but growing film resource dedicated to the art of motion picture filmmaking and most specifically to that one particular individual calling the shots from behind the camera - the film director. Amongst other content, TSPDT currently houses two of the most referenced film lists on the internet (The 1,000 Greatest Films and The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films) along with a growing set of director profiles.

The site is run by Bill Georgaris, who uses an amalgam of top ten lists to come up with the annual rankings.

http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000.htm

Not sure why they're calling it the 1,000 greatest films when there is definitely a minimum of 4 (Bergman x2/Kieślowski & Fassbinder x1 each) TV productions on the list.

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Not sure why they're calling it the 1,000 greatest films when there is definitely a minimum of 4 (Bergman x2/Kieślowski & Fassbinder x1 each) TV productions on the list.

There is such a thing as movies made for television.

[theater dreamer]

A58FAA75-A639-44D2-A0BD-A12A799267B1.jpg
Two Women

Well, Sophia Loren fans in our little group can celebrate. I just plopped down $30 to import Two Women; that seems tailor made for Criterion. Sophia won the Best Actress Academy Award in 1961. Directed by Vittorio De Sica, and co-starring Jean-Paul Belmondo-two Criterion regulars-I find myself a bit surprised it hasn’t been released here. But I am happy to make it happen!

[flat_earth7]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

I ask each poster to name five films (off the top of your head) that you would love to see.

Oh, irresistible listing bait, well done -

1. Never Cry Wolf (Carroll Ballard)
2. The Filth and the Fury (Julien Temple)
3. Freaks (Tod Browning)
4. Orphic Trilogy (Jean Cocteau) blu-ray
5. Guy Maddin Boxset

[FragnitoM]

Five I’d like to see on the top of my head

Carnal Knowledge, Mike Nichols
All or Nothing, Mike Leigh
Magdalene Sisters, Peter Mullen
Heartbreak Kid, Elaine May
Dreamlife of Angels, Erick Zonca

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Attachment 254674
Two Women

Well, Sophia Loren fans in our little group can celebrate. I just plopped down $30 to import Two Women; that seems tailor made for Criterion. Sophia won the Best Actress Academy Award in 1961. Directed by Vittorio De Sica, and co-starring Jean-Paul Belmondo-two Criterion regulars-I find myself a bit surprised it hasn’t been released here. But I am happy to make it happen!

There needs to be more De Sica on BD. Shoeshine, Miracle In Milan, The Children Are Watching Us and The Garden of the Finzi-Continis come to mind.

[ElliesDad]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

Lists are nice to spotlight films for new generations, but I never understood ranking art. I prefer they just published these kinds of lists in alphabetical/chronological order

Nope, me neither (the 'ranking' thing). Particularly since not only beauty but art in general is often in the eye of the beholder. If you doubt it, check out the range of opinion concerning any given movie at Rotten Tomatoes.

And what exactly is the set of criteria used to rank one film above another. It's easy enough to sort out the dreck that comprises 95% of the releases that flood the market each year. But if you have a handful of movies (or a thousand) where the writing is top-notch, the directing is performed skillfully, the cinematography is breath-taking, the music is soul-wrenching, the acting is a joy to behold, and all the various technical functions have been done competently where does one start in terms of ranking one film above another, especially given the available ranges and options in film-making in terms of scope, genre, and subject matter. It's tempting to suggest that emotional impact and/or the ability of a film to offer suspension of belief is relevant here, but those criteria are entirely subjective.

Subjectively, I was surprised to see "Roman Holiday" come in at 833 (out of a thousand) on the TSPDT list and "Spartacus" and "Ben Hur" clock in at 725 and 684 respectively. The short critical recap for the latter unfortunately did more in terms of illuminating the writer's psyche than describing the movie and perhaps contributed to the lower ranking? "Amelie" at 524 I would have placed much higher, and "Cinema Paradiso" 267 and "Nights of Cabiria" 195 I would have put in the top twenty.

And films like "Remains of the Day", "The Day of the Jackal", and "Howard's End" just as examples didn't make the cut at all. Nor did De Sica's wonderful "Two Women", mentioned in the previous posts. I've been looking for a decent release of that since the advent of DVD (I'd hoped that Criterion would be the one to do it but they seem to be going in a different direction now).

In the end 'They Shoot Pictures, Don't They' is an excellent site, the list is harmless and still fun, and the critical capsules in the alphabetical listings are generally well-written and useful.

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

There is such a thing as movies made for television.

Dekalog & Berlin Alexanderplatz are definitely NOT films & the other two I mentioned are TV plays (a big difference) NOT films either.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

Five I’d like to see on the top of my head

Carnal Knowledge, Mike Nichols
All or Nothing, Mike Leigh
Magdalene Sisters, Peter Mullen
Heartbreak Kid, Elaine May
Dreamlife of Angels, Erick Zonca

Carnal Knowledge and Bad Timing should get released the same month!

All or Nothing is my favorite Leigh film!

I need someone to wrestle the rights for Stepford Wives and Heartbreak Kid away from the pharmaceutical Company that owns them! Or whoever owns them at this time.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Not sure why they're calling it the 1,000 greatest films when there is definitely a minimum of 4 (Bergman x2/Kieślowski & Fassbinder x1 each) TV productions on the list.

Originally Posted by Cremildo

There is such a thing as movies made for television.

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Dekalog & Berlin Alexanderplatz are definitely NOT films & the other two I mentioned are TV plays (a big difference) NOT films either.

The two relevant Bergman entries (Fanny and Alexander and Scenes from a Marriage) were originally made as TV mini-series, not TV movies. But the lengths cited in the list were for the theatrical release versions, so they definitely count as films.

Berlin Alexanderplatz has sometimes been cited as a 15-hour film, but seriously, it's a TV mini-series. It aired as one part per week, except for the first two parts, which aired a day apart, and the last two, which aired back to back the same night.

Dekalog is a complicated situation. Parts 5 and 6 were originally produced in 1988 as 90-minute films. Part 10 and Part 1 were made for TV and aired in 1989. The rest (including 1-hour versions of 5 and 6) aired on TV during May and June 1990 (a week apart). Dekalog as a whole is best described as a TV series, not as a 10-hour film.

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by jayembee

The two relevant Bergman entries (Fanny and Alexander and Scenes from a Marriage) were originally made as TV mini-series, not TV movies. But the lengths cited in the list were for the theatrical release versions, so they definitely count as films.

Berlin Alexanderplatz has sometimes been cited as a 15-hour film, but seriously, it's a TV mini-series. It aired as one part per week, except for the first two parts, which aired a day apart, and the last two, which aired back to back the same night.

Dekalog is a complicated situation. Parts 5 and 6 were originally produced in 1988 as 90-minute films. Part 10 and Part 1 were made for TV and aired in 1989. The rest (including 1-hour versions of 5 and 6) aired on TV during May and June 1990 (a week apart). Dekalog as a whole is best described as a TV series, not as a 10-hour film.

The 2 Bergman things I was referring to were Scenes from a Marriage & Saraband. BOTH of which were made for TV. I completely forgot about Fanny & Alexander. Anyway Bergman directed 25 TV productions over the course of his career.

Just noticed that the following are also TV productions, NOT films:

Edvard Munch - A TV play
Histoire(s) du cinéma - A mini-series

Basically They are ALL mini-series except for Saraband (2003) & Edvard Munch (1974) which are TV plays.

Basically the list makers need to go back & replace the 7 TV productions with ACTUAL films otherwise the list needs to be renamed 993 Greatest Films.

[nitin]

You are taking this way too seriously!

[bergman864]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

The 2 Bergman things I was referring to were Scenes from a Marriage & Saraband. BOTH of which were made for TV. I completely forgot about Fanny & Alexander. Anyway Bergman directed 25 TV productions over the course of his career.

Just noticed that the following are also TV productions, NOT films:

Edvard Munch - A TV play
Histoire(s) du cinéma - A mini-series

Basically They are ALL mini-series except for Saraband (2003) & Edvard Munch (1974) which are TV plays.

Basically the list makers need to go back & replace the 7 TV productions with ACTUAL films otherwise the list needs to be renamed 993 Greatest Films.

The distinction between a TV play and TV film is ridiculous. You can make an argument for TV mini series since that's usually presented over multiple nights. Scenes from a Marriage has a film version, and either would be perfectly fine.

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by jayembee

The two relevant Bergman entries (Fanny and Alexander and Scenes from a Marriage) were originally made as TV mini-series, not TV movies. B

FWIW, in Taschen's Ingmar Bergman Archives book, no one involved with the making of Fanny & Alexander ever referred to it as a "TV miniseries". Bergman, the producer, Nykvist all treated it as a film in their declarations. It was divided into several episodes because it was too long.

[Dankk]

I know it's already been mentioned, but that Target Circle 20% off deal is pretty juicy. With most of their Criterion selection already being discounted, + 20% off coupon + additional Redcard 5% off + free shipping, you can pick up titles for notably less than the B&N sales or the flash sales.

Picked up the following for $58 shipped:

• The Cranes are Flying
• Straw Dogs
• Paris, Texas

To see what their selection is, I just searched for "Criterion" on target.com, filtered by blu-ray, and then sorted by lowest price.

[FragnitoM]

With every new Arrow UHD announcement, Criterion not releasing their films on the best available format just becomes more and more frustrating...

[yoloswegmaster420]

I wish I could tag DukeTogo just so I can show him his favourite type of posts!

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

With every new Arrow UHD announcement, Criterion not releasing their films on the best available format just becomes more and more frustrating...

Even Arrow is only releasing select titles. Only titles that seem like missed opportunities from the last 12 months or so through April 2021 (and not from studios not licensing UHD rights like WB/Paramount/Disney/Netflix) are The Great Escape, Moonstruck, and Memories of Murder.

And if they start releasing them, it's not like titles like History is Made at Night, The Ascent, Masculine Feminin, or Mouchette would have any chance of being on UHD.

[FragnitoM]

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

Even Arrow is only releasing select titles. Only titles that seem like missed opportunities from the last 12 months or so through April 2021 (and not from studios not licensing UHD rights like WB/Paramount/Disney/Netflix) are The Great Escape, Moonstruck, and Memories of Murder.

And if they start releasing them, it's not like titles like History is Made at Night, The Ascent, Masculine Feminin, or Mouchette would have any chance of being on UHD.

And Criterion can release only select titles as well. I’m not naive to think every title will be on UHD. But they have many titles in the past few years that have been missed opportunities. Not to mention upcoming titles like WKW which were restored and mastered in 4K which they’re just going to put on a Blu-ray

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

FWIW, in Taschen's Ingmar Bergman Archives book, no one involved with the making of Fanny & Alexander ever referred to it as a "TV miniseries". Bergman, the producer, Nykvist all treated it as a film in their declarations. It was divided into several episodes because it was too long.

Fanny & Alexander debuted as a theatrically released film, plus it won a couple of Oscars and the Academy has very strict rules on eligibility when it comes to films airing on TV prior to theatrical release.