The Criterion Collection

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

Dang you gotta be an older millennial or older to remember that lol. Brought back memories with that sentence. So many great indie and foreign films on Bravo: Buffalo ‘66, Spanking the Monkey, Swimming with Sharks, Reservoir Dogs, The City of Lost Children, Cemetery Man, American Heart, Little Odessa, The Daytrippers, Welcome to the Dollhouse, etc.....

Ten years ago I had a roommate and he had DirecTV, I caught up with a lot of interesting film nuggets on The Sundance Channel, stuff I never would have heard of elsewhere. Not sure if they're still as good these days.

[Karosanyo]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

Dang you gotta be an older millennial or older to remember that lol. Brought back memories with that sentence. So many great indie and foreign films on Bravo: Buffalo ‘66, Spanking the Monkey, Swimming with Sharks, Reservoir Dogs, The City of Lost Children, Cemetery Man, American Heart, Little Odessa, The Daytrippers, Welcome to the Dollhouse, etc.....

LOL, I'm 40 years old. 2000s Bravo introduced me to Ingmar Bergman. "Cries and Whispers" really floored me. I had to seek out all of his films over that. "Seven Beauties" is another film that stayed with me.

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by omgitsgodzilla

WKW's films could use good restorations...

I have more respect for Zhang Yimou than WKW these days, because Zhang keeps himself amazingly prolific making new movies, and doesn't seem interested whatsoever in re-writing/re-envisioning his whole back catalogue.

[DaBargainHunta]

Expiring from the Criterion Channel: The Tall Target (1951)



CIVIL NOIR - The Tall Target is about a planned assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln's life, but not the one you're thinking of. Instead, this murder plot takes place days before Lincoln is set to be inaugurated as President.

The film starts out with its credits tilting upward - a striking effect similar to what we'd see several decades later in Star Wars. Then we're informed that The Tall Target is based on true story, but the movie is pretty upfront that the events depicted within are a dramatization. In other words, there's only a kernel of truth here. That doesn't matter though.

A rebellious cop named John Kennedy (yes, lol - played by Dick Powell of Dames) believes that one of the passengers on a upcoming train ride from New York and Baltimore plans to assassinate the President-Elect. The train is filled with various colorful/suspicious/eccentric characters (including a young Ruby Dee playing a slave, which is probably why this was on the Channel in the first place), and it's up to Kennedy to figure out which one of them wants to put a hit out on Honest Abe. Various complications ensue, as they always do.

At only an hour and 17 minutes, The Tall Target never has time to wear out its welcome. A train ride from New York to Baltimore may be "the longest bar in the world," but the movie operates at a pretty brisk pace.

DaBargainHunta's Decree: Fun little flick. (Subtitles/Captions: Yes!)

[aloop]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

Which director box set would you guys like to see most? I know everyone is waiting for a Kurosawa box set, but I’d rather get a John Woo box set, since his movies are in dire need of restoration. Almodovar and Todd Solondz would be cool too. And I really want Chaplin’s First National shorts.

Mikio Naruse

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

[Show spoiler]Expiring from the Criterion Channel: The Tall Target (1951)



CIVIL NOIR - The Tall Target is about a planned assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln's life, but not the one you're thinking of. Instead, this murder plot takes place days before Lincoln is set to be inaugurated as President.

The film starts out with its credits tilting upward - a striking effect similar to what we'd see several decades later in Star Wars. Then we're informed that The Tall Target is based on true story, but the movie is pretty upfront that the events depicted within are a dramatization. In other words, there's only a kernel of truth here. That doesn't matter though.

A rebellious cop named John Kennedy (yes, lol - played by Dick Powell of Dames) believes that one of the passengers on a upcoming train ride from New York and Baltimore plans to assassinate the President-Elect. The train is filled with various colorful/suspicious/eccentric characters (including a young Ruby Dee playing a slave, which is probably why this was on the Channel in the first place), and it's up to Kennedy to figure out which one of them wants to put a hit out on Honest Abe. Various complications ensue, as they always do.

At only an hour and 17 minutes, The Tall Target never has time to wear out its welcome. A train ride from New York to Baltimore may be "the longest bar in the world," but the movie operates at a pretty brisk pace.

DaBargainHunta's Decree: Fun little flick. (Subtitles/Captions: Yes!)

The Tall Target is pretty cracking stuff, and is sorely overlooked in all of those "great train movies" conversations. It makes a pretty nice complement to The Narrow Margin.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

Which director box set would you guys like to see most? I know everyone is waiting for a Kurosawa box set, but I’d rather get a John Woo box set, since his movies are in dire need of restoration. Almodovar and Todd Solondz would be cool too. And I really want Chaplin’s First National shorts.

Outside of Kurosawa? Hmm.

Hideo Gosha would be at the very top. Hunter in the Dark is probably my most wanted film on Blu-ray at this point.

John Woo would be great. Hard-Boiled and The Killer are two of the greatest action films of all time, yet every single release has been crap. We never even got Bullet in the Head on DVD.

Criterion also has every Juzo Itami directed film, so I would like to see a boxset of those.

[Vigojean]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

We never even got Bullet in the Head on DVD.

I saw it on a shoddy dvd along with Once a Thief. Woo was unstoppable from 1986-1992

[Purplenoon]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

Which director box set would you guys like to see most? I know everyone is waiting for a Kurosawa box set, but I’d rather get a John Woo box set, since his movies are in dire need of restoration. Almodovar and Todd Solondz would be cool too. And I really want Chaplin’s First National shorts.

Takashi Miike
Johnnie To

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

Which director box set would you guys like to see most? I know everyone is waiting for a Kurosawa box set, but I’d rather get a John Woo box set, since his movies are in dire need of restoration. Almodovar and Todd Solondz would be cool too. And I really want Chaplin’s First National shorts.

I'd love the 5 Paul Verhoeven movies that Rob Houwer produced/owns.

How about a Fred Zinnemann at MGM set? Late Robert Siodmak in Germany set? Pre-code William Wellman at First National would be a dream come true, though unfortunately, I feel like a few of the titles have some clearance issues (namely So Big! and Lilly Turner).

[ShellBeacher]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

John Woo would be great. Hard-Boiled and The Killer are two of the greatest action films of all time, yet every single release has been crap. We never even got Bullet in the Head on DVD.

Criterion also has every Juzo Itami directed film, so I would like to see a boxset of those.

YES and YES!!! Juzo Itami's films are SO wonderful and have themes that are VERY translatable! I know some are on streaming, but I would love to see Criterion take a chance on more JUZO ITAMI on disc!!!

Originally Posted by Purplenoon

Johnnie To

YES!!! A HERO NEVER DIES?? SPARROW??

Originally Posted by Gunsnroses092789

I'd love the 5 Paul Verhoeven movies that Rob Houwer produced/owns.

YES, PLEASE!!!

[dkelly26666]

Kurosawa, first.

But I'd personally love a complete works of Pier Paolo Pasolini Criterion box. But, it'll never happen. I don't think he gets a lot of attention/sales.

[kvnbhovis]

Kurosawa
Silent Era DeMille
Lon Chaney (Sr.)
Victor Sjostrom

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Cinematt

Wow I didn't realise how much better served we are in the UK for Kore-eda movies!
Arrow have given us Like Father, Like Son, After the Storm, I Wish, and The Third Murder. The BFI set has Still Walking, After Life, Maboroshi, and Nobody Knows. And then we've got Shoplifers, Out Little Sister, Air Doll, and The Truth with individual releases.
Most of these are very cheap as well, if anyone is looking for a justification for spending a bit on going region free

Yep. All of the Kore-eda films I have are on UK blu-rays. I still need to get Air Doll and The Truth, though.

[dvining]

I just got a copy of The Rules of the Game, and the cover seems to have been misprinted, everything about a quarter of an inch too far over so the spine doesn't line up with the spine of the case.

What's the best email to use to reach out to Criterion about a replacement?

[Ferg]

Originally Posted by Purplenoon

Takashi Miike
Johnnie To

It's staggering to me that these two, and John Woo haven't gotten the Criterion set treatment. Their stuff is stretched across multiple labels, but Woo's classics are in serious need of a restoration.

[randian]

Originally Posted by Ferg

Woo's classics are in serious need of a restoration.

Most HK films from that era do, Golden Harvest has been a poor steward of its assets. Do the original negatives of Woo's films even exist anymore?

[jordan-r]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

Which director box set would you guys like to see most? I know everyone is waiting for a Kurosawa box set, but I’d rather get a John Woo box set, since his movies are in dire need of restoration. Almodovar and Todd Solondz would be cool too. And I really want Chaplin’s First National shorts.

Fassbinder, including all the TV films -- if the Bergman set's anything to go by, it wouldn't be 100% complete because Olive has Despair, but I'd think the rights situations for most of them would be fine given how the Fassbinder Foundation works with Criterion.

Less realistically, Godard.

[DavidRoylance]

A complete set of The Archers - perhaps with all of Michael Powell's solo directed quota quickies.

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

Dang you gotta be an older millennial or older to remember that lol. Brought back memories with that sentence. So many great indie and foreign films on Bravo: Buffalo ‘66, Spanking the Monkey, Swimming with Sharks, Reservoir Dogs, The City of Lost Children, Cemetery Man, American Heart, Little Odessa, The Daytrippers, Welcome to the Dollhouse, etc.....

How about being old enough to go back to the early 80s when BRAVO had on air hosts like Martin Scorsese and David Ansen introducing commercial free movies that had NEVER aired on American television before? AMC actually lived up to its name by showing only American Movie Classics and later Sundance and IFC were an indie/foreign film lovers dream. Yeah, I might be a geezer when I say the old days were better, but is there anyone here who can say these channels as they exist today are an improvement over the way they once were? What is it, Season 38 now on THE WALKING DEAD?