The Criterion Collection

[Vigojean]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

I don't think that's really the point though, right?

Haha maybe not, but if I were a filmmaker, I’d be content with LiveGrain. Modern cinematography is too clean and glossy, anyway, so I’d put it through LiveGrain to give it that filmic look. I love ‘50s and ‘90s color cinematography—so crisp with just the right grain.

[traths]

I hope there's going to be a standalone release of The Last Picture Show when the new titles are announced next week.

[Vigojean]

Since it wasn’t included with The Cameraman, I’d like to see Sherlock Jr get the Criterion treatment. Funny how that and Renoir’s A Day in the Country are considered features but not Chaplin’s The Pilgrim.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by jayembee

It's a cookbook that broke its glasses on a planet that turned out to be Earth all along!

So Time enough at last to serve man on the third from the sun? The one that scared the hell out of me as a kid was The Howling Man. When the title character takes a stroll.........

[theater dreamer]

Whenever I see the term “dated” employed in a discussion of film, the inherent assumption is that these element serve as an anchor that weighs the film down. Rarely do I see this terminology portrayed in a positive light. Yet I would argue that certain elements being dated can be a boon to a scene. They effectively transport the viewer back in time. The fashion of the day, the music, the linguistic idiosyncrasies, the societal norms-these elements might appear cringeworthy to someone that lived through that period, but I feel these dated elements lend authenticity.

A filmmaker that I find myself appreciating more as I get older is Brian De Palma. Take Blow Out, for example. Jack (John Travolta) works in production design, capturing ambient sound elements to be used in B movie horror films.

[Show spoiler]The film harkens back to the political and Civil Rights assassinations of the 1960s, as well as serving as an obvious nod to Chappaquiddick. Beyond these historical markers, the very tools used by Jack in his job, especially when splicing together the audio he recorded with pictures taken from the magazine-these are incredibly dated. The machines would look foreign to a younger viewer, knowing that all this is handled today via production savvy software. But in this instance, I think these dated elements serve the film incredibly well. The process by which he puts this all together is both visually interesting, and heightens the anticipation of what comes next. Would this scene be as effective if shot today? I don’t think so. Jack sitting at his MacBook, assembling in some film editing software, and uploading the file to the cloud, eliminates the tension of the scene. He’s not carrying the only proof of a political assassination. The reporter could just click on a hyperlink in his email, and download the file in 2 minutes.

There is a kind of genius in how Jack puts this film together, as well as how De Palma and his DOP shoot the scene. They are in the middle of Jack’s sound room, and we get a 360° view of all the reels that he’s assembled over time. The old machines, and the racks of audio tapes, while clearly products of a bygone era, continue to “work” some four decades after Brian De Palma wrapped shooting.

[BaronVH]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

Anybody watch that IFC comedy show Documentary Now? I was with Tarantino on the whole film vs digital debate till I saw that show. They shoot their episodes on digital camera, then put the footage through something called LiveGrain and perfectly emulate any film stock, from Grey Gardens to The Thin Blue Line. I’m converted.

The last movies I saw on film were Dunkirk and Hateful 8. Obviously it was an amazing experience. I have a nice digital camera, and it is very convenient for a non-professional. But I don’t feel that I have to think about my shots as much as with a film camera. I like vinyl, but digital should be better. Then why does some vinyl sound better? Because a sound engineer took time and effort to get it right. I bet that is the key with motion pictures and film purists. It requires time and effort to get it right, so in the long run the shots look better in the long run. Over the years I have grown to really like Tarantino. I love his films, but he is a lover of the art. One of my best jobs was working in a video rental store, and some of my experiences are very similar to some he has discussed. As fans, we get to sit back and enjoy. However, for home video buffs, there is only so much you can do with a poorly shot digital film, but there is much you can do with film, which obviously has its limitations as well.

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

Anybody watch that IFC comedy show Documentary Now? I was with Tarantino on the whole film vs digital debate till I saw that show. They shoot their episodes on digital camera, then put the footage through something called LiveGrain and perfectly emulate any film stock, from Grey Gardens to The Thin Blue Line. I’m converted.

You do realize that debate is about projecting a movie on a screen in a theater, right? That’s the standard many traditional filmmakers are using, not for viewing on TV.

[albabe]

I likely ask this every year (This time I'll write It Down), so How Many different Criterion Sales are there, and How Many times a year, and When is each one? I think that covers it.

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by albabe

I likely ask this every year (This time I'll write It Down), so How Many different Criterion Sales are there, and How Many times a year, and When is each one? I think that covers it.

4 50% off sales total

2 from Barnes and Noble (July and November)
2 24 hour flash sales from the Criterion website (February and October)

[dylrichard02]

Originally Posted by albabe

I likely ask this every year (This time I'll write It Down), so How Many different Criterion Sales are there, and How Many times a year, and When is each one? I think that covers it.

4 regular sales. 2 flash sales from CC, usually in February and October (I believe) 50% off prices. 2 sales at B&N, July and November, 50% off prices.

Occasionally other retailers offer good discounts, like Amazon and Target's B2G1 sale which is often populated with Criterions, those are sporadic throughout the year. Bull Moose has had recent releases for $21.97 on blu ray for quite a while here lately also, but I'm not sure when those will go back up.

[jordan-r]

Originally Posted by albabe

I likely ask this every year (This time I'll write It Down), so How Many different Criterion Sales are there, and How Many times a year, and When is each one? I think that covers it.

Four -- two from Criterion itself (24-hour flash sales, around Feb/March and again around September/October) and two from Barnes and Noble (around July and November, month-long).

[bergman864]

Originally Posted by albabe

I likely ask this every year (This time I'll write It Down), so How Many different Criterion Sales are there, and How Many times a year, and When is each one? I think that covers it.

February: Flash One Day 50% Off MSRP Sale on Criterion.com
July: Barnes & Noble 50% Off MSRP Sale all month.
October: Flash One Day 50% MSRP Sale on Criterion.com
November: Barnes & Noble 50% Off MSRP Sale all month.

No set given day for the Criterion sales or a start day for the B&N sales.

[Vigojean]

Originally Posted by jkoffman

You do realize that debate is about projecting a movie on a screen in a theater, right? That’s the standard many traditional filmmakers are using, not for viewing on TV.

That’s what he’s hung up about? That’s a total non-issue for me. I thought he was raging against digital’s clean, glossy look, which I also think looks horrid—hence the solution: LiveGrain.

[HDMe]

I'm looking forward to the next 50% off sale at Barnes & Noble... Last year I was just getting my footing at the end of the year so I only bought one movie... but this time around I'll be more able to get whatever I want that I see so I'm hoping to pick up a few that I've wanted for a while.

[AreaFive]

So I may have gone a bit overboard

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by jkoffman

You do realize that debate is about projecting a movie on a screen in a theater, right? That’s the standard many traditional filmmakers are using, not for viewing on TV.

I wish Monte Hellman was still with us. He was active on FB for a good long time, and he had very long discourses where he absolutely shredded film projection, thought even at its ideal that it was a fundamentally inferior presentation format than digital and went into technical detail as to why.

I always wondered what Tarantino thought of that, given that he's an enormous admirer of Hellman, and Reservoir Dogs wouldn't have gotten made without him. Anyway, I think Monte would've had a lot to add to this debate and I miss his voice.

[Shanghai Express]

My copy of Merrily We Go To Hell, which I preordered during the current 30% off site sale, is out for delivery. It’s the first time I’ll receive a Criterion before the street date. Usually Criterion site preorders are delivered to me (NYC) on release day.

[cjamescook]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Also, some of the series' best episodes involve twist endings that, once you know what's coming, present diminishing returns on repeat viewings.

Certainly the show is an all-time great and nothing will change that. I have found, however, that I don't get anywhere near as much out of them now as I did when I was younger.

Let's just say these were "message stories" or "morality stories".
We could also say the original 1960s Star Trek episodes were morality tales.

Question: Why did these work back then? Why not now? Was our level of innocence so high? Was the general population that unsophisticated?

If we are talking about watching either of these shows as kids, well, there is your answer right there. But there were adults watching them. Why do we not hear of comments akin to ours from adults back then?

[acroyear2]

Originally Posted by albabe

I likely ask this every year (This time I'll write It Down), so How Many different Criterion Sales are there, and How Many times a year, and When is each one? I think that covers it.

There have also been Criterion's own 30%-off sales as of late with one going on right now. Last year the sale ran for 2 (or was it 3) months. These seem to be a bit less predictable.

The benefit is that when the August titles are announced next week they can be bought at a discount and received before the next 50%-off sales hits.

[Member-682067]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

That show is still a masterpiece. The writing is the best I’ve ever seen on a tv show. The themes are pretty universal, so it doesn’t feel dated to me.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. We have different standards if the writing in 'The Twilight Zone' is considered the best TV screenwriting of all time.

The allegories and messages are painfully simplistic and obvious(and usually of a certain political bent) and the twists are contrived and not even that clever, really(I mean, anyone familiar with the show knows they're coming). Pass.