The Criterion Collection

[Gacivory]

If anyone is looking to get One Night in Miami it, along with Raisin in the Sun are ringing up at 30% off at my Barnes & Noble and membership coupon brings it down to, $25. Just in case you don’t want to wait til the next sale.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

finished an epic almodovar rewatch of all his films ending with a cinema trip to see Parallel Mothers, and i just want to know when are we getting more criterion releases… i thought they were all or at least most coming. i guess Talk to Her is the most likely since this year is its 20th?

I'm still kicking myself for not getting this before buying from Amazon UK became either impossible or über expensive.



Sigh.

[Vigojean]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

finished an epic almodovar rewatch of all his films ending with a cinema trip to see Parallel Mothers, and i just want to know when are we getting more criterion releases… i thought they were all or at least most coming. i guess Talk to Her is the most likely since this year is its 20th?

I’m slowly trudging along to his pre-1999 films. The man got WAY better as an old man. His early stuff is just John Waters with a Spanish accent. Then he made All About My Mother and grew the hell up. Never seen an artist, in ANY art form, get better with old age that drastically. Maybe he finally ate his Wheaties.

His 21st century movies are incredible. We need Talk to Her, Bad Education and The Skin I Live In

[Sifox211]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

I’m slowly trudging along to his pre-1999 films. The man got WAY better as an old man. His early stuff is just John Waters with a Spanish accent. Then he made All About My Mother and grew the hell up. Never seen an artist, in ANY art form, get better with old age that drastically. Maybe he finally ate his Wheaties.

His 21st century movies are incredible. We need Talk to Her, Bad Education and The Skin I Live In

I wouldn't write them all off - The Flower of my Secret from 1996 is imo up there with any of his later films.

[FragnitoM]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

I’m slowly trudging along to his pre-1999 films. The man got WAY better as an old man. His early stuff is just John Waters with a Spanish accent. Then he made All About My Mother and grew the hell up. Never seen an artist, in ANY art form, get better with old age that drastically. Maybe he finally ate his Wheaties.

His 21st century movies are incredible. We need Talk to Her, Bad Education and The Skin I Live In

Pepi Luci Bom and Dark Habits yes i was thinking this is fun spanish John Waters. But he evolves pretty quickly and it’s interesting to watch his style and maturity evolve through his entire filmography

[Vigojean]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

I wouldn't write them all off - The Flower of my Secret from 1996 is imo up there with any of his later films.

I thought that one was one of his weakest. Tie Me Up is my favorite pre-1999. Actually I like it more than All About My Mother. But now he’s just on another level. My only gripe is he keeps writing about women, mostly straight. I’d rather he make movies about gay men (like himself) than women. I can’t relate to female characters at all, but I can relate to male characters, gay or straight. Same problem I have with Max Ophuls. He wasted his talent on “weepies” that no one talks about anymore

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

I thought that one was one of his weakest. Tie Me Up is my favorite pre-1999. Actually I like it more than All About My Mother. But now he’s just on another level. My only gripe is he keeps writing about women, mostly straight. I’d rather he make movies about gay men (like himself) than women. I can’t relate to female characters at all, but I can relate to male characters, gay or straight. Same problem I have with Max Ophuls. He wasted his talent on “weepies” that no one talks about anymore

So essentially you cannot see from the viewpoint of people other than a certain type? That's really more of a limitation on your side than a problem with the maker. And saying that he should make movies about gay men because he is gay himself is narrow-minded. Maybe in his mind he feels closer to straight women than to other gay men.

Max Ophuls specialized in period melodrama, which always has a more niche appeal than other genres, but he also made some excellent observational humorous pictures like Le Plaisir and La Ronde.

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I'm still kicking myself for not getting this before buying from Amazon UK became either impossible or über expensive.



Sigh.

Took a quick look and it seems still available and going for ~$50 USD from retailers.

[Vigojean]

Originally Posted by ravenus

So essentially you cannot see from the viewpoint of people other than a certain type? That's really more of a limitation on your side than a problem with the maker. And saying that he should make movies about gay men because he is gay himself is narrow-minded. Maybe in his mind he feels closer to straight women than to other gay men.

It’s a me problem but I stand by it. Bad Education is my favorite film of his for a reason. I wish he’d make more of that. And he REALLY needs to make a coming of age movie because he keeps referencing his Catholic boarding school days in his movies, and those are the best scenes

[jordan-r]

Janus hinting at Inland Empire again.

[HuggyBear73]

I still have to pick up 2 Criterions that had that disc rot problem:

'M'
Stagecoach


These initially came out in 2010. All the bad copies should be out of circulation by now?

[TolerancEJ]

I'm waiting for an "all clear" signal so I can order Citizen Kane, without the need of replacing the faulty disc.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by HuggyBear73

I still have to pick up 2 Criterions that had that disc rot problem:

'M'
Stagecoach


These initially came out in 2010. All the bad copies should be out of circulation by now?

Really? I got them at release but at least till a couple years ago, my copies were fine. Haven't played them after that, gotta check now.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by HuggyBear73

I still have to pick up 2 Criterions that had that disc rot problem:

'M'
Stagecoach


These initially came out in 2010. All the bad copies should be out of circulation by now?

Not necessarily. It depends on which print run a retailer has available. Some retailers might still have the 1st pressing because I believe those discs were not officially recalled.

The only way to know for sure is to buy from Criterion.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Vigojean

I thought that one was one of his weakest. Tie Me Up is my favorite pre-1999. Actually I like it more than All About My Mother. But now he’s just on another level. My only gripe is he keeps writing about women, mostly straight. I’d rather he make movies about gay men (like himself) than women. I can’t relate to female characters at all, but I can relate to male characters, gay or straight. Same problem I have with Max Ophuls. He wasted his talent on “weepies” that no one talks about anymore

You may be right in saying that "no one talks about (Ophuls films) any more," but who cares? Letter From an Unknown Woman still stands, for me, as one of the best "discoveries" of a film I was certain I had never heard of in my life prior to seeing it mentioned on this site on someone's 'top films of the 40's' list. I'd bet that a lot of people still aren't familiar with it. Weepy? Yes. But really darn good, too.

The only thing I'm sorry about when it comes to Ophuls is that the CC transfer for The Earrings of Madame De... is supposed to stink to the point where I haven't prioritized picking it up. ...and that I was too slow in speaking up when a seller on this site had a copy of Olive's Caught up for grabs just recently.

[Cinematt]

Originally Posted by HuggyBear73

I still have to pick up 2 Criterions that had that disc rot problem:

'M'
Stagecoach


These initially came out in 2010. All the bad copies should be out of circulation by now?

Criterion still replace these for free if you have one from the bad batch. It doesn't even have to have gone bad, they'll still swap it.

[Vigojean]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

You may be right in saying that "no one talks about (Ophuls films) any more," but who cares? Letter From an Unknown Woman still stands, for me, as one of the best "discoveries" of a film I was certain I had never heard of in my life prior to seeing it mentioned on this site on someone's 'top films of the 40's' list. I'd bet that a lot of people still aren't familiar with it. Weepy? Yes. But really darn good, too.

The only thing I'm sorry about when it comes to Ophuls is that the CC transfer for The Earrings of Madame De... is supposed to stink to the point where I haven't prioritized picking it up. ...and that I was too slow in speaking up when a seller on this site had a copy of Olive's Caught up for grabs just recently.

Letter from an Unknown Woman is my favorite Ophuls but I still gotta see his noirs

[dr727]

I adore all of Almodóvar's output. He—like any great artist—has a solid connective tissue throughout his films that has evolved over time. And as with all great artists, there's equally as much to appreciate in his nascent era and more mature work.

(That said, his 1980s films have such unique spark/atmosphere/aesthetic that I always return to—maybe most so in Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Also, Dark Habits is incredibly underrated IMO.)

[dr727]

Oh and re: Almodóvar's choice of subjects. To each their own but—as a woman—I can say that there are so few male directors who capture so many nuances of womanhood. Volver is incredible.

His output stands alongside works auteur female director works like Barbara Loden's Wanda and Claudia Weil's Girlfriends. He provided representation that was so rare at the time—women characters that were actually relatable. I'm so thankful for his films, sewed into the fabric of my life.

[Vigojean]

Originally Posted by dr727

Oh and re: Almodóvar's choice of subjects. To each their own but—as a woman—I can say that there are so few male directors who capture so many nuances of womanhood. Volver is incredible.

His output stands alongside works auteur female director works like Barbara Loden's Wanda and Claudia Weil's Girlfriends. He provided representation that was so rare at the time—women characters that were actually relatable. I'm so thankful for his films, sewed into the fabric of my life.

Bergman, Tarantino and Woody Allen can do all that…and have done so. But they’re not obsessed like Almodovar