The Criterion Collection

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by ShellBeacher

Someone else kind of mentioned it, but yeah, I know someone who worked at Criterion for a while, and a few years back, they pretty much confirmed to me that the label has/had U.S. home video rights to ALL 10 of Juzo Itami's films.

I wonder if it was the same employee who told me. He was also pushing for Criterion to release the Hanzo films, but to no avail. I also wish he still worked for Arrow as well, as he helped get a lot of the Fukasaku films on Blu-ray.

Back to Itami, I really do hope we his films more frequently. At least one a year would be great.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by Matt89

Can't wait to grab Written on the Wind tomorrow. It had probably become my most wanted Criterion upgrade, and it got higher and higher on the list each year they didn't announce it lol. Coincidentally, it'll also officially be my 1000th blu-ray.

~Matt

This past week, I've been meaning to ask about Written on the Wind, as it's being released by Criterion's UK branch next week. Wanted to ask about the usual things (transfer, audio etc.) and how the encoding is on this Criterion title.

[theater dreamer]

Speaking only for myself, when I put on a commentary with any particular film, it tends to be one I’ve seen at least twice, if not more. And I typically check the reviews of a particular release here (and on other sites) before doing so, to get a general idea as to not only who is providing said commentary, but the quality of the commentary, as well.

Some of my favorite experiences have come from archival commentaries, recorded from directors or cinematographers that left us long ago. Some have come from historians, critics, or experts on a particular Director, and were only recently created for the distribution company.

And as an aside (this is not directed at you, mmarczi), any suggestion that only those who actually worked on a particular classic film can provide insights in a film commentary is a bit silly. If an existing archival commentary is compelling, I’m all for including it. Absent that, I would like to have a new one recorded and included with a boutique label release.

I find I use commentaries most often if I want to break down a particular scene within a movie. That happens with a lot of Hitchcock’s films, where I wonder how a particular shot was achieved. Obviously, back then, only practical effects existed. I watched Rope last night, and while the entire film was shot within one apartment (save for the film’s establishing shot during the credits), the set replicating that which one would see in a Broadway play…I have questions about the logistics behind the filming. The three strip Technicolor cameras were bulky, heavy things. Since there is no included commentary, either the documentary will have to provide insights, or I’ll have to research it independently. Typically, I would turn on the commentary track for an explanation of how movement within such a confined space was achieved.

And that’s where being region free can be a boon. I have multiple copies of some films-the aforementioned Double Indemnity, Sunrise, Wings, etc-many times domestic and foreign releases have commentaries from different sources. I will never use all of them, but they’re often a wonderfully illuminating and entertaining resource to have when I want them.

Originally Posted by mmarczi

[Show spoiler]I would listen to a lot more commentaries if I could do so like a podcast while taking a walk (I know it's physically possible to do that, I'm just not set up to do it).

Now pardon the incoming rant:

There are a lot of companies like Kino and Eureka who have taken commentaries on as their primary extras, at least for certain releases, presumably because they're easy to produce. This is not an inherently good thing unless you have plenty of time to waste hearing mostly unengaging information you'll quickly forget spread out over the length of the film you most likely just watched.

As was said, new commentaries don't mean good commentaries. I've listened to commentaries that are just somebody telling me what other movies the latest actor to enter the frame has done for 90 minutes. This was a waste of my life and it would have been better had it not existed.

Generally, full-length commentaries are unnecessary unless you really want to watch the movie with commentary. I'm not sure how common this is, but I know for me, if I'm listening to a commentary, I'm not engaging much with the film itself, so I really don't need all the small talk and dead air it takes to spread a half-hour's worth of conversation over the length of a two-hour film.

Obviously not all commentaries are like that, but they seem to be becoming increasingly common among labels like I mentioned who use commentaries as their primary (often only) supplemental feature. I'd personally take a selected-scene commentary or a 20-minute interview/conversation over the majority of these commentaries. I don't need releases to include commentaries just for the sake of doing so if they're going to be of this standard.

[koberulz]

Reviews of commentaries definitely need to be a thing. There's Rate That Commentary, but it's pretty sparse and a lot of the reviews are "it's terrible, it's too focused on filmmaking and not enough on cracking jokes".

[gbm82]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Reviews of commentaries definitely need to be a thing. There's Rate That Commentary, but it's pretty sparse and a lot of the reviews are "it's terrible, it's too focused on filmmaking and not enough on cracking jokes".

this post has no jokes

zero stars

[Matt89]

Commentaries are some of my favourite extras. Some are dry, for sure, but I often prefer them to interviews, especially when it's an older film and we get a commentary by a film historian or biographer (Paul Talbot's commentaries on Bronson's films are pretty great, or Tim Lucas on Bava, or Christopher Frayling on Eastwood's films, or Alain Silver on the many noir films, or Nick Redman, etc.). While companies like Shout Factory go the extra mile to get tons of interviews with various cast members for their releases, a lot of them end up straying from the topic and I would much rather they combine those interviews into a making-of doc instead of hearing some unknown actor discuss their career of unknown films lol.

~Matt

[tatterdemalion]

The only thing I don't like about audio commentaries is when the person commenting gets something about the film entirely wrong. I believe it's John Milius, on the commentary for Once Upon a Time in the West, that mentions during the seduction scene, where Jill goes to Frank, that Leone cuts between daytime and nighttime scenes and no one seems to notice or care. Um, no. Those are cuts between the dark cave Frank was using after confronting Morton and the sunny outdoors. You know Mr. Milius, the difference between inside dark places and the bright outside? Sheesh.

[Sifox211]

A good commentary can be worth its weight in gold. There are two on The Ghost and Mrs Muir - the first, by Greg Kimble and Christopher Husted, is rivetting and contains a lot of technical and historical information, all relevant to the scenes being played out.

The second one, by Jeanine Basinger and Kenneth Geist, was the opposite for me, although to be fair I only managed about fifteen minutes, as all it contained was a description of what I was seeing with my own eyes! (The site review here seems to like it - can anyone tell me if I should persist with it?)

[Sifox211]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

This past week, I've been meaning to ask about Written on the Wind, as it's being released by Criterion's UK branch next week. Wanted to ask about the usual things (transfer, audio etc.) and how the encoding is on this Criterion title.

Lots of discussion in the official thread here

[blurayisnice]

Not sure if this is the right thread to ask, but any word of a flash sale happening anytime soon? I thought February was the month.

[TolerancEJ]

Originally Posted by blurayisnice

Not sure if this is the right thread to ask, but any word of a flash sale happening anytime soon? I thought February was the month.

It's supposed to happen. Last February, I placed my 2021 order on Tuesday, Feb. 23. (Someone mentioned earlier in this thread that the flash sales historically began on a Tuesday.) Perhaps it will start next Tuesday, Feb. 22. Or they could throw us a curve ball and send the email notification tomorrow morning. In any case, I set aside some funds, waiting for the sale to begin.

[Matt89]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

This past week, I've been meaning to ask about Written on the Wind, as it's being released by Criterion's UK branch next week. Wanted to ask about the usual things (transfer, audio etc.) and how the encoding is on this Criterion title.

I think it looks fantastic for the most part. The opening credits are a bit soft (as to be expected) and there are a few hiccups in the compression during the party scene that I noticed, but honestly, it's one of Criterion's best encodes in some time. Like another member mentioned, there's a good amount of discussion regarding the disc in its relevant thread. There are also some comparison shots here: https://caps-a-holic.com/c_list.php?c=6398

The colour in it is absolutely gorgeous and the film looked really great on my OLED. There's a nice uptick in detail compared to the previous French blu-ray (which came from a dated master) and the transfer is very filmic with some fine grain visible throughout. Overall, I think they did a really good job. Well worth picking up.

~Matt

[mmarczi]

Originally Posted by blurayisnice

Not sure if this is the right thread to ask, but any word of a flash sale happening anytime soon? I thought February was the month.

Yes, expect it very soon. It's almost always been (and for the last few years has always been) on a Tuesday, which coincides with release dates, so there's a very good chance it's the 22nd. If not, it'll be the 1st, 8th, or 15th.

It's almost always in mid-to-late February, so the next Tuesday should be the betting favorite, but it's never been later than mid-March. The last four years (the ones I've participated in) have been 2/23, 2/25, 3/5, and 2/13. I already have my cart plans ready (but don't bother to stock the cart because it won't stick for more than a day).

[jw007]

I wish there was a feature on this website that would rate the quality of commentary tracks on each blu-ray release (if there is a commentary track that is). I've heard some good ones back in the day but also some absolutely atrocious commentary tracks. Still, it would be interesting if the blu-ray.com reviewers would include commentary track rankings for Criterions (0 - 5 star scale). I wonder if this has ever been proposed? I realize its part of the extras/supplements, but a standalone rating for commentary tracks would be beneficial and possibly determine whether or not I want to buy the release.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by jw007

I wish there was a feature on this website that would rate the quality of commentary tracks on each blu-ray release (if there is a commentary track that is). I've heard some good ones back in the day but also some absolutely atrocious commentary tracks. Still, it would be interesting if the blu-ray.com reviewers would include commentary track rankings for Criterions (0 - 5 star scale). I wonder if this has ever been proposed? I realize its part of the extras/supplements, but a standalone rating for commentary tracks would be beneficial and possibly determine whether or not I want to buy the release.

Considering how contentious the ratings for A/V specs have been getting, not sure if having an additional rating "criterion" would be a good idea. Also, why have a special ranking for Criterion titles? If anything Kino Lorber is a lot more consistent with including commentary tracks in their blu-rays. You can always ask on the forums what users think of the commentary tracks on specific titles.

[bsend]

Originally Posted by ShellBeacher

Someone else kind of mentioned it, but yeah, I know someone who worked at Criterion for a while, and a few years back, they pretty much confirmed to me that the label has/had U.S. home video rights to ALL 10 of Juzo Itami's films. I'm a huge fan and had to acquire them "elsewhere" through the years. My greatest wish would be that THE FUNERAL sells well enough to encourage Criterion to just do a Box Set of them all!

I would love to see Criterion release some more director's box sets like Severin did for Al Adamson, Andy Milligan, etc. They did it with Bergman,Fellini (not complete) and Wong Kar Wai. They also did it with some series like Zatoichi and Bruce Lee. I think it would do really well for Juzo Itami.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Considering how contentious the ratings for A/V specs have been getting, not sure if having an additional rating "criterion" would be a good idea. Also, why have a special ranking for Criterion titles? If anything Kino Lorber is a lot more consistent with including commentary tracks in their blu-rays. You can always ask on the forums what users think of the commentary tracks on specific titles.

It could apply to both Criterions and other arthouse distributors like Kino. Would be cool having a rating system though. Never seen it before in all my years.

[jordan-r]

Pink Flamingos is coming in June.

For those of us who grew up loving him, it’s gratifying to see Waters, in his filth-elder era, enjoy the same open-mindedness he’s promoted for decades. Call him an accepted radical, cherished by cinephiles and cultists as well as the little kids who flock to him at airports following his cameo in an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Waters had a recurring role in the recent final season of madcap millennial self-parody Search Party; one of its stars, John Early, told Seth Meyers that the director “created the entire sensibility that the show lives in.” Waters says he’s flattered by the comparison—and he gets it. “Millennium Maniacs would be a great title” for the show, he jokes, pointing out that his character, who sells babies to gay couples, parallels a story line in Flamingos. (Once banned in multiple countries, that movie entered the National Film Registry last year and will get a 50th-anniversary Criterion Collection reissue in June.)

[dressedtokill]

Here's hoping they release Desperate Living next!!! You can never go wrong with John Waters.

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by dressedtokill

Here's hoping they release Desperate Living next!!! You can never go wrong with John Waters.

Seriously, that’s another DVD set I’d love to move. . .