The Criterion Collection

[dallywhitty]

StudioCanal are releasing Peeping Tom this year, anyway.

[cgpublic]

Originally Posted by Matt89

My order was delivered this afternoon and I've gotta say, I'm VERY disappointed in the way this was packaged. I ordered nine titles and they threw them all loose into a box. No padding, nothing. 4 of them were digipacks. They weren't even stacked evenly, they were all toppled over one another...

...instead of carefully packaged with a pillow-soft green valley of care? In other words, something that looks nothing like the order I also received today? In all seriousness, these things usually come down to the picker or whether or not they've run out of packing materials, but you are certainly entitled to take it up with the order department. I've only had to do so once or twice, but based on the anecdotal evidence from members, they're pretty good about it.

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by cgpublic

...instead of carefully packaged with a pillow-soft green valley of care? In other words, something that looks nothing like the order I also received today? In all seriousness, these things usually come down to the picker or whether or not they've run out of packing materials, but you are certainly entitled to take it up with the order department. I've only had to do so once or twice, but based on the anecdotal evidence from members, they're pretty good about it.

[Show spoiler]

I wish it wasn't such a roll of the dice. One of my shipments had pillows. The other was this:

Originally Posted by jkoffman

Apparently the USPS solution was rubber bands? There was no pillow or any padding in the box. On the plus side, if these weren't shipped Priority they would likely have arrived damaged. Tell me more about those "locking" boxes.

[WillieMLF]

Man, that rubber band job is tragic....

[jkoffman]

Originally Posted by WillieMLF

Man, that rubber band job is tragic....

Presumably the USPS added those when they discovered the box came apart. Had Criterion included proper packing materials like pillows, the BDs wouldn’t have been moving around loose and by filling the empty space the bottom wouldn’t have collapsed inward and then broke. They ship thousands and thousands, so it’s clearly a choice to allow this again and again.

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by cgpublic

...instead of carefully packaged with a pillow-soft green valley of care? In other words, something that looks nothing like the order I also received today? In all seriousness, these things usually come down to the picker or whether or not they've run out of packing materials, but you are certainly entitled to take it up with the order department. I've only had to do so once or twice, but based on the anecdotal evidence from members, they're pretty good about it.

Why is it so darn hard to line the artwork up in the cases? Scanavo's wreak havoc on artwork that is too far up or down

[MifuneFan]

My month-long retrospective on Toshiro Mifune, which mostly ran alongside the one at The Film Forum, is now finished. I've made several posts about the film's I've seen over that time, so I just thought I'd make one last post to wrap things up. Overall, I watched 17 of his films, six of them for the first time, plus a documentary.

I've linked to posts where I've previously discussed some of the movies listed, and I'll also provide a few (hopefully) brief impressions of others.

*denotes a first-time viewing

1. Snow Trail (1947)
2. Throne of Blood (1957)
3. The Quiet Duel* (1949)
4. Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (1970)
5. The Hidden Fortress (1958) (In theaters)
6. Samurai Rebellion* (1957) (in theaters)
   
7. Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954)
   
   
   
   Mifune portrays the legendary Musashi Miyamoto, and over the course of the three films we witness an amazing transformation in his character. I've seen the films numerous times, but with this latest viewing I empathized with Musashi's love-interest Otsu more than ever. She plays such a heartrending character, and you can't help root for her and Musashi to finally be together by the end of this great saga.
   
   
8. Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple (1955)
9. Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island (1956)
10. I Live in Fear (1955)
    
    
    
    Kurosawa bottles up his commentary and fears about a post-nuclear Japan into the character Mifune plays. He's an old patriarch who is frightened of another atomic bomb, and its effects. He has plans to move his family to Brazil to try escape a potential fallout. His family is completely against this, and try to have him declared mentally incompetent.. Mifune was 35 at the time, but he completely morphs into this senior role. From his mannerisms, and gait, to the character's grumpy and stubborn persona, he is completely believable as this aged character. Given its subject, it's a downer of a film, but still worth seeing.
    
    
11. Rashomon (1950)
12. Red Lion* (1969) (in theaters)
13. Samurai Assassin* (1965) (in theaters)
14. Yojimbo (1962)
15. Sanjuro (1963)
16. Samurai Saga* (1959)
    
    
    
    I didn't know about this film until recently. Kurosawa is the Japanese director best known for doing classic literature-to-film adaptations, but here it's Hiroshi Inagaki who transports the French play Cyrano de Bergerac into 17th century Japan. Mifune plays the parallel version of Cyrano here, sporting a mighty big nose. He's known for his great poetry, but he's also quite good with his sword too. I've never read the play, so I can't say how faithful it is, but it does line up pretty well with what I've seen from the new adaptation starring Peter Dinklage.
    
    Not unlike Red Lion, the film starts off with a lot of laughs, but becomes quite serious by the end. Mifune gives an incredible performance here, both his early lighthearted antics, and especially his powerful and theatrical moments at the close of the film. Like many of his movies, Inagaki paints such a vivid portrait of 17th century Japan. Samurai Saga is another of his films that is underseen here, and is ripe for re-discovery.
    
    
17. Red Sun* (1971)
    
    
    
    Mifune, Charles Bronson, and Alain Delon in the same movie?? On paper this sounded like dream cast, but the film itself isn't that great. it has its moments, especially the scenes between Mifune, and Bronson, which sort of play out like a buddy cop film (think 48 Hours but in the desert), but the plot was just a little too bland, and the movie had some pacing issues.. There are some great lines from Bronson, and also a few decent action scenes, heightened by a couple bloody kills from Mifune.
    

And lastly, I watched the documentary Mifune: The Last Samurai (2015) for the first time last night. Despite its somewhat short 80 minute runtime, it still manages to give a great overview of Mifune's life, and also delve into the history of Japanese cinema, with a particular focus on early Chanbara films. It showed great footage from early films that are mostly lost. The best aspect of the film are the interviews. There's great insight shared from his son, Shirô, Kurosawa's eldest son, and the actors and actresses that worked alongside Mifune. Scorsese, and Spielberg also provide their thoughts on Mifune's impact on the acting world, and the film industry in general. The movie's weakest point is probably its monotone, and unenthused narration, which I only discovered at the end was by Keanu Reeves. I also would have liked to hear some discussion of the sole film that Mifune directed, 500.000 (1963). Given that he originally aspired to be a director, and not an actor, it would have been nice to at least mention that. Overall though, a nice film that showcases the many facets of this great actor.

I had a blast revisiting some of my favorites, and being able to see many of his films for the first time too. The Film Forum's retrospective was supposed to happen in 2020, in honor of Mifune's 100th anniversary, but was delayed due to the pandemic. It worked out in my favor, as there were personal circumstances that would likely have prevented me from going that year.

I'm also glad to see my posts during this retrospective have sparked greater conversations about him, and Japanese cinema in general. I'm also grateful for those that gave me feedback, and suggestions of what to see in theaters. Next week will be my 10th year of being "MifuneFan" on the site, which is both surprising, and also slightly disturbing, but I'm glad I was able to mark the occasion with this look back on his films. Tune in next week for my seven-page thesis on Mifu....kidding, that's a wrap

[CRASHLANDING]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

My month-long retrospective on Toshiro Mifune, which mostly ran alongside the one at The Film Forum, is now finished. I've made several posts about the film's I've seen over that time, so I just thought I'd make one last post to wrap things up. Overall, I watched 17 of his films, six of them for the first time, plus a documentary.

...

I'm also glad to see my posts during this retrospective have sparked greater conversations about him, and Japanese cinema in general. I'm also grateful for those that gave me feedback, and suggestions of what to see in theaters. Next week will be my 10th year of being "MifuneFan" on the site, which is both surprising, and also slightly disturbing, but I'm glad I was able to mark the occasion with this look back on his films. Tune in next week for my seven-page thesis on Mifu....kidding, that's a wrap

This is an awesome story, sounds like a great experience over the past few weeks so thanks for sharing it on the forum. I think this kind of immersive cinematic journey is what really builds an appreciation for film on a whole different level than casual fans. I look forward to the next time I have such an opportunity myself!

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

Those two are probably my most wanted - ACT is my favourite film.

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I'm sure you guys are right, but I hope that the Tales of Hoffman photo is just a nod to P&P and that we're going to get A Canterbury Tale or I Know Where I'm Going. I have never seen ToH, but I'm betting that I'm neither smart nor patient enough to appreciate it.

You guys are in luck. My order from the last Flash Sale included three DVDs:

Trouble in Paradise
Knife in the Water
A Canterbury Tale

Soooooooo, any day now!

[Axl Rose]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

You guys are in luck. My order from the last Flash Sale included three DVDs:

Trouble in Paradise
Knife in the Water
A Canterbury Tale

Soooooooo, any day now!

Gimmie that Knife in the Water blu.

[Scottie]

Maybe the 15th is no longer announcement day?

[JasonMichael]

Originally Posted by Scottie

Maybe the 15th is no longer announcement day?

Answered yesterday:

Originally Posted by RevolverOcelScott

Announcements delayed to Thursday as per criterion Twitter

[spatafore]

Originally Posted by cgpublic

...instead of carefully packaged with a pillow-soft green valley of care? In other words, something that looks nothing like the order I also received today? In all seriousness, these things usually come down to the picker or whether or not they've run out of packing materials, but you are certainly entitled to take it up with the order department. I've only had to do so once or twice, but based on the anecdotal evidence from members, they're pretty good about it.

that's way I love scanavo cases and hate digipacks, scanavos are hard to damage even with no protection during transit, digipacks are easily damaged.


criterion packing is as bad Barnes, basically a box and that is, all items inside with no protection at all. You are lucky to at least get those green bags (I usually don't get that) to help something but even that you still can get damage on the digipacks due has no protection at all.


I wish everything in just scanavo cases, more protection and takes less space on shelves.

[spatafore]

By the way, I miss the recent sale, I'm out due my work.


I wish the sale extend to at least 3 days to have more time.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

You guys are in luck. My order from the last Flash Sale included three DVDs:

Trouble in Paradise
Knife in the Water
A Canterbury Tale

Soooooooo, any day now!

you may have really done me a solid as I've been on both a Powell & Pressburger kick and a Lubitsch kick, as well! I have never seen Trouble in Paradise, but would definitely pick that up on Blu-ray.

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by spatafore

criterion packing is as bad Barnes, basically a box and that is, all items inside with no protection at all. You are lucky to at least get those green bags (I usually don't get that) to help something but even that you still can get damage on the digipacks due has no protection at all.

Given that the same Fulfillment Alliance Entertainment Warehouse generally ship both companies online order that would be expected (and Deep Discount, ImportCDs, Blowitoutahere, most of BBY 8 digit SKU items, etc etc, )

Overall, still a ton better than Target/Ingram shipping.

Some NE states, Criterion does seem to ship through a different warehouse. A very few BN items will occasionally be shipped direct from a store like many BBY items.

FWIW -- 13 item order arrived today in a box with the green bags. 1 digipack (Hard Days Night 4K) and 12 normal cases. All appeared to be is fine shape.

[koberulz]

From the photos I got from my reshipper it appears one of my orders was shipped int a cardboard envelope.

[amputd]

A Canterbury Tale
I Know Where I’m Going
Knife in the Water

Any of these would be awesome

[Creasy47]

Originally Posted by amputd

A Canterbury Tale
I Know Where I’m Going
Knife in the Water

Any of these would be awesome

I saw 'Knife In The Water' for the first time the other day and loved it. I'd welcome this.

Speaking of upgrades, since you lot are way more well versed in these matters than I am, is there ever a possibility of getting a 'This Is Spinal Tap' upgrade or is it impossible?

[MifuneFan]

The Tales of Hoffman page updated with trailer, and more images.

https://www.criterion.com/films/748-...es-of-hoffmann