I was already guessing that the flash sale would be on March 7th to include the Mildred Pierce 4K release. My other guess would have been February 14 for Romeo & Juliet, so the fact they're running this love-themed 30% sale through Feb 16 just makes the Mar 7th date seem even more likely to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tama
Wouldn't surprise me if March 7th will be the flash sale. Just in time for Mildred Pierce 4K.
Well if they do that, I'll just be waiting for the B&N sales~ As long as they last...
There are a lot of Criterions at 50% off on Amazon right now. Actually, there are always a few at that discount just depending on what you are looking for obviously.
There are a lot of Criterions at 50% off on Amazon right now. Actually, there are always a few at that discount just depending on what you are looking for obviously.
You're preaching to the choir here. Yes, Amazon often has 40-50% of selectCriterion titles, but it's more like 10% of the CC and usually older titles. Please find me at least 50% off of Criterion releases from one year ago to present. There won't be many.
Mildred Pierce coming out in 2 weeks on 4K is already maybe the highlight of my year, I cannot wait until it's released. If anyone is on the fence it's a masterpiece and essential for every classic Hollywood and film noir fans.
Thelma and Louise, Wings of Desire, and Petit Maman are going to be excellent sellers. Targets and Branded to Kill will likely do well, too.
That's on top of the two Gilliams, Romeo and Juliet, Dazed and Confused, The Seventh Seal 4K, Triangle of Sadness, etc.
We're not even halfway into the year's schedule and it's quite strong.
Other than Targets, and Romeo and Juliet, I don't think the sales from the others will stand apart from releases from previous years. 4k is still very niche, as most people won't invest in the players and re-buying releases they already have.
Excellent month. My wishlist for the next B&N sale is getting really long.
My local B&N stores are going in the other direction from Criterion and discs in general. They have a small fraction of the selection they used to have. I asked why and they said sales are falling off and people are stealing them.
While I don't have the WCP Vol 4 blu-ray set, I happened to catch Chess of the Wind on a streaming channel, and I thought I'd share my impressions of this quite distinctive film:
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Normally we know Iranian cinema for its realistic human dramas with existential questions - the works of Abbas Kariostami, Asghar Farhadi, Jafar Panahi etc exemplify this aspect. Or there is Mohsin Makhmalbaf with his poetic flights of fancy. But Mohammed Reza Aslani's 1976 film Chess of the Wind - which had been regarded long lost and was only recently rescued from destruction - is an altogether different beast. This is a stylized and provocative crime noir that harks back to the work of Alfred Hitchcock and Henri-Georges Clouzot. And equally interesting that the film is driven primarily by its women characters.
Going by its look and the feudal nature of relationships, I imagine Chess of the Wind is set somewhere in the early 20th century. It is a time of candlelight crystal chandeliers, enormous glass storage urns, powder-loading pistols and wooden wheelchairs. In a wealthy household, the matriarch has recently died. Her middle-aged spinster daughter Aghdas (Fakhri Khorvash) is handicapped and moves about in a wheel chair. Aghdas is yet to come out of mourning, when the stepfather begins a process of domination to control the family estates. There are other men in the house who sympathize with Aghdas, but for their own ends. Her only close companion seems to be the devoted maid and companion (Shohreh Aghdashloo). A plan is made to do away with the stepfather and it is carried out. But how long can the crime stay hidden? Apart from the people that live in it, the house is a character in itself. Every claustrophobic corner seethes with whispered intrigue as Aghdas becomes increasingly unsure of who she can trust, including her own sanity.
Apart from an examination of this crime and its aftermath, the film is also an exploration of the decadence of the feudal system. Wealth only begets greed and sin. Banned almost immediately after release, for some surprisingly racy content, Aslani's film is also a sensory marvel. Khorvash and Aghdashloo burn up the screen with their multi-level chemistry. The baroque production design (art director Houri Etesan and costume designer Manouchehr Safarzadeh) is chockful of unique period objects, and the camera (Houshang Baharlou) lovingly lingers over the sight of stained glass windows, rich tapestries, chandelier bulbs, ornate flails - Echoes of the object fetishes seen in the films of Robert Bresson or Walerian Borowczyk. And the visuals are not just eye-candy, they define the mood of the film. Towards the end when the narrative reaches a hellish place, the viewer is carried into the lower depths of the house, the visuals draped in an orange-red tint of perdition. Also of note is the terrific avant-garde score (Sheyda Gharachedagi) that generates a sense of nerve-squeezing dread across several sequences.
From a purely narrative point of view, the climax is almost absurd, but like with Dario Argento's Suspiria, the mood generated by the visuals and sounds carries it through brilliantly, making for a memorable experience.
My local B&N stores are going in the other direction from Criterion and discs in general. They have a small fraction of the selection they used to have. I asked why and they said sales are falling off and people are stealing them.
That's a bummer. I think the closest B&N store is about 35 minutes away from me, so I've been relying solely on their website for the Criterion sales the last few years.
wait, where is Chess of the Wind available to stream?
i don't think it's available to stream anywhere in the US (legally), but it's available on MUBI internationally, though you'd probably need a VPN to access it. It's leaving that channel in 4 days too.
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