The Criterion Collection

[dwk]

Permanently included Fliers/leaflets > limited edition shit.

[Sommerswerd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwcnZjmh0a8

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by Sommerswerd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwcnZjmh0a8

Man has good taste and went for a lot of Japanese titles. They should put him in charge of what titles to release on disc.

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

Once upon a time, booklets we’re one of the things that distinguished Criterions along with commentaries. Booklets became leaflets and commentaries became scarce.

At least commentaries seem to be coming back based on this year’s releases.

Of course, any extended essay still seems like a luxury to me, after becoming a Criterion fan in the LD days and expecting the entire essay to fit on the back of the cover.

[mande2013]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Yeah, I hate that as well. I wish they were more along the lines of what Radiance is doing.

As great as they are, nobody ever seems to get on Radiance’s case for going the LE/FOMO route like most boutiques of course do, including Eureka, Second Sight and so forth.

Only Arrow seems to get castigated for its LE model, even though they’re far from the only one.

[b00gie]

I got an email with a $25 voucher code yesterday as a "thank you for being a Charter Subscriber" on the 6th year anniversary of the channel. Voucher expires on 31/10/25.

[poisonmail]

Originally Posted by mande2013

Well I notice with guys like Bergman, Fellini, Antonioni etc. that they can’t seem to escape being discussed with reference to their status as “zeitgeist-y cultural figures”. Even with Bresson, Ozu, and Welles people more easily “just focus on the art”.

This of course does a disservice to the main aesthetic virtues of the former group.

I agree with all this, but I'm not even actually sure people are accurate when they state that Bergman and Fellini and Antonioni aren't zeitgeisty anymore. Those huge boxed sets Criterion made for the first two certainly seemed to make a big splash in the cinephile world from my perspective (I recall Criterion stating that they didn't print nearly enough of the Bergmans initially to meet demand, which was far beyond what they expected). But to your larger point, I think there's often a temptation to talk about the culture surrounding art -- and the responses between the two -- rather than the work itself, and frankly the reason is probably that it's easier to do that than to confront some of the more haunting and challenging themes in something like La Dolce Vita or Persona.

And also, one thing I've never really adored about film culture is how there are certain entrenchments in the canon that are unquestioned -- it's fine that things are universally celebrated or whatnot, but I do think it's worth challenging that on a personal level. I'm a millennial so missed the "arthouse age" -- but, I have always loved Bergman (since 2005 or so), warmed to Fellini after a while, and still can't quite cotton to Antonioni aside from Zabriskie Point. There's a give and take there: I'm not egotistical enough to think that my opinion of Antonioni is better or more special than the consensus about him, but I think differing responses to the canon are something worth evaluating and responding to and encouraging discourse around. If there's a flaw to the sometimes hallowed reputation of these filmmakers, I think it's probably that it intimidates people out of responding to the work on an honest level, which ultimately robs them of the experience of coming around to them on their own terms, as happened with Fellini for me when LDV suddenly resonated with me on the third try.

[ophone]

Take me for instance:
I'm Generation X and I think that La strada is the only excellent film by Fellini, I've seen a bunch of his. I somehow can't get into the kind of groove upper-class people felt back then like in 8 1/2, La dolce vita and Casanova, but I can feel the profound sadness of simple people La strada is portraying.
Il bidone is another one I like, a film I'd call good.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by ophone

Take me for instance:
I'm Generation X and I think that La strada is the only excellent film by Fellini, I've seen a bunch of his. I somehow can't get into the kind of groove upper-class people felt back then like in 8 1/2, La dolce vita and Casanova, but I can feel the profound sadness of simple people La strada is portraying.
Il bidone is another one I like, a film I'd call good.

Have you seen Nights of Cabiria? I find it's more melancholy than those others that you didn't care for. It's my favorite Fellini film.

[ophone]

I should give it a try.

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by ophone

Take me for instance:
I'm Generation X and I think that La strada is the only excellent film by Fellini, I've seen a bunch of his. I somehow can't get into the kind of groove upper-class people felt back then like in 8 1/2, La dolce vita and Casanova, but I can feel the profound sadness of simple people La strada is portraying.
Il bidone is another one I like, a film I'd call good.

I agree even though I am a boomer right on the edge of Gen X having been born in 1958. When I was first studying film as a teenager in the 70's it was expected that you had to love everything Fellini and I capitulated to that although the more of his films I've seen over the years since then the less I like him. If anything, I like his pre-DOLCE VITA pictures better than the ones that came after. I also get weary of films about upper class malaise and it's one of the primary reasons I hate most of the golden age films of MGM so much. However, Antonioni and Bunel would explore wealthy people's problems and I didn't mind it as much. However, my favorite films of theirs are not set in those worlds, such as IL GRIDO and THE YOUNG AND THE DAMNED. Seeing those stories and characters and afterward the folks in 8 1/2 just yield a great big shrug.

[MifuneFan]

For any in the NYC area, The IFC center will be showing Kurosawa's Ran from its 4K restoration for its 40th Anniversary starting May 23rd. I've seen the film from the restoration twice over the years, and it's pretty amazing to see it on the big screen. Kind of wish Criterion could get this one back since the US 4K release has been OOP for years, and Criterion's DVD had some exclusive extras that are absent from the international releases.

https://www.ifccenter.com/films/ran-2/

[bonehica]

Originally Posted by b00gie

I got an email with a $25 voucher code yesterday as a "thank you for being a Charter Subscriber" on the 6th year anniversary of the channel. Voucher expires on 31/10/25.

Expires in time to use it for the October flash sale.

[Yearbook]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Have you seen Nights of Cabiria? I find it's more melancholy than those others that you didn't care for. It's my favorite Fellini film.

Masina's performance in Nights is one of my favorites of all time. One reason I liked Anora so much is that it felt like a contemporary version of that character.

[apricissimus]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

Once upon a time, booklets we’re one of the things that distinguished Criterions along with commentaries. Booklets became leaflets and commentaries became scarce.

I almost never look at the booklets. Mine are all in a stack in a closet mostly because I can't bring myself to throw them out. (I transferred all my discs to sleeves to save space, and the sleeves cannot accommodate the booklets.)

[dwk]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

For any in the NYC area, The IFC center will be showing Kurosawa's Ran from its 4K restoration for its 40th Anniversary starting May 23rd. I've seen the film from the restoration twice over the years, and it's pretty amazing to see it on the big screen. Kind of wish Criterion could get this one back since the US 4K release has been OOP for years, and Criterion's DVD had some exclusive extras that are absent from the international releases.

https://www.ifccenter.com/films/ran-2/

Even though I'd prefer Criterion somehow getting Ran back, I do not understand why Lionsgate hasn't re-issued that in a standard case. That stupid Best Buy steelbook sold out quite quickly.

[poisonmail]

Originally Posted by ophone

Take me for instance:
I'm Generation X and I think that La strada is the only excellent film by Fellini, I've seen a bunch of his. I somehow can't get into the kind of groove upper-class people felt back then like in 8 1/2, La dolce vita and Casanova, but I can feel the profound sadness of simple people La strada is portraying.
Il bidone is another one I like, a film I'd call good.

I would also cautiously recommend Juliet of the Spirits, which to me is a very effective portrait of a woman's loneliness within a marriage despite its fanciful qualities.

I Vitelloni is probably my favorite, so I'm definitely in a similar wheelhouse. I ended up eventually falling for La Dolce Vita because my criticisms of it -- that Fellini is celebrating the exact stuff he pretends to find reprehensible -- is more baked into the film itself than I realized. I now see a lot of profound sadness over just a loss of identity, although I can also see the critique that it's ultimately a sad-rich-people story, which was certainly my issue with it the first time (and still is, to a degree, with 8 1/2).

[mande2013]

Originally Posted by poisonmail

I agree with all this, but I'm not even actually sure people are accurate when they state that Bergman and Fellini and Antonioni aren't zeitgeisty anymore. Those huge boxed sets Criterion made for the first two certainly seemed to make a big splash in the cinephile world from my perspective (I recall Criterion stating that they didn't print nearly enough of the Bergmans initially to meet demand, which was far beyond what they expected). But to your larger point, I think there's often a temptation to talk about the culture surrounding art -- and the responses between the two -- rather than the work itself, and frankly the reason is probably that it's easier to do that than to confront some of the more haunting and challenging themes in something like La Dolce Vita or Persona.

And also, one thing I've never really adored about film culture is how there are certain entrenchments in the canon that are unquestioned -- it's fine that things are universally celebrated or whatnot, but I do think it's worth challenging that on a personal level. I'm a millennial so missed the "arthouse age" -- but, I have always loved Bergman (since 2005 or so), warmed to Fellini after a while, and still can't quite cotton to Antonioni aside from Zabriskie Point. There's a give and take there: I'm not egotistical enough to think that my opinion of Antonioni is better or more special than the consensus about him, but I think differing responses to the canon are something worth evaluating and responding to and encouraging discourse around. If there's a flaw to the sometimes hallowed reputation of these filmmakers, I think it's probably that it intimidates people out of responding to the work on an honest level, which ultimately robs them of the experience of coming around to them on their own terms, as happened with Fellini for me when LDV suddenly resonated with me on the third try.

I do think the Criterion DVD era, which was primarily the aughts, ushered in a second golden age of sorts for the appreciation of a lot of these haloed arthouse Gods like Bergman, Fellini, Antonioni, Godard, etc.

My understanding is it was next to impossible in the 80s and 90s to track down a lot of these films unless you lived in NYC or Paris.

I'm a millennial by the way.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by dwk

Even though I'd prefer Criterion somehow getting Ran back, I do not understand why Lionsgate hasn't re-issued that in a standard case. That stupid Best Buy steelbook sold out quite quickly.

Yeah, ssme. Now that they have the Lionsgate Limited site, I could possibly see them doing a release through there, if anything.

[Yearbook]

Originally Posted by poisonmail

I would also cautiously recommend Juliet of the Spirits, which to me is a very effective portrait of a woman's loneliness within a marriage despite its fanciful qualities.

I Vitelloni is probably my favorite, so I'm definitely in a similar wheelhouse. I ended up eventually falling for La Dolce Vita because my criticisms of it -- that Fellini is celebrating the exact stuff he pretends to find reprehensible -- is more baked into the film itself than I realized. I now see a lot of profound sadness over just a loss of identity, although I can also see the critique that it's ultimately a sad-rich-people story, which was certainly my issue with it the first time (and still is, to a degree, with 8 1/2).

When I got the Fellini box, about half of the movies I'd never seen, and I, Vitelloni was my favorite new watch, has to be a big Scorsese influence.

All and all, I love me some Fellini and Bergman, if nothing else, they remind me of my 20s, just plowing through international cinema I'd never had access to in the past.