The Criterion Collection

[joshinminn]

Looking forward to learning more about these films, as I am not already familiar with any of them. One of the great things about Criterion is the breadth of their catalogue. Excited for the international cinema fans who are rightfully excited about this month's slate!

[jshaide]

Real into this month. Love seeing some Janus distribution titles and not reissues for the 4K format.

[Rzzzz]

Originally Posted by aladdin123

And then there's the guy who posted "Weak ass month", and his comment has already been thanked by 8 users. But if Criterion had announced really big titles coming for UHD (as I said, nearly all truly big titles are already on BD), then we would have gotten rants from those who don't care about 4K and say that they would much rather get new to HD upgrades (SeanJoyce and DukeTogo84 come to mind). Impossible to please both groups at the same time. Sometimes I think if Criterion should have 10 slots every month, with 5 being new to HD worldwide and the other 5 being UHD upgrades. But even then, we would still get a lot of *****ing, just as what happens in every WAC announcement, when there are always pissed off and insufferable people whose complaints boil down to "not the films I care about", emphasis on "I". People just can't seem to understand how diverse films are, and they need to be more open to new experiences.

Where the hell is Captain Blood?

[Scottie]

Cairo Station sounds really good.

FYI, all releases are in plastic cases.

[bergman864]

The only movie from this month that I've seen is Saving Face and I think it's terrific. Glad to see it gettting an HD release.

But I think the rest of the titles all look good. Definitely a month for the long-term Criterion aficionado. The fact that The Burmese Harp and Fires on the Plain get Criterion upgrades and they're in 4K is wonderful. It almost (almost) makes up for the lengthy wait.

[Xander2017]

Looking forward to buying Saving Face.

[dwk]

Originally Posted by lemonlimebeats

I guess the wait for Raise the Red Lantern to come to HD/4K (aside from the limited-time Imprint Zhang Yimou boxset that's long out-of-print) will have to chug on a little longer...but all of these Asian films coming to HD for the first time is still great news regardless. I just hope Red Lantern won't be too much longer...it premiered at a film festival in 4K over a year ago and it's been crickets since.

I recall there being some rumor that they couldn't release this on home video until the restoration had been screened theatrically for a while, but I can't verify if that is the case. (It is also a big enough title that i could see them releasing it in November.)

[Jexes23]

Originally Posted by CRASHLANDING

It seems wild to me to that none of these appeal to you. You have an impressively diverse collection, and although it maybe leans slightly toward English-friendly stuff, I saw plenty of foreign films and other releases similar to these.

Just not a fan of Asian cinema generally? Or is it something different about each film? Not criticizing, taste is always a personal thing - but given how many people are cheering this slate, I'm genuinely amazed that someone wouldn't find anything interesting there, and would love to hear more.

It depends. "Asian", encompasses a lot. I can pretty confidently say I'm not a huge fan of classic Japanese titles, and I haven't been a huge fan of more recent ones either. The acting seems forced. It reminds me of the acting in American or European silent films. Everything is insanely overacted.

However, most of the South Korean films I've watched, I've enjoyed. I'm definitely interested in exploring more of that cinema.

[Cremildo]

Not looking to start a fight, just an observation: I think most of the time, the disdainful reactions come from collectors who have no interest in foreign-language (non-English) cinema.

[dallywhitty]

Criterion fans when Criterion announces new-to-HD world cinema instead of titles already released by other labels:

[Hazel Motes]

Nothing for me. At the very least it gives me some movies to check out.

[yanghao6998]

Edward Yang!! But no 4K why
Maybe I'm coping here but I'm still hoping for a full 4K box of his entire filmography in future

[Jexes23]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

Not looking to start a fight, just an observation: I think most of the time, the disdainful reactions come from collectors who have no interest in foreign-language (non-English) cinema.

Not me. I have plenty of subtitled films.

[willtopower]

Wow single best month I can recall in ages for me.
Both Ichikawa
Cairo Station
Yang set
Shoeshine
Compensation

[ilenewoodsfan99]

Nothing immediate for me, but I'd love to see the Ichikawa movies at some point

[Creeper3455]

Man, a good chunk of my Watchlist feels vindicated from this August slate - "CAIRO" and "Sciuscià" are great, sure, but "BURMESE HARP" is where it's at; huge, yet hopeful, bummer of a title I caught on TCM some Months ago and was deeply moved by; here's hoping some of these make it to the UK (though the Ichikawa ones are probably gonna be the ones, since JANUS, if memory serves me right, has the Rights to both?)

I guess I could pick up the new Yang set now, but knowing there's a new 4K Resto' of "YI YI" coming at Cannes, I'm fine waiting a bit more to get the whole (bloody) affair

[ajburke]

Cairo Station and Saving Face are both excellent

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by lemonlimebeats

I guess the wait for Raise the Red Lantern to come to HD/4K (aside from the limited-time Imprint Zhang Yimou boxset that's long out-of-print) will have to chug on a little longer...but all of these Asian films coming to HD for the first time is still great news regardless. I just hope Red Lantern won't be too much longer...it premiered at a film festival in 4K over a year ago and it's been crickets since.

The limited edition set with booklet is out of print. But they rereleased a set of just the movies. Even available on U.S. Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Collaboration...s%2C160&sr=8-1

[CRASHLANDING]

Originally Posted by Jexes23

Not me. I have plenty of subtitled films.

Yep, I noticed that which was why I had discounted that as a reason. Thanks for the reply on your thoughts....always interesting to hear other perspectives.

I'd still suggest checking out Cairo Station even if you don't buy the BD. I just loved the film, and found it very realistic with very little of that pantomime quality that you don't enjoy.

[Maxflier]

Love the Saving Face cover.