The Criterion Collection

[SlickDamian]

I think that Fight Club is a very good film as well.

Panic Room, on the other hand.....

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

I think that Fight Club is a very good film as well.

Panic Room, on the other hand.....

I know I've expression my opinion on this many times on this site, but I can't really help it - Panic Room is utter crap.

Not too fond of Fight Club either.

[jrchisholm]

Went to Borders for the first time in a long time to see what was on sale and found another copy of The Man Who Fell to Earth.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

Get over yourself. You "brought up" Fight Club, all I did was paraphrase a line from it to make a jokey comment toward the ongoing "club" theme. Your opinion of the film is of no consequence to me.

(Incidentally, my copy of Fight Club has a slipcover so eat it, nerds. )

Edit: I deleted to drop this.

[ambient_indie]

People take fight club too seriously. Honestly, the film is hilarious. Maybe its me, but I think of it as Fincher's attempt at dark comedy.

[rock, stone]

Originally Posted by ambient_indie

People take fight club too seriously. Honestly, the film is hilarious. Maybe its me, but I think of it as Fincher's attempt at dark comedy.

I have always thought it was very much a dark comedy, probably more so than anything else. It is an anarchist's movie about how anarchy is dumb.

Since everyone is choosing sides, I think Fight Club is great. It was originally maligned by a generation of critics who completely missed the joke, while inspiring a fair number of numbskull fans who also missed the joke.

I feel confident that in a few years it will get generally reappraised as some of Fincher's best work, but for the time being just about everyone involved with it, Fincher, Norton, Pitt, Palahniuk has fallen out of favor with your average messageboarder.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

I watched the Carlos mini-series this weekend...

I finished it not feeling wowed but definitely impressed. I'm typically not big on re-watching biographical films but I am interested to see how the shorter theatrical version plays and what supplements Criterion puts together. I'll likely buy this one once it's out.

I recently bought and watched the UK blu-ray of the Carlos trilogy, which also includes the theatrical version.
I'm a huge fan of the trilogy. Thought it was great and would definitely recommend it.
However, I also watched the shorter theatrical version of the film. I do not recommend it at all. Basically, it is half the running time of the complete trilogy and leaves out so much it stops making sense.
I posted a longer appraisal in the Carlos forum which contains some plot spoilers.

[ShellOilJunior]

Amazon just informed me Sweet Smell of Success shipped via Prestige

Which means they'll fail to deliver it Tuesday and I'll get it Wednesday. Prestige sucks.

[amoergosum]

I wonder if there's ever going to be a release of "Bottle Rocket" and
"The Darjeeling Limited" for the rest of the world.
Damn...why can't the Criterion Collection be region free...

[Joe Dalek]

Originally Posted by drbikeshorts

I recently bought and watched the UK blu-ray of the Carlos trilogy, which also includes the theatrical version.
I'm a huge fan of the trilogy. Thought it was great and would definitely recommend it.
However, I also watched the shorter theatrical version of the film. I do not recommend it at all. Basically, it is half the running time of the complete trilogy and leaves out so much it stops making sense.
I posted a longer appraisal in the Carlos forum which contains some plot spoilers.

I'll go check it out, thanks. I'm not sure whether to expect the theatrical version to be tighter or just totally eviscerated.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

I wonder if there's ever going to be a release of "Bottle Rocket" and
"The Darjeeling Limited" for the rest of the world.
Damn...why can't the Criterion Collection be region free...

I'm sure they could be if they really wanted but then their output wouldn't be as prolific.

[rkish]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

I would suggest he starts by collecting the cardboard sleeves that are on the cases meant to make the product stand out on the retail shelves for their first run.... since most people throw them out as trash, he could band together with other people collecting them and then values could be assigned to them within this group where they could sell the cardboard to each other, discussing why some of these cardboard sleeves are better to look at than others.

That would be a pretty fun group right there.


EDIT:

Region "B" but for those with the ability, good pre-order price on Bicycle Thieves.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bicyc...-Blu-ray/8333/

Thanks Beta! Got to see if I can afford this now. Might wait until the tax check gets here. I've already got the (2) BFI Ozus coming out in late May and Great White Silence in June.

I'd mention about my forthcoming copy of The Valley, but I wouldn't want to start yet another Pink Floyd OT Fest.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by Belloche

I'm a huge fan of Rolling Thunder and I've been waiting for years for someone to give it a decent release. It seems like a natural fit for Criterion for me because of their relationship with Paul Shraeder, although I did read somewhere that he wasn't happy with the movie. Burn on demand is a nice idea, but I think this film deserves better.

Wouldn't you know it? Evidence of a planned UK Blu-ray release is here:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/united-kin...er-1977-a.html

[ImportFanatic]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

I wonder if there's ever going to be a release of "Bottle Rocket" and
"The Darjeeling Limited" for the rest of the world.
Damn...why can't the Criterion Collection be region free...

Region free player

[repete66211]

Originally Posted by rock, stone

Since everyone is choosing sides, I think Fight Club is great. It was originally maligned by a generation of critics who completely missed the joke, while inspiring a fair number of numbskull fans who also missed the joke.

I've always been on the fence about Fight Club. Not because I'm ambivalent. Almost the opposite of that. I oscillate between "like" and "contempt" for it, partly because it's one of those movies that's hard to divorce from its fans. Regardless, it's been like an itch I can't find. Your succinct summation of the movie scratched that itch. Well done.

[biglou114]

Fight Club remains the only David Fincher movie that I didn't like (except for Alien3, but he never had control of that one, so it's unfair to call it his film). I don't know if I can describe exactly what in the film rubs me the wrong way, but if I had to choose it would probably be the story. I think that there's nothing special about it, I hate the progression of it, also I think that "the twist" was incredibly lame, and predictable. I accept that the characters are unlikable.

Also, even though I am a straight male (who enjoys a violet action film every now and again), I feel the testosterone level in the movie is off the charts, and the movie suffers because of it.

[repete66211]

I finally unwrapped America Lost and Found: The BBS Story this past weekend. I bought it for one reason only: The Last Picture Show. It's one of my favorite movies and I didn't anticipate an individual release so despite the hefty pricetag I bought the whole collection.

I don't doubt its historical importance, but Easy Rider does nothing for me. Besides, I've seen it about 10 times over the years and that's enough. I'll probably get crucified for this, but I really don't like Five Easy Pieces. I have no sympathy for bullies or people who choose to live with them. (If I did I'd watch some Angry Young Man stuff from the Brits, which IMO is better.) I have seen bits of Head and have no interest in seeing the rest. So that leaves just a few other movies left to watch.

Does anyone else think it ironic that Rafelson, the man being lionized by Criterion here, made his money off The Monkeys, a manufactured pop group? Don't most cultural snobs (i.e. yours truly) look with contempt upon people in the throw-away prepackaged pop music industry? Will Simon Cowell be honored by cultural elites some day? Anyway, food for thought.

I watched The King of Marvin Gardens this weekend. It's a solid movie. It was clearly low budget and I'm not really sure what the point of the whole movie is, or if it even has a them, but it was fairly well written, had some marginally interesting characters and a story arc that made sense. It wandered a bit, especially regarding Sally's mental deterioration, but I feel like I "got it" the first viewing. It's about what I expected out of an independent release from the early 70s It was nothing special, but entertaining and somewhat interesting.

To be honest, if it didn't have the Criterion stamp on it I might have considered it a waste of my time. I think the snob in me gives Criterion releases unfair bias, the benefit of the doubt that I wouldn't grant movies released by other distributors. Is anyone else willing to confess to having such a bias or is it just me?

[Hendershot737]

Originally Posted by repete66211

To be honest, if it didn't have the Criterion stamp on it I might have considered it a waste of my time. I think the snob in me gives Criterion releases unfair bias, the benefit of the doubt that I wouldn't grant movies released by other distributors. Is anyone else willing to confess to having such a bias or is it just me?

+1, totally biased. But I'm cool with it

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by repete66211

I finally unwrapped America Lost and Found: The BBS Story this past weekend. I bought it for one reason only: The Last Picture Show. It's one of my favorite movies and I didn't anticipate an individual release so despite the hefty pricetag I bought the whole collection.

I don't doubt its historical importance, but Easy Rider does nothing for me. Besides, I've seen it about 10 times over the years and that's enough. I'll probably get crucified for this, but I really don't like Five Easy Pieces. I have no sympathy for bullies or people who choose to live with them. (If I did I'd watch some Angry Young Man stuff from the Brits, which IMO is better.) I have seen bits of Head and have no interest in seeing the rest. So that leaves just a few other movies left to watch.

Does anyone else think it ironic that Rafelson, the man being lionized by Criterion here, made his money off The Monkeys, a manufactured pop group? Don't most cultural snobs (i.e. yours truly) look with contempt upon people in the throw-away prepackaged pop music industry? Will Simon Cowell be honored by cultural elites some day? Anyway, food for thought.

I watched The King of Marvin Gardens this weekend. It's a solid movie. It was clearly low budget and I'm not really sure what the point of the whole movie is, or if it even has a them, but it was fairly well written, had some marginally interesting characters and a story arc that made sense. It wandered a bit, especially regarding Sally's mental deterioration, but I feel like I "got it" the first viewing. It's about what I expected out of an independent release from the early 70s It was nothing special, but entertaining and somewhat interesting.

To be honest, if it didn't have the Criterion stamp on it I might have considered it a waste of my time. I think the snob in me gives Criterion releases unfair bias, the benefit of the doubt that I wouldn't grant movies released by other distributors. Is anyone else willing to confess to having such a bias or is it just me?

Did you get to A SAFE PLACE/DRIVE, HE SAID yet? Those are two of the worst Criterion films I've ever seen.

[biglou114]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Did you get to A SAFE PLACE/DRIVE, HE SAID yet? Those are two of the worst Criterion films I've ever seen.

Sadly, I agree with that. But I thought the quality of the films in the rest of the set, superb.