The Criterion Collection

[nateynate87]

Originally Posted by ccfixx

Amazon has the following OOP DVDs for 50%-off right now...

Diary of A Country Priest
Coup De Torchon
The Small Back Room
The Fallen Idol
Trafic
Le Trou
Quai des Orfevres
Port of Shadows

Thank you very much for posting this!

[s00perd00per]

Originally Posted by EnigmaticWarrior

Just got home from school and noticed that Pierrot le Fou is currently $19.99. Is this worth a blind buy? I read the Blu-ray.com review and it sounds very interesting to me.

I love the movie but I really can't recommend it as a blind buy. The review does a pretty good job of explaining the basic plot but it plays out far differently from what you'd expect unless you're familiar with Godard's films. But if you do end up liking, it's a fun movie to re-watch again and again.

[EnigmaticWarrior]

Originally Posted by s00perd00per

I love the movie but I really can't recommend it as a blind buy. The review does a pretty good job of explaining the basic plot but it plays out far differently from what you'd expect unless you're familiar with Godard's films. But if you do end up liking, it's a fun movie to re-watch again and again.

I don't mind something different every once in a while. I'm not familiar with Godard's films, so without spoiling too much, what exactly can I expect? I'm really open-minded, so yeah.

[JHas]

Originally Posted by EnigmaticWarrior

I don't mind something different every once in a while. I'm not familiar with Godard's films, so without spoiling too much, what exactly can I expect? I'm really open-minded, so yeah.

Expect no plot.

[s00perd00per]

Originally Posted by EnigmaticWarrior

I don't mind something different every once in a while. I'm not familiar with Godard's films, so without spoiling too much, what exactly can I expect? I'm really open-minded, so yeah.

Well it's not structured like your typical movie. The way it was shot has a feeling of randomness that sometimes you ask how it relates to the story but if you watch again it will begin to make sense. Also, expect some good bit of singing as well.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by JHas

Expect no plot.

you can really tell who conservative people are. If anything, it has more directions. I'll take any film that can go in any direction at anytime due to it not being held down by a "plot" than a film with a structure. This doesn't just go with Godard. Godard, Oshima, Vigo, Fassbinder, etc. Anarchy in film is such a wonderful thing.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

I'll take any film that can go in any direction at anytime due to it not being held down by a "plot" than a film with a structure.

If only my professors had that very same outlook when it comes to film.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

If only my professors had that very same outlook when it comes to film.

"Professors" in a film class are most likely conservative in film taste anyways. The last thing I would ever do is attend film class (for what reason? Prob seen and heard everything they have to offer anyways.). You can't have Anarchy in a school setting anyways.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

"Professors" in a film class are most likely conservative in film taste anyways. The last thing I would ever do is attend film class (for what reason? Prob seen and heard everything they have to offer anyways.). You can't have Anarchy in a school setting anyways.

Oh yes, they're VERY conservative in tastes. But even worse are all my fellow classmates with whom I share zero taste with. When it comes to the films we'd discuss on this thread, they won't know any of them and say they don't need to because they're the 'filmmakers of the 21st century'.... which I guess they think means they're too good for older films

[retablo]

Originally Posted by EnigmaticWarrior

I don't mind something different every once in a while. I'm not familiar with Godard's films, so without spoiling too much, what exactly can I expect? I'm really open-minded, so yeah.

If you're not familiar with Godard I wouldn't blind buy it. He often shot with no script, and as a result ended up with interesting yet meaningless films that have no point or direction. They DO have their place in film history (even though Melville actually invented the jump cuts in Breathless, but I digress) but they were always an eclectic taste, even when they were semi-popular back in the day.

[DLizzle]

Originally Posted by JHas

Expect no plot.

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

you can really tell who conservative people are. If anything, it has more directions. I'll take any film that can go in any direction at anytime due to it not being held down by a "plot" than a film with a structure. This doesn't just go with Godard. Godard, Oshima, Vigo, Fassbinder, etc. Anarchy in film is such a wonderful thing.

Spider, you assumed that "Expect no plot." has a negative connotation, when there is no evidence to suggest that it does. This probably points to your place on the spectrum more than his.

This whole discussion shows that Pierrot le Fou is probably not "blind buy" material (though I did, and don't regret it)

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by DLizzle

This whole discussion shows that Pierrot le Fou is probably not "blind buy" material (though I did, and don't regret it)

I blind-bought too, but I was already a Godard fan. So, I'll add to that and say I also can't recommend it to someone who doesn't know what to expect.

[jacobb1313]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

"Professors" in a film class are most likely conservative in film taste anyways. The last thing I would ever do is attend film class (for what reason? Prob seen and heard everything they have to offer anyways.). You can't have Anarchy in a school setting anyways.

I had a joke when going to film school that most students didn't believe there were any films made before 1994 - heaven help us if they were in black and white, silent, or foreign (getting a film student to read is like getting a cat to take a bath).

But it's not really that bad. And actually, I learned a ton. A good film theory class should make your head spin (which it did - oy, semiotics!), and my introductions to obscure Czech, Iranian and Spanish cinemas happened with a few choice professors I would force to coffee outside of class. That, and their introductions of me to non-conservative Japanese Punk and Yakluza films. It's worth it.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by jacobb1313

I had a joke when going to film school that most students didn't believe there were any films made before 1994 - heaven help us if they were in black and white, silent, or foreign (getting a film student to read is like getting a cat to take a bath).

But it's not really that bad. And actually, I learned a ton. A good film theory class should make your head spin (which it did - oy, semiotics!), and my introductions to obscure Czech, Iranian and Spanish cinemas happened with a few choice professors I would force to coffee outside of class. It's worth it.

I was appalled back in 1993 when a classmate got accepted to the USC Graduate Film Program... and also tried to argue with me that Friday the 13th was the first slasher film.

This is why movies today suck...many people have no point of reference for history, and fail to see anything pre-1990s. It's sad, but it's only getting worse.

[Monty70]

Another positive review is up for Island of Lost Souls.

http://www.mondo-digital.com/islandlostsouls.html

The review states that some damage is present, but nothing nearly as bad as the Stagecoach BD.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by DLizzle

Spider, you assumed that "Expect no plot." has a negative connotation, when there is no evidence to suggest that it does. This probably points to your place on the spectrum more than his.

This whole discussion shows that Pierrot le Fou is probably not "blind buy" material (though I did, and don't regret it)

Let's be real, it was said most likely to bash the movie, though it's actually a + for it.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

Let's be real, it was said most likely to bash the movie, though it's actually a + for it.

I didn't read it that way.......


Same goes for those who describe Malick's works as sweeping epics that are chopped up and pieced together.

I just don't see it as a negative, it's just an observation

EDIT:

and in the spirit of the upcoming BD release:

"No, I meant somewhere I smell some pot, you know? It was just an observation. "

[stobbart]

Sounds like people here that took film classes in college had some pretty pathetic professors.

[rock, stone]

There is an old half joke about quantum physics which basically goes, "If you truly think you understand it, you don't." With every message board post I read, I think this applies as much if not more to everything else in the world, especially the movies mentioned in criterion threads.

I personally would rate taking a film class higher than spending the same amount of energy tut-tut'ing and misquoting strangers on the internet, but then I never took a dedicated film class.

And while Godard appears to have always been a fairly insufferable douche, at least he took his criticisms and then up and made some art of his own.

And for what it is worth, Pierrot le Fou is probably my favorite Godard, but I haven't seen them all. I love the use of color and the way that the two leads just react to things with all the forethought of 4 years old playing and even what is probably the most ineptly filmed shootout sequence in history. It manages to have that "I think I think I know what is going on" quality to makes Marienbad so much fun, but has the bonkers logic of teenage junkies spending their parents money.

If every movie was like Pierrot le Fou I would hate it. But as only one movie is, I find it very much worthwhile.

[melo4mvp]

Just watched Harakiri for the first time. What an incredible movie. The ending was great. I think this is my favorite criterion so far.