The Criterion Collection

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by gl-14

This is another Criterion film I've been queueing to watch. How is it??

I personally like it a great deal, very artistic and atmospheric with some amazing high-contrast B&W widescreen photography. But I warn you that it's a non-linear script where what the characters say/do in one scene may be contradicted in another and nothing is absolutely true. It might be a good idea to rent/stream this before making the purchase decision.
I found it a lot more accessible and likable than say some of Tarkovsky's films, to give you a measure

[octagon]

Originally Posted by retablo

Just suffered through Branded To Kill. You know a movie is bad when its style over substance and I need wikipedia to explain what the hell is going on. Like Pale Flower, I'll quickly be dumping this turd on eBay.

I haven't seen Branded to Kill but turd seems like a rather harsh evaluation of Pale Flower (though I do have to give wordplay points for dumping).

What were your objections?

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by octagon

I haven't seen Branded to Kill but turd seems like a rather harsh evaluation of Pale Flower (though I do have to give wordplay points for dumping).

What were your objections?

I agree-- Pale Flower is one of my favorite Criterion Blu-ray titles. I'm interested in knowing why anyone would really hate it.

I actually just got done watching Branded to Kill this morning, and loved it. I have to agree with bingtau that it is 'just plain cool' from start to finish. I don't need everything explained to enjoy a film, and this was certainly one of those cases. Want to see Tokyo Drifter now.

[Zen_Amako]

I really enjoyed Branded to Kill and Pale Flower. With these films, story does take a back seat to style, but that doesn't bother me. The style is what makes them memorable over 40 years later.

Suzuki was expected to churn out cookie-cutter yakuza product to keep the studio's theaters running, but he was a bit of a maverick and that was what got him fired. There are plenty of genre pics with coherent, conventional narratives that have faded into obscurity; however, people still talk about and discover Suzuki's films.

Just last night I watched Pistol Opera (the sort of sequel to Branded to Kill) again. With this film, the story is definitely beside the point. It certainly has style to spare, though. A lot of it is highly theatrical, almost like kabuki.

[greekak229]

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

I agree-- Pale Flower is one of my favorite Criterion Blu-ray titles. I'm interested in knowing why anyone would really hate it.

I actually just got done watching Branded to Kill this morning, and loved it. I have to agree with bingtau that is is 'just plain cool' from start to finish. I don't need everything explained to enjoy a film, and this was certainly one of those cases. Want to see Tokyo Drifter now.

Pale Flower is an incredibly rich film with a lot of interesting elements to it. I think it's a very underrated title and it deserves a lot more recognition.

I too watched Branded to Kill for the first time a few days ago and it's a fantastic movie as well. One of the things I loved about it was that the gun sequences were very well done. I also want to see Tokyo Drifter. That seems like another title I wouldn't mind blind-buying and probably enjoying very much so.

I also blind-bought Kuroneko with some Christmas money and am gonna watch that tonight.

[Cinemach]

Originally Posted by retablo

Just suffered through Branded To Kill. You know a movie is bad when its style over substance and I need wikipedia to explain what the hell is going on. Like Pale Flower, I'll quickly be dumping this turd on eBay.

Yeah given what I've seen of clips from that film and Tokyo Drifter I'd have a similar reaction, so they're not factoring into any of my wishlists. Pale Flower looks slightly more interesting, though, but it's not on any wishlists either.

[jacobsever]

Originally Posted by retablo

but I only have around 300 Citerions (DVD & Blu) so I don't have their entire library.

Is that the 300 you've liked and decided to keep, or does that count include all the ones you have "dumped" on eBay because you couldn't follow them?

[TylerDurden]

Got The Great Dictator in the post today. My first Chaplin film.

[P@t_Mtl]

I just finish watching Dazed & Confuse. The quality of the Blu-ray is pretty good in my opinion. I always enjoyed this movie. I went in highschool 4 years after the events of the movie so I can't say things were the same as 1980 was a very different time then 1976 and I sure can't see myself in the characters as I was way more then a nerd, Revenge Of The Nerds is much closer to what I was In any case I really enjoy watching it, never seem to get tired of it.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by TylerDurden

Got The Great Dictator in the post today. My first Chaplin film.

Great movie, hope you enjoy it!

[ShellOilJunior]

Wow. I didn't expect such positive feedback on the Amazon UPS shipping box I posted! I may have to do this again in the future!

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

There are quite a few Pre-90's concerts on BD, and many are FANTASTIC.

The Complete Monterey and Gimme Shelter, to name two

And Woodstock and The Last Waltz to name two more.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

There are quite a few Pre-90's concerts on BD, and many are FANTASTIC.

The Complete Monterey and Gimme Shelter, to name two

+1

I don't own Gimme Shelter yet but Monterey Pop is a must. Absolutely one of the best packages Criterion has released.

[DetroitSquirreL]

Originally Posted by TylerDurden

Got The Great Dictator in the post today. My first Chaplin film.

Criterion did a fantastic job with this one, I LOVE IT! I also have Modern Times and thats brilliant as well. I had them on DVD but the BD just blow them away!!

[wilky61]

What is Sans Soleil like? I've never been interested in works such as Baraka or Koyaanisqatsi, for example. I just can't sit there for 90 minutes and watch images without a narrative (couldn't make it through Last Year at Marienbad either).

That said, I think La Jetee is one of the top 30 films I've ever seen (I have a downlaoded copy on my computer currently). But I just don't know if I can justify spending $27 on a 27-minute film or if La Jetee would even benefit greatly from 1080p...

[Sukuri]

yay unrelated to any conversation question that might have been acknowledged in the past.

I received my final B&N order that included Secret Sunshine. Now I'm fine with the fact that it didn't come with the blue sticker of awesomeness on the packaging, but when I opened up the case I was a little surprised to find that there's no booklet inside. So I ask if this happened to anyone else, and will Criterion be willing to send this Canadian boy a booklet and not charge him 20$ for shipping?

[retablo]

Originally Posted by octagon

I haven't seen Branded to Kill but turd seems like a rather harsh evaluation of Pale Flower (though I do have to give wordplay points for dumping).

What were your objections?

I'm not sure if its just 60s Japanese filmmaking in general or what... but I can't ever "get into" these types of films. The language is harsh and loud, there are no "quiet moments" -- everything is frenzied and noisy and half the time (especially in Branded to Kill) the shots/editing don't even match, so it's sometimes difficult to even tell what's going on. I'm all for art film, and cool style, but sometimes things just don't connect with you artistically, and this is one of them.

Then again, i'm totally fine with sitting through a 5 hour Bergman film or a 4 hour Rivette film no problem. I'll take quiet and introspective over gaudy and noisy every time.

[BohemianGraham]

I probably won't see Branded to Kill for another 2-3 weeks (thanks B&N!), but according to Amazon, both Tokyo Drifter and Smiles of a Summer Night are coming a week from today.

I liked Pale Flower quite a bit; it was an impulse blind buy at a B&N store in Portsmouth, NH, only because their copy of Harakiri had a smashed up case. I'll probably get shot for saying it, but it's almost like a more depressing version of Something Wild, which is another film that people seem to dislike in the collection.

[TylerDurden]

Originally Posted by retablo

I'm not sure if its just 60s Japanese filmmaking in general or what... but I can't ever "get into" these types of films. The language is harsh and loud, there are no "quiet moments" -- everything is frenzied and noisy and half the time (especially in Branded to Kill) the shots/editing don't even match, so it's sometimes difficult to even tell what's going on. I'm all for art film, and cool style, but sometimes things just don't connect with you artistically, and this is one of them.

Then again, i'm totally fine with sitting through a 5 hour Bergman film or a 4 hour Rivette film no problem. I'll take quiet and introspective over gaudy and noisy every time.

+1
Thank you for your in depth analysis. I wasn't planning on buying these films anyway but now I know I'm not interested in them.

[bingtau]

Originally Posted by retablo

Except that Seijin was fired promptly after making Branded for turning in movies that "make no sense." And I wholeheartedly agree. It gave me a headache.

Branded is actually pretty straight forward. # 3 killer for the Yakuza gets a job. He doesn't know who the other "killers" are and there's 4 of them. #3 messes up one of the jobs and now he becomes the target. What's not to get? Plus the guy on fire scene, that's pure magical filmmaking. No way in hell would any director even attempt that stunt in today's cinema. As far as loud and noisy goes, it's one of the reasons I love Japaneese cinema. They're dialect is very engrossing and it's defitinitly one of the easier foreign languages to digest.

Plus Seijun films get better with repeated viewings. On that note I can understand many who may dislike his work as it's an acquired taste I do believe.