The Criterion Collection

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Criterion Collector

The Wes Anderson "debate" certainly is popular in this thread.

When it comes down to it, we all have our own tastes and that's ok.

I think it comes down to two "camps" in this debate. It seems as if there are those who find his films quirky and funny, and others who are bored by them. That's the thing with comedies. If you find they do not appeal to your sense of humor, you are left just sitting there wondering what all the fuss is about.

As I have stated before, I found The Fantastic Mr. Fox to be the Wes Anderson film I enjoyed the most. That is also the one that made me laugh the most. To each their own I suppose.

For "long shot" films I would like to see in the Criterion Collection (aside from cult/horror), I would like to see David Lynch's Twin Peaks, Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, Tim Burton's Ed Wood, Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter, Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons, Roman Polanski's Chinatown, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, Leo McCarey's Duck Soup, David Fincher's Zodiac...I just realized that I could go on for days with these.

Believe it or not, every film I just mentioned does not have a U.S.A. BD release, except in the case of Zodiac, but the Paramount BD is now OOP.

David Fincher films either fall into the love or hate category for me.

Love - Seven, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room
Dislike - Zodiac, Benjamin Button, The Social Network

Haven't seen his version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo yet. Considering the original version is one of my favorite films I'm sure I'll like it. Zodiac was my least favorite. I recall nearly falling asleep before eventually leaving early at the theater during that one. And I almost never walk out of a movie early.

With Wes Anderson films I guess I straddle the fences. I neither love or hate his stuff.

[greekak229]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

David Fincher films either fall into the love or hate category for me.

Love - Seven, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room
Dislike - Zodiac, Benjamin Button, The Social Network

Haven't seen his version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo yet. Considering the original version is one of my favorite films I'm sure I'll like it. Zodiac was my least favorite. I recall nearly falling asleep before eventually leaving early at the theater during that one. And I almost never walk out of a movie early.

With Wes Anderson films I guess I straddle the fences. I neither love or hate his stuff.

Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is an incredible film. I loved it.

[Criterion Collector]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

Zodiac was my least favorite. I recall nearly falling asleep before eventually leaving early at the theater during that one. And I almost never walk out of a movie early.

That surprises me a bit. I will be the first to admit that I need to be in the right mood to watch certain films, but Zodiac (even being talkative and long) had me intrigued throughout the entire film. I didn't think there were any parts of this film that I wasn't completely gripped by.

I suppose your enjoyment of Zodiac would depend heavily on weather or not you cared about what happened to the main characters, especially Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo's characters.

While watching this film, I wanted to see what happened next, where the investigation would lead, put together the "clues" and guess who the killer is, etc. I wanted to catch the Zodiac along with Robert Graysmith and Inspector Toschi. I thought this film did a great job of putting you there with them. It added you to the team, trying to solve the case. That quality is the reason I found it to be so enjoyable.

EDIT: Another film that has a similar quality is Adam Green's Frozen. It makes you one of their friends and puts you in that situation with them. That movie is amazingly powerful as an intensely dramatic hand wringer. It's almost too bad that movie was marketed as a horror film. IMO it wasn't a horror film at all. It was a psychologically intense drama. It pushes emotional buttons and causes you to react, but I never thought of it as a fear inducing film, dread yes, but I was never "creeped out" by it.

[italy12]

Originally Posted by Yami

What's everyone's most hoped for upgrade/new title in 2012?

For me there are three upgrades I am desperate for - The Passion of Joan of Arc, Ivan's Childhood and The Spirit of the Beehive. I'm hoping at least one will be out before the year ends. For new titles, I'd quite like to see the Apu Trilogy, one of the hallmarks of world cinema, finally get the treatment it deserves.

The Vanishing, but I can only hope and dream for Vampyr.

I do remember reading that the picture, posted last year, which showed a list of titles being worked on by Criterion, included The Vanishing. My first Criterion DVD...it has a special place in my heart...and film collection!

[ravenus]

My most looked to upgrades would be for Kurosawa films - Hidden Fortress, Throne of Blood, Rashomon
The Wes Anderson film I like best - Life Aquatic
Powell & Pressburger - A Canterbury Tale
Antonioni - L'Eclisse

[buffetfroid]

Originally Posted by Yami

What's everyone's most hoped for upgrade/new title in 2012?

All That Heaven Allows would look fantastic on blu.

As for new title I'll go with namesake, Buffet Froid. The Fox Lorber dvd is non-anamophic and, I think, out of print.

Originally Posted by ravenus

My most looked to upgrades would be for
Powell & Pressburger - A Canterbury Tale

[Darkcritic]

Hoped upgrades...

- Taste of Cherry by Kiarostami
- The Cranes are Flying by Kalatozov
- Band of Outsiders by Godard
- Sawdust and Tinsel by Bergman

Hoped new-releases...

- 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days by Mungiu
- Los Olvidados by Buñuel
- The Realm of Fortune by Ripstein
- The Three Burials by Melquiades Estrada by Jones

You know, I think this last film is such an under-appreciated gem. The best modern-western I have seen and way more powerful than films like No Country for Old Men. No region-A BD available of it too .

[lolwut]

Originally Posted by joie

Saw The Royal Tanenbaums (criterion DVD) and enjoyed it. Saw Rushmore (not criterion DVD) and the video and audio was very good, but it doesn't seem like a movie worth watching more than once, no matter how good the PQ and AQ may be. "Max" is a flawed character; so flawed that some would call him a sociopath. A person like that just doesn't turn-around like "Max" did in Rushmore. Late in the film, he realized he needed a tutor and was able to admit that his dad was not a neurosurgeon, but a character as flawed as "Max' wouldn't be able to do that without spending some time in the juvie, possibly even time in the state pen., and only after lengthy counseling. He was headed for the lock-up, given his vandalism and his criminal assault on the female teacher. So, in that way the movie is also flawed: the development of "Max" simply isn't realistic. Some may like it because Max appears to succeed in spite of his own character, but Max's "success" isn't realistic.

I can see how people don't like Rushmore. I didn't like it the first time I saw it. Now it's one of my favorite films though, and gets better every time I watch it.

[SpiderBaby]

Oh yeah, I forgot, I want Olympia announced this year too.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by EricJ

I, er....didn't feel comment was necessary.

(Unless you mean the dopey confusion regarding James/Peach, where Tim-boiz immediately assume Burton directed every Henry Selick film ever made. )

I meant his straight up adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate factory. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory wasn't that bad. Freddie Highmore was pretty decent. We're supposed to be comparing Anderson's attempts at Dahl to everyone here. you can't just pick and choose.

You also refrained from commenting on Dahl's hate for Willy Wonka.

[DLizzle]

Complete shot in the dark, but I'd love to see Spike Lee's 25th Hour added to the collection.

[ShellOilJunior]

I want Le Samourai released because it will finally mean the end of all those clamoring for it. Three Melville films in a year wasn't enough for some.

Granted, I would buy the upgrade and I own all the Criterion Melville on blu but I'm tired of people ignoring the Melville films already on blu like LEON MORIN, PRIEST.

[Tin Drum]

Originally Posted by greekak229

...but oh my word, I could not handle Darjeeling Limited. I'm honestly surprised I made it through the whole thing.

It's weird. TDL is the only Anderson film that I do not absolutely love and I'm not sure why. I count all of his other films as some of the best of their respective years, yet I can barely get through TDL. It just doesn't work for me.

[Old Geezer]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

I've resigned myself to not waiting for upgrades anymore. It's too disappointing when you're waiting for The Passion of Joan of Arc or Bicycle Thieves and the 15th comes around and they announce...Sweetie. So now I'm working on buying the DVDs that I want and which I've been holding off on for three years. I guess I am excited to see what this Wenders set contains but otherwise I'm not going to hold out hope for anything.

I agree with this 100%. I can't imagine not owning Criterion's The Unbearable lightness of Being; Andrei Rublev; or Elevator to the Gallows; just to name a few just because they aren't on blu.

[BohemianGraham]

Upgrades, in spine order (but not preference, and based only on what I've watched so far), and I don't expect them all:

La Strada
Brazil
The Blob
The Lady Eve
Spartacus
The Hidden Fortress
Rebecca (most likely won't happen now)
Rashomon
Hopscotch
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Killers Set
Throne of Blood
The Lower Depths Set
The River
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (shock, horror, an Anderson!)
The Bad Sleep Well
Young Mr. Lincoln
The Virgin Spring
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Burmese Harp
Ace in the Hole
The Thief of Bagdad
Z
Ivan the Terrible Pts. I & II

New to the Collection (one can dream):

The World of Henry Orient
The Magic Christian
Fail-Safe
Giant
One, Two, Three
The Fortune Cookie
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Leave Her to Heaven
Imitation of Life
Drunken Master (why the hell not? They allowed Life During Wartime and Equinox in the collection)
Persona
Goodbye Lenin
Going Down the Road
Cat People Box Set - Cat People 1942, The Curse of the Cat People, and Cat People 1982

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

Upgrades, in spine order (but not preference, and based only on what I've watched so far), and I don't expect them all:

La Strada
Brazil
The Blob
The Lady Eve
Spartacus
The Hidden Fortress
Rebecca (most likely won't happen now)
Rashomon
Hopscotch
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
The Killers Set
Throne of Blood
The Lower Depths Set
The River
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (shock, horror, an Anderson!)
The Bad Sleep Well
Young Mr. Lincoln
The Virgin Spring
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Burmese Harp
Ace in the Hole
The Thief of Bagdad
Z
Ivan the Terrible Pts. I & II

New to the Collection (one can dream):

The World of Henry Orient
The Magic Christian
Fail-Safe
Giant
One, Two, Three
The Fortune Cookie
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Leave Her to Heaven
Imitation of Life
Drunken Master (why the hell not? They allowed Life During Wartime and Equinox in the collection)
Persona
Goodbye Lenin
Going Down the Road
Cat People Box Set - Cat People 1942, The Curse of the Cat People, and Cat People 1982

Several of those on your upgrade list should happen this year.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Several of those on your upgrade list should happen this year.

How many will be courtesy of Criterion though? I know Rebecca's coming out this month via MGM/Fox, and a few others already have Universal BD releases, or non-NA releases.

[bizarre_eye]

Some of my most hoped for upgrades are:

Alphaville
Kwaidan
Onibaba
Vampyr
The Vanishing

[Justin83]

Originally Posted by The Dark Uniter

I would love for Criterion to release Night of the Living Dead or Prophecies of Nostradamus. Of course, that's wishful thinking.

I would be thrilled if this happened somehow.

[juanell]

I would like to see Brazil and Schizopolis upgraded.
Play misty for me would be a nice new addition, No Eastwood in the collection as far as I know.