The Criterion Collection

[octagon]

Originally Posted by *DrStrangelove*

I plan on getting 400 blows on blu ray eventually. I'm the type of person who likes blind buying (I dunno I'm weird). I guess I kind of want my first time seeing it to be in HD. They have 400 blows and Stolen Kisses on Hulu. I wanted to check out another Truffaut after watching Shoot the Piano Player. I guess ill just wait till I buy the 400 blows.

I can definitely relate. I dropped streaming a few months ago but I would routinely avoid things I was on the fence about eventually buying. There were also a few times (The Thin Red Line is one that comes to mind) where I stopped something fifteen or so minutes in because I knew I'd wind up buying it down the road.

[TylerDurden]

Was there an earlier cheaper price for Last Temptation? It's $27.99 now at Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ce-full-site=1

[octagon]

Does anybody know if Eureka sends confirmation/shipping mails?

I placed an order Sat and got the paypal confirmation right away but haven't seen anything directly from them.

(and just to be clear, I'm just curious...it's really only been a day)

[Yami]

No, they don't

[octagon]

Cool, thanks.

[Narcissus]

Originally Posted by jacobsever

Edit * Someone is doing a Harry Potter film, and the teacher has agreed that it fits as "gothic".

teacher is wrong, it's about as Gothic as My Little Pony

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

I heard that some people go to public places and watch light shone through strips of celluloid onto a big white cloth with all the individual frames from the Blu-ray printed on them! I was like, lolwut?

the only flaw with that is by the time you get done paying to get there, pay for the ticket, pay for the popcorn, pay to get home, you could buy 2 Criterion Blu Rays. Easy Pass.

[Wally Q]

Originally Posted by Narcissus

teacher is wrong, it's about as Gothic as My Little Pony

Hi, Prisoner of Azkaban.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by Wally Q

Hi, Prisoner of Azkaban.

Still not as gothic as some of the other suggestions on here. The series has gothic elements, but it's really not gothic in comparison to other stuff. Carrie is more gothic than Potter, yet the prof doesn't think so.

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

Ha! That sounds like a Corman-Price-Poe movie!

I suggested them. There's nothing wrong with those films either.

Look at any Hitchcock adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier as well.

[blujazz]

Hitchcock is very gothic. Just ask Slavoj Žižek.

Yeah, Potter borrows gothic tropes but only uses it for effect.

[BohemianGraham]

I found a copy of the reading jacobsever was required to look at (I think):

http://www.virtualsalt.com/gothic.htm

An Example

The 1943 Sherlock Holmes film, Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (one of the classic Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce films), contains all the elements of the gothic. Here is a brief rundown of the items above:

1. Setting. It's not quite a castle, but it is a huge mansion with several levels, including a basement and a hidden sub-basement. Dark and drafty. Ominous.

2. Atmosphere of Mystery. It's a multiple murder mystery, with cryptic notes, hidden passageways, wind, lightning, and everyone a suspect.

3. Ancient Prophecy. There is the Musgrave Ritual. Obscure, compelling, ancient.

4. Omens and portents. The crow at the tavern, the intrusive lightning strike, the taunting notes from the butler.

5. Supernatural or inexplicable events. How the victims died. The lightning seems to strike at just the right time.

6. Overwrought emotion. The female lead screams and panics a bit.

7. Women in distress and 8. Women threatened by a male. Toned down here, but the murderer had designs on the heroine.

9. The wind blows, signs bang into the wall, lightning, a few characters are trapped in various ways.

Here's the bio of the author of the reading as well: http://www.virtualsalt.com/bioblurb.htm

[ShellOilJunior]

Surprised nobody has mentioned it:

Night of the Hunter

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Surprised nobody has mentioned it:

Night of the Hunter

I already did, but I guess I'm just nobody:

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

I think he means a certain kind of horror with romance aspects (not Twilight). Arguably, a lot of the Edgar Allen Poe adaptations Vincent Price did are considered Gothic, at least IMHO. Gothic isn't just those kids with the eyeliner and fishnets. That's a stereotype.




Night of the Hunter easily falls into a Gothic sub-type, Southern Gothic, which is one of my favourite literary genres.

These are some "Gothic" Criterions, or at least fall under my definition of a gothic film:
The already mentioned night of the Hunter
Rebecca is OOP on DVD, but it's Gothic
Beauty and the Beast
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Great Expectations
The Red Shoes
Black Narcissus
Diabolique
The Magician

those are just the first few off the top of my head, and not all are out on BD.

[ccfixx]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

I already did, but I guess I'm just nobody:

I think Marilyn Manson wrote a song about your type.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

I already did, but I guess I'm just nobody:

I often skip posts if they are too long.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by ccfixx

I think Marilyn Manson wrote a song about your type.

I think I prefer this version:

Sesame Street - "Nobody" [Song 3 of 12] - YouTube

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I often skip posts if they are too long.

I at least skim them for key points. My post was relatively short compared to some of the novels that were posted on here recently regarding certain directors.

[Jester217300]

Originally Posted by jacobsever

Silly community college Lit class.
I was considering doing it on The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, because I've always wanted to see that film, and I noticed earlier today it's actually on Netflix.

Edit * Someone is doing a Harry Potter film, and the teacher has agreed that it fits as "gothic".

Originally Posted by jacobsever

It's an online class that I honestly haven't even looked at until now (2 weeks in). She gave us a power point, and a reading on the "Elements of the Gothic Novel" which include :

[Show spoiler]1. Setting in a Castle
2. Atmosphere of mystery and suspense
3. An ancient prophecy
4. Omens, portents, or visions
5. Supernatural or otherwise unexplainable events
6. High, even overwrought emotions
7. Women in distress
8. Women threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male
9. The metonymy of gloom and horror
10. The vocabulary of the gothic

On the power point she says :

[Show spoiler]Horror : Carrie is not, yet The Shining is
Science fiction : The Martian Chronicles is not, yet The Matrix is
Psychological thrillers : The Game is not, yet Psycho is

"Gothic" movies are very prevalent as a horror genre. For me it identifies the overall mood and tone of the film and not anything substantive. The only movies in the collection I can think of are The Haunted Strangler, Corridors of Blood, and Island of Lost Souls.

I was going to mention Psycho but I see your teacher already referenced it.

Personally I'd go with Suspiria. It's my favorite horror movie and it will probably be the most original choice in your class. Hopefully your teacher hasn't even seen it! That would be an unsung bonus. You could even argue that the institute is a castle. Men vs Women is a strong motif in the movie and if you stretch it a bit the whole witch thing could fall into the prophecy category. Visions, women in distress, emotional tension, gloom... it's all there in bounds. It's also a fairly interpretive movie with little academic following so you could write pretty much anything about it and get away with it as long as you make a good case for yourself.

Honestly I think your teacher has given you an idiotic guideline of what "Gothic" is. There are clearly movies that meet that criteria that aren't Gothic and movies that don't meet that criteria that are Gothic. Sometimes breaking down artistic endeavors analytically completely fails, as I would say your guideline does.

But good luck! I'm interested in hearing what you settle on.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

I think I prefer this version: Sesame Street - "Nobody" [Song 3 of 12] - YouTube



I at least skim them for key points. My post was relatively short compared to some of the novels that were posted on here recently regarding certain directors.

I do enjoy your posting but if I see some off topic stuff it often gets passed over like Bob Hope on Oscar night.

[ROclockCK]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

I suggested them. There's nothing wrong with those [Corman-Price-Poe] films either.

No slam. Still unequaled in terms of "class-for-a-buck", especially Masque of the Red Death. I doubt MGM would ever give them up, but if Criterion can do Godzilla...

I guess my point was, the term "gothic", as defined by that list, seems pretty "elastic". Even Robert Wise's The Haunting and Jack Clayton's The Innocents would seem to fit.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I do enjoy your posting but if I see some off topic stuff it often gets passed over like Bob Hope on Oscar night.

Touche. Although the post in question was on topic.



It's officially the release day for Gojira and the Moment of Truth! I'm hearing good things from the few people who have Gojira already, and I'm thinking of hunting down The Moment of Truth to check out.

Originally Posted by Jester217300

Honestly I think your teacher has given you an idiotic guideline of what "Gothic" is. There are clearly movies that meet that criteria that aren't Gothic and movies that don't meet that criteria that are Gothic. Sometimes breaking down artistic endeavors analytically completely fails, as I would say your guideline does.

This. Although, I found the original article the prof made him read, it's still a bit lazy. Gothic isn't a straight b&w genre, there's shades of grey in it.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

No slam. Still unequaled in terms of "class-for-a-buck", especially Masque of the Red Death. I doubt MGM would ever give them up, but if Criterion can do Godzilla...

I guess my point was, the term "gothic", as defined by that list, seems pretty "elastic". Even Robert Wise's The Haunting and Jack Clayton's The Innocents would seem to fit.

Masque of the Red Death is my favourite Poe/Price/Corman film! It's the first thing I think of when I think gothic film. I also would love to see a Criterion release. The Pit and the Pendulum is another really great one.

The Haunting and The Innocents are also excellent examples of gothic films. Village of the Damned (the George Sanders film, not the Christopher Reeve version, yucky) would be a good one too. The Midwich Cuckoos, is the title of the novel the film was based off of.