The Criterion Collection

[Sinthetic]

Originally Posted by betto

Did you end up finishing it? I always wonder what to do with films like this, where you just get bored after a while but end up halfway through. Should you just finish it and get it over with? Try to watch it some other time? Or just never think about it again :\

It's a tough question really, but I always finish off a film once I've started it. If I am unable to finish it the same night, I will do so the morning after.

The way I see it, if I get bored during a film, I don't want to add it to my collection. I have contemplated if I would enjoy it more in a different mood. Ultimately, there are too many films to watch and not enough time to spend worrying about wishing you had felt differently about them.

[jrmac2000]

I can't wait for the David lean set to arrive! I've heard nothing but great things about the transfers, and I have been holding out for blu rays of these films for a while. Criterion being the maker is icing on the cake! Now if they'd just redo summertime I'd be completely happy.


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[octagon]

Originally Posted by retablo

Yeah Pale Flower, Tokyo Drifter, Branded To Kill, etc... the new wave stuff. Pale Flower had such a great visual style, but style doesn't equal substance to me. Plus I got tired of the lengthy scenes showing the game that I couldn't follow, lol. Mostly I just dislike films where the plot follows no cohesive narrative, and things happen randomly without much logic. Anyone can write nonsensical stories; it's much harder to write something that feels like a cohesive whole.

IN the case of Branded To Kill, Suzuki came up with many plot elements ad scenes the night before shooting or on set itself, and it shows. Again, great scenes individually, but taken as a whole they don't add up to zilch for me.

We tend to have fairly similar sensibilities but I'm with Banned User here - I'm almost literally wondering if we're talking about the same movie.

I didn't find Pale Flower any less cohesive than say Kiss Me Deadly and it's quite a bit more cohesive than the average Chandler story (though I suppose that's not really the highest of bars). At times it might have been a stylish for its own sake but I never really found that distracting...in fact, for the most part it kind of worked.

As for the game, I can kind of see your point about the length of some of the scenes but I actually liked that I didn't know what they were playing. I used a Bond example after first seeing Pale Flower: Bond play bacarrat was cool, Bond playing poker was boring.

And again, I'm not trying to talk you out of anything. I just think it's interesting that we're so far apart on this one.

[Oblivion138]

Originally Posted by octagon

I used a Bond example after first seeing Pale Flower: Bond play bacarrat was cool, Bond playing poker was boring.

Unless you know how to play both (or neither)...in which case, it makes no substantive difference.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

As for talking about movies in the thread, that is a rather dangerous subject as it can quickly come's to an shouting and insult match (true in this thread as in any other thread). Just go back a few months to the discussion over Tiny Furniture. I like posting about the movies I watch in the collection including the Eclipse sets and in general very few people will comment and dicussion about the covers, upcoming sale, top ten Criterion....will just bury my post in a matter of minutes

I actually skimmed through most of that useless Tiny Furniture sh*t until I could something interesting, like the mini-reviews you and a couple of others do.
Don't worry, they don't get completely buried and they appreciated

[Sinthetic]

Holy crap at the ending of Fat Girl. Can we swear on here? If so, replace crap with a stronger word.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by Sinthetic

Holy crap at the ending of Fat Girl. Can we swear on here? If so, replace crap with a stronger word.

I knowwww.

[Show spoiler]It's one of my favorite film endings ever.

[Marten]

Originally Posted by Sinthetic

I watched Amarcord last night and for the first 30 minutes, I was fully engrossed in it and laughing myself silly. I don't know how or why this happened, but I started to get bored after about 45 minutes or so. It's a real shame because I wanted to love it.

Originally Posted by Sinthetic

Holy crap at the ending of Fat Girl. Can we swear on here? If so, replace crap with a stronger word.

And that's why I *rarely* blind-buy anything nowadays. I'll do anything in my power to rent it first. Not only is it a waste of money if the film is not to my liking but it also creates an inventory of films which will collect dust and take up shelf space or end up in storage. I learned my lesson from the DVD days and I'm ultra-selective now with my Blu-ray collection.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by Marten

And that's why I *rarely* blind-buy anything nowadays. I'll do anything in my power to rent it first. Not only is it a waste of money if the film is not to my liking but it also creates an inventory of films which will collect dust and take up shelf space or end up in storage. I learned my lesson from the DVD days and I'm ultra-selective now with my Blu-ray collection.

I still blind buy quite a bit. Out of the 70+ Criterion Blu-rays I own, only 18 haven't been blind buys. There's only been one I was a bit meh about, and that was Lola Montes, but you have to be in a certain mood to watch that one anyways. The only one I actively hate, and that's after watching it at least 3 times before I decided that yes, I reall do hate it, is A Safe Place. However, the disc isn't going to sit around and collect dust, because I somewhat enjoy Drive, He Said, and A Safe Place shares a disc with that film. Also, A Safe Place is in the BBS box set, and it's the only "bad" movie out of that set of 7 fantastic films (yet so many people on here only want 1-2 films out of the set and break it up ).

I will say that despite all my blind buying, I'm still selective about what BDs I buy compared to my DVD collection (There's a huge difference in collection size, and BD.com doesn't even have the majority of the DVDs I own listed in their database ).

[Sinthetic]

Originally Posted by Marten

And that's why I *rarely* blind-buy anything nowadays. I'll do anything in my power to rent it first. Not only is it a waste of money if the film is not to my liking but it also creates an inventory of films which will collect dust and take up shelf space or end up in storage. I learned my lesson from the DVD days and I'm ultra-selective now with my Blu-ray collection.

I never blind buy Criterion stuff because it costs about £22 to import them and out of the 100 or so films they've released on Blu Ray, I've only felt compelled to buy around 30 of them. Most of the others have been "watch once" films.

I always go into watching the films with the intent of buying them after I watch them, but that has led to some disappointment with the more hyped releases not hitting the mark. Some of the best surprises have been things like Robinson Crusoe, My Life as a Dog and Zazie.

[James78]

I'm tempted to buy the French release of Brazil, but some people on this website have said that Criterion will release it. Does anyone know if this is a fact?

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

The only one I actively hate, and that's after watching it at least 3 times before I decided that yes, I reall do hate it, is A Safe Place.

A lot of people forget A SAFE PLACE was Criterion's 2010 Fool's Day joke. Although, they went too far with it.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by Marten

And that's why I *rarely* blind-buy anything nowadays. I'll do anything in my power to rent it first. Not only is it a waste of money if the film is not to my liking but it also creates an inventory of films which will collect dust and take up shelf space or end up in storage. I learned my lesson from the DVD days and I'm ultra-selective now with my Blu-ray collection.

I really really don't understand this. I can't see how blind buying a Criterion is ever a waste of money. If you're careful about buying them, you never really need to pay more than $20-$22 for them, and if you don't like them, you can almost always get the same amount back when you sell it.

When you rent, that money is gone, and if you *do* like the movie and want to buy it you have to spend additional money as well to own it.

[scottpcusa]

Originally Posted by Sinthetic

Holy crap at the ending of Fat Girl. Can we swear on here? If so, replace crap with a stronger word.

Yeah...I did not see that ending coming! As for your question, the weird thing about this site is that you can say

[Show spoiler]shit

but you can't say Josie and the *****cats!

EDIT: Oh...and THEY put those dots there in place of the five letters...not me!

[Mooch360]

Originally Posted by jmo78

I'm tempted to buy the French release of Brazil, but some people on this website have said that Criterion will release it. Does anyone know if this is a fact?

Not a fact, just a rumour. Until Critereon announces it, it's a rumour.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by scottpcusa

Yeah...I did not see that ending coming! As for your question, the weird thing about this site is that you can say

[Show spoiler]shit

but you can't say Josie and the *****cats!

EDIT: Oh...and THEY put those dots there in place of the five letters...not me!

Oh yes, my favourite censorship postings, as I'm usually the one posting about Josie, Val, and Melody! As one person pointed out to me, we can call the Josie and the Vaginacats though.

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

A lot of people forget A SAFE PLACE was Criterion's 2010 Fool's Day joke. Although, they went too far with it.

I'm going to be crass, and say this, I mean, since everyone said the same thing about Lena Dunham, and I can't have a forum filled with double standards.

[Show spoiler]Henry Jaglom must give the best oral sex ever, or gave them terrible oral sex, after supplying them with a metric-ton of awesome drugs so they thought his film and the oral sex were good, because that's the only way A Safe Place made it into the collection.

I apologise to those of you who actually enjoy the film. I don't begrudge you for that, and I'm only joking with my spoiler post. The fact that Criterion gave me Head (to totally bring this down to an even more childish level, which is what The Monkees wanted us to do with that title choice ). I can forgive them for including A Safe Place in the collection, since they gave me the Monkees in HD.

Blind Buying Criterions are much safer than blind buying other titles, because people will pay exuberant amounts of money for some titles.

[James78]

Thank you for that reply. I think I'm going to buy the French release, then!

[Sinthetic]

Originally Posted by scottpcusa

Yeah...I did not see that ending coming! As for your question, the weird thing about this site is that you can say

[Show spoiler]shit

but you can't say Josie and the *****cats!

EDIT: Oh...and THEY put those dots there in place of the five letters...not me!

Haha! Thanks for clearing that up pal! I don't swear all the time, but if ever there was a good time to cuss online... It would go to the ending of Fat Girl.

[scottpcusa]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

Oh yes, my favourite censorship postings, as I'm usually the one posting about Josie, Val, and Melody! As one person pointed out to me, we can call the Josie and the Vaginacats though.

[*DrStrangelove*]

I just blind bought The Double Life of Veronique. Good blind buy? I've never seen a Krzysztof Kieslowski film but I have heard good things. I was reading the review for it here on bluray.com and im kinda upset they ruined it for me

[Show spoiler]The reviewer straight up tells you one of the girls die, and even when she dies!

Well that kinda ruined the surprise. Anyway, still a good choice?