The Criterion Collection

[Benchman]

Originally Posted by KubrickFan

Would that imply that his movies are part of the 10% of trash that Hollywood puts out? .

And while his movies are well made, his earlier movies are too much style over substance. With the biggest offender Panic Room, which only features a camera shot going through a coffee machine just because they could. Or Fight Club, where on repeated viewings you can't do anything other than notice how (I'll spoiler this just to be safe)

[Show spoiler]there are too many references littered in the movie to the "shock ending" that the characters played by Brad Pitt and Edward Norton are the same.

Plus, I also think it's incredibly ironic how people agree with the nonsense Durden spouts throughout the movie, when it's supposed to be taken as satire.
I do love Zodiac, though. That it was made by the same person as Se7en is almost impossible to believe. Of course, it's an almost three hour movie where the killer is never caught, so of course it bombed at the box office, but still, it's great to see a director not cater to the lowest common denominator.
Also, I love the way how he uses CGI, for the most part. Several instances of CGI used in Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Social Network are basically seamless, and that's how they should be used. It's good that he learned from how not to do it in Panic Room.

I agree about Panic Room but I have to disagree about Fight Club. I actually watched it for the first time and it had already been spoiled for me and didn't really care for it. I've watched it probably 10 more times after that and it gets better each viewing and discover something new about it every time. But to each his own

Originally Posted by paul000

Yeah, that's the guy.

Haha I guess we'll have to agree to disagree

Kinda off topic but would anyone else like criterion to release Winding Refn's Pusher Trilogy? Love those films and would love to get a bluray release in the U.S.

[Simple Lines]

Originally Posted by retablo

...my copy of Lola Montes pixelates and starts skipping around the 1:24 mark. Anyone else's?

I'm not sure if you meant 1h 24m or 1m 24s, but I checked both with about a minute before and after and mine does not pixelate.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by Benchman

Kinda off topic but would anyone else like criterion to release Winding Refn's Pusher Trilogy? Love those films and would love to get a bluray release in the U.S.

I wouldn't say I would "like" to see Criterion release them (as I believe there is alot more important stuff to get to) but I wouldn't be upset with it. I like NWR (outside of the soundtrack, not really into Drive yet though as most people. Bronson and Valhalla Rising is still the ones I like the most.), just hopes he follows through with his Crowley film starring Tom Hardy one of these days.

[Benchman]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

I wouldn't say I would "like" to see Criterion release them (as I believe there is alot more important stuff to get to) but I wouldn't be upset with it. I like NWR (outside of the soundtrack, not really into Drive yet though as most people. Bronson and Valhalla Rising is still the ones I like the most.), just hopes he follows through with his Crowley film starring Tom Hardy one of these days.

I think he's going to have a very bright future after seeing all his work so far

[retablo]

Originally Posted by Simple Lines

I'm not sure if you meant 1h 24m or 1m 24s, but I checked both with about a minute before and after and mine does not pixelate.

Gotcha. Yeah the 1 hr 24 minute mark... freezes and pixelates, doesn't resume until the next chapter. Emailed Mulvaney.

[DarkRyder]

My dad bought Robinson Crusoe On Mars during the sale, and we watched it last night. So much fun! Sure it is a little cheesy and dated, but the story is just great, as is the sense of adventure. So glad my dad got this one, was definitely worth it

[mport5150]

Originally Posted by DarkRyder

My dad bought Robinson Crusoe On Mars during the sale, and we watched it last night. So much fun! Sure it is a little cheesy and dated, but the story is just great, as is the sense of adventure. So glad my dad got this one, was definitely worth it

This is a favorite of mine as well

[Page14]

Originally Posted by DarkRyder

My dad bought Robinson Crusoe On Mars during the sale, and we watched it last night. So much fun! Sure it is a little cheesy and dated, but the story is just great, as is the sense of adventure. So glad my dad got this one, was definitely worth it

I might be biased, but good choice! I'll date myself by saying that it's one of my all-time favorites from seeing it in the theaters back when it was first released (before I was a teenager ... yeah, I'm old).

(Thanks to the members here who helped me make the decision to upgrade to the bluray, which I did during this latest B&N 50% off sale).

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by DarkRyder

I hate putting this out there, but I'm not entirely impressed with The Thin Red Line's picture. Is it great? Of course! But I'm not entirely blown away by it like some people. I don't know, maybe hearing everyone speak about how great it is I expected something different than from what I saw.
Edit: I guess to expand a little bit: I feel I expected a much stronger and sharper image, but the one I saw looked soft. I compare it to screenshots on this site and DVDBeaver, and my copy looks pretty much the same as both, so I'm not sure what to think.

The cinematography of TLR primarily uses natural light and is painterly rather than the razor sharp digital-like style of some other films, and the BD very successfully replicates the theatrical look of the film, hence reference-grade. I personally thought it looked great. I guess it depends on what you're expecting.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Reno McCoy

For those who had DVDs of the following and who have since purchased the Criterion blu-ray, can you tell me which ones you think are worth the upgrade? Assuming I consider them equals as far as the films go, which of these has the best improvements in picture/sound quality and special features?

39 Steps
The Lady Vanishes
Being John Malkovich

I have all three on DVD and now the Blu-rays....


I don't recall what DVD of John Malkovich I have, but the Blu-ray is certainly wonderful looking, and a very nice improvement.

As far as the other two go, I had fairly rough DVD transfers, and the Blu-rays of these are night and day differences..... I would have to check what DVDs I have though, because these were released various times in various "box sets" and singles etc, so the transfers I have may be different than yours. I can assure you that the DVDs for both of these were in serious need of remastering (at least the ones I have) and they are both great Blu-rays, but not without minor issues, but I don't imagine they will ever look better.

[Reno McCoy]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

I have all three on DVD and now the Blu-rays....


I don't recall what DVD of John Malkovich I have, but the Blu-ray is certainly wonderful looking, and a very nice improvement.

As far as the other two go, I had fairly rough DVD transfers, and the Blu-rays of these are night and day differences..... I would have to check what DVDs I have though, because these were released various times in various "box sets" and singles etc, so the transfers I have may be different than yours. I can assure you that the DVDs for both of these were in serious need of remastering (at least the ones I have) and they are both great Blu-rays, but not without minor issues, but I don't imagine they will ever look better.

I popped in all of my DVDs, and I'd say they were good, not great, as far as appearance goes. To some degree, I was almost looking for reasons not to upgrade, but of course I'm eventually going to buy all three again. I just hate buying the same movie multiple times.

Thanks for the advice.

[jeloid]

i watched "Woman In the Dunes" last night... and I hope we will see this in blu ray one day.

Famed Japanese author Kobo Abe's novel "Woman in the Dunes" (Suna No Onna) appeared in 1962, and immediately garnered acclaim in his own country. It was later translated into 20 different languages, and adapted, by Kobo Abe, into a Cannes festival award-winning film (it won the 1965 Special Jury Prize, along with two Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Foreign Film) directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara.

Made for less than $100K, The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival and, somewhat unusually for an avant-garde film, was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in the same year (losing out to Italian film Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow). In 1965, Teshigahara was nominated for the Best Director Oscar (losing to Robert Wise for The Sound of Music).

Currently available only as part of a box set from the Criterion Collection, "Three Films By Hiroshi Teshigahara", the 2007 DVD contains the full 148-minute director's cut (twenty minutes were cut when initially released for international audiences) and a helpful video essay by film historian James Quandt.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Reno McCoy

For those who had DVDs of the following and who have since purchased the Criterion blu-ray, can you tell me which ones you think are worth the upgrade? Assuming I consider them equals as far as the films go, which of these has the best improvements in picture/sound quality and special features?

39 Steps
The Lady Vanishes
Being John Malkovich

For the Hitchcock's:
The PQ is "good". You probably won't use them as demo material but they look good considering the available elements.

The audio is merely "adequate". You may have to crank up the volume and/or turn on subtitles.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by rkish

You mentioned that the Sony eReader battery ran down quickly. Do you keep the wireless on all the time or kill it when you don't need it? My wife says that she gets two+ weeks out of her Kindle battery when she kills the wireless, instead of about a week, when the wireless is kept on constantly.

My Sony is positively ancient, so ancient it doesn't even have WiFi! I have the PRS-600, which I purchased in September 2010, on clearance because it was "last year's model" from 2009, and the PRS-650 was just coming out to replace it. I get about 2-3 days out of it before I have to charge it. Sony dropped support on it rather quickly, and I have to use a PSP power adapter to charge it, as all subsequent Sony readers came with the USB wall charger, rather than the barrel adapter. It's a bit hard to read with a clip-on booklight at times, due to the screen being so full of glare. It also only has 8-bit of greytones, rather than the 16 readers come with now.

The Nook has a built-in backlight that works quite well, and can be adjusted to any level you like, while still remaining an eInk reader. That is why I am waiting for the Nook, rather than buying a readily available replacement here in Canada. Kobos are crap, I'm biased against Kindle because they don't support ePub, and the newer Sonys are nice, but they don't have the backlight.

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Le Havre is certainly not groundbreaking cinema but it is a good film. You'll enjoy it.

I think it has some Melville and Les Mis in it...

I've already watched it, hence me hemming and hawing about ordering it after missing the cheap pre-order and it missing the B&N sale.

[hedliniv]

I just watched "I Married a Witch!" with Veronica Lake on the Criterion Hulu channel and it was such a charming movie! What is the likelihood that we see a blu-ray release from Criterion for this title? I would be buy it immediately!

[monque]

Originally Posted by hedliniv

i just watched "i married a witch!" with veronica lake on the criterion hulu channel and it was such a charming movie! What is the likelihood that we see a blu-ray release from criterion for this title? I would be buy it immediately!

+1

[rkish]

Debating about spending any more cash before the sale ends tomorrow night. I keep wondering if anyone will release "Women of the Night" and "Street of Shame" on blu (like Artificial Eye), as I already have the AE set that came out this past year. That Mizo Eclipse set keeps calling to me. I'm possibly even considering the Early Bergman set as well.

If I'm a good boy, I'll just let tomorrow go without a whimper. Am I a good boy?

[paul000]

Originally Posted by rkish

Debating about spending any more cash before the sale ends tomorrow night. I keep wondering if anyone will release "Women of the Night" and "Street of Shame" on blu (like Artificial Eye), as I already have the AE set that came out this past year. That Mizo Eclipse set keeps calling to me. I'm possibly even considering the Early Bergman set as well.

If I'm a good boy, I'll just let tomorrow go without a whimper. Am I a good boy?

I've been similarly debating picking up the Vampyr DVD. It's one of my favorites but I'd hate to have them upgrade it after I buy it. One of the only upgrades I ever did was for The Killing/Killer's Kiss. I still have my old DVDs lying around as I can't get anything more than $2.50 for them online it seems.

I'm going back tomorrow for one more, then I'm done buying blus until the fall. I spent a ton of money since the 10th.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by rkish

Debating about spending any more cash before the sale ends tomorrow night. I keep wondering if anyone will release "Women of the Night" and "Street of Shame" on blu (like Artificial Eye), as I already have the AE set that came out this past year. That Mizo Eclipse set keeps calling to me. I'm possibly even considering the Early Bergman set as well.

If I'm a good boy, I'll just let tomorrow go without a whimper. Am I a good boy?

The Mizoguchi Eclipse set did give me nightmares of sort for a while because while in the case of other Eclipse sets I can't imagine some of these movies making their way to Blu-ray anytime soon (if ever) I could see those in the Mizoguchi set being release on Blu-ray

[oildude]

Originally Posted by rkish

Debating about spending any more cash before the sale ends tomorrow night. I keep wondering if anyone will release "Women of the Night" and "Street of Shame" on blu (like Artificial Eye), as I already have the AE set that came out this past year. That Mizo Eclipse set keeps calling to me. I'm possibly even considering the Early Bergman set as well.

If I'm a good boy, I'll just let tomorrow go without a whimper. Am I a good boy?

No. You're not. You are a bad boy. Very bad.

I am the last person to talk anyone out of getting the Mizoguchi Eclipse set, since it has Street of Shame and Women of the Night, two of the best films I discovered this year. Both deserve blu-ray releases. I think the fact that Criterion relegated these to DVD with very little chance of a blu-ray upgrade has to be one of my biggest disappointments with their decision process. Like you, I will be keeping an eye out for an overseas release. In the meantime, the DVDs do look quite good.

I have seen Port of Call in the Early Bergman Eclipse set already. I watched it on hulu plus last November when I was trying to decide whether to take the plunge into the Eclipse sets and was sampling films. I ended up watching the whole thing. I have found the Early Bergman set to be one of the hardest to find locally in a B&N, so when I saw it a couple of days ago at a B&N that I normally don't visit, I scooped it up.

Try and use the 8/40 coupon if you are going into a store (one expires today, the other at the end of Sept). I have had no problem using these on the Eclipse sets this sale.