The Criterion Collection

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

True, because Justus came out in the mid-1990s. Not a big fan of that album though, Nez was a bit lazy on that one by recycling Circle Sky, and it wasn't an improvement.

I still listen to a lot of 1990s stuff. I've been mixing it up a little, some Oasis, Liz Phair, and No Doubt mixed in with Neil Young, the Monkees, and Chad Mitchell Trio recently.

Rosetta is still totally depressing though.

In the 90's my buddies and I were tracking down the latest and greatest hip-hop records. There were some good ones. Although, now there are only a few MC's I can listen to and not cringe.

I would've never guessed then about what I listen to now but it's a great thing how tastes evolve.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I never cared for 90's alternative rock either - too brooding and depressing. I much prefer 60's-70's classic rock.

Whatever else you want to say about Morrissey, Girlfriend in a Coma was a pretty funny bit of self-parody.

[Banned User]

OK so I took the plunge and watched Late Spring. Not sure what I think about it. It was a good movie, but I'm just not seeing the genius here. For every scene Ozu uses the same 50mm lens, low mounted static camera with very very little cutting or panning. I understand its film making at its most economical and that in itself is commendable, but I guess I was expecting more. Hopefully on a 2nd viewing it will move higher up on my list of great movies. To those Ozu fans out there where does this movie sit in the large volume of his work? At the top, near the top etc.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by octagon

Whatever else you want to say about Morrissey, Girlfriend in a Coma was a pretty funny bit of self-parody.

I thought that was still technically the 1980s. Love Morrissey and the Smiths.

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

In the 90's my buddies and I were tracking down the latest and greatest hip-hop records. There were some good ones. Although, now there are only a few MC's I can listen to and not cringe.

I would've never guessed then about what I listen to now but it's a great thing how tastes evolve.

Ha, I used to listen to Busta Rhymes, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Missy Eliott, Da Brat, and Eminem when he first came on the scene. That was my early teen years. Totally appropriate for a 12-year old girl to listen to ODB. Some of the music I listened to back then is still enjoyable, but I honestly cannot understand how I ever enjoyed Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, or Korn.

Originally Posted by sc1957

I grew up in the early 60's listening to the Chad Mitchell Trio (my mother was a fan). We had all (or most) of their LPs, and I have them on CD (and iPod) now. Do you have favorite CMT songs? "The Golden Vanity," "Last Thing on My Mind," and lots of others are permanently imprinted on my mind.

"Lizzy Borden" is what kicked it off for me. Also, I'm partial to "The John Birch Society," "The I Was Not a Nazi Polka," "Your Friendly Liberal Neighbourhood Ku Klux Klan," "The Ballad of Sigmund Freud," "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (John Denver recorded it with these guys before he went solo, and I like this version much better), and I readily admit I have a slight softspot for the re-write of John Birch as "The George Bush Society." I discovered them on my own, although my parents were John Denver fans and I grew up listening to his solo stuff. I admittedly did not listen to CMT until my 3rd year of undergrad, which was 2005-2006. I'm a youngun with a fond appreciation for the folk scene of the 1950s and 1960s, and pretty much most of the 1960s music scene in general.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by Banned User

OK so I took the plunge and watched Late Spring. Not sure what I think about it. It was a good movie, but I'm just not seeing the genius here. For every scene Ozu uses the same 50mm lens, low mounted static camera with very very little cutting or panning. I understand its film making at its most economical and that in itself is commendable, but I guess I was expecting more. Hopefully on a 2nd viewing it will move higher up on my list of great movies. To those Ozu fans out there where does this movie sit in the large volume of his work? At the top, near the top etc.

I haven't watched enough Ozu to comment, but I can relate somewhat to the main protagonist as

[Show spoiler] we are both 27, female, and get constant crap about the need to get married.

Our situations are a lot different in other regards though. That's why I enjoyed the film so much, because I could relate to it. I enjoyed it as much as Floating Weeds.

[pro-bassoonist]

Umberto D. Blu-ray REVIEW

[pro-bassoonist]

Children of Paradise -- I viewed the film earlier today. I need to go through all of the supplemental features, and our review will be up later tomorrow.

If you have this release on pre-order, I would like to suggest that you find a way to rent it first before purchasing. As far as I am concerned, it is one of the year's most disappointing releases.

Pro-B

[Cinemach]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Children of Paradise -- I viewed the film earlier today. I need to go through all of the supplemental features, and our review will be up later tomorrow.

If you have this release on pre-order, I would like to suggest that you find a way to rent it first before purchasing. As far as I am concerned, it is one of the year's most disappointing releases.

Pro-B

That's unfortunate to hear. I'm taking it's the image quality? I was leery of the DVDBeaver screengrabs, which were poor even when you factor in the foibles of that site, but had been holding out for other impressions.

[tama]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Children of Paradise -- I viewed the film earlier today. I need to go through all of the supplemental features, and our review will be up later tomorrow.

If you have this release on pre-order, I would like to suggest that you find a way to rent it first before purchasing. As far as I am concerned, it is one of the year's most disappointing releases.

Pro-B

So then the rumors I'm hearing about the PQ quality and heavy filtering are correct?

[Sukuri]

Originally Posted by jrsl76

Not as good a deal as the BN.com 50% off, but Umberto D. Blu is at TCM.com for 18.99 plus shipping. If you've never used them, there is a sign up and save 10% off at the top of the page which brings it to a little over $22 shipped (unless, like me you live in a taxed state for TCM in which case it was 23.45).

I always get excited when I see deals like this. And then I find out that shipping would cost more than the actual product.

And then I get sad.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Children of Paradise --
As far as I am concerned, it is one of the year's most disappointing releases.

Pro-B

What a Bummer!

Wonder if the Second Sight has any chance of being better?

[jrsl76]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Children of Paradise -- I viewed the film earlier today. I need to go through all of the supplemental features, and our review will be up later tomorrow.

If you have this release on pre-order, I would like to suggest that you find a way to rent it first before purchasing. As far as I am concerned, it is one of the year's most disappointing releases.

Pro-B

Disappointing, but it's one of my favorite movies so I'll still get it.

[HyperRealist]

Originally Posted by jrsl76

Not as good a deal as the BN.com 50% off, but Umberto D. Blu is at TCM.com for 18.99 plus shipping. If you've never used them, there is a sign up and save 10% off at the top of the page which brings it to a little over $22 shipped (unless, like me you live in a taxed state for TCM in which case it was 23.45).

Thanks! Got one for $22.04. After reading the review I decided I have to have it now because I have a Jack Russel that looks like the dog in the film.

[Scottie]

Ordered one because the price was right lol

[Darkcritic]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Children of Paradise -- I viewed the film earlier today. I need to go through all of the supplemental features, and our review will be up later tomorrow.

If you have this release on pre-order, I would like to suggest that you find a way to rent it first before purchasing. As far as I am concerned, it is one of the year's most disappointing releases.

Pro-B

Damn ! Well, there it goes. My most anticipated release of the year ruined by the big C. Seems like the DVDBeaver's caps weren't far from truth. I am really sas about this .

[jrsl76]

Originally Posted by Darkcritic

Damn ! Well, there it goes. My most anticipated release of the year ruined by the big C. Seems like the DVDBeaver's caps weren't far from truth. I am really sas about this .

If there are problems, it sounds as if it might be the Pathe' restoration. The word I heard on the British release wasn't great either.

[rkish]

Originally Posted by Banned User

OK so I took the plunge and watched Late Spring. Not sure what I think about it. It was a good movie, but I'm just not seeing the genius here. For every scene Ozu uses the same 50mm lens, low mounted static camera with very very little cutting or panning. I understand its film making at its most economical and that in itself is commendable, but I guess I was expecting more. Hopefully on a 2nd viewing it will move higher up on my list of great movies. To those Ozu fans out there where does this movie sit in the large volume of his work? At the top, near the top etc.

Ozu is an acquired taste. Those of us that love him appreciate the "little things" he does in films...but it's his recipe, like many other directors have their own recipe.

If you are region free...you might want to check out some of his earlier films that BFI released. The BFI release of An Autumn Afternoon (his last film) also contains one of his early films titled "A Hen In The Wind", which is very much different from his later films and one of my favorites.

[EddieLarkin]

The wikipedia article for Late Spring has a surprisingly in-depth examination of the film which makes for good reading if you felt you have missed a certain level of appreciation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Spring

[Joe Dalek]

Originally Posted by returnofthemack

criterion scmiterion. i dont get what the big deal is. i bought one of these one time and was so disgusted with the ugly packaging that i gave it away to a friend that i hate because i wanted him to be tortured by this ugly box thing staring him in the face. i will never buy "criterion' again. *spit*

Yeah, I wasn't impressed with Something Wild either.

[Cinemach]

RE: Late Spring - Ozu's technique harbors many a subtext, from what I've gathered watching a small handful of his films: namely, the family structure and changing social mores in post-war Japan. These changes were subtle, mirroring the minimalist, traditional style that observes rather than overtly 'comments' (in terms of camera moves and stylistic editing). I'm no Ozu expert, but Late Spring is certainly tops among his films for me and I gather will probably stay there as I explore his filmography more.

Originally Posted by sc1957

So... Lonesome. Highly inventive and interesting. Almost too frantic. The Coney Island crowd with confetti and streamers was way over the top, and some of the overlays were awfully busy. The roller coaster was a nice plot device. The ending was a bit trite, but satisfying enough -- my thought was "How could these people never have noticed each other?"

I also enjoyed The Last Performance -- maybe even more than Lonesome. I'll watch Broadway later. Fejos' personal story was interesting too... from medical student to theater, to film, to America, back to Europe, to filming native societies, to leading an anthropological society. I expect he felt that his commercial films were the least part of his life.

I'm starting to get through this package myself: finally got around to watching Lonesome last night. Fairly interesting, and this is no real complaint but you can tell Fejos was more interested with ideas and technique than story on this picture...the trite narrative was really something to spin a city-symphony canvas around, whilst digging into his bag of tricks. And to that end, it is more accessible than something like Berlin or Man With a Movie Camera because of this (however awkward the talking scenes themselves are!).

I checked out a few minutes of The Last Performance, which looked to have a slight Expressionist bent (though that just may be the figure of Veidt putting that into my head). Will probably watch Broadway later today. This is certainly one of Criterion's top releases of the year - if not the outright top - and shines a light on one of my favorite periods of filmmaking.

The only thing is now I want Criterion to release more silents, haha.