The Criterion Collection

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by EricJ

It's....A BUILDING.
If a character jumped out of a window, that would be a clue.
I see a building as just one way of piling the clues together.

All the wishful-thinking "Fit facts to fit the theory" guesses are starting to remind me of that old joke about the guy who goes to see the psychiatrist:

[Show spoiler]The doctor tries picture association and shows him a straight line, and the guy says "A naked woman lying down". An X, "A naked woman doing exercises", two wavy lines, "A hot naked 69!", and so on. Finally the doctor asks him whether he might have a sex obsession, and the guy replies, "MY obsession? Who's drawing the dirty pictures??"

It's a little hard not to think back on old-joke punchlines when we hear "Uh, a building!--The Game had a building in it!...Look, there's leaves! There were some leaves in The Game! "

(Although it took me a while to see that the leaves and the notes all floating around in the air were supposed to be Autumn SONATA.....D'oh. Now that's a clue. )

Hey, I'm not the only one who thinks it could be it!

I know what you mean, though. I guess it could be because past drawings have been more scattered and these ones were confined to one area that it leads us to believe that it has to be a hint to a movie of some sorts.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

It's great! Abd Probably one of my favorite youth films. I was just blown away by the harshness an veracity of the first act, the absolutely amazing and emotionally potent riots that follow and the killer music. It's certainly not a romp or a hugely entertaining film, but it's probably the most accurate depiction of restless youth; so much so that it was quite painful and too much to take at times. It's one of my favorite CC releases of 2012. (cough, cough, its much better than The Hobbit and TDKR, cough, cough)

Music is great, no doubt about that. I borrowed the soundtrack from the local library some time ago and loved it, and I think that was one of the main motivators for me wanting to see the film.

I can understand that the film's realistic, but realism never was my thing. If nothing else though, I did enjoy the final scenes. A lot of the English countryside shots were gorgeous, but the white cliffs at the end were great. It seems to me that seeing the kid riding along the cliffs represented the gist of the film pretty well: he was riding on the edge for the whole movie.

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by CusackstheMan

Does anyone have any insight as to how successful Criterion is as a company? Is it expanding more and more every day? Hopefully the fact they're putting out so many movies per month (and older ones to boot) is a good sign there are enough people like us all over the world who are purchasing their stuff. I don't wanna see the company ever go under, as it could be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, classic film preservation tools in the world.

I completely agree with your sentiment. They are the leaders of transferring film culture to the medium of home theater. However, I have not had the recent opportunity to glance at their financial report.

By the way, I just watched M for the second time. I enjoyed it so much that I watched it a third time. A predecessor to The Silence of the Lambs.

[Whirlygig]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

"No One does it to you like Roman Polanski" - Tagline from The Tenant

Allow me to be the first to laugh at this:

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by CusackstheMan

Just want to say I love your avatar. I assume it's Jennifer Connelly. Back in the 80s and 90s when she was younger and had about 20 pounds more on her, she was drop-dead gorgeous on screen. Maybe at the time the best looking actress of our generation.

I remember Jennifer Connelly in Career Opportunities from back in 1991. Some college friends and I saw that movie at the theater when it was released.

That movie has Criterion written all over it, in fact.

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching the Blu-ray of Letter Never Sent.

Outstanding, in every sense of the word, and my vote for this movie as the Criterion release of 2012 was confirmed yet again. A noticeable improvement over the DVD copy.

I love how it looks at though they burned down half of Russia to create this movie. Letter Never Sent makes me feel the flames in a way that no other movie has ever been able to do. We've all seen hundreds of movies where action stars are running through flames, running through burning buildings, or running away from explosions just in the nick of time. Letter Never Sent tells it like it is, though. If you're under a burning tree, then that's all she wrote.

[GoldMotel]

So finally sat down and watched Pt. 1 of Fanny and Alexander (the tv version)...It's much slower than I expected. The film is visually stunning, but I just felt like nothing really happened the whole time I sat there.

I'm hesitant to watch Pt 2. I may just give up and resell it. Ultimately, the film so far is just too hard for me to get into.

Should I give Pt 2 a go before making a decision?

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Casetopia or directly through Criterion.

http://www.criterion.com/shop/other

Hey, thanks for that - I've got a few broken cases myself and Criterion doesn't ship to Australia either.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by CusackstheMan

Just want to say I love your avatar. I assume it's Jennifer Connelly. Back in the 80s and 90s when she was younger and had about 20 pounds more on her, she was drop-dead gorgeous on screen. Maybe at the time the best looking actress of our generation.

This is a fact.
Also, this is great.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I just finished watching the Blu-ray of Letter Never Sent.

Outstanding, in every sense of the word, and my vote for this movie as the Criterion release of 2012 was confirmed yet again. A noticeable improvement over the DVD copy.

I love how it looks at though they burned down half of Russia to create this movie. Letter Never Sent makes me feel the flames in a way that no other movie has ever been able to do. We've all seen hundreds of movies where action stars are running through flames, running through burning buildings, or running away from explosions just in the nick of time. Letter Never Sent tells it like it is, though. If you're under a burning tree, then that's all she wrote.

It's extraordinary, isn't it?
You won't see many Hollywood movie stars get that close to a real fire.
The feeling of jeopardy in this film is quite unique.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by GoldMotel

So finally sat down and watched Pt. 1 of Fanny and Alexander (the tv version)...It's much slower than I expected. The film is visually stunning, but I just felt like nothing really happened the whole time I sat there.

I'm hesitant to watch Pt 2. I may just give up and resell it. Ultimately, the film so far is just too hard for me to get into.

Should I give Pt 2 a go before making a decision?

Try watching part two. Part one dragged a little for me at first, but It's all background info on the main characters.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by GoldMotel

So finally sat down and watched Pt. 1 of Fanny and Alexander (the tv version)...It's much slower than I expected. The film is visually stunning, but I just felt like nothing really happened the whole time I sat there.

I'm hesitant to watch Pt 2. I may just give up and resell it. Ultimately, the film so far is just too hard for me to get into.

Should I give Pt 2 a go before making a decision?

Not sure if my opinion will help you, because I absolutely loved the first part.
I also loved the rest of it as well.
I don't see what your hurry is to get rid of it. The second part is not much longer than an hour, so give it a go before you decide...

[mrjohnnyb]

In regards to Fanny and Alexander, what are the differences between the television version and the theatrical release?

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

In regards to Fanny and Alexander, what are the differences between the television version and the theatrical release?

The TV version is 124 minutes longer

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by GoldMotel

So finally sat down and watched Pt. 1 of Fanny and Alexander (the tv version)...It's much slower than I expected. The film is visually stunning, but I just felt like nothing really happened the whole time I sat there.

I'm hesitant to watch Pt 2. I may just give up and resell it. Ultimately, the film so far is just too hard for me to get into.

Should I give Pt 2 a go before making a decision?

I would watch the second part, I think you will find it does not drag at much for you then part 1 did

[retablo]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

In regards to Fanny and Alexander, what are the differences between the television version and the theatrical release?

2 hours, and it's 2 of the better hours.

[P@t_Mtl]

For those who have region free players and are fan of Yasujiro Ozu, the review of Ukikusa (Floating Weeds) from Eureka Entertainement as been posted

[DarkRyder]

Question:


For Christmas I got the book Fassbinder: The Life And Work Of A Provocative Genius and at the back of the book it offers a filmography of the man's work. What's listed seems to be the end of the production date, and at the bottom it offers the film's premiere and then theatrical release. This offers an interesting question.

What is the proper order for a filmography as vast as Fassbinder's? I know to some people it doesn't matter, but for me it does. If he only had half of the amount of films he made, I think the premiere date would be fine, but considering how many films he had, the production date seems like something to go by. The reason I say this is because perhaps he had certain themes and ideas to explore in one film that helps explain another (ex. Whity and Beware of a Holy Whore).

I'd be interested to hear other peoples' take on this.

[rkish]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

For those who have region free players and are fan of Yasujiro Ozu, the review of Ukikusa (Floating Weeds) from Eureka Entertainement as been posted

Thanks Pat! I got my copy before Christmas and it's wonderful!

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

In regards to Fanny and Alexander, what are the differences between the television version and the theatrical release?

As others have stated, It's around 5 hours rather than 3. The 3 hours version was on TCM last year and I watched it and was compelled to get the set to see the 5 hours version. The 5 hour version is more flwages out obviously. I found the first part to be a bit long know the 3 hour version too, but It's growing on me the more I watch it. I should probably sure down and watch the 5 hours version again.