The Criterion Collection

[Yami]

Mosfilm have a selection of films on YouTube with English subtitles. Many of them are not available on DVD.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by EricJ

OTOH, for someone who at least knows of most of these films (whether or not I've actually seen them), listening to the thrill-buying Criterion fans saying "Woohoo, Seventh Seal, never seen it but totally blind-buying! ", I tend to put those more into the category of the R-rated movies Bart Simpson and Millhouse used to sneak into:
"Yeah, c'mon, we're sneaking into Barton Fink!"

Ie., we admire a Crterion fan's enthusiasm, but we'd admire discretion and research a bit more.

There's an even better line in the animated show King of the Hill when Bobby, Connie and Joseph are trying to decide what to do with their afternoon.
Joseph suggests going to a R-rated movie and Connie questions whether he's done that before.
Joseph: "Sure, but the only naked person in it was Harvey Keitel."

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Whirlygig

If you don't sit through the credits on The Grey, you'll never find out who wins.

I sit through the credits on films that REALLY hit me, but that's not really all that many. But it is enough that juddery credits is one reason I had to have a true 24fps capable TV. For most films I would rather spend the credits time watching another film.

I think I sat through The Grey's out of fatigue and multitasking and was unjustly rewarded by that final shot.

Mixed feelings. I think that The Grey ends properly with the final moment before the credits roll, but I love sitting through the credits and the music to let my thoughts absorb. That post-credits scene is pleasing, but entirely unnecessary. On the movie commentary track, the director himself concurs and basically says that the post-credits scene was an indulgence and not crucial to the movie.

[Show spoiler]For me, the point of The Grey is not whether or not he survived, but that he attempted to survive in the first place.

The Grey will probably end up on my Top Ten Movies list in due time. It's that good.

The Grey reverberated with me in a personal way, and I saw it at just the right time. This time last year, I was struggling with burnout from work, my running, and with life in general. I have always been an upbeat guy, but I had let myself get out of shape and was going through a rough patch where I just wanted to stay in bed. That movie made me think about reasons to keep going. Shortly after seeing it in late January last year, I got my groove back, changed my eating style and workouts to get back in shape, became more productive at the job, and had some great races this past fall. I completed my first 100-mile trail ultramarathon this past November, and, as I was running the final mile to the finish, that poem from The Grey went through my head. "Once more into the fray. Into the last good fight I'll ever know. Live and die on this day. Live and die on this day."

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Mixed feelings. I think that The Grey ends properly with the final moment before the credits roll, but I love sitting through the credits and the music to let my thoughts absorb. That post-credits scene is pleasing, but entirely unnecessary. On the movie commentary track, the director himself concurs and basically says that the post-credits scene was an indulgence and not crucial to the movie.

[Show spoiler]For me, the point of The Grey is not whether or not he survived, but that he attempted to survive in the first place.

My thoughts exactly....So wait is a Joe Carnahan film to be released by Criterion?

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Somebody's gotta go over there 'n' straighten you Krazy Kunadians out

On a serious note, that is beyond unfortunate. In my screening, although there were quite a few laughs in such places (I chortled a bit amongst the films off-kilter exuberance), my audience was fairly well behaved. I could never justify taking my cellphone out, talking, or even eating too loudly (or eating at all).

2) Dutch Angles, Close Ups, handhelt, odd framing, I was hugely distracted by the cinematography in Les Mis; were you?

Tom Hooper is known for too much flourishing. So I expected it. It was less painful to watch than The Hobbit in 24fps 3D. But that could be because I wore the heavier, less flexible glasses, and someone was wearing perfume in the theatre. More perfume in Les Mis, but it didn't hurt as much as I wore lighter glasses and didn't have to put 3D ones on top.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by andsoitgoes

Now that I have experienced Kurosawa, Truffaut, Truffaut again, Kurosawa again x ... LOTS, Chaplin (can you believe I had never seen a Chaplin film EVER?), Ozu, Inagaki... How can I go back to most films? Even brilliant films now are sometimes a struggle to watch. So much is added to the mix, it takes what could be simple and concise as pads in so much garbage, or meanders around camera angles. I think my viewing of Kurosawa has expanded my appreciation for the technical film aspect more than anything. How anyone could watch, say, Yojimbo and not be mesmerized by how he used incredibly long focal lengths amidst multiple cameras with unique lighting.

First of all, great post!

Truth be told, Akira Kurosawa's movies were the reason that I started buying Criterion DVDs many years ago. I had always been intrigued, a friend who had recently discovered Kurosawa had been raving about the movies, and I had been researching the titles.

This particular DVD cover intrigued me most of all, though...



In my opinion, this is the sickest, most awesome cover art for any movie ever.
When I saw this cover art for Throne of Blood, I had to have the movie. It was just that simple. I had never watched an Akira Kurosawa film before, but I wondered how a movie with that DVD cover art could not be amazing. People had told me that Rashomon was a great starting point, so I bought Rashomon and Throne of Blood at the same time.

I quickly collected Kurosawa's works on Criterion as my funds would allow, and I even read his autobiography.

I like some Akira Kurosawa movies better than others, but the one that resounds the most with me is Stray Dog. I'm old school, and I love the morality character foils in that film. The policeman and the criminal both had similar traumatic war experiences and rough lives upon returning to their country, but the policeman stayed steady with his internal moral code while the criminal let outside events dictate his moral code. When I watched the character foils of James Bond and Javier Bardem's Silva in Skyfall, I kept thinking about Stray Dog.

[lim.davidd]

Originally Posted by ianvillaceran

My 2013 Criterion wishlist:

1. My Sassy Girl (Korean)

2. Little Buddha

3. A Separation (Iran)

4. Muro Ami-FILIPINO? you are a pinoy?

5. Malena - uncut (Italy)

are you a filipino?

[BAMJoe]

Originally Posted by Crimson King

some cheap Criterion DVD's at Frys.com
some as low as $0.90 including the Moral Tales 6-disc Eric Rohmer Collection!

linky!

https://shop6.frys.com/search?query_...lar&sort=price asc&start=0&cat=0&from=0&to=24

Aren't there rumors of Criterion losing the rights to the Tati movies. I grabbed Mon Oncle for $4.99 just in case.

[ianvillaceran]

Originally Posted by lim.davidd

are you a filipino?

Yes I am, Kabayan! I have not seen the film but had read the script and been told from a friend who saw it many years ago. It was a highly praised film by the real cinema lovers around the world. I hope this will get Criterion treatment or just a blu-ray restoration is more than enough.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

Big sigh of relief since I've already sold my DVD.

Same here!

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by oildude

Please Criterion...release more Soviet/Russian cinema on blu-ray.

I would love for someone to release a set of Aleksandr Dovzhenko or Dziga Vertov on blu-ray.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

I would love for someone to release a set of Aleksandr Dovzhenko or Dziga Vertov on blu-ray.

Agreed. Wasn't Man With a Movie Camera announced as in the works for blu-ray a year or so ago? For some reason I am thinking Kino has it, but I could be totally wrong on that.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by CusackstheMan

Maybe it's just the mood I was in when I watched it, but I did not get "The Grey" at all. To me it was just another CGI monster movie just like Piranha, for example. And I didn't buy into the story and characters and the viewing was completely devoid of emotion for me. And I'd heard so many good things about it. At least all it cost me was a $1.50 Redbox rental.

Off topic but I loved The Grey. The first 10 minutes are as originally done as anything you'd see in typical Hollywood fare... It was almost as if Malick made a killer wolves movie. Very different from that it would've been in most other director's hands... props to Carnahan.

Back to Criterion. I want Rivette.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by oildude

Agreed. Wasn't Man With a Movie Camera announced as in the works for blu-ray a year or so ago? For some reason I am thinking Kino has it, but I could be totally wrong on that.

Kino has it, but I never heard about this news of a blu-ray.

[Yami]

Isn't Man with a Movie Camera in the public domain? There are a few releases with differing scores. Hopefully the Blu-Ray has a few to choose from

[Jr7936]

so it looks like none of the cheap 90 cent or 2.99 criterions are on the frys site any more
I wonder if they just sold out, or it was a price mistake

[Illy Scorsese]

Will I ever get "Ikiru" on Blu-Ray?

I may never know...

[Whirlygig]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Mixed feelings. I think that The Grey ends properly with the final moment before the credits roll, but I love sitting through the credits and the music to let my thoughts absorb. That post-credits scene is pleasing, but entirely unnecessary. On the movie commentary track, the director himself concurs and basically says that the post-credits scene was an indulgence and not crucial to the movie.

I was fine with how it ended before credits, but it was a welcome surprise to see the final shot. If you wanted to you could argue that the final shot doesn't really prove who won, still room for ambiguity!

[oildude]

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

Kino has it, but I never heard about this news of a blu-ray.

I wasn't positive about the blu-ray. I vaguely recall reading somewhere over a year ago that a blu-ray was in the works. I just did a quick search and could find nothing about a blu-ray. But if Kino has it, we might be seeing it at some point.

So many great Soviet era / Russian films out there that I wish were available on blu-ray. Not just the ones Criterion has the rights.

[blkhrt]

Originally Posted by CusackstheMan

Very good point, as long as you have a wife with similar movie tastes as you.

My wife isn't actually a very big movie person. She will watch some with me, but has a tendency to fall asleep in the middle of them. The funny thing is that the more action and explosions there are in a movie, the more likely she is to fall asleep. Having said that, before we combined our possessions she definitely owned Short Cuts and Jules et Jim on Criterion DVD, both of which I would love to see get upgraded.