The Criterion Collection

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I want to see A Man Escaped soon, but I think that I'm going to wait for a nice Barnes and Noble coupon, because that movie should be around in the stores.

I'm going to Best Buy tomorrow to hit the individual stand-alone Blu-ray of the first Jurassic Park movie while it is on sale for a low price. (I don't care for the other two movies, so I've avoided the existing trilogy set.). The new Depeche Mode CD will be mine tomorrow as well.

Same here. Have you seen Bresson's Pickpocket? Any Melville fan would like that one too.

[jayj15]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Can't wait for Monsieur Verdoux tomorrow!

I saw this on TV a while ago and wasn't impressed. Not one of the better Chaplin films that I've seen. Maybe not that surprising since it's a talkie.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Same here. Have you seen Bresson's Pickpocket? Any Melville fan would like that one too.

I have not seen that one, but I will someday. The list is ever growing. Thanks for the heads-up!

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I want to see A Man Escaped soon, but I think that I'm going to wait for a nice Barnes and Noble coupon, because that movie should be around in the stores.

I'm going to Best Buy tomorrow to hit the individual stand-alone Blu-ray of the first Jurassic Park movie while it is on sale for a low price. (I don't care for the other two movies, so I've avoided the existing trilogy set.). The new Depeche Mode CD will be mine tomorrow as well.

Oh yeah, I forgot I have A Man Escaped coming too

I'm more excited about the Chaplin film, but I'm going to watch both when they arrive. I still have to see Colonel Blimp from last week.

Originally Posted by jayj15

I saw this on TV a while ago and wasn't impressed. Not one of the better Chaplin films that I've seen. Maybe not that surprising since it's a talkie.

I really liked The Great Dictator, which is also a talkie, but I'll take anything Chaplin, to be honest.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I have not seen that one, but I will someday. The list is ever growing. Thanks for the heads-up!

Considering the premise, it would make a great double bill with A Man Escaped.

[metaridley]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

[Show spoiler]

"Love lifted me."

By the way, we need another Linklater film on BluRay. Texan pride

My favorite moment was right after

[Show spoiler]he kills Shirley McC, it cuts to him performing 76 Trombones with a bunch of kids at the community theatre

. Hilarious.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by metaridley

Also, Jack Black had only a handful of songs in that movie, at most. octagon is really exaggerating.

Let's split the difference and call it forty.

[One4Deuce]

Has there been any word on Y Tu Mama Tambien being released? I thought this was hinted at as a future Criterion release a while back.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I pick up White Material every time I see it in a store, but I still haven't made the purchase. It seems like it might be right up my alley, but I do not know much about it other than a gut feeling. For some reason, I associate the premise with Walkabout or The Naked Prey, although I'm thinking that it's probably not like those.

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

It's very divisive, so maybe only you can tell if you like it. I know many here don't find much of value in it, but I really liked the film.

Yeah, it's a hard one to recommend. I didn't exactly like it but I was very engrossed in it. In that sense at least it was kind of like Walkabout. I didn't exactly connect with either but they both really held my interest.

And it makes sense that White Material is sort of polarizing because I think it's intentionally a pretty frustrating experience. You just want to shake everybody involved and say 'wtf, would you just look around please'.

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm watching my Blu-ray of Apocalyse Now tonight, much in part because Badlands made me decide to accelerate it on my viewing list. I'm an hour into Apocalyse Now, and this Blu-ray is downright stunning.

It's one of my favorites. It's absolutely gorgeous. I saw AN when it was released (and maybe once a few years after) and didn't really see what all the fuss was about. It all started to click while watching the BD for the first time but it wasn't until the second or third time watching the BD that I realized just how beautiful the film itself really is. The audio is pretty spectacular too.

[Oblivion138]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I've seen both versions of Apocalypse Now several times, and my preferences are strong for the 1979 version. That surreal French plantation scene with Aurore Clement in Redux is really something else, though.

The plantation sequence is great as a deleted scene, but as part of the film, it stops the narrative dead in its tracks. I'm glad we have access to it (and wish we had access to more of the material that was cut), but the original theatrical cut is definitely the stronger version of the film.

[metaridley]

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

The plantation sequence is great as a deleted scene, but as part of the film, it stops the narrative dead in its tracks. I'm glad we have access to it (and wish we had access to more of the material that was cut), but the original theatrical cut is definitely the stronger version of the film.

Agreed.

[Oblivion138]

That said, I'm glad both versions are on the BD set. It always irks me when a BD of a film that has multiple versions omits one or more of those versions. Especially when what's left off (as is so often the case) is the original version. At the very least, there should always be a limited edition featuring the original cut. I was watching The Warriors the other night, and wishing that I could have the theatrical cut on BD, rather than (or at least in addition to) the "Ultimate Director's Cut."

And that goes for films where I prefer an alternate cut, as well. I can barely even watch the theatrical cut of Blade Runner, but I'm still glad it was included on the BD set. haha

[metaridley]

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

That said, I'm glad both versions are on the BD set. It always irks me when a BD of a film that has multiple versions omits one or more of those versions. Especially when what's left off (as is so often the case) is the original version. At the very least, there should always be a limited edition featuring the original cut. I was watching The Warriors the other night, and wishing that I could have the theatrical cut on BD, rather than (or at least in addition to) the "Ultimate Director's Cut."

And that goes for films where I prefer an alternate cut, as well. I can barely even watch the theatrical cut of Blade Runner, but I'm still glad it was included on the BD set. haha

Once again, completely agreed.

[tenia]

Originally Posted by octagon

You just want to shake everybody involved and say 'wtf, would you just look around please'.

Oh. God. Yes.

[MTRodaba2468]

Originally Posted by retablo

Love Miami Vice (as well as the film). I watch TV shows maybe more than films these days, because TV is simply better. TV, which was once considered the death knoll, has not surpassed films in regards to quality and original content, not to mention risk. Films have become so expensive (especially in regards to P&R), and worldwide B.O. now dominates even North American grosses so much so that fewer and fewer niche films are even getting considered, let alone made. Which is why so many filmmakers — Scorsese, Michael Mann, (even though he started in TV), Darabont, now Ang Lee — are turning to TV to direct pilots and become involved with shows... because that's where the artistic freedom is these days. I've watched the entire series of LOST 3 times, BSG, The Wire, Deadwood, 24 all twice... and am looking forward to revisiting The Shield.

...which has nothing to do with Criterion Collection, lol. Sorry. Well, except for the fact that releases like Scenes From a Marriage, Fanny & Alexander, World on a Wire and Berlin Alexanderplatz were originally TV mini-series in their respective countries. There, I tied it all together!

Criterion has released TV shows before!

Sigh, why does Fishing With John get no love?

Originally Posted by KrugerIndustrial

Isn't it a Studio Canal film? Lionsgate in the US, if they feel like it.

As someone else said, Paramount currently holds the rights here.

With that said, I'd just import the Studio Canal release. It's a good release, and region free to boot...

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I would love it if Criterion were able to release Shotgun Stories on blu-ray.
Jeff Nichols is, in my opinion, one of the best American directors currently working today and he's so new, only being active since 2007.

Agreed. Plus, his brother Ben is the frontman of the southern rock band Lucero, which has become one of my favorite bands in recent years...

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

By the way, we need another Linklater film on BluRay. Texan pride

Maybe with Before Midnight coming out, we'll see the first two in that series get releases...

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by Hypnosifl

But maybe you are translating a German term used by Wim Wenders on the commentary?

No, he used the English term "magic hour".
To me it just makes sense that Wim Wenders is referring to a time window (for the shoot of the scene) after sunset or before sunrise. Why else would he have said "every day for 10 minutes, this short period of time" and "there's this twilight between day and night" ?


"This scene here up on the roof, Tom Tom's jump, the one which the movie begins with, we shot it for around a week; every day for 10 minutes, this short period of time...magic hour...there's this twilight between day and night."

[Hypnosifl]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

No, he used the English term "magic hour".
To me it just makes sense that Wim Wenders is referring to a time window (for the shoot of the scene) after sunset or before sunrise. Why else would he have said "every day for 10 minutes, this short period of time" and "there's this twilight between day and night" ?

Why do you think it has to be when the sun is below the horizon? There is also a not-very-long window of time when the sun is above the horizon but close enough to it that it looks more red than yellow (because its light has to travel through more atmosphere), and the light looks especially "golden" then. How long a time window do you think you'd have to get a shot that looks like this? Might be a little more than 10 minutes but Wenders probably wasn't trying to be very exact.

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by Hypnosifl

Why do you think it has to be when the sun is below the horizon?

Because Wim Wenders said:

"there's this twilight between day and night"

This kind of light can only be seen when the sun is below the horizon.

[Hypnosifl]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

Because Wim Wenders said:

"there's this twilight between day and night"

This kind of light can only be seen when the sun is below the horizon.

OK, I didn't realize that "twilight" refers specifically to the time when the sun is just below the horizon, as opposed to the whole period around the rising or setting.

[MattvonSyborg]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

By the way, we need another Linklater film on BluRay. Texan pride

I still think it's crazy Suburbia hasn't even seen a DVD release. It's no masterpiece, but it has a lot of nostalgic value for me with the Sonic Youth score and everything, and last time I saw it I think it held up well as an "indie" movie from that time. I'd buy a Criterion release of it in an instant.