The Criterion Collection

[SammyJankis]

High and Low is my second favorite Kurosawa. The first forty minutes or so are about as good as it gets.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

High and Low is my second favorite Kurosawa. The first forty minutes or so are about as good as it gets.

The police procedural parts are very good as police procedurals go but yeah, they can't touch that opening act.

I loved High and Low the first time I saw it and while that kind of dimmed a little bit the second time through it's still very good and the beginning is still phenomenal.

And who knows, the next time I watch it I might think I had to be drunk when I thought it lost a little of its luster.

[metaridley]

I would have watched High and Low by now if I could rent it in anamorphic widescreen. Netflix and my local library have the crappy non-anamorphic release Criterion put out years ago.

[ZooTv]

The Friends of Eddie Coyle might be the most underrated crime film in the collection.

[Monty70]

Originally Posted by ZooTv

The Friends of Eddie Coyle might be the most underrated crime film in the collection.

Great film. TFoEC should be given a blu-ray upgrade asap.

Mitchum kills that role.

[Kevin Holly]

Just bought Le Cercle Rouge, Army of Shadows and Last Year at Marienbad off of Amazon.

Army of Shadows they say is "temporarily" out of stock, so we'll see if they wind up getting one, or if they have to refund me. I only hope that if it comes to that, that it will be soon enough for me to get it from another source without having to pay an obscene amount of money.


And yes, The Friends of Eddie Coyle is awesome. Much like Killing Them Softly (my #1 film of 2012), another film based on a Higgins novel.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by ZooTv

The Friends of Eddie Coyle might be the most underrated crime film in the collection.

I've been hoping for an upgrade. I still have yet to buy that one and The Fugitive Kind.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I've been hoping for an upgrade. I still have yet to buy that one and The Fugitive Kind.

TCM often airs The Fugitive Kind. It's definitely a good film, but I'm not dying to own it now.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Talk about going from the high to the lowest, just finish watch the remake of The Three Stooges and help me I actually laugh It's funny as I am not a fan at all of them but I don't know this movie just made me laugh. I think I need help

If it makes you feel better, I own a few films that would probably not meet the Criteria for Criterion, but I enjoy for fun. Pretty sure Excess Baggage isn't one that would make the cut, nor Troop Beverly Hills, The Babysitters' Club, Young Doctors in Love, and To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar.

Also, I'm liking Archer more and more, each time I watch it. It's one of the funniest animated shows on TV. Why can't South Park, Family Guy, or any of the others be as clever, yet so very offensive and wrong?

For anyone looking for High and Low, doesn't Hulu have it?

[broganreynik]

Outside of Spartacus and Le Samourai, The Friend of Eddie Coyle is probably #1 on my wishlist for an upgrade. It's criminally underseen.

[octagon]

Interesting...I've been catching up on The Americans via Comcast OnDemand and FX disables fast-forwarding (bastards) so I had to sit through the commercials and the only bright spot has been the Archer promos.

They kinda got me itching to check that out too.

[bluesilo]

For those interested: Richard III airs tonight at 1:15am on TCM.

Should be a good way to check out the film before its Blu-ray release later this month.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by bluesilo

For those interested: Richard III airs tonight at 1:15am on TCM.

Should be a good way to check out the film before its Blu-ray release later this month.

It's actually an exclusive right now at Barnes 'N Noble since yesterday.

[rkish]

Originally Posted by iScottie

You should pick up Playtime. I don't recall it ever being 100% confirmed that it would in fact be re-released.

You can keep it sealed and then if a new version comes out, you can always sell that copy and get a few bucks back.

It's been confirmed that it will be re-released. The question isn't if, but when.

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching my Blu-ray of The Maltese Falcon.

I must say that all four of my Humphrey Bogart Blu-rays (The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen) are of superb quality, and it's a blessing to have these movies in such unbeatable shape. They will definitely take some multiple viewing abuse on my player over the years to come.

I want Key Largo on Blu-ray.

Not really Criterion-related, but it ought to be.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by rkish

It's been confirmed that it will be re-released. The question isn't if, but when.

That's great to hear. I"m taking a little break from purchasing Blu-rays so that I can watch the forty-something Blu-rays in my collection that are still unwatched and then loop back around to revisit them again in no particular order.

Playtime will be there later on in some form or fashion.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I just finished watching my Blu-ray of The Maltese Falcon.

I must say that all four of my Humphrey Bogart Blu-rays (The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen) are of superb quality, and it's a blessing to have these movies in such unbeatable shape. They will definitely take some multiple viewing abuse on my player over the years to come.

I want Key Largo on Blu-ray.

Not really Criterion-related, but it ought to be.

I'd live to see some Bogey in the Collection. Maybe High Sierra, The Big Sleep, or In a Lonely Place.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

That's great to hear. I"m taking a little break from purchasing Blu-rays so that I can watch the forty-something Blu-rays in my collection that are still unwatched and then loop back around to revisit them again in no particular order.

Playtime will be there later on in some form or fashion.

Playtime gets my highest reccomendation. If there's a more visually innovative comedy, let me know. I literally want to see this from every angle: I've seen it straight on, maybe next time I'll sit in the left corner and the next time, the far right, so on and so forth. It's impossible to absorb everything with only one viewing.

[octagon]

The Maltese Falcon is one of my favorite BDs and is probably the one that makes it into the player most frequently. I don't even hate the cover anymore

And to connect the dots back to Criterion, one of the many reasons I would love for them to release In a Lonely Place is because it's such a fascinating (to me, anyway) title to compare/contrast with The Maltese Falcon.

The two films are so similar in so many ways and yet as good as In a Lonely Place is (and it's very, very good) and as favorably as the respective individual elements match up the finished products really are worlds apart. To me it's a very interesting case study in just how subtle the differences between 'really, really good' and 'genuinely great' can sometimes be.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Playtime gets my highest reccomendation. If there's a more visually innovative comedy, let me know. I literally want to see this from every angle: I've seen it straight on, maybe next time I'll sit in the left corner and the next time, the far right, so on and so forth. It's impossible to absorb everything with only one viewing.

I keep hearing such great things about the movie. I figure it best to wait for the restoration, because that will give me a chance to hit some of the other Criterions on my need-to-upgrade list (Vivre Sa Vie, The Rules of the Game, Yojimbo/Sanjuro, etc.) at the big summer sale at Barnes & Noble.