The Criterion Collection

[A Sith Lord?]

Just watched Wages of Fear for the first time...

My dad and I watched it. Long movie but man what a tense movie.

Too speechless to even write up a short review about it. Loved it.

[Blu-Velvet]

Watched Fritz Lang's MINISTRY OF FEAR and Bresson's A MAN ESCAPED for the first time, and was very impressed by both. MINISTRY OF FEAR may not be the greatest Lang or even 1940s Lang (that would be SCARLET STREET and WOMAN IN THE WINDOW), but it's nicely structured, well-directed, and beautifully shot, with a kind of rapid studio ending that detracts a bit from the rest. A MAN ESCAPED is a great, tense, prison-break film that sometimes tends to drag a few things out but generally is very involving (with the expertly designed sound mix playing a major part that is wonderfully analyzed in one of the bonus features).

All the recent posts on LEON MORIN, PRIEST really make me want to revisit that one soon. It is definitely my favorite of all the Melville titles I've seen, with SILENCE DE LA MER being a close second.

Regarding BFI titles, I concur that DEEP END is well-worth buying. HEROSTRATUS is a curiosity that may require a distinct artfilm approach, as it's certainly interesting without being particularly moving, involving, or entertaining. Still worth seeing, though, and if you get a good price go for it. The bonus features are just as (possibly more) interesting than the feature!

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by Blu-Velvet

MINISTRY OF FEAR may not be the greatest Lang or even 1940s Lang (that would be SCARLET STREET and WOMAN IN THE WINDOW),

I just ordered Scarlet Street (unseen) and I can't wait!

[spanky87]

After some of the recommendations for People on Sunday, I was able to find a like new copy for $17.99 at a local store. For Canada criterion prices, that's a helluva deal. Looking forward to seeing early Wilder and Zinneman. And the screenshots here look pretty cool.

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by Edward J Grug III

I just ordered Scarlet Street (unseen) and I can't wait!

Kino's Blu-ray looks great. Be sure to watch it again with the excellent audio commentary! I can never decide whether I prefer SCARLET STREET or WOMAN IN THE WINDOW. It's usually whichever of the two I've seen most recently.

And if you haven't seen it, you will want to try SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR (on a nice-looking Blu-ray from Olive), which certainly looks great but has some major plot issues that might not bother you if you haven't seen all the films it's copying.

[Visco.]

Originally Posted by Snicket

If Wes Anderson and Lena Dunham had a baby and it started making films the internet haters would collectively die of a stroke.

People. Get. Mad.

It's funny because I love both of them.

[InspectorLupus]

Originally Posted by InspectorLupus

Any Deftones fans in here? Such a shame that their original bassist Chi Cheng died yesterday, especially since he was showing signs of improvement. He was just 42. He will be missed.
This has relevance to this thread because whenever I saw Deftones live once, during one song they had scenes from the film House playing on a screen behind them. That was a pleasant surprise.

Huh. I guess nobody else likes Deftones in here.

[P@t_Mtl]

The Life of Oharu is a great surprise, I am glad they went and go for the upgrade on this one. The only way they could have made it better for me would have been Mizoguchi Oyu-sama. I know that the love for this particular movie is probably at zero outside of me but that would have been a much better surprise. But not complaint, good month.

[P@t_Mtl]

What's the big deal about the Wes Anderson hate on the Internet? Just ignore it, if I were to have a heart attack everytime someone made a hate comment about George Lucas I would have died back in 1997. Let them hate Anderson and just enjoy his movies, no big deal.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

Weak month. The only one I have mild interest in is The Life of Oharu.

That cover-art for The Devil's Backbone is one of the worst covers they've done.

How can it be a weak month when we have a Mizoguchi

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

How can it be a weak month when we have a Mizoguchi

This is what I like about this thread. Everybody has a different opinion. For some it's a great month and for others it's weak. Also, each month there is always a terrible cover.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

This is what I like about this thread. Everybody has a different opinion. For some it's a great month and for others it's weak. Also, each month there is always a terrible cover.

Ah yes the covers I sometimes wonder if people (certain mind you not everyone) actually prefer looking at the covers instead of the movies inside the cases

Me as long as they come in a case, the cover could be white with the title on black letters for all I care about the covers.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Ah yes the covers I sometimes wonder if people (certain mind you not everyone) actually prefer looking at the covers instead of the movies inside the cases

Me as long as they come in a case, the cover could be white with the title on black letters for all I care about the covers.

I don't have enough shelf space to display all of them cover-out. I file them like books and even then I'm out of room.

[rkish]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

The Life of Oharu is a great surprise, I am glad they went and go for the upgrade on this one. The only way they could have made it better for me would have been Mizoguchi Oyu-sama. I know that the love for this particular movie is probably at zero outside of me but that would have been a much better surprise. But not complaint, good month.

We are both on the same page with this one Pat. I watched Oharu on Hulu for the first time and was really blown away by it. I had hoped that someone would announce a release of it in the near future.

I also saw Ugetsu on Hulu and immediately ordered the MoC version. By this time, I knew that CC had announced Sansho and opted to hold off on the UK version. Oyu-Sama was an unexpected surprise. I knew that Kinuyo Tanaka would make it respectable...but I didn't think that I would fall for it, as much as I did. That was the BIG perk with buying the UK version of Ugetsu.

You're not alone!

EDIT: Gee Pat...you've got the honor of being my 2100th post on this thread...only 1800 more to catch Spidey!

[ccg1978]

Originally Posted by InspectorLupus

Huh. I guess nobody else likes Deftones in here.

Huge Deftones fan! Very say news. Adrenaline and Around the Fur were always in my CD player back in the 90's! \m/

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Blu-Velvet

I can never decide whether I prefer SCARLET STREET or WOMAN IN THE WINDOW. It's usually whichever of the two I've seen most recentl.

The Woman in the Window is probably my favorite Lang. It's obviously not his best or his most important but it's extremely well-crafted and a hell of a lot of fun. The lighter touch and tone is perfect for a rainy afternoon or a sleepless night.

Scarlet Street isn't all that far behind either and I agree, Kino did a very nice job with it. The words Library of Congress made me a little nervous but there was no cause for concern. It's a little rough - maybe unpolished is a better word - in places but it's a very, very solid transfer.

If The Woman in the Window one day gets similar treatment I will be happy indeed.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by rkish

EDIT: Gee Pat...you've got the honor of being my 2100th post on this thread...only 1800 more to catch Spidey!

I doubt anyone can catch him

[nefilim]

nice :





DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

New 2K digital film restoration, approved by director Guillermo del Toro and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
Audio commentary featuring Del Toro
Video introduction by Del Toro from 2010
New interviews with Del Toro about the process of creating the ghost Santi and the drawings and designs made in preparation for the film
¿Que es un fantasma?, a 2004 making-of documentary
Spanish Gothic, a 2010 interview with Del Toro about the genre and its influence on his work
Interactive director’s notebook, with Del Toro’s drawings and handwritten notes, along with interviews with the filmmaker
Four deleted scenes, with optional commentary
New featurette about the Spanish Civil War as evoked in the film
Program comparing Del Toro’s thumbnail sketches and Carlos Giménez’s storyboards with the final film
Selected on-screen presentation of Del Toro’s thumbnail sketches alongside the sections of the final film they represent (Blu-ray edition only)
Trailer
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Mark Kermode

Spine #666

sorry if this has been posted already

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by rkish

We are both on the same page with this one Pat. I watched Oharu on Hulu for the first time and was really blown away by it. I had hoped that someone would announce a release of it in the near future.

I also saw Ugetsu on Hulu and immediately ordered the MoC version. By this time, I knew that CC had announced Sansho and opted to hold off on the UK version. Oyu-Sama was an unexpected surprise. I knew that Kinuyo Tanaka would make it respectable...but I didn't think that I would fall for it, as much as I did. That was the BIG perk with buying the UK version of Ugetsu.

You're not alone!

Kurosawa lead me to Ozu and Ozu lead me to Mizoguchi It's the circle of life

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by oildude

Of course his congregation is mostly female. The film is set in 1942-1944 Vichy France, in a provincial town near the Italian border. The men are almost all in Germany (some as voluntary labor, but most as prisoners of war or forced laborers), in hiding from German and Vichy press gangs, or off with the resistance.

In fact, this was typical of many French towns of the time. By December 1943 there were over 666,000 French men (and some women) working in Germany. This is in addition to the 1.5 million French prisoners of war, the vast majority of whom were kept in Germany after the 1940 armistice as hostages for the good behavior and collaboration of Vichy France. The six week German victory over France was the greatest encirclement in military history. France's defeat was shockingly swift, humiliating, and tragic, with far reaching consequences for the world. It would be difficult to find a comparable modern example of a great nation falling so hard or so far so fast.

Melville's film is superbly authentic and true to the reality of the times. Leon Morin, Priest is one of the most remarkable films ever made; it shies away from nothing. It shows us the occupation and the collaborators….and there were a great many collaborators, enough that Melville and similar directors were considered groundbreakers for including this dark unspoken part of France's occupation in the plots of their films.

Nor does Melville shy away from showing us the sheer muscular power of faith. Morin is a shoe leather priest; he doesn't just sermonize and pontificate, he is an intellectual man with a physical presence wielding rapier-sharp reason and disarming charm and humility to pull his charges to their feet and challenge them to look at the spiritual world around them in a time when God is not so much in evidence in France, or in the rest of the world for that matter. He is also a man who struggles with his human desires, who fights to remain true to his higher calling. He is young, handsome, desireable; women find him attractive not least because he is one of the few young men left in town and ultimately unattainable. Melville makes us realize just how much courage and strength is required to walk in Morin’s shoes. Whether or not one chooses to believe, Melville makes us see it, feel it, and respect it. Leon Morin, Priest is a testament to man and his capacity for faith, and the more I watch it, the more I think it is Melville’s deepest, most layered, and best film.

Well said!

Leon Morin, Priest did not instantly grab me in the same way that Melville's later films did, but I've found that it reverberates more with each subsequent viewing for many of the reasons that you have articulated above.

Melville himself was a part of the French Resistance, and I love how Leon Morin, Priest depicts aspects of the Resistance that were not as overtly acknowledged as the ones in Army of Shadows and other such films.