The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

I enjoyed good streak of Blu-rays on Sunday night and yesterday evening...

The Great Escape
Rosemary's Baby
Wake in Fright
Chariots of Fire
The Breakfast Club

One of these is an outstanding Criterion, and the rest are certainly Criterion-worthy, even if it will never happen. 16 more unwatched Blu-rays left to watch, including Videodrome and Sweet Smell of Success.

I'll be waiting for a sale before I buy Band of Outsiders, but I might look for it after I unload a DVD or two at the used place later this week. Now that I have Breathless, Vivre Sa Vie, and Pierrot Le Fou, Band of Outsiders will give me the basic essential Godard collection. I love all four films dearly.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'll be waiting for a sale before I buy Band of Outsiders, but I might look for it after I unload a DVD or two at the used place later this week. Now that I have Breathless, Vivre Sa Vie, and Pierrot Le Fou, Band of Outsiders will give me the basic essential Godard collection. I love all four films dearly.

What about 2 or 3 things I know about her, Le Mepris, Weekend & Alphaville?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by shortmartin

Belonging to the grunge generation, I have a great fondness for the films of the nineties, including 12 Monkeys. While I absolutely love and respect Jetee, it's that nostalgic aspect, taking me back to my school and college days, that defines my special admiration for 12 Monkeys and - along with other films of the era, especially crime-related flicks, like Usual Suspects, Shawshank Redemption, Heat, Lock Stock, Pulp Fiction, La Confidential - encourages frequent revisits.

My nineties nostalgia is also very much about music - my favorite album being August and Everything After . . . and I love to crank me up some Cranberries. In fact, I recently revisited Chungking Express (what an awesome looking Criterion blu!), and although the incorporation of California Dreaming into the movie is what usually gets the most attention, I actually found the Cantonese version of (the Cranberries song) Dreams to be just as definitive to the soundtrack.

I can certainly relate. I attended college from 1990 to 1995, right smack in the middle of the grunge years, and I enjoyed some revolutionary cinema during that time as well. Friends and I saw several great films on the night of release, such as The Silence of the Lambs, The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, Heat, The Sandlot, Dazed and Confused, Se7en, Unforgiven, Carlito's Way, etc., and I was also familiarized by a lot of great films shortly after their release, such as Reservoir Dogs, Leon: The Professional, The Vanishing (Spoorloos), and others. Not to mention Point Break, which I must have seen a hundred times while I was in college...haha.

As far as music goes, I was all over the place during that time. I went through a big industrial dance phase early in college, and was hooked on bands like Front 242, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, etc. I then got into My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Cocteau Twins, Slowdive, and such. I was never full-tilt into the Seattle grunge music, but I liked a lot of it.

[The Great Owl]

Speaking of 1990s music and movies, here's a true story from my life that is painful to read in retrospect....

Early in the fall of 1991, during my first weekend back from summer break just before my sophomore year of college, some dorm friends and I decided to go to the theater to see Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.

Another friend, who worked at the Georgia Tech radio station and often got free concert tickets to interview bands, called me just before I left and invited me to a concert that night at a small local dive, because he wanted me to help him interview a band. I politely declined, telling him that I was going to see Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey with the people in my dorm.

The next day, I was talking with this friend on the phone about how much the movie sucked.
I asked him about the concert, and he told me, "The show was great. It was a band called Nirvana. They were cool during the interview after the show. You should have been there!"



A few weeks later, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" started playing everywhere. I've been kicking myself ever since for missing that show.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

What about 2 or 3 things I know about her, Le Mepris, Weekend & Alphaville?

Of those, Weekend is the only one that I have seen. I will be upgrading that one in the future at some point, although I'm not in a massive hurry. I did not quite warm up to it as much as I did to the earlier Godard.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Of those, Weekend is the only one that I have seen. I will be upgrading that one in the future at some point, although I'm not in a massive hurry. I did not quite warm up to it as much as I did to the earlier Godard.

You should really consider grabbing Lionsgate's BluRay release of Le Mepris. It's more Alain Resnais than Godard though.

[KrugerIndustrial]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

You should really consider grabbing Lionsgate's BluRay release of Le Mepris. It's more Alain Resnais than Godard though.

+1

I love it. The transfer is nothing to write home about though. I already own Breathless, Le Mepris and Pierrot le fou. I need to get Vivre Sa Vie and Band of Outsiders. Not really interested in his other stuff.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

You should really consider grabbing Lionsgate's BluRay release of Le Mepris. It's more Alain Resnais than Godard though.

Bah. I forgot all about Le Mepris (Contempt). I owned the Criterion DVD of that movie, but sold it a few months ago. I did not warm up to it nearly as much as I warmed up to the other Godard movies, but Brigitte Bardot was a bright spot. I was bewildered by the movie, but in a good way.

This movie reminds me more of Fellini's 8 1/2 than it does of the other Godard films.

[secretsquirrel]

Originally Posted by shortmartin

Just from looking at your collection, I'd say Le Cercle Rouge . . . you have many more crime movies than war movies, so if that's an indication of your interests . . . on the other hand, Army of Shadows might be a way of rounding out some needs on the more war-related side of things. Just some thoughts, hope they're helpful.

Thank you for taking a look and giving your opinion. I ended up going with Le Cercle Rouge

Originally Posted by Colkurtz88

Here's a suggestion. Why don't you go through your collection. Find some blu rays that you think can get good value for on ebay and that are not OOP and sell them to get the money for both le circle rouge and army of shadows? You can always get the movies that you sold back at a later time and maybe for a cheaper price.

Just a thought.

That is a solid idea. That's exactly what I'm already doing. It's how I was able to buy one of the two. I have a lot of items on CL for less than BBY or Amazon but haven't had any interest locally. I need to renew my posting, though, so it goes back to the top.

What little I have sold has been on Amazon with their exorbitant fees.

[Romulus]

Looks like I'm out of luck on Le Cercle Rouge at Amazon. Got an email this morning saying that there is now no timetable for them to ship it. I originally placed my order on March 30th...

[nkumar]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

Don't lose hope. Keep them ordered and wait it out. Army of Shadows and Last Year at Marienbad shipped out after about 2 weeks or ordering and I too was worried about Le Cercle Rouge since it hadn't shipped out after 3 weeks but a bit over a month mine finally shipped out.

Bought the Last Year at Marienbad and Le Cercle Rouge from Barnes & Nobles store here. They don't have these two anymore but they have Army of Shadows and Leon Morin Priest. I am not going to cancel my Amazon order. If they ever ship that, I can trade it in here if anyone interested.

[nkumar]

Originally Posted by Romulus

Looks like I'm out of luck on Le Cercle Rouge at Amazon. Got an email this morning saying that there is now no timetable for them to ship it. I originally placed my order on March 30th...

I got the same email from amazon last week. I placed my order on April 4th. As long as they don't cancel the order, there is still a hope. Luckily I was able to get one from B&N today.

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Great Blu-ray edition of a great film!

I cannot recommend this one enough. The film itself is subtle, but majestic. The MoC booklet is really something else. It's almost like taking a college semester dedicated solely to this movie.

Thank you Owl!

I have always trusted your previous recommendations.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by nkumar

I got the same email from amazon last week. I placed my order on April 4th. As long as they don't cancel the order, there is still a hope. Luckily I was able to get one from B&N today.

Is that a fake Dredd Criterion cover as your avatar?

[Snicket]

I really liked Criterion's 3 reasons video for Band of Outsiders, it might be the first one to convince me to buy a film. I was on the fence anyways and that pushed me over.

So onto the wishlist it goes...(July is going to be insane)

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Snicket

I really liked Criterion's 3 reasons video for Band of Outsiders, it might be the first one to convince me to buy a film. I was on the fence anyways and that pushed me over.

So onto the wishlist it goes...(July is going to be insane)

It's a very easy film to like. I won't be surprised if you end up preferring it to Breathless.

[Snicket]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

It's a very easy film to like. I won't be surprised if you end up preferring it to Breathless.

That's a bold claim! I'm excited now!

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Snicket

That's a bold claim! I'm excited now!

I'm on mobile, so I don't know how to post the video, but here's a memorable scene: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...diiIYWq5_PuxSQ

As far as light Godard, you can't do any better than Band of Outsiders.

By the way, did you see that Olive is planning to release two of his 1970's films?

[The Great Owl]

Is it just me, or does the main lullaby theme of Rosemary's Baby send chills down the back of your spine?

I think that the Criterion Blu-ray of Rosemary's Baby and the Blu-ray of Philip Kaufman's 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers would make for a great double-feature night. Both movies beautifully illustrate the claustrophobic unease that one can experience in the deceptively open anonymity of life in a major city. For some reason, the diversity of ideas and values in a densely-populated city have always made me feel more alone than ever, because the question of who to trust in the myriad of choices always has an oddly constricting effect on the psyche.

The unsettling vibe of city life is just one of the many real-life elements incorporated by Roman Polanski in Rosemary's Baby to an extent that the ultimate supernatural horror of the film is almost an afterthought. The most effective horror films succeed because they incorporate normal human insecurities and authentic fears into a fictional storyline. The ubiquitous terrors of a new home purchase amplify The Amityville Horror, the insecurities of sexual awakenings are the backdrop to countless vampire films, and the real pressures of a crowded city of infinite influences bring Rosemary's Baby to life. One can imagine the unsettling paranoia that a young pregnant woman must feel when faced with conflicting advice from everyone around her in a crowded setting. Rosemary's Baby places these normal fears into the framework of a horror tale about black magic with superb results.

The virtues of this particular Blu-ray transfer are evident only seconds into the film, as the above-mentioned lullaby sounds out over a sweeping panorama of New York City and instantly gives us the impression of a disingenuous reassurance in a world of indifference. The picture quality excels through the rest of the film, especially in the close-ups of Mia Farrow's face in a story where her reactions are a key element of every scene. As always, Criterion supplies us with generous extras, but the main attraction here is a timeless horror movie that feeds on our inner insecurities instead of manipulating us with visceral effects.

[Abdrewes]

^^^
Ah, I really need to crack open my copy, I haven't seen the film in years.