The Criterion Collection

[brandon_260]

When can we expect reviews for Safety Last! and Marketa Lazarova? Far more excited for those two than Things To Come, in terms of the June 18th releases. Anywhere else posted anything about them yet?

[UNCMT9]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

It's very atmospheric and pretty disgusting. We can provide spoilers if you want, but I will say this, it involves graphic nudity.

Originally Posted by monorail91

There's one pretty scary moment, but most of my distaste is from how graphic the violence was. That's the point, I get it, that these people have become seriously disturbed, but that doesn't mean I wanna see it again haha.

I read some plot summaries and it sounded disturbing. It's like Salo. I can read about it but I will never see it

[serenityncc880]

So far have picked up:

Ivan's Childhood
Repo Man
A Man Escaped
Fanny and Alexander
La Jetee/Sans Soleil
Wings of Desire
Band of Outsiders

All blind buys for me. So many more I want but I'm going to have to wait until July.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

I read some plot summaries and it sounded disturbing. It's like Salo. I can read about it but I will never see it

I'm sorry but Salo is far worse in both content and form. The cinematography in Antichrist is atleast enjoyable, whereas Pasolini in Salo employs static shots and long takes to distance the audience.

[monorail91]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

When can we expect reviews for Safety Last! and Marketa Lazarova? Far more excited for those two than Things To Come, in terms of the June 18th releases. Anywhere else posted anything about them yet?

Can't say anything as far as extras, but I caught the TCM HD presentation of Safety Last! and it looked GORGEOUS! Staggering to think that movie is 90 years old, the picture quality was fantastic. Harold Lloyd's granddaughter Suzanne said this would be the print on the Criterion edition.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

I read some plot summaries and it sounded disturbing. It's like Salo. I can read about it but I will never see it

To compare it to Salo is absurd. Antichrist is far more digestible than Salo, not to mention beautifully shot, which was already touched upon.

[UNCMT9]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

To compare it to Salo is absurd. Antichrist is far more digestible than Salo, not to mention beautifully shot, which was already touched upon.

It's more graphic violence than I care to stomach. To each their own.

[Page14]

... Going with a few blind buys of definite wants in the various Criterion sales going on. So far...

Badlands
Repo Man
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

The difficult thing is that I want so much more! (... don't we all?) And it isn't helping to see the latest low prices on the Universal Monsters and Star Wars box sets ( ... also on my wish lists). Maybe the people offering these deals should throw in a free shelf as incentive to buy more.

[monorail91]

Originally Posted by Page14

... Going with a few blind buys of definite wants in the various Criterion sales going on. So far...

Badlands
Repo Man
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

The difficult thing is that I want so much more! (... don't we all?) And it isn't helping to see the latest low prices on the Universal Monsters and Star Wars box sets ( ... also on my wish lists). Maybe the people offering these deals should throw in a free shelf as incentive to buy more.

Hah! I just re-organized my home video library, which fits into my current shelves perfectly if the collection stays the exact same size (which of course it won't, what with all these deals!).

And yay Repo Man!

[The Great Owl]

Moving on through the America Lost and Found: The BBS Story...



Bob Rafelson's 1970 film, Five Easy Pieces, must have made quite an impression upon its release, with its refusal to give audiences a conventional Hollywood closure regarding the identify crisis of Bobby Dupea. Dupea, played by Jack Nicholson in perhaps the best role of his career, seems capable of achieving far more than what he gives himself credit to achieve, but he nonetheless drifts through life along a path of least resistance, and simply escapes from one setting to another each time he is called upon to commit to responsibilities and examine his priorities. Jack Nicholson climbed to the peak of well-deserved superstar status here by shining in a role that makes the best of his exuberant tendencies without running them into the ground.

Five Easy Pieces is unflinching in its depiction of a forlorn individual settling for a life that is less than what he should have accepted, and, as such, it is an uncomfortable viewing for many of us who feel that we are not living up to our potential. Three decades later, director Terry Zwigoff would draw influence from the blueprint of Five Easy Pieces for his 2001 film, Ghost World, and I cannot think of two films that are better suited for a double feature movie night, although the prospect of watching these two character-driven microscope evaluations of lost souls is a rather uneasy one. If you are looking for honest portrayals of characters who are not necessarily likeable, but nonetheless endearing, then you cannot go wrong.

Five Easy Pieces is my favorite film in the America Lost and Found Criterion set, because it focuses on character idiosyncrasies with an openness that is rarely shown in cinema. The rants of a female passenger on a road trip, the neck brace misadventures of one Dupea relative, the spacey vapidity of a girlfriend, and Bobby Dupea's own deliberate switches of mannerisms come together in a riveting combination that plays out in unexpected ways. The film manages to be hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time, and, in many instances, in the same specific scenes. In lesser hands, this movie would have ended with a nicely-wrapped bow to bring happiness to these characters in a comedic or heartwarming style. Five Easy Pieces, by contrast, leaves us uncertain and bewildered by way of another escape that is really not an escape at all.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Is Antichrist scary or just disgusting? Or both?

The mood of the film gives it an eerie vibe. There is also one instance, where it was a little creepy / disturbing. Most of the instances in the film are more graphically disturbing.

I'll never look at scissors the same.

[RiFiFi1955]

Originally Posted by monorail91

There's one pretty scary moment, but most of my distaste is from how graphic the violence was. That's the point, I get it, that these people have become seriously disturbed, but that doesn't mean I wanna see it again haha.

I don't know...for me the scariest moment/s is of the Deer going Chaos Reigns It is definitely not for everyone but it is a really well made film, that eerie feeling the film has stays with you for a whole day after you watch it(at least it did for me) which is pretty impressive.

[Abdrewes]

Owl, nice write up. I have yet to finally view my copy of Five Easy Pieces, but I remember not being too fond of it years ago.

My personal favorite of the set has to be Last Picture Show. It was a tough watch, but it really has staying power.

[keldons]

ugh, copy of repo man is pretty beat up, corner crushed, part of the spine is ripped. Seems like whenever Amazon chooses to use Fed Ex smartpost or whatever my stuff always ends up like this

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Owl, nice write up. I have yet to finally view my copy of Five Easy Pieces, but I remember not being too fond of it years ago.

My personal favorite of the set has to be Last Picture Show. It was a tough watch, but it really has staying power.

They're both awesome, and I'm looking forward to revisiting The Last Picture Show soon.

When I first saw Five Easy Pieces, I did not know what to think of the film, but I was glued to the screen. It gets better with each viewing, though, and I relate to certain aspects of the film in more ways than ever before. The indie low-key approach has been diluted with many subsequent films that were influenced by this one, but Five Easy Pieces is still an emotional gut punch.

It also looks awesome on Blu-ray.

[Yojimbo]

Just watched Gray's Anatomy. One of the funniest films I've seen in quite some time.

[monorail91]

Originally Posted by RiFiFi1955

I don't know...for me the scariest moment/s is of the Deer going Chaos Reigns It is definitely not for everyone but it is a really well made film, that eerie feeling the film has stays with you for a whole day after you watch it(at least it did for me) which is pretty impressive.

That was my "scary moment" too! I think it was a fox though? I couldn't sleep that night, that moment freaked me out so much. Just came out of nowhere!

[GC Riot]

Any word AT ALL on The Life Aquatic yet?

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by GC Riot

Any word AT ALL on The Life Aquatic yet?

Nope

[GC Riot]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Nope

*sigh*