The Criterion Collection

[joie]

Originally Posted by octagon

I can certainly relate but I wouldn't let that worry you too much.

Charade is a lot like To Catch a Thief. The plot is definitely fun but a relatively small part of the overall package. The characters, the dialogue and the scenery are where most of the real appeal lies. Lays? Whatever, you know what I mean.

And one might not expect this from a public domain title but the transfer is really nice. I know this is something of a cliche but I really did feel like I was watching it for the first time.

Criterion (or the studio) may have altered it in some way, if they claim copyright. They may have altered the framing, color, ... .

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

Holy Jesus, no kidding! That's like THE spoiler for Charade!

Well, it's not THE spoiler, but it's pretty darn A spoiler.

On the commentary, Peter Stone(?) is about to give away THE spoiler, thinking, well, nobody would be listening to the commentary if they hadn't already seen it, but Stanley Donen(? - or was it vice versa?) sticks up for us first-time listeners and tells the listener "Okay, if you haven't seen this yet, turn it off and watch the movie. That's it. I don't wanna talk to you anymore. "

[exolstice]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

Amazon.com got a bunch of criterions on sale now, the shipping and levies kinda kills the price drop for me though. For 2 movies it works out to 32 dollars each. Would shopping at barnes and noble or criterion.com during their sale be a better idea?

Definitely. During the B&N sales they come out to about $23 CDN each including shipping.

[Tin Drum]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Well, it's not THE spoiler, but it's pretty darn A spoiler.

On the commentary, Peter Stone(?) is about to give away THE spoiler, thinking, well, nobody would be listening to the commentary if they hadn't already seen it, but Stanley Donen(? - or was it vice versa?) sticks up for us first-time listeners and tells the listener "Okay, if you haven't seen this yet, turn it off and watch the movie. That's it. I don't wanna talk to you anymore. "

This is the first time I've heard of someone even thinking about watching a film with the commentary on before watching it without. That's weird to me.

[Abdrewes]

I plan on reading Richard III here before I watch my copy:

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/richardiii/full.html

[cferreiro]

Im thinking of blind buying either people on sunday or chronicle of a summer. Anyone seen both and would recommend one over the other. Also taking into consideration the overall package of extras and rewatchability...?

[deepbreathsanddeath]

I finally got around to watching The Tree of Life. Don't I feel stupid for putting it off for so long, believing it was going to be a frustrating and pretentious mess.

While I don't yet understand it all, it had a pretty powerful impact on me, one I enjoyed immensely. I'm yet to see Malick's New World or To The Wonder but Days of Heaven still ranks as my least favourite Malick of the 4 I've seen so far. I had such a strong feeling that The Tree of Life was going to hit bottom spot.

Let me just say that last place Malick is still better than a lot of other directors best but my issue with Days of Heaven is simply that the story isn't strong enough to compete with the stunning cinematography, ultimately (and I hate to say this) resulting in a rather empty experience. I don't want to be one of "those" guys but I appreciate Days of Heaven for its cinematography and score, nothing much else. Beautiful but too boring to actually make me want to sit down and give it my full attention from start to finish. I've put it on several times though for background beauty while doing something else or when I need to just relax.

I like The Thin Red Line, Badlands and The Tree of Life almost equally now which is suprising because I love the first two and never thought this would come close. I never found it boring or pretentious. I found it really quite beautiful (not just visually) and it gave me a strong sense of nostalgia. Almost like a warmth spreading over my core. God, I sound more pretentious than the film supposedly is haha
Apologies. It's just hard to describe how it made me feel.

The origin sequence that occurred roughly 20 minutes into the film with the powerful music left my jaw dropped. Incredible.

Great movie and while certainly very thought provoking, it's much more accessible than I thought it would be. Glad I finally checked it out and I'm disappointed it took so long. I'm not expecting another discussion about the film because I know you guys had a pretty extensive discussion about it months ago but I thought I would share my thoughts

[Jett Rink]

I just blind bought Solaris, it looks really good.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I finally got around to watching The Tree of Life. Don't I feel stupid for putting it off for so long, believing it was going to be a frustrating and pretentious mess.

[Show spoiler]
While I don't yet understand it all, it had a pretty powerful impact on me, one I enjoyed immensely. I'm yet to see Malick's New World or To The Wonder but Days of Heaven still ranks as my least favourite Malick of the 4 I've seen so far. I had such a strong feeling that The Tree of Life was going to hit bottom spot.

Let me just say that last place Malick is still better than a lot of other directors best but my issue with Days of Heaven is simply that the story isn't strong enough to compete with the stunning cinematography, ultimately (and I hate to say this) resulting in a rather empty experience. I don't want to be one of "those" guys but I appreciate Days of Heaven for its cinematography and score, nothing much else. Beautiful but too boring to actually make me want to sit down and give it my full attention from start to finish. I've put it on several times though for background beauty while doing something else or when I need to just relax.

I like The Thin Red Line, Badlands and The Tree of Life almost equally now which is suprising because I love the first two and never thought this would come close. I never found it boring or pretentious. I found it really quite beautiful (not just visually) and it gave me a strong sense of nostalgia. Almost like a warmth spreading over my core. God, I sound more pretentious than the film supposedly is haha
Apologies. It's just hard to describe how it made me feel.

The origin sequence that occurred roughly 20 minutes into the film with the powerful music left my jaw dropped. Incredible.

Great movie and while certainly very thought provoking, it's much more accessible than I thought it would be. Glad I finally checked it out and I'm disappointed it took so long. I'm not expecting another discussion about the film because I know you guys had a pretty extensive discussion about it months ago but I thought I would share my thoughts

I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

When I saw The Tree of Life at the theater, I had a similar response, in that the movie had a huge impact on me, although I did not quite grasp everything. The Tree of Life is tailored in such a way that almost everyone can relate to the depictions of childhood. Certain key moments from any child's life, such as the first experience with death or the first experience of rebelling against authority, are brilliantly acknowledged in the story.

I like how The Tree of Life shows us a grandiose big picture of the Earth's creation, and then downscales the story to focus on a small town religious family. It's an ambitious endeavor on Malick's part, but it pays off in spades.

To the Wonder does not quite swing for the fences like The Tree of Life did, but it is still a beautiful film in every sense.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Jett Blu

I just blind bought Solaris, it looks really good.

You're going to have a ball with this one. It's one of my favorite Criterion titles. Let us know what you think!

[benbess]

Very quick reviews of two recent CC purchases...

The Phantom Carriage:
Grim film with poor pq
To me this is a bit like a movie-length Swedish Twilight Zone episode from 1921. That's the good. It seemed like there was some influence from A Christmas Carol. In terms of things it influenced, I definitely saw Bergman's Seventh Seal drawing on this one. And to my surprise, Kubrick's The Shining has a visual quote from it. But overall, it seemed sordid and sad and slow, even if it pulled up at the very end. It's a little like Leaving Las Vegas (another movie I didn't care for) in early 20th century Sweden. Just not my cup of tea, I guess. I'm glad I gave it a try, but it doesn't make my top 20 from the 1920s. PQ on it, as you would expect from a film of this era, is poor. Even after restoration it's scratched and has other issues. The color tinting survives, which is nice. Almost all movies from this long ago, I realize, are in rough shape.

In contrast, I give a rave to Richard III:
Lawrence Olivier directs and stars in Richard III, in a production filmed in VistaVision. Strong production values. Excellent cast. Stunning restoration from original VistaVision elements by Grover Crisp and Co. And Shakespeare, of course. Highly Recommended.

[Beta Man]

3:10 To Yuma > Life Is Sweet > Naked Lunch





Last night was film marathon time!

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by jasonjl

Wait for the re-release, it will be cheaper.

Who honestly will go for the Universal release over the Criterion release? That's such a shame.

Originally Posted by JohnWayne

Lol it definately doesn't bother me that much but it is kind of annoying. I'm just curious to see if all the FAL criterions are like that or if mine is a one of a kind.

Mine actually doesn't have it cut short. I just checked.

Originally Posted by Beta Man

3:10 To Yuma > Life Is Sweet > Naked Lunch

Last night was film marathon time!

Bless your soul for being able to tolerate Life Is Sweet.

[MPeriolat]

Got a small problem here. Got my eyes on two Criterions (Gold Rush blu-ray, King of Kings DVD, both blind), but do not know if it is better to grab them now at the Amazon sale or wait for the Criterion sale in July. Would appreciate opinions on the pricing and the movies, if you have seen them. Seem pretty safe to me since I love Chaplin and I'm a sucker for a good DeMille religious epic.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by MPeriolat

Got a small problem here. Got my eyes on two Criterions (Gold Rush blu-ray, King of Kings DVD, both blind), but do not know if it is better to grab them now at the Amazon sale or wait for the Criterion sale in July. Would appreciate opinions on the pricing and the movies, if you have seen them. Seem pretty safe to me since I love Chaplin and I'm a sucker for a good DeMille religious epic.

I don't think there has been confirmation if there will be a Barnes 'N Noble sale yet or not. It more than likely will happen, but I would still recommend purchasing them now (just to be safe).

Also, I strongly recommend you also purchase The Great Dictator, Modern Times, and Monsieur Verdoux.

[Mansinthe]

Who honestly will go for the Universal release over the Criterion release? That's such a shame.

there are actually some UK release i would prefer to buy since they are way cheaper and the transfer looks most likely identical.

like the three colors trilogy.. the UK import would be only around ~28€ for me. the criterion edition would end up with shipping and tax around ~45€

movies like chunkign express i got from the UK for only around 8-9€ and the OOP release is around what? 40-50-100€? ^^

and i compared the reviews of "in the realm of the senses".. UK and criteron release are nearly the same quality. but the UK release is less then half the price to import.

and some masters of cinema releases are even better compared to the criterion release (sansho the baliff, harakiri) or like the same quality.. gate of hell..

sure criterion is a awesome label and the criterion bug has infected me too but spending sometimes way more money only for the criterion label on the disk and maybe the nicer cover art?

[MPeriolat]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I don't think there has been confirmation if there will be a Barnes 'N Noble sale yet or not. It more than likely will happen, but I would still recommend purchasing them now (just to be safe).

Also, I strongly recommend you also purchase The Great Dictator, Modern Times, and Monsieur Verdoux.

Got Modern Times on sale a year ago with Stagecoach, so good there. Dictator I want, but am being very selective with my movie cash at the moment post-graduation, pre-employment. Verdoux is a complete cypher to me as are most Chaplin talkies other than Dictator. Kinda need to be sold more on that one.

[benbess]

Originally Posted by MPeriolat

Got a small problem here. Got my eyes on two Criterions (Gold Rush blu-ray, King of Kings DVD, both blind), but do not know if it is better to grab them now at the Amazon sale or wait for the Criterion sale in July. Would appreciate opinions on the pricing and the movies, if you have seen them. Seem pretty safe to me since I love Chaplin and I'm a sucker for a good DeMille religious epic.

Gold Rush!+++

One of the greatest comedies ever made, and a great blu-ray. My suggestion: buy it asap.

[Jett Rink]

Originally Posted by benbess

Gold Rush!+++

One of the greatest comedies ever made, and a great blu-ray. My suggestion: buy it asap.

+1

It really is a funny movie. Buy it today.

[Visco.]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I really disliked The Social Network.

I swear you dislike all the good stuff