The Criterion Collection

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by JohnWayne

Oh lol I feel dumb

Happens to the best of us!

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by jrsl76

Don't worry. While I'll admit that the Noir, 50s-60s-70s American Cinema, Horror etc. is usually the titles that excite me the most, each month is always filled with worthy titles.

As far as what you want to see, I'd lay odds that October gives us horror and more. I have no idea, but my guess would be Eraserhead, Scanners, maybe The Brood. We'll see however.

Originally Posted by dsman71

Im with you on that..Im not into these artsy films one bit - but Ingrid Bergman is also of interest me. Im certain next month there will be Cronenberg set for Halloween, probably Eraserhead but there are some great American classics, Noirs, not just Hitchcock but movies such In A Lonely Place (they are rumored to have) , Carnival of Souls, The Killers , Great Expectations, Thief of Bagdad. I am thankful they have released Kiss Me Deadly, The Killing, Anatomy of A Murder and hope they will release more like this in the future.

Really glad to see others agree with my feelings. I don't doubt most of the movies Criterion releases, whether I'm interested in them or not are worthy. I know nothing about the Rosselini/Bergman movies but I admire Ingrid Bergman's work in Hitchcock's movies. She's beautiful and a great actress so I'll probably end up grabbing that if the movie are excellent ones.

I never really jumped on the criterion band wagon during it's DVD days but I've looked through all their titles and my god, they released such great stuff on DVD. Don't get me wrong, I've got over 100 criterion blu-ray's and I love the work they're doing but they are definitely favouring art-house cinema during their blu era. It seems during their DVD era, they were really mixing it up.

I would never wish that Criterion stops releasing art-house or foreign drama's that (in my opinion) sound boring and only really strike me as a "watch once to respect cinematic history" and that's it, because that's just my opinion. I'm sure there are plenty of people who actually get excited about them and will watch them all the time and that's awesome.

It's selfish, I know, but I just wish Criterion would release half mainstream classics/cult american cinema and half art-house. Just to be clear, I do love foreign films but I'm pretty selective about what foreign classics I buy because for some reason, foreign classic cinema tends to be pretty boring by comparison to American classics. Different cultures, different tastes, I get it. But too much of it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. That's why I'm not that into MoC anymore. It seems like most of what they release are dull foreign films that are surely "important" but really not entertaining at all.

Anyway, I still love Criterion because they're at least giving us more variety than MoC but I'd be lying if I said I was pleased about a lot of stuff they've been releasing. It seems as though they save the fan-favourites for the beginning and end of the year and fill out the middle with personal artsy fartsy favourites.

[Lutz]

Oh and of course for more gay cinema in the collection I left out both VISCONTI and PASOLINI.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by R o d

Nice list, Pro-B. Here are a few to add and they're all from the same director:
Bicycle Thieves (region A)
Garden of the Finzi-Continis
A Brief Vacation
Miracle in Milan (region A)
Shoeshine
The Children Are Watching Us

Every one of these would be perfect for Criterion, a couple of them they have already done on DVD.

Hello R o d

Yes, I agree with you. The big ones you have mentioned above, however, will definitely come out on Blu-ray. Let's hope that A Brief Vacation and Garden... will also transition to Blu-ray (though Arrow recently released Garden... only on DVD so perhaps there isn't a good HD master).

Bergman is mentioned a lot here. This is good. This box set from Kino is well worth picking up:





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Pro-B

[spanky87]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Hello R o d

Yes, I agree with you. The big ones you have mentioned above, however, will definitely come out on Blu-ray. Let's hope that A Brief Vacation and Garden... will also transition to Blu-ray (though Arrow recently released Garden... only on DVD so perhaps there isn't a good HD master).

Bergman is mentioned a lot here. This is good. This box set from Kino is well worth picking up:

Pro-B

Is A Woman's Face any good? I've always been curious to see that and the Joan Crawford remake.

I assume the criterion set will be like the Three Colors box set.

[FrankBlue]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

Slacker's been on Criterion for ages, so no it wont. A lot of people just really dont like Lena Dunham or the mumblecore type films and thats where a lot of the flack it gets comes from.

I see.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by monorail91

"Gay cinema" was a poor choice of words on my part, I meant Weekend as the definitive film about specifically the gay experience, not "gay cinema" in a broader sense as a movie with a gay couple. Mulholland Drive probably is the best movie with a gay couple.

Okay gotcha. So my next pick certainly wouldn't have really qualified: The Wachowski's Bound.

[Joe Dalek]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I read people's predictions and hopes every month and it seems like every time there's an announcement, next to none are in the list. I like Ingrid Bergman, but what a boring announcement. There's a lot of films in the criterion collection I'm yet to see that sound absolutely amazing but I want to wait until Criteriom actually releases them on blu-ray before watching them because I'm almost certain that I will love them. Criterion are making that very difficult.

I hate to sound ignorant or lame compared to everyone who is excited about these and are more artistic than I, but I was really hoping for more film noir, classic silent cinema, more American classics, more contemporary, edgy stuff, maybe even a horror title. Like other have mentioned, I wish Criterion would please upgrade more of their titles or grab more beloved classics.

If you look at their history and see how many horror titles or noir titles they've released over the past decade or so, you'd realize that to expect a new noir or horror title every month or even every few months is unrealistic. Maybe two or three per year, among the 60 or so releases. We'll all get something we'll like in due time.

I don't even know why some folks get themselves excited about announcements each month. You seem to be setting yourself up for disappointment -- absolutely so if you are only interested in a narrow range of films.

[Joe Dalek]

Originally Posted by jrsl76

As far as what you want to see, I'd lay odds that October gives us horror and more. I have no idea, but my guess would be Eraserhead, Scanners, maybe The Brood. We'll see however.

Not really up your alley but I Married A Witch would be nice.

[Joe Dalek]

Originally Posted by EricJ

And the original La Cage was just a harmless (if overly symbolized by its audience) piece of French fluff, and nowhere near the overbearing gay-pride polemics that the musical and Robin Williams remakes were, so it's "okay" for straight people to watch.
Either way, however, both are very good arguments in favor of rental.

You'll do yourself a service not to equate straight people with people uncomfortable with gay pride.

[The Great Owl]

I just ordered these three at Barnes & Noble for a total of $56.20.



$29.01 per Blu-ray with membership discount, plus the current "$5 off of $50" coupon, plus the "buy two get one free" deal.

I was going to wait until the July sale to bag these, but the above price was even better.

Between these and the three Olive films that I ordered last week from the ImportCDs sale (The Quiet Man, The Enforcer, Sands of the Kalahari), my Blu-ray budget for June has been maxed out. Next stop: the (hopeful) July sale.

[jrsl76]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

Not really up your alley but I Married A Witch would be nice.

Actually, I think it will be. My post seems to have been misread. I was saying that regardless of genre or degree of artiness, Criterion consistently puts out interesting worthwhile titles each month. The announcements that usually excite me the most tend to fall into certain general categories like Noir, 50s - 70s American cinema, horror, etc. That said, however, many of the best surprises have been titles that didn't initially excite me the most. I'm always open to all titles and believe that they are worthwhile regardless of how much certain things initially excite me. The single best example for me is "The Moment Of Truth" which rarely gets talked about, but for which I completely loved and highly recommend.

At this point, I have over 400 Criterion, Eclipse and Essential Art house titles. I haven't unfortunately made it through them all, but everything I've watched deserved it's place and had something to recommend about it.

[blkhrt]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Watching Gate of Hell

What did you think of it? I am looking forward to picking this up during the next BN sale, if the budget permits.

[saprano]

Still no The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou? Wasn't there a hint that it was going to be announced?

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by blkhrt

What did you think of it? I am looking forward to picking this up during the next BN sale, if the budget permits.

It's a very simple melodrama made very watchable, even transportative, by the great use of color. I want to say its like Powell & Pressburger in the 40's, but I'm sure there is a more apt comparison.

The first rate transfer makes it worth every penny. You'll be sorry if you opt not to see it in HD. Just don't go in expecting a story as moving as one by Mizoguchi.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

Do you happen to have a link for the $5 off 50.00 Coupons? I haven't seen one in forever! I even tried a google search and oddly enough just renewed my membership Saturday.

Here's the coupon code: $5 off $50 code (B7E4T9B).

jrsl76 was good enough to post it earlier, so I simply copied it from his post and paying it forward.

[blkhrt]

Originally Posted by saprano

Still no The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou? Wasn't there a hint that it was going to be announced?

No hint, just a lot of expectations.

[blkhrt]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

It's a very simple melodrama made very watchable, even transportative, by the great use of color. I want to say its like Powell & Pressburger in the 40's, but I'm sure there is a more apt comparison.

The first rate transfer makes it worth every penny. You'll be sorry if you opt not to see it in HD. Just don't go in expecting a story as moving as one by Mizoguchi.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. The color sounds great, and is one of the things that excited me about the release.

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Here's the coupon code: $5 off $50 code (B7E4T9B).

jrsl76 was good enough to post it earlier, so I simply copied it from his post and paying it forward.

It seems they aren't doing the In Store coupons with this so much anymore. (even though online is for sure cheaper :-)

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by monorail91

"Gay cinema" was a poor choice of words on my part, I meant Weekend as the definitive film about specifically the gay experience, not "gay cinema" in a broader sense as a movie with a gay couple. Mulholland Drive probably is the best movie with a gay couple.

I haven't a lot of gay cinema, and while I would probably consider Mulholland Drive to be one of my favorite films of all time, I just don't feel that it's the BEST movie with a gay couple. It worked well, in my opinion, because of the way Lynch scripted it. However, I didn't really feel anything special about it, just the fact that it was there and it was different from what we typically see.