The Criterion Collection

[Scottie]

I just finished my first Criterion Hulu film, Jean-Luc Godard's 1959 short film, All The Boys Are Called Patrick and I found it to be quite enjoyable. While Patrick was the center to this entire little film, I couldn't help but feel that his presence wasn't the most important part of the film. Rather, it was how close these two girls were and how comfortable they were around the other. I've always enjoyed all of Godard's work (from what I've seen thus far), and this one is no exception.

I also watched my second Criterion Hulu film, Eric Romer's 1960 short starring Jean-Luc Godard, Presentation Or Charlotte And Her Steak. While it wasn't anything spectacular, I found this 10 minute long short film to be interesting. Had it been longer, though, it could have been a drag. The entire thing is about a jealous girl not trying to be jealous after her male friend compares her to another girl that he fancies.

For my own purposes, the films I have left to watch can be found below.

[Show spoiler]

• 2 Or 3 Things I Know About Her
• Ali: Fear Eats The Soul
• All The Boys Are Called Patrick
• ...And God Created Woman
• Andrei Rublev
• L'Argent
• Ashes And Diamonds
• L'Assassin Habite Au 21
• Au Hasard Balthazar
• L'Avventura
• Babette's Feast (even though the Blu-ray is coming out soon)
• Bad Sleep Well
• Before The Rain
• Bitter Rice
• Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant
• Le Bonheur
• Boy
• Brute Force
• Carnival Of Souls
• La Cérémonie
• Chinese Roulette
• Circus
• City Lights
• Clean, Shaven
• Cléo From 5 To 7
• La Commare Secca
• Confidential Report
• Confidentially Yours
• Coup De Grâc
• Cranes Are Flying
• Daisies
• Day In The Country
• Dillinger Is Dead
• Drunken Angel
• Ear
• Earrings Of Madame De... (even though the Blu-ray is coming out soon)
• L'Eclisse
• Effi Briest
• Element Of Crime
• Elevator To The Gallows
• Les Enfants Terribles
• Eraserhead
• Europa
• Exterminating Angel
• Eyes Without A Face
• F For Fake
• Fear
• Fear Of Fear
• Fists In The Pocket
• Foreign Correspondent
• Generation
• George Washington
• Germany, Year Zero
• I Married A Witch
• I Vitelloni
• Idle Class
• Immortal Story
• Jules And Jim
• Kanal
• Kapò
• Kid
• King In New York
• Knife In The Water
• Kwaidan
• Lacombe, Lucien
• Last Wave
• Life Of Oharu (even though the Blu-ray is coming out soon)
• Limelight
• Long Voyage Home
• Lord Of The Flies (even though the Blu-ray is coming out soon)
• Lost Honor Of Katharina Blum
• Lower Depths
• Mala Noche
• Mamma Roma
• Man Bites Dog
• Marriage Of Maria Braun
• Mikey And Nicky
• Miss Julie
• Most Dangerous Game
• Mother Küsters Goes To Heaven
• Mouchette
• Murmur Of The Heart
• My Dinner With Andre
• Naked City
• Night Porter
• À Nous La Liberté
• Paisan
• Pandora's Box
• Passion Of Joan Of Arc
• Peppermint Frappé
• Permanent Vacation
• Pickpocket
• Picnic At Hanging Rock
• Le Plaisir
• La Pointe Courte
• Presentation, Or Charlotte And Her Steak
• Rendez-Vous
• Rome, Open City
• Sawdust And Tinsel
• Schizopolis
• Seance On A Wet Afternoon
• Shoot The Piano Player
• Short Films Of David Lynch (even though I've seen all 6 of them before)
• Silence
• Soft Skin
• Speedy
• Spirit Of The Beehive
• Squeaker
• La Strada
• Stromboli (even though the Blu-ray is coming out soon)
• Summertime
• Sunnyside
• Taste Of Cherry
• Testament Of Dr. Mabuse
• Three Cases Of Murder
• Through A Glass Darkly
• To Be Or Not To Be (even though the Blu-ray is coming out soon)
• Tokyo Story
• Trial Of Joan Of Arc
• Under The Roofs Of Paris
• Vagabond
• Veronika Voss
• Virgin Spring
• Viridiana
• Voyage To Italy (even though the Blu-ray is coming out soon)
• Winter Light
• Woman In Question
• Woman Next Door
• Woman Of Paris
• Young Törless
• Z

[georgec]

Well damn, these past 6 months I've been thinking my summer haul would only be 9 or 10 discs. Now I'm looking at:

Must buy
Brazil
On the Waterfront
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Badlands
A Man Escaped
Monsieur Verdoux
Repo Man
Band of Outsiders
Wild Strawberries
Lord of the Flies
The Devil's Backbone

Probably can't resist
Naked Lunch
Marketa Lazarova
Safety Last!
Ivan's Childhood
Medium Cool
Babette's Feast

I have a problem
The Tin Drum
Pina
Richard III
3:10 to Yuma
Things to Come
The Life of Oharu

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by georgec

Well damn, these past 6 months I've been thinking my summer haul would only be 9 or 10 discs. Now I'm looking at:

Must buy
Brazil
On the Waterfront
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Badlands
A Man Escaped
Monsieur Verdoux
Repo Man
Band of Outsiders
Wild Strawberries
Lord of the Flies
The Devil's Backbone

Probably can't resist
Naked Lunch
Marketa Lazarova
Safety Last!
Ivan's Childhood
Medium Cool
Babette's Feast

I have a problem
The Tin Drum
Pina
Richard III
3:10 to Yuma
Things to Come
The Life of Oharu

Nice list! I've seen the bolded ones and I must say, Monsieur Verdoux is my favorite one on your list.

[JohnWayne]

If you guys wanna get ultra cheap criterions you guys should take advantage of blockbusters BOGO free sale. Call of duty black ops 2 is $30 used, so if you get 2 copies, you can trade them in for $28.50 ($30.40 each if your a gamers club unlocked member) each in credit at best buy. Then you can either try and price match B&N at best buy during the criterion sale or you can pick up one of their nook gift cards and use it online or in-store at B&N. oh and if the B2G1 free sale and 50% sale overlap, that's like what? $15 or $20 out of pocket for 3 criterions?

[georgec]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Nice list! I've seen the bolded ones and I must say, Monsieur Verdoux is my favorite one on your list.

Thanks. Yea the only ones on there I haven't seen are:

- Babette's Feast
- The Tin Drum
- Things to Come
- Life of Oharu

I'm going to try and make it through these by next Monday so I can go into the sale knowing what I want for sure.

But I really, really thought I could walk away with 9-10 max. Now looking at what's come out since December (minus Sansho, Following, and Two Lane Blacktop which I got from the CC flash sale in February), I realize that there are many more titles I want.

It's an addiction, I tell you...

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by georgec

It's an addiction, I tell you...

Yes it is, but the good thing is that almost all of the films in the Collection have high replay value and a lot of extras to get the full experience.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by georgec

Thanks. Yea the only ones on there I haven't seen are:

- Babette's Feast
- The Tin Drum
- Things to Come
- Life of Oharu

I'm going to try and make it through these by next Monday so I can go into the sale knowing what I want for sure.

But I really, really thought I could walk away with 9-10 max. Now looking at what's come out since December (minus Sansho, Following, and Two Lane Blacktop which I got from the CC flash sale in February), I realize that there are many more titles I want.

It's an addiction, I tell you...

The Tin Drum and Babette's Feast are both phenomenal. I thought I would have no interest in the latter, but I fell for it so hard while watching it. Things to Come is decent, but it's pretty poor in comparison to some of Criterion's recent output.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Yes it is, but the good thing is that almost all of the films in the Collection have high replay value and a lot of extras to get the full experience.

I thought you didn't watch the supplements?

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

I thought you didn't watch the supplements?

I don't, but all of the extras, short films, and more included with each release warrants the price per movie. Therefore, there is high replay value which makes the price seem more justified.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by JohnWayne

If you guys wanna get ultra cheap criterions you guys should take advantage of blockbusters BOGO free sale. Call of duty black ops 2 is $30 used, so if you get 2 copies, you can trade them in for $28.50 ($30.40 each if your a gamers club unlocked member) each in credit at best buy. Then you can either try and price match B&N at best buy during the criterion sale or you can pick up one of their nook gift cards and use it online or in-store at B&N. oh and if the B2G1 free sale and 50% sale overlap, that's like what? $15 or $20 out of pocket for 3 criterions?

I appreciate your mention of this offer, but it seems like an awful lot of effort even considering the prices. I'm just going to keep it simple and wait until the Barnes & Noble sale, where I can pick the titles in the store down the street, buy them 50% off plus membership discount, and walk out in a matter of minutes.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I appreciate your mention of this offer, but it seems like an awful lot of effort even considering the prices. I'm just going to keep it simple and wait until the Barnes & Noble sale, where I can pick the titles in the store down the street, buy them 50% off plus membership discount, and walk out in a matter of minutes.

Owl, what films are you planning on purchasing during the sale?

[The Great Owl]

Earlier today, Criterion referenced Eyes Without a Face on their Facebook site. I know that this sort of thing is not indicative of a future Blu-ray upgrade, but I would be thrilled to upgrade my DVD copy. Great great movie.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Owl, what films are you planning on purchasing during the sale?

The Gold Rush
Modern Times
The Great Dictator
(I enjoyed these DVDs, and I've been wanting to upgrade them for a while.)

Yojimbo/Sanjuro box set
(I used to have all the Kurosawa Criterion DVDs before I sold a bunch of them in anticipation of buying Blu-rays. Right now, the only Kurosawa Blu-ray that I own is Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo and Sanjuro are the ones that I've been most curious to see in high definition after that.)

Island of Lost Souls
Another one that I need to upgrade from DVD.

Lord of the Flies
Wait for it....(drumroll, please)...another one that I need to upgrade from DVD. I sold my Essential Art House DVD of this movie a few months back, because I knew that this was in the works. The Blu-ray cover art rules all.

If anything else fits inside the realm of a $200 price cap, then I'll be looking at more titles. Maybe some more Ingmar Bergman.

[Hawkguy]

For the first time, there aren't many titles I really need to get from the sale. I just want 5 or 6 June/July releases. Outside of that, I can't think of what else I'd want..

On another note, I just finished watching Howard's End and enjoyed it very much. I wasn't planning on buying it any time soon before it went OOP, so in a way I'm glad that pushed me to buying it.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

The Gold Rush
Modern Times
The Great Dictator
(I enjoyed these DVDs, and I've been wanting to upgrade them for a while.)

Yojimbo/Sanjuro box set
(I used to have all the Kurosawa Criterion DVDs before I sold a bunch of them in anticipation of buying Blu-rays. Right now, the only Kurosawa Blu-ray that I own is Seven Samurai, and Yojimbo and Sanjuro are the ones that I've been most curious to see in high definition after that.)

Island of Lost Souls
Another one that I need to upgrade from DVD.

Lord of the Flies
Wait for it....(drumroll, please)...another one that I need to upgrade from DVD. I sold my Essential Art House DVD of this movie a few months back, because I knew that this was in the works. The Blu-ray cover art rules all.

If anything else fits inside the realm of a $200 price cap, then I'll be looking at more titles. Maybe some more Ingmar Bergman.

Nice selections!

I know I always beat a dead horse, but I really can't recommend the Krzysztof Kieslowski films enough.

Also I would recommend: The 400 Blows, Au Revoir Les Enfants, Belle de Jour, Fish Tank, The Killing, Lonesome, and Repulsion. I also think you could get into The Dardenne Brothers films.

[JohnWayne]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I appreciate your mention of this offer, but it seems like an awful lot of effort even considering the prices. I'm just going to keep it simple and wait until the Barnes & Noble sale, where I can pick the titles in the store down the street, buy them 50% off plus membership discount, and walk out in a matter of minutes.

Really isnt unless you don't have a blockbuster or best buy near you. Luckily I do, took me about 15-20 round trip by the time I was back home sitting on my couch. Picked up 2 games at blockbuster (5 minutes) drove less than a mile to my best buy and traded in 2 games for a $60 gift card and used it to get a $50 nook gift card (10 minutes) and drove back home (5 minutes). I don't even have to get off my butt if the barnes and nobles sales overlap on Saturday night!

I'm probably gonna do it again tomorrow and get another $50 gift card to use if best buy doesn't notice everyone all of a sudden trading in BLOPS 2 and drops the price tonight which wouldn't be surprising.

[georgec]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Yes it is, but the good thing is that almost all of the films in the Collection have high replay value and a lot of extras to get the full experience.

Stop feeding the insatiable Criterion monster in my belly!

Yes, you are correct, though. Getting these discs for < $15 each is a good investment. The only blu-rays I buy are pretty much Criterions, and that's pretty much only during BN sales. Rarely I'll get a non-Criterion if the deal is amazingly good. So I let myself splurge a little twice per year to the detriment of my wallet.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by georgec

Stop feeding the insatiable Criterion monster in my belly!

Yes, you are correct, though. Getting these discs for < $15 each is a good investment. The only blu-rays I buy are pretty much Criterions, and that's pretty much only during BN sales. Rarely I'll get a non-Criterion if the deal is amazingly good. So I let myself splurge a little twice per year to the detriment of my wallet.

How would you get them for <$15?

[pro-bassoonist]

Hey guys,

I wanted to leave you a quick note that there is a 2 for £10 sale at Amazon.UK. There are some outstanding Artificial Eye releases (Wong Kar Wai and Andrzej Wajda's films are simply superb):

These are some terrific Region-Free releases/films:



And if you have a Region-Free player, I cannot recommend highly enough these Region-B "locked" titles (see below). If you end up getting Jerzy Skolimowski's film, I would also recommend adding to your collections Deep End, though you will have to pick up the regular edition now.



All Artificial Eye titles here:

Click me

Lastly, I wanted to wish all of you a Happy 4th

Pro-B

[georgec]

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

How would you get them for <$15?

There may be a chance to get the half off Criterions for a buy 2, get 1 promo when next week's sale starts.