The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Danchez

I know that I'm beyond late to this train, but I feel like I've been somehow infected by all of the Criterions that I've recently purchased. Like, they've taken the shine away from the rest of my collection and non-CC releases have way less appeal than they used to.

So, my question is: Does this feeling ever go away?

Until the James Bond films are released on Criterion, I will always have an attachment to my non-Criterion titles.

In all seriousness, I prefer the presentation of the Criterion Collection titles to the presentation of my other Blu-rays. When it comes to the films themselves, though, I'm just as inclined to fall in love with a non-Collection title.

Last night, I revisited Rio Bravo, via the run-of-the-mill $10 Eco-case repressing from Warner Bros, and was just as captivated and immersed in that film as I have been with most any Criterion title. An awesome movie is an awesome movie, pure and simple.

[blkhrt]

The October titles are pretty exciting.

I probably won't upgrade my Eyes Without a Face DVD right away, since the money will go to titles I don't already own. I do wish they had updated the cover art on it.

I know this has been covered elsewhere, but the similarity between the covers of I Married a Witch and Sullivan's Travels is weird. It seems so unlike Criterion. Having said that, I love the cover art for I Married a Witch.

I have actually never seen any of the Cassavetes films, but luckily they are free on Hulu so I can check them out first.

[shortmartin]

Originally Posted by Cinemach

Great month.

Its good to see that the DVD boxset upgrade cherry has been broken with Cassavetes; we know BRD is coming, but here's looking at your way too, Antoine Doinel. I might still look to cherry-pick the ones I might be interested in from the BFI releases, though they aren't priorities as of yet.

I like the use of cherry as a metaphor, twice, nice work. Makes me think Kiarostami

agreed, great month!

[danmovie]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Finishing up my B&N haul for this go around. Safety Last! or Modern Times? I've actually (can't believe I'm saying this) have never seen Modern Times. I absolutely loved Safety Last!

I would strongly suggest Safety Last over Modern Times. Modern Times does have some great and imaginative moments (the ones that you will see on Top 100 Lists or Chaplin documentaries), but I think that The Gold Rush & City Lights are much, much better films (I'd even put The Great Dictator ahead too).

I know I may face the ire of some of you, but, in general, I find Modern Times rather dull. Every few years I decide to give it another chance, thinking that I'm missing something, but my opinion remains the same. The gags become a bit repetitive and last too long. This is even the case in other Chaplin films, such as the drunk friend not remembering the tramp in City Lights. I also think that part of it is that his character is not as endearing as most of the roles of Buster & Harold Lloyd.

Then again, I'm not that huge of a Chaplin fan. Among my top 300 films are 2 Chaplins, 5 Lloyds, and 8 Busters.

As far as Harold Lloyd goes, the films I'd most like to see next on Blu are Why Worry? and The Kid Brother.

What Harold Lloyd films would you all like to see on Blu?

[danmovie]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Until the James Bond films are released on Criterion, I will always have an attachment to my non-Criterion titles.

In all seriousness, I prefer the presentation of the Criterion Collection titles to the presentation of my other Blu-rays. When it comes to the films themselves, though, I'm just as inclined to fall in love with a non-Collection title.

Last night, I revisited Rio Bravo, via the run-of-the-mill $10 Eco-case repressing from Warner Bros, and was just as captivated and immersed in that film as I have been with most any Criterion title. An awesome movie is an awesome movie, pure and simple.

I agree too. There are many non-Criterion Blus that are some of my favorites, though I'm always more excited to see that a film that I love is being released by Criterion instead of the studio (or other distributors). For example, it was already very exciting to see that To Be or Not to Be was coming to Blu, but it was even better to see that Criterion was releasing it.

I also agree that Rio Bravo is a wonderful film - one of the very best westerns and actually one of the top tier of all films too.

Speaking of Rio Bravo, when are we going to see some more Howard Hawks' films on Blu? I believe that there are only two (Rio Bravo & Gentlemen Prefer Blondes).

Bringing Up Baby, Sergeant York, El Dorado, Only Angels Have Wings, Red River, The Big Sleep, Scarface and others would be great. Hawks has an amazingly diverse range of genres. Maybe Criterion could pick up a few of these.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by danmovie

I would strongly suggest Safety Last over Modern Times. Modern Times does have some great and imaginative moments (the ones that you will see on Top 100 Lists or Chaplin documentaries), but I think that The Gold Rush & City Lights are much, much better films (I'd even put The Great Dictator ahead too).

I know I may face the ire of some of you, but, in general, I find Modern Times rather dull. Every few years I decide to give it another chance, thinking that I'm missing something, but my opinion remains the same. The gags become a bit repetitive and last too long. This is even the case in other Chaplin films, such as the drunk friend not remembering the tramp in City Lights. I also think that part of it is that his character is not as endearing as most of the roles of Buster & Harold Lloyd.

I'd go with Safety Last! over Modern Times only by a half-percent margin or so. In my eyes, they are both perfect ten films on a scale of ten, and I cannot find any fault with either. Safety Last! has some of the coolest special effects of any silent era film, though, and my first viewing of that film really floored me.

I revisited three Chaplin films this weekend, The Gold Rush, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator. I've always considered Modern Times to be the best of the three, but I had a change of heart this weekend, and decided that I prefer the original 1925 version of The Gold Rush to the others (probably because the Blu-ray presentation is so striking). It's a tough call, though, and I'll probably waver between The Gold Rush and Modern Times indefinitely.

Now that I've purchased The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series and I've ordered Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection, I'm thinking that my next big big Blu-ray box set purchase will be the Buster Keaton collection from Kino. This is several months over the horizon, though, and I'd like to see the price drop considerably before I pull that trigger.

[dmarvin]

Originally Posted by Danchez

I know that I'm beyond late to this train, but I feel like I've been somehow infected by all of the Criterions that I've recently purchased. Like, they've taken the shine away from the rest of my collection and non-CC releases have way less appeal than they used to.

So, my question is: Does this feeling ever go away?

Yeah, but you have to find some other cool movies to collect. Personally, I get just as excited for the Scream Factory Collectors Editions (The Howling, The Fog, They Live, Halloween II, Halloween III, Psycho II, Day of the Dead, etc.) as I do Criterion. In fact, Shout! is announcing more SF titles at SDCC this weekend, and I'm just as excited for those announcements as I am the Criterion ones each month.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by dmarvin

Yeah, but you have to find some other cool movies to collect. Personally, I get just as excited for the Scream Factory Collectors Editions (The Howling, The Fog, They Live, Halloween II, Halloween III, Psycho II, Day of the Dead, etc.) as I do Criterion. In fact, Shout! is announcing more SF titles at SDCC this weekend, and I'm just as excited for those announcements as I am the Criterion ones each month.

When it comes to film quality and video presentation, I'd probably place Olive Films roughly on the same level as the Criterion Collection.

Olive Films has really been knocking some home runs over the fence lately. High Noon and Invasion of the Body Snatchers are two favorites in my collection, but I was recently taken by surprise with the awesome French adventure, Greed in the Sun (starring Jean Paul Belmondo and Lino Ventura) that will probably end up being one of the most frequently revisited Blu-rays that I own. I'm looking forward to delving into three recent Olive Films purchases, The Quiet Man, The Enforcer, and Sands of the Kalahari.

Olive Films Blu-rays tend to be short on the supplements side, and Criterion has the clear win in that regard. As far as the films themselves, though, Olive has just as many killer choices.

[Goldensuitcase]

I love movies, but most of these Criterion films (99%), I have yet to see. So which ones are the best of the best? If you had to pick 3, which would they be?

I've seen Traffic, Antichrist, The Game, Lord of the Flies and a few others. I will try a free week of HULU PLUS and am wondering which ones to view.

Thank you

[bdmartin134]

Never heard of The Uninvited, but that cover art has my full attention, freaking beautiful..

What are some user's favorite art work from the Criterion releases??

Off the top of my head, I think The Killing might be my favorite, which looks like it could be the same artist or team behind The Uninvited (didn't research this). Also 12 Angry Men cover is pure eye-candy as well.

[monorail91]

I think the cover art to the Trilogy of Life box set is really cool, that might be my favorite. Stagecoach is also great too.

[COLD_COBRA_]

I like the cover of the Ice Storm, but i'm probably in the minority on that.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Goldensuitcase

I love movies, but most of these Criterion films (99%), I have yet to see. So which ones are the best of the best? If you had to pick 3, which would they be?

I've seen Traffic, Antichrist, The Game, Lord of the Flies and a few others. I will try a free week of HULU PLUS and am wondering which ones to view.

Thank you

My personal Top 3:
The Double Life of Veronique
Revanche
Fish Tank

However, I'd recommend starting with the essentials if you're new to the wonderful world of Criterions - 12 Angry Men, The 400 Blows, Seven Samurai, etc.

[bdmartin134]

Wow, I can't believe I forgot this one...

[SammyJankis]

This one literally made me say "whoa" when I first saw it.

[ccfore]

I just caught Babette's Feast on HuluPlus yesterday. What a beautiful story and film. I'll be picking this one up today!

[The Great Owl]

I've always loved the Army of Shadows cover...



The Blob cover makes me happy...



Godzilla has a brilliant cover that emphasizes the immensity of the character...



Island of Lost Souls has awesome cover art...



Safety Last! is a win across the board with an attention-grabbing cover...



Carnival of Souls is great in the DVD cover art department, and, if this is ever transferred, I hope they keep the art...



Stray Dog is a great Kurosawa cover...



I've always loved the simplicity of The Vanishing cover, which matches the unease of the movie itself...

[shortmartin]

Originally Posted by Goldensuitcase

I love movies, but most of these Criterion films (99%), I have yet to see. So which ones are the best of the best? If you had to pick 3, which would they be?

I've seen Traffic, Antichrist, The Game, Lord of the Flies and a few others. I will try a free week of HULU PLUS and am wondering which ones to view.

Thank you

as another poster noted, probably best to get into some of the classics first. among the ones I love are Murmur of the Heart, Knife in the Water, Letter Never Sent, and Shop on Main Street. a couple of my personal favorites, though, are the more recent films Naked, Carlos, and Dazed and Confused, definitely worth checking out.

[The Great Owl]

I just reserved Lord of the Flies and Monsieur Verdoux to pick up at the Barnes & Noble down the street on the way home. This way, I don't even have to go through the shelves looking for them. Laziness is awesome.

[COLD_COBRA_]

I get depressed when I see dvd Criterion covers, and know they aren't on blu.