The Criterion Collection

[dsman71]

I love ALL 4 of those films...The Lady Vanishes is great when the comedy elements are replaced by some great shootouts and espionage -

[Simon_LDT]

The Lady Vanishes is one of my favourite Hitchcock films. The comedy elements are really well done (it's very British too) but it has great suspense and story as well.

Dial M for Murder would be my recommendation, especially if you like crime dramas. Picture quality most of the time is stunning, just that some shots (especially outside the house) are very soft/weird looking. Not sure why, other than it must be like that on the original negative as Warner don't usually do dud transfers.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

I think that Howard Hawks needs to be added to the Criterion Blu-Ray Collection. Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday, Red River, and Only Angels Have Wings are classic films that have not received a blu-ray upgrade from DVD.

Technically, not Hawks directed but it might as well have been-The Thing From Another World needs someone's attention for an upgrade. I'm praying it's Criterion.

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I tried to watch The Big Sky on TCM two years ago, but the quality was very poor, it looked like an upconverted VHS. So I would love to be able to see that one properly one day.

The Big Sky was cut long ago by 20 minutes or so. It's been reassembled using available footage which, unfortunately, sometimes looks pretty bad. Definitely needs a restoration.

[Xtempo]

Originally Posted by Jr7936

i wonder if they would make a big box set of all of them, but i think it would cost too much

how about 2 or 3 box sets? have part 1 go from 1-5 and so on? it might be an easier way than one huge boxset but then they did that with AK 100 so..

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

The Big Sky was cut long ago by 20 minutes or so. It's been reassembled using available footage which, unfortunately, sometimes looks pretty bad. Definitely needs a restoration.

That explains it. Hopefully well get that restoration someday. Ive heard great things about it.

[ZeTi]

Would love to get STRAW DOGS on BD ... dunno if i should hold out on the MGM Disc ... will this ever get Blu treatment by Criterion ?

[The Great Owl]

I'm about halfway through Black Narcissus right now, but I've turned everything off except this iPhone for a few minutes until the thunderstorm outside passes.

I'm loving Black Narcissus so far, though. It's a beautiful Technicolor feature that looks great on Blu-ray.

I'd love to live in a mountaintop home like the one in the movie. That's the main thing that resonates with me so far. That's just one awesome crib.

There was a 2006 horror remake, When a Stranger Calls, starring Camilla Belle, that was unmemorable in every way except that I kept marveling at how beautiful the house was in the movie. One of the coolest houses ever in a movie.
I could imagine myself making a double feature night of Black Narcissus and When a Stranger Calls just so I can enjoy looking at the two awesome homes.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by ZeTi

Would love to get STRAW DOGS on BD ... dunno if i should hold out on the MGM Disc ... will this ever get Blu treatment by Criterion ?

I have the MGM Blu-ray of Staw Dogs, and I'm happy. The movie looks better than it ever has on that disc. It's an unsettling movie, and one of the most disturbing films in my collection, but it's a must-own nonetheless.

Cool purchases, by the way. Let us know what you think of Black Moon. A bunch of us here found that movie to be...interesting.

[ravenus]

Got Solaris today. I really wish Criterion could have given us a double bill including the Soderbergh adaptation (which I prefer) like they did with Lower Depths. They have had a nice relationship with Fox, who do not themselves seem at all interested in an HD release of the film.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Got Solaris today. I really wish Criterion could have given us a double bill including the Soderbergh adaptation (which I prefer) like they did with Lower Depths. They have had a nice relationship with Fox, who do not themselves seem at all interested in an HD release of the film.

Enjoy Solaris on BluRay. It's one of the Crown Jewels of my collection.

(We desperately need the remake on BluRay too)

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Enjoy Solaris on BluRay. It's one of the Crown Jewels of my collection.

(We desperately need the remake on BluRay too)

I've never seen the remake, but I sure do love the original film.

Chris Marker's Sans Soleil makes a reference to Stalker while describing computer-manipulated film footage that the creator calls "The Zone."
We need Stalker on Criterion. Now.

[ZeTi]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Cool purchases, by the way. Let us know what you think of Black Moon. A bunch of us here found that movie to be...interesting.

Oh i loved BLACK MOON. I'm a sucker for those kinds of weird ... strange movie experiences, like HOLY MOUNTAIN, EL TOPO and/or Roland Klick's "DEADLOCK".

Especially that feel of impending doom pretty much glued me to the screen ... and of course, the always great Joe Dallesandro. The talking unicorn and the naked kids chasing that giant pig were just the icing on the cake.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm about halfway through Black Narcissus right now, but I've turned everything off except this iPhone for a few minutes until the thunderstorm outside passes.

I'm loving Black Narcissus so far, though. It's a beautiful Technicolor feature that looks great on Blu-ray.

I'd love to live in a mountaintop home like the one in the movie. That's the main thing that resonates with me so far. That's just one awesome crib.

There was a 2006 horror remake, When a Stranger Calls, starring Camilla Belle, that was unmemorable in every way except that I kept marveling at how beautiful the house was in the movie. One of the coolest houses ever in a movie.
I could imagine myself making a double feature night of Black Narcissus and When a Stranger Calls just so I can enjoy looking at the two awesome homes.

After you've watched it tell me (us) what you think about the

[Show spoiler]Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) stalking Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) sequence.

One of the more disturbing sequences in cinema.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Got Solaris today. I really wish Criterion could have given us a double bill including the Soderbergh adaptation (which I prefer) like they did with Lower Depths. They have had a nice relationship with Fox, who do not themselves seem at all interested in an HD release of the film.

I would really like Soderbergh's version of Solaris on Criterion myself. I'm just not sure if it could be a separate release. Is there any other film in the Criterion Collection that has an original and its remake spined? I doubt it.

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by jw007

I would really like Soderbergh's version of Solaris on Criterion myself. I'm just not sure if it could be a separate release. Is there any other film in the Criterion Collection that has an original and its remake spined? I doubt it.

I want this release to happen also. I really would love to see the Alt edits/ scenes. The great thing about both versions of Solaris is they each stand on their own and IMO the newest version doesn't hurt the original film. If anything it may make those seek out the original. I really love Viola Davis in Solaris great performance. I think everyone is good in it. :-)

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Got Solaris today. I really wish Criterion could have given us a double bill including the Soderbergh adaptation (which I prefer) like they did with Lower Depths. They have had a nice relationship with Fox, who do not themselves seem at all interested in an HD release of the film.

To each, his own, but for my money, the original Solaris is a classic nearly on par with 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is a film that had no need for improvement, much like Psycho prior to Gus Van Sant's version.

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm about halfway through Black Narcissus right now, but I've turned everything off except this iPhone for a few minutes until the thunderstorm outside passes.

I'm loving Black Narcissus so far, though. It's a beautiful Technicolor feature that looks great on Blu-ray.

I'd love to live in a mountaintop home like the one in the movie. That's the main thing that resonates with me so far. That's just one awesome crib.

There was a 2006 horror remake, When a Stranger Calls, starring Camilla Belle, that was unmemorable in every way except that I kept marveling at how beautiful the house was in the movie. One of the coolest houses ever in a movie.
I could imagine myself making a double feature night of Black Narcissus and When a Stranger Calls just so I can enjoy looking at the two awesome homes.

And to think, that film was created entirely in the UK. Make sure that you watch the supplemental documentary about the film's production. Outstanding!

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by jw007

I would really like Soderbergh's version of Solaris on Criterion myself. I'm just not sure if it could be a separate release. Is there any other film in the Criterion Collection that has an original and its remake spined? I doubt it.

I would think The Ballad of Narayama would make a good candidate for that.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

I want this release to happen also. I really would love to see the Alt edits/ scenes. The great thing about both versions of Solaris is they each stand on their own and IMO the newest version doesn't hurt the original film. If anything it may make those seek out the original. I really love Viola Davis in Solaris great performance. I think everyone is good in it. :-)

What I really like about Soderbergh's Solaris is that the film is much shorter and sleeker. Tarkovsky's version has the atmosphere and meditation that the remake will never have, but I think Soderbergh's version is far more accessible to the average person. In the remake, I also like the special effects (though minimal are quite effective) as well as the music and actors. The lead female character played by McElhone is far more haunting as well.

[The Great Owl]

Okay, I just watched Black Narcissus for the first time and am getting my mind around it, so this write-up might be an epic fail, but here goes...



Black Narcissus, a stunningly beautiful Technicolor feature directed by the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, pitches a cinematic curve ball like nothing that I have seen in recent memory. Most of Black Narcissus plays out exactly in the way that a modern viewer might expect of a grandiose British film that features thematic undercurrents concerning imperialism, codes of conduct, and suppressed desires. When the final third of this film suddenly veers into German expressionist horror and classic Universal horror territory, however, we realize that the rigid splendor of the earlier scenes are all the more brilliant in their misdirection.

Black Narcissus was released more than a decade before the publication of Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel, The Haunting of Hill House, and the subsequent 1963 adaptation, The Haunting. I cannot help wondering if Shirley Jackson was thinking of Black Narcissus when she penned her tale of a vulnerably disturbed woman whose psyche gradually unravels upon her arrival at a mansion with a dark past. The setting of Black Narcissus, a gorgeous harem palace atop a remote mountain in the Himalayas that Anglican nuns wish to convert to a convent community, is nowhere near as ominous as the mansion that Shirley Jackson would later describe in her novel, but the location has a similar effect of reminding us that ambitious wishes of people to change the culture and aura of a physical place can often result in the corrosion of their own psychological armor. As the nuns, led by the radiant Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr), encounter misinterpretation of their benevolent intentions by the locals, physical illness reactions to their new home, distractions to their duties by way of the very beauty of their surroundings, and unexpected sexual tensions brought about by the presence of memorable male characters, we sense that the clean natural air and the plethora of colorful exuberance of the palace will not easily be transformed into an establishment befitting of concentration and devout work ethic. Without revealing too much of the outcome, I will go so far as to say that I cannot possibly imagine a better double feature movie night than the pairing of Black Narcissus and The Haunting. Of course, Black Narcissus, based on a novel by Rumer Godden, may have very well subtly drawn several of its own cues from Joseph Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness.

Many viewers may find certain aspects of the production of Black Narcissus to give the movie a forced feel by today's standards. We have a Pinewood Studios location standing in as the gorgeous mountaintop convent by way of matte paintings and ingenious camera work, we have a handful of Caucasian actors portraying India locals, and we have a few obvious imperialist allegories, such as a child character teaching the English names of warfare instruments to a class. In my eyes, however, these aspects of Black Narcissus only serve to strengthen the film's underlying themes about the struggle of trying to mold external surroundings to fit our own rigid value systems.

Black Narcissus, with all its Technicolor wonder, looks ravishing on this Criterion Blu-ray. The mountaintop convent looks believable down to every detail. One unforgettable moment with a character applying lipstick is presented in sharp close-ups to give us one of the most unnerving, but incredibly erotic, sequences in cinema. The generous supplements shed light on the fascinating story of the production of Black Narcissus, and demonstrate the film's influence on filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, whose appreciation of this movie can be sensed in almost every frame of his own underrated 2010 movie, Shutter Island.