The Criterion Collection

[LeoneFan]

I just need 3 more films to have all the Criterion Blu-rays released up to now. Of course until next month's releases come out.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Brian81

Does the Criterion website do 50% off sales periodically?

I'm curious about this...

February and September

[Edward J Grug III]

Oof - The AV Club did not care for Babette's Feast...

[Brian81]

Originally Posted by iScottie

February and September

Thanks.

[The Great Owl]

The Double Life of Veronique looks beautiful on Blu-ray. My old Criterion DVD looked great as well, but colors stand out more in high definition. I just finished watching the film and am now listening to the commentary track in the background as I work on the computer (I do this quite often with these Criterion titles.).

I pick up new clues every time I watch the movie, but I'll never have an all-encompassing epiphany where everything snaps together. I'll write a more extensive analysis tomorrow.

For now, there seem to be parallels in this film to our questions about our own lives, and about whether life is supposed to have some grand, all-encompassing meaning in the way that a cohesive Hollywood movie or novel might have. Like Veronique, we seem to follow clues under the assumption that these clues are all specifically about us, but we realize as we grow older that we are not special and that the puzzle pieces presented by our surroundings are not all about us and our personal fulfillment.

[Show spoiler]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAi0YC_L5a8

This does not necessarily mean that life is not awesome and beautiful. It's just not all about us.

[Visco.]

Martha Marcy May Marlene. This film was so good its left me speechless...until now. Beautifully filmed, near perfect performances, and a very emotional story. This film hit every note for me. I loved Martha's character. She was able to express her trauma and paranoia in such a subtle way. She didn't overact one bit. The only flaw I noticed was how abrupt the ending was. Can someone give me a small explanation?

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Visco.

Martha Marcy May Marlene. This film was so good its left me speechless...until now. Beautifully filmed, near perfect performances, and a very emotional story. This film hit every note for me. I loved Martha's character. She was able to express her trauma and paranoia in such a subtle way. She didn't overact one bit. The only flaw I noticed was how abrupt the ending was. Can someone give me a small explanation?

The ending is perfect:

[Show spoiler]its purposefully ambiguous as that aptly describes her mentality. It's more about the paranoia than the actual threat. Whether it is real or not, the important thing to note is that she is always looking behind her shoulder. "We don't know because she doesn't know"

The ending hit me like a ton of bricks in the theater. Just a great ending to a great movie.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Visco.

Martha Marcy May Marlene. This film was so good its left me speechless...until now. Beautifully filmed, near perfect performances, and a very emotional story. This film hit every note for me. I loved Martha's character. She was able to express her trauma and paranoia in such a subtle way. She didn't overact one bit. The only flaw I noticed was how abrupt the ending was. Can someone give me a small explanation?

[Show spoiler]The ending does not give the viewer an easy way out. Martha will spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder after the traumatic events of her association with the cult, and she will associate random sights with her past. We do not find out if there is any significance associated with the images in the conclusion, so we experience the same uncertainty and ambiguity that Martha will experience forever after.

I rented Martha Marcy May Marlene when it was first available for rental. I really enjoyed it, but want to give it some time before I decide to purchase it and/or watch it again. It's a cool film.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

The ending is perfect:

[Show spoiler]its purposefully ambiguous as that aptly describes her mentality. It's more about the paranoia than the actual threat. Whether it is real or not, the important thing to note is that she is always looking behind her shoulder. "We don't know because she doesn't know"

The ending hit me like a ton of bricks in the theater. Just a great ending to a great movie.

Looks like you beat me by a few seconds, but great minds think alike.

[shamus]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

Because they stick out like a sore thumb when placed next to the regular cases and crease up easily. Plus, well, they're just ugly.

Are you making custom slips for your replacement cases?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jw007

You are going to love the high definition version of TDLOV! Be prepared to be swept away into a vivid, watery dream (Kieślowski was indeed a water sign too - Cancer).

That's a good way to put it. I love the way that Kieślowski tinkers around with images to shake up how we see the world in the film. The opening sequence, with the upside-down perspective, the skewed perspective of looking through the bus window, and the reflection of passing objects through a glass ball...these things are all fascinating in a cinematography sense.

These skewed images also reflect how Veronique sees herself with relation to the world, just as we all see ourselves with relation to the world. More on that later, when I'm not sleepy...


I'll add that I'm happy that The Double Life of Veronique Blu-ray comes in the standard plastic case. That big cardboard DVD edition was pretty clunky.
Three Colors Trilogy still comes in the cardboard, though.

It seems that I have the first pressing of Three Colors: White, so I'll send an email to Criterion.
Since I'm not set up with surround sound at present, I doubt that I'll notice any difference, so I'll revisit the film with the others this week as I see them on Blu-ray for the first time, but then mail mine off so that I can get a future-proof Three Colors: White that will hold up with any system that I own later on.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Looks like you beat me by a few seconds, but great minds think alike.

Yeah, it's an ambiguous ending that actually works. For example, I think Shame's reveals too little, but I think this one is just right.

In general, I am a fan of ambiguous/anticlimactic endings.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

In general, I am a fan of ambiguous/anticlimactic endings.

I like these as well if they make sense in context to the rest of the film.

On an amusing note, I love watching the audience reactions to ambiguous endings in the theater when I happen to enjoy the film. I walked out of the theater with a big smile after No Country for Old Men and The Grey, for instance, but all of the other people in the theater were grumbling and demanding their money back.

When it comes to beautiful ambiguity, I'm going to go with Andrey Zvyagintsev's The Return for the win.
It's frustrating not to know, but that film was a wonderful journey nonetheless, and the conclusion perfectly fit the tone of the story.
I wish that Criterion would pick up this title or, at the very least, I wish that Kino would upgrade it to Blu-ray.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

The ending is perfect:

[Show spoiler]its purposefully ambiguous as that aptly describes her mentality. It's more about the paranoia than the actual threat. Whether it is real or not, the important thing to note is that she is always looking behind her shoulder. "We don't know because she doesn't know"

The ending hit me like a ton of bricks in the theater. Just a great ending to a great movie.

The ending is my favorite part of the film

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I like these as well if they make sense in context to the rest of the film.

On an amusing note, I love watching the audience reactions to ambiguous endings in the theater when I happen to enjoy the film. I walked out of the theater with a big smile after No Country for Old Men and The Grey, for instance, but all of the other people in the theater were grumbling and demanding their money back.

When it comes to beautiful ambiguity, I'm going to go with Andrey Zvyagintsev's The Return for the win.
It's frustrating not to know, but that film was a wonderful journey nonetheless, and the conclusion perfectly fit the tone of the story.
I wish that Criterion would pick up this title or, at the very least, I wish that Kino would upgrade it to Blu-ray.

During the credits, Someone behind me deemed MMMM the worst film they had ever seen.

I k is everybody hates this film here, but the "rewind" at the end of Savages made everybody, and I mean everybody, groan in unison. It was worth the $6.75 and then some just because of that

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

The ending is my favorite part of the film

I take it the film went from a ten to an eleven

[Visco.]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

The ending is perfect:

[Show spoiler]its purposefully ambiguous as that aptly describes her mentality. It's more about the paranoia than the actual threat. Whether it is real or not, the important thing to note is that she is always looking behind her shoulder. "We don't know because she doesn't know"

The ending hit me like a ton of bricks in the theater. Just a great ending to a great movie.

That was a perfect explanation. Thank you.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Visco.

That was a perfect explanation. Thank you.

It's been two years since I've seen it, but boy! I probably could have turned in 1000 words on that ending back then. I dwelled on it for days afterwards.

Also, MMMM should have been nominated for best editing. Weaving everything so fluidly must have been quite the task.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I k is everybody hates this film here, but the "rewind" at the end of Savages made everybody, and I mean everybody, groan in unison. It was worth the $6.75 and then some just because of that

I'm not a huge fan of that movie in general, but the ending cracked me up. I wish that I had seen it in the theater just to gauge audience reactions.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm not a huge fan of that movie in general, but the ending cracked me up. I wish that I had seen it in the theater just to gauge audience reactions.

(The first bit is supposed to say "I know")

Yeah, I would have say through "Extremely Loud" again if it had a similar ending. It sounded like 90% of the audience was audible with their chagrin.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Yeah, I would have say through "Extremely Loud" again if it had a similar ending. It sounded like 90% of the audience was audible with their chagrin.

I have not had any inclination to see Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I may be imposing an unfair prejudgement on the film, but the previews that I've seen make it look like unbearable grief porn. I'm all cool with post-9/11 films that bring something to the table, but nothing about the previews for that film piqued my curiosity.