The Criterion Collection

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by nametag

Cool, sounds like Summer Interlude is a good next step, though I really should watch Seventh Seal again, I hardly remember any of it. The only one I had a bit of trouble with was Cries and Whispers, had some great moments but didn't grab me like the others.

Cries and Whispers was the first Bergman film I'd ever seen, back when it was first released. I thought the cinematography was breathtaking, but the story and characters left me cold. I wrote off Bergman as being overpraised.

Sometime in the early 90s, after noticing how many terrific films Criterion was releasing on laserdisc, I decided to start collecting the run (never did get a complete set). In the process, I started to watch several Bergmans, and fell in love with them. Rewatching Cries and Whispers, my opinion of it went up, though it still isn't among my favorite Bergmans.

Smiles of a Summer Night was the first of the Criterion Bergman LDs I tried (I chose it primarily because I enjoyed Woody Allen's pastiche of it, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy), and it turned my feelings about Bergman completely around. It's still my favorite Bergman.

[SammyJankis]

Cries and Whispers is among the must successful films dealing with death ever made. It's top tier stuff.

That is all.

[The Great Owl]

Three Colors: Red looks astounding in high definition. Having seen all three movies on DVD before, I think that this third film is the one with the most noticeable improvement on Blu-ray. Good that my favorite movie of the three also looks the best, but I also expected as such.

[White Dang]

Off of the normal CC path, all you Criterion aficionados should check out Bullhead if haven't yet. It's on Netflix I believe and it's got a great presentation from Drafthouse Films.

I'm really surprised that autographed set isn't sold out on the website. If I wasn't so poor right now I would be all over it.

http://drafthousefilms.com/film/bullhead

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by White Dang

Off of the normal CC path, all you Criterion aficionados should check out Bullhead if haven't yet. It's on Netflix I believe and it's got a great presentation from Drafthouse Films.

I'm really surprised that autographed set isn't sold out on the website. If I wasn't so poor right now I would be all over it.

http://drafthousefilms.com/film/bullhead

I own the Blu-ray, I just haven't gotten around to watch it yet.

I think I paid a little over $10, so I'm pretty content with the price I spent on it. If I didn't own it (and saw it / enjoyed it beforehand), I'd probably buy the autographed set, as that's a pretty good price for all of that stuff.

[White Dang]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I own the Blu-ray, I just haven't gotten around to watch it yet.

I think I paid a little over $10, so I'm pretty content with the price I spent on it. If I didn't own it (and saw it / enjoyed it beforehand), I'd probably buy the autographed set, as that's a pretty good price for all of that stuff.

It's a great deal.

I became an immediate fan of the lead and the director immediately, though I believe this is their best work at this point.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by White Dang

It's a great deal.

I became an immediate fan of the lead and the director immediately, though I believe this is their best work at this point.

Great movie!

Have you seen Rust & Bone yet?

[White Dang]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Great movie!

Have you seen Rust & Bone yet?

Yes I did, and I did enjoy it, but it wasn't as great as I was hoping. It's one of those where the trailer feels better than the sum of the film. But again, really enjoyed Schoenaerts

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by White Dang

Yes I did, and I did enjoy it, but it wasn't as great as I was hoping. It's one of those where the trailer feels better than the sum of the film. But again, really enjoyed Schoenaerts

I thought it was very great! However, I need to watch it again to verify my theory on how the narrative and cutting patterns meld is correct...

[nametag]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Cries and Whispers was the first Bergman film I'd ever seen, back when it was first released. I thought the cinematography was breathtaking, but the story and characters left me cold. I wrote off Bergman as being overpraised.

Sometime in the early 90s, after noticing how many terrific films Criterion was releasing on laserdisc, I decided to start collecting the run (never did get a complete set). In the process, I started to watch several Bergmans, and fell in love with them. Rewatching Cries and Whispers, my opinion of it went up, though it still isn't among my favorite Bergmans.

Smiles of a Summer Night was the first of the Criterion Bergman LDs I tried (I chose it primarily because I enjoyed Woody Allen's pastiche of it, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy), and it turned my feelings about Bergman completely around. It's still my favorite Bergman.

Interesting to hear. I can definitely see his films rewarding repeated viewings very much, I'm dying to see Persona again particularly and would love that to get a CC release at some point.

[zkirkland]

I am having a hard time deciding the second of my Criterion choice as I'm only getting two this time. I'm definitely getting Night of the Hunter but other than that, I'm stumped.

I think I'm down to:

Bigger Than Life
Badlands (never seen)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Kiss Me Deadly (never seen)

[dannyfriar]

Originally Posted by zkirkland

I am having a hard time deciding the second of my Criterion choice as I'm only getting two this time. I'm definitely getting Night of the Hunter but other than that, I'm stumped.

I think I'm down to:

Bigger Than Life
Badlands (never seen)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Kiss Me Deadly (never seen)

I'm currently watching Kiss Me Deadly, and it is good so far.

[zkirkland]

Originally Posted by dannyfriar

I'm currently watching Kiss Me Deadly, and it is good so far.

I like film noirs so I might get it. All the reviews make it seem like a good blind buy

[Hypnosifl]

Originally Posted by jw007

It is possible. I will watch it again probably...its a shame the supplements don't run on my Blu-ray player. Those region-free players are like $250+ so I can't really afford those. I'd rather have a great Region A player than a mediocre Region-free player that plays all types of releases, ya know?

You can get one for $139 at 220-electronics.com, I got my region-free player from them (after seeing others on this site recommend them) and it's been working perfectly for me.

By the way, what's the difference between a "great" player and a non-great one? Maybe I'm missing something, but since the signals it's sending to the TV/sound system are digital, doesn't any working player send the same series of 1's and 0's to them, so visual and audio quality is determined by the TV and sound system rather than the player? I guess there's the issue of how well it upconverts DVDs, but that's not a big deal to me.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Hypnosifl

You can get one for $139 at 220-electronics.com, I got my region-free player from them (after seeing others on this site recommend them) and it's been working perfectly for me.

By the way, what's the difference between a "great" player and a non-great one? Maybe I'm missing something, but since the signals it's sending to the TV/sound system are digital, doesn't any working player send the same series of 1's and 0's to them, so visual and audio quality is determined by the TV and sound system rather than the player? I guess there's the issue of how well it upconverts DVDs, but that's not a big deal to me.

A great player = OPPO BDP-105
A good player = Sony BDP S5100

The differences are night and day. The OPPO above is an audiophile/videophile's dream come true. It also essentially replaces a receiver since it has top notch digital to analog audio outputs and the latest Dolby TrueHD and future 4k upscaling features.

The player can make a big difference and in the case of the OPPO 105, its a MAJOR difference if you compared to an entry level LG, Sony or Toshiba player.

Here's one article on the OPPO 105 player that I found: http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazin...hapter_160.htm

It basically retails for $1,200 but it is potentially the only thing you'd ever need if you want to play your music and watch blu-rays in the highest quality imaginable.

If anyone wants to buy me one, I'll be your best friend for life. Ha.

[jw007]

And I think I'll pass on any region-free player after reading about the Oppo 105 player. It's nearly perfect.

Do any of you Criterion collectors in this forum own one of these?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jw007

And I think I'll pass on any region-free player after reading about the Oppo 105 player. It's nearly perfect.

Do any of you Criterion collectors in this forum own one of these?

Nope.

My Blu-ray player is a Samsung that I bought for $70 at a Best Buy Christmas sale. So far, it works like a charm.

I have no past Blu-ray player experience from which to base my opinion, but everything looks awesome to my eyes on my player. If something ever does happen to it, then, hey, it was only $70.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by jw007

And I think I'll pass on any region-free player after reading about the Oppo 105 player. It's nearly perfect.

Do any of you Criterion collectors in this forum own one of these?

I dunno, I think I'd rather actually watch region B discs on a fifty dollar Insignia or Seiki than read about watching them on a twelve hundred dollar Oppo 105.

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by octagon

I dunno, I think I'd rather actually watch region B discs on a fifty dollar Insignia or Seiki than read about watching them on a twelve hundred dollar Oppo 105.

There are a fair amount of cheap DVD players, and I think probably a few Blu-ray players that are Region 1 / Region A locked, but will still play PAL DVDs and PAL Blu-ray content if the discs are region-free. The problem is, they are not advertised that way, so you never know until you get one. I forget now whether or not my Insignia could play PAL content on Blu-rays before I learned how to make it multi-region.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Blu-Velvet

There are a fair amount of cheap DVD players, and I think probably a few Blu-ray players that are Region 1 / Region A locked, but will still play PAL DVDs and PAL Blu-ray content if the discs are region-free. The problem is, they are not advertised that way, so you never know until you get one. I forget now whether or not my Insignia could play PAL content on Blu-rays before I learned how to make it multi-region.

I have both the Insignia BRDVD4 and the Seiki 212S and they both seem to handle 1080i/50 material without any problems.

The Insignia is great, I was actually able to watch the UK Sherlock Series 2 BDs on a rear projection 1080i Sony CRT. My Sony (360, I think) couldn't even output anything and my LG (no idea what the model is offhand) could output the 1080i/50 but didn't convert it to 60hz.

But the thirty dollar refurb cheapie from a Best Buy clearance sale spit it all out no problem.