The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

Any favorites/suggestions?

Seven Samurai
The Lady Vanishes
12 Angry Men
Safety Last!
M

Tough to pick, though, because they're all fine titles. I cannot wait until Eyes Without a Face is upgraded to Blu-ray, because I love it, and the rest of you are going to love it as well.

[vader4]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

I'm the worst decision maker ever, so I was wondering whether or not anyone could help me. I'm planning on getting a couple of Blu-rays during the next B&N sale, and I was wondering if anyone could help choose five or so titles from the following list. I've seen all of them except for Sweet Smell of Success and Videodrome, but they both look like great titles.

Seven Samurai (2)
The Lady Vanishes (3)
M (30)
Lord of the Flies (43)
Autumn Sonata (60)
Orpheus (68)
Wild Strawberries (139)
Band of Outsiders (174)
Videodrome (248)
Eyes Without a Face (260)
The Double Life of Véronique (359)
Repulsion (438)
Bottle Rocket (450)
The Secret of the Grain (527)
The Magician (537)
The Darjeeling Limited (540)
Antichrist (542)
Modern Times (543)
Cronos (551)
Sweet Smell of Success (555)
12 Angry Men (591)
Tiny Furniture (597)
Anatomy of a Murder (600)
Summer with Monika (614)
The Gold Rush (615)
Eating Raoul (625)
Rosemary’s Baby (630)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (643)
On the Waterfront (647)
Safety Last! (662)

Any favorites/suggestions?

You can't go wrong with Seven Samurai
Wild Strawberries is a great existential film from Bergman
Videodrome is a personal favorite, though I wouldn't recommend blind buying it as it divides people
The Darjeeling Limited might be good to break up the serious with a little comedy
Finally, Antichrist is one of only two Von Trier on blu-ray and I really like most of his films (only two I'm not really big on)

Those are just my personal suggestions from a lite Criterion collector. Can't go wrong with any of iScottie's, Abdrewes', or The Great Owl's suggestions either though.

[Kevin Ridge]

La Jetee / Sans Soleil is my weakest Criterion blind buy to date. A tough watch overall. Finished the night watching High and Low which I really enjoyed though.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

I'm the worst decision maker ever, so I was wondering whether or not anyone could help me. I'm planning on getting a couple of Blu-rays during the next B&N sale, and I was wondering if anyone could help choose five or so titles from the following list. I've seen all of them except for Sweet Smell of Success and Videodrome, but they both look like great titles.

Seven Samurai (2)
The Lady Vanishes (3)
M (30)
Lord of the Flies (43)
Autumn Sonata (60)
Orpheus (68)
Wild Strawberries (139)
Band of Outsiders (174)
Videodrome (248)
Eyes Without a Face (260)
The Double Life of Véronique (359)
Repulsion (438)
Bottle Rocket (450)
The Secret of the Grain (527)
The Magician (537)
The Darjeeling Limited (540)
Antichrist (542)
Modern Times (543)
Cronos (551)
Sweet Smell of Success (555)
12 Angry Men (591)
Tiny Furniture (597)
Anatomy of a Murder (600)
Summer with Monika (614)
The Gold Rush (615)
Eating Raoul (625)
Rosemary’s Baby (630)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (643)
On the Waterfront (647)
Safety Last! (662)

Any favorites/suggestions?

I've bolded my favorites, but I don't really get your question. You're asking for recommendations on films you've already seen? Why not just get the five you enjoyed most?

[jw007]

This was my 7th haul today!

3 titles this time around...I've got nearly everything I wanted for now.

The Devil's Backbone (BD) ($16.32 + tax)
Wild Strawberries (BD) ($16.32 + tax)
Bottle Rocket (BD) ($16.33 + tax)

Yes, amazingly I never managed to ever come around to buying Bottle Rocket, but now I did.

With the $5/50 coupon, I was in good shape again. This was my only haul so far where I only bought 3 titles instead of 4.

[starman15317]

Originally Posted by jw007

This was my 7th haul today!

3 titles this time around...I've got nearly everything I wanted for now.

The Devil's Backbone (BD) ($16.32 + tax)
Wild Strawberries (BD) ($16.32 + tax)
Bottle Rocket (BD) ($16.33 + tax)

Yes, amazingly I never managed to ever come around to buying Bottle Rocket, but now I did.

With the $5/50 coupon, I was in good shape again. This was my only haul so far where I only bought 3 titles instead of 4.

And you thought I was going to be competition. (I only bought 2 titles online).

[jw007]

Originally Posted by starman15317

And you thought I was going to be competition. (I only bought 2 titles online).

Yes, I seriously had no competition in this sale. Good stuff!

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by jw007

Yes, I seriously had no competition in this sale. Good stuff!

Nothing like winning a race with no other contestants. You shoulda seen me back in November 2011: I bought atleast $1100 worth of Criterions

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Nothing like winning a race with no other contestants. You shoulda seen me back in November 2011: I bought atleast $1100 worth of Criterions

Gosh, you must be wealthy to afford so many Criterions... I'm glad I still have restraint in me.

[silentblu]

Finally got around to the sale.

Knew I needed Safety Last!. Then kind of blanked on anything else but ended up getting Summer Interlude and Summer with Monika. Also the Pierre Etaix Collection.

On a different note...When did Criterion start changing some of the cover art? The ones I can think of right now were Charade and Umberto D.

[jrsl76]

Originally Posted by silentblu

Finally got around to the sale.

Knew I needed Safety Last!. Then kind of blanked on anything else but ended up getting Summer Interlude and Summer with Monika. Also the Pierre Etaix Collection.

On a different note...When did Criterion start changing some of the cover art? The ones I can think of right now were Charade and Umberto D.

Criterion usually only changes the cover of a film if it's a substantial redo of the original disc and the original disc is taken out of circulation.

The only situation that I can immediately think of that isn't like this is Charade which had a 1st print Non Anamorphic DVD and an Anamorphic DVD with the same cover which replaced it. When it was upgraded to Blu-ray, the cover changed.

Of course, most older titles for Criterion have at least a small change when upgrading to Blu-ray as their old CC banner is replaced with the wacky C.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by Namuhana View Post
I'm the worst decision maker ever, so I was wondering whether or not anyone could help me. I'm planning on getting a couple of Blu-rays during the next B&N sale, and I was wondering if anyone could help choose five or so titles from the following list. I've seen all of them except for Sweet Smell of Success and Videodrome, but they both look like great titles.

you cant go wrong with seven samurai ! awesome package.

and you should get the german edition of M , comes from a newer restoration and has a second audio track.

[Atreyu]

Just watched Lord Of the Flies a couple of days ago and the PQ blew me away.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

What's a good P&P film to get started with ? Blimp, The Red Shoes, or Black Narcissus?

If you're talking about what's on Blu, I'd go for Black Narcissus, with its stunning Jack Cardiff cinematography (just picked up the BD this weekend in the B&N Criterion sale -- already had it on Criterion LD and DVD). I also like Blimp quite a bit.

The Red Shoes is visually stunning (again, Cardiff provided the camera-ey goodness), but it's not one I care to watch much. I find ballet soporific.

For (Criterion) DVDs, I'd recommend I Know Where I'm Going, and for solo Powell 49th Parallel and, most especially, Peeping Tom.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

I'm the worst decision maker ever, so I was wondering whether or not anyone could help me. I'm planning on getting a couple of Blu-rays during the next B&N sale, and I was wondering if anyone could help choose five or so titles from the following list. I've seen all of them except for Sweet Smell of Success and Videodrome, but they both look like great titles.

Of the list you provide, these are the five I'd choose (assuming I didn't already have them):

Seven Samurai (2)
M (30)
The Double Life of Véronique (359)
Cronos (551)
12 Angry Men (591)

[UNCMT9]

Originally Posted by jayembee

If you're talking about what's on Blu, I'd go for Black Narcissus, with its stunning Jack Cardiff cinematography (just picked up the BD this weekend in the B&N Criterion sale -- already had it on Criterion LD and DVD). I also like Blimp quite a bit.

The Red Shoes is visually stunning (again, Cardiff provided the camera-ey goodness), but it's not one I care to watch much. I find ballet soporific.

For (Criterion) DVDs, I'd recommend I Know Where I'm Going, and for solo Powell 49th Parallel and, most especially, Peeping Tom.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm going to pick up Black Narcissus.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jw007

Gosh, you must be wealthy to afford so many Criterions... I'm glad I still have restraint in me.

Well, I still have some restraint, since my wife and I are on a single income. Still, I managed to pick up more in the current Criterion sale than I have in previous ones. I got them over three weekends:

First weekend: David Lean Directs Noel Coward

Second weekend: Fanny and Alexander, Smiles of a Summer Night, Wild Strawberries, and Sansho the Bailiff

Third weekend: Black Narcissus, Black Orpheus, Ivan's Childhood, and The Devil's Backbone

Funny, it didn't register with me until I was looking at it after I got home, that The Devil's Backbone is spine #666.

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

I've bolded my favorites, but I don't really get your question. You're asking for recommendations on films you've already seen? Why not just get the five you enjoyed most?

Because I've enjoyed them all (sans the two that I've yet to see), and I have a hard time making decisions.

Thank you all for your suggestions!

[UNCMT9]

I'm limiting myself to 5 titles this sale. So far, I'm thinking:

Yojimbo, Double Life of Veronique, Black Narcissus, Wages of Fear, and the 400 Blows or Devil's Backbone. Can't decide.

[Kevin Holly]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Nothing like winning a race with no other contestants. You shoulda seen me back in November 2011: I bought atleast $1100 worth of Criterions

Amazing. My entire Blu-Ray collection is worth marginally more than that, I would imagine.