The Criterion Collection

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Hello everyone,

Reviews of The Earrings of Madame de... and To Be or Not to Be coming up today.

1. The latter you can pre-order with confidence. The transfer is beautiful, from the same restoration the Canal release used.

2. The former I would like to suggest that you rent first before considering a purchase. The transfer is problematic.

Our reviews will be up shortly.

Pro-B

Why is it that my most anticipated releases habe problematic transfers? Last year it was Children of Paradise, this year it is Madame De.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Why is it that my most anticipated releases habe problematic transfers? Last year it was Children of Paradise, this year it is Madame De.

i thought the same about "ice storm"


criterion movie wish:

i wish criterion would do a digipak like seven samurai for the mizoguchi movie 47 ronin.

[Yami]

Criterion do have the rights to Mizoguchi's The 47 Ronin so I wouldn't be surprised to see them release it soon in order to capitalise on the Keanu Reeves film.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by Yami

Criterion do have the rights to Mizoguchi's The 47 Ronin so I wouldn't be surprised to see them release it soon in order to capitalise on the Keanu Reeves film.

that would be awesome. everything ive seen from mizoguchi so far was awesome.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by sc1957

I order online, but I also enjoy going into the store to browse. I always check out their new book release displays and history section, and usually wander through the magazine racks looking for the latest Sky & Telescope, Smithsonian, or Wired. I much prefer picking up a book or magazine and handling it to just reading an online synopsis.

I would miss the brick and mortar stores if they closed. I have to drive quite a distance out of my normal route from work to reach a bookstore nowadays, so I appreciate what's left.

Something I've noticed... the last three times I've been in to B&N to look at Blu-rays, the clerk in that section (different clerks) has been occupied with someone (usually an older lady) who's having Kindle trouble (usually related to some app she downloaded). So I guess the clerk assigned there gets to do Kindle tech support, too. Seems like they'd leave that to the clerk who's trying to sell their Kindles. I've always been very patient about waiting for the clerk to be free, but these tech support sessions do take a lot of time.

All of the Barnes & Nobles locations in my area have a big tech support counter for the Nooks (B&N version of Kindle) right as people walk in the door, so nobody gets past if they have tech questions about the devices and the ebooks.

I would truly miss the brick and mortar Barnes & Noble stores if they went missing. There's one within walking distance from my apartment, there are several others in metro Atlanta, and their absence would cause a tear in the fabric of the civilized intellectualism that holds us together. I'm glad to support them by buying Blu-rays at the locations, and, despite my above comment, I do buy books there from time to time.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

i thought the same about "ice storm"


criterion movie wish:

i wish criterion would do a digipak like seven samurai for the mizoguchi movie 47 ronin.

We should start a "Criterion botched transfers" Support Group. Max Ophuls deserves better.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

We should start a "Criterion botched transfers" Support Group. Max Ophuls deserves better.

A whole lot of people got their butts in a blender about the framing of Three Colors: Blue. I personally did not notice anything wrong, other than the presence of a microphone that I would not have noticed had it not been brought to my attention in the Three Colors Trilogy thread when I revisited the movie this past week.

Criterion made a good case for the framing in their official explanation, so I'm happy with their answer and I'm happy with the movie.

In my humble opinion, this should be sort of a character litmus test for dudes.

[Show spoiler]

If you notice Juliette Binoche on the screen, then you get to keep your man card.
If you notice the tiny microphone on the top of the screen, then your man card is revoked.

Okay, I'm only kidding about the character litmus test, but my point stands.

[Wotan420]

I'll miss my store if it closes but if/when it does it won't be any surprise. The location B&N is in now used to be a Borders... that went well. There was another bookstore close by that also closed, and then re-opened as a Books-a-Million. I can't see either lasting if the previous owners didn't.

And the store a half hour from me when I went there, was impressed by the walled off media section, but I was the only one back there for the 20 minutes or so I browsed through everything.

Will be a sad day when they close, I ordered a few criterions from the amazon sale and 2 came damaged. Can't beat going to a store and walking out with what you want.

[Abdrewes]

I'll still watch Blue, it's my favorite in the trilogy, but lopping any part of the image is completely unacceptable: a crime against cinema.

If theyre so dead on doing so, maybe they can redo Ben Hur in 1.5:1?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I'll still watch Blue, it's my favorite in the trilogy, but lopping any part of the image is completely unacceptable: a crime against cinema.

I never did get around to writing an actual review of the Three Colors Trilogy box set, although I had a blast watching it this weekend. I just couldn't think of anything original to bring to the table, and any summation from me would merely amount to "These movies are really awesome." It's pretty amazing how many people have tried to duplicate the approach in films like 21 Grams and such, though.

Red is my favorite of the trilogy by a considerable margin, Blue is my second favorite, and White, although it is an outstanding film on its own terms, just happens to be my least favorite. You cannot go wrong with any of the films, though.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I never did get around to writing an actual review of the Three Colors Trilogy box set, although I had a blast watching it this weekend. I just couldn't think of anything original to bring to the table, and any summation from me would merely amount to "These movies are really awesome." It's pretty amazing how many people have tried to duplicate the approach in films like 21 Grams and such, though.

Red is my favorite of the trilogy by a considerable margin, Blue is my second favorite, and White, although it is an outstanding film on its own terms, just happens to be my least favorite. You cannot go wrong with any of the films, though.

It is amazing. It's also amazing how disastrous the results tends to be. They just don't have the touch and control that Kieslowski had.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I never did get around to writing an actual review of the Three Colors Trilogy box set, although I had a blast watching it this weekend.

maybe you could still write something about the movies. really enjoy your reviews cuz they dont spoil the story of the movies.
i probably will get these 3 in the next B&N sale.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

It is amazing. It's also amazing how disastrous the results tends to be. They just don't have the touch and control that Kieslowski had.

21 Grams is pretty great, man. Far from disastrous.

[Namuhana]

So, I caved and I used the "Pick Me Up" feature from B&N and I put a hold on On the Waterfront. It's a great movie, and $24.99 is a pretty good deal on a two-disc BD set. I'll hopefully head on over to B&N later today, though I'll have to wait to watch the film as I have 8 other films that I borrowed from my local library that I still need to watch (all Criterion titles, coincidentally). I don't think I'll be disappointed.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

21 Grams is pretty great, man. Far from disastrous.

I'm not a fan of any of his films. I wouldn't say that film is disastrous (though I certainly wouldn't say it's great), but I would say Babel is pretty much a disaster.

It's tricky to pull off that "we're all connected" design without seeming cheap and manipulative (eh hem, Crash.)

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

I'm not a fan of any of his films. I wouldn't say that film is disastrous (though I certainly wouldn't say it's great), but I would say Babel is pretty much a disaster.

It's tricky to pull off that "we're all connected" design without seeming cheap and manipulative (eh hem, Crash.)

His other three films are more solid mood pieces than anything else, but Babel is one one of my favorite films from the aughts. I think it probes much deeper than similarly naive films such as Crash. I don't think of the film as anything less deep than, Malick for example. Inaritu just uses more literal means to illustrate his point, whereas Malick's comes through in the contrastive imagery and elliptical cutting.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

I'm not a fan of any of his films. I wouldn't say that film is disastrous (though I certainly wouldn't say it's great), but I would say Babel is pretty much a disaster.

It's tricky to pull off that "we're all connected" design without seeming cheap and manipulative (eh hem, Crash.)

I didn't really like 21 Grams. I thought it was somewhat well-executed and the acting was great, but I wasn't a fan of the subject matter at all.

In general, I'm not really a big fan of the whole forced interconnectedness thing in films. Not only is it unnecessary (with the exceptions of Down By Law, Magnolia, and Traffic), but I also find it to be more of a two-hour guessing game in how they're connected than anything else.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I didn't really like 21 Grams. I thought it was somewhat well-executed and the acting was great, but I wasn't a fan of the subject matter at all.

In general, I'm not really a big fan of the whole forced interconnectedness thing in films. Not only is it unnecessary (with the exceptions of Down By Law, Magnolia, and Traffic), but I also find it to be more of a two-hour guessing game in how they're connected than anything else.

Again, see Babel, Short Cuts, Intolerance and Nashville.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

His other three films are more solid mood pieces than anything else, but Babel is one one of my favorite films from the aughts. I think it probes much deeper than similarly naive films such as Crash. I don't think of the film as anything less deep than, Malick for example. Inaritu just uses more literal means to illustrate his point, whereas Malick's comes through in the contrastive imagery and elliptical cutting.

Yeah, we obviously disagree strongly here (which often seems to be the case.) At best his work, for me, is sloppiness with some fine acting. His worst boils down to results that are laughable with their preposterous conclusions.

Not sure what Malick has to do with this.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I didn't really like 21 Grams. I thought it was somewhat well-executed and the acting was great, but I wasn't a fan of the subject matter at all.

In general, I'm not really a big fan of the whole forced interconnectedness thing in films. Not only is it unnecessary (with the exceptions of Down By Law, Magnolia, and Traffic), but I also find it to be more of a two-hour guessing game in how they're connected than anything else.

Agreed. Stay away from Babel. It's the worst offender of them all, I think.

I do recommend checking out Short Cuts if you liked Magnolia, though. Who knows. Maybe Criterion will release it sometime soon. We need more Altman.