The Criterion Collection

[Mansinthe]

sorry my mistake. was a DVD. ;(

i just startet to watch double life of veronique(free hulu). now thats a movie i liked right from the beginning !

should i get the criterion or the AE bluray.? looks like the criterion has a few more bonus features and the booklet of course. but AE has the better colors??

[SilentDawn]

I watched The Devil's Backbone last night for the first time.

It was very well-done, scary and highly enjoyable. It came into place as by third favorite Del Toro film behind Pan's Labyrinth and Pacific Rim. Even though The Devil's Backbone is a better film than Pacific Rim; PR is better entertainment IMO.

I really enjoyed the whole thing, it was a well-crafted and coheisive film that brought many chills up my backbone (pun intended) and also gave me much food for thought and social commentary to chew on.

Spoilers for The Devil's Backbone ahead:

[Show spoiler]I really enjoyed the final redemption and fight with the children at the end, I was actually cheering and extremely invested in the Characters by then. It was one of the best endings I have ever seen in a film. I also loved how you can go from being terrifying of Santi at first, to feel immense pity and sorrow for him. I had tears running down my face when the whole backstory of Santi was revealed.

I found the film even more disturbing than Pan's Labyrinth even though it isn't as Bloody, some of the characters were downright despicable. I found that the grim tone of the whole film made it even more chilling and grounded to reality and today's society as a whole.

Overall, I give The Devil's Backbone a 10/10. I found basically no flaws with the film and I fell in love with it as soon as the first shot came flashing on my TV.

The supplements with Del Toro included on the Blu-Ray disc are amazing, I could listen to him talk all day.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Thanks for sharing this review. I enjoyed reading about this movie from the perspective of someone new to the story.

Here's my own take on the conclusion of Lord of the Flies...

[Show spoiler]The movie implies that the men who rescue the boys are from a warship, given their navy uniforms. In this sense, I do not necessarily consider the ending to be happy in the strictest sense, because the boys are simply going from a small-scale war setting to a large-scale war setting. This conclusion reinforces the story's theme that war and conflict are inherent in humanity, and that humans will turn to any leader who promises a solution, regardless of how brutal that leader may turn out to be (Hitler, for example). The navy sailors provide a solution at the end, but it may not necessarily be a better solution.

My impression:

[Show spoiler]I was alway taken by the fact that these were innocent children at the start of the film. When they show Ralph, at the end scene, and then pan to the young sailors we realize that they (the sailors) are the children and that Ralph and the boys are so much older and have lost their innocent childhoods forever.

[Hexen]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

They just posted this trailer yesterday for the 25th anniversary edition they're putting out.
AKIRA - 25th Anniversary Edition - Coming Soon - Trailer - GEEK WEEK - YouTube

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! Akira isn't the best example of anime, because it's so different from what the industry has produced (especially back then), but it's a great film, glad FUNi's digging it out. I can't wait to revisit it.

Also, I had forgotten that Criterion had it at one time. I suppose this means DBZ: Battle of Gods isn't exempt. (Yeah...it is...)

Anyway, in my desperate attempt to increase my Criterion library (and obsession) and also finally take advantage of the B&N sale before it ends, I have given in and splurged for some titles. (Even though I kinda need a car more...) All are blind buys except for Being John Malkovich.

BDs:

- Medium Cool
- Kiss Me Deadly (I already like the Mike Hammer books so I suppose this isn't really a blind buy, but I haven't read Kiss Me Deadly, so)
- Being John Malkovich
- The Great Dictator

DVDs:

- Bad Timing
- White Dog

CAN'T. WAIT. I also have Kagemusha laying around, which I haven't watched yet, so I may get to that tonight.

[Danchez]

Originally Posted by SilentxStatik24

I watched The Devil's Backbone last night for the first time.

It was very well-done, scary and highly enjoyable. It came into place as by third favorite Del Toro film behind Pan's Labyrinth and Pacific Rim. Even though The Devil's Backbone is a better film than Pacific Rim; PR is better entertainment IMO.

I really enjoyed the whole thing, it was a well-crafted and coheisive film that brought many chills up my backbone (pun intended) and also gave me much food for thought and social commentary to chew on.

Spoilers for The Devil's Backbone ahead:

[Show spoiler]I really enjoyed the final redemption and fight with the children at the end, I was actually cheering and extremely invested in the Characters by then. It was one of the best endings I have ever seen in a film. I also loved how you can go from being terrifying of Santi at first, to feel immense pity and sorrow for him. I had tears running down my face when the whole backstory of Santi was revealed.

I found the film even more disturbing than Pan's Labyrinth even though it isn't as Bloody, some of the characters were downright despicable. I found that the grim tone of the whole film made it even more chilling and grounded to reality and today's society as a whole.

Overall, I give The Devil's Backbone a 10/10. I found basically no flaws with the film and I fell in love with it as soon as the first shot came flashing on my TV.

The supplements with Del Toro included on the Blu-Ray disc are amazing, I could listen to him talk all day.

Yes to everything you said. I absolutely loved The Devil's Backbone and immediately after finishing it, I had no desire to watch pretty much anything else for the next day or so.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

sorry my mistake. was a DVD. ;(

i just startet to watch double life of veronique(free hulu). now thats a movie i liked right from the beginning !

should i get the criterion or the AE bluray.? looks like the criterion has a few more bonus features and the booklet of course. but AE has the better colors??

EDIT:

was gonna say I'd send you the AE version for free.... but you're in Germany

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Danchez

Yes to everything you said. I absolutely loved The Devil's Backbone and immediately after finishing it, I had no desire to watch pretty much anything else for the next day or so.

Watching this as soon as my kids go to bed. Wanted to pop the DVD in over the last month or so, and resisted the urge.....

[Abdrewes]

Finally saw the two Mesrine films and I enjoyed them alot. They reminded me a bit of Olivier Assayas' Carlos. They both deal with similar subject matter, have a rocket pace, and are anchored by terrific lead performances. 4 hours flew by lightning quick.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Finally saw the two Mesrine films and I enjoyed them alot. They reminded me a bit of Olivier Assayas' Carlos. They both deal with similar subject matter, have a rocket pace, and are anchored by terrific lead performances. 4 hours flew by lightning quick.

It has a cracking trailer as well

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3865

Pro-B

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

i just started to watch double life of veronique(free hulu). now thats a movie i liked right from the beginning !

should i get the criterion or the AE bluray.? looks like the criterion has a few more bonus features and the booklet of course. but AE has the better colors??

This is from Pro-B's review of the video presentation for the Criterion Blu-ray of The Double Life of Veronique...

"It appears that Criterion and Artificial Eye have had access to the same master (supplied by French distributors MK2). Unsurprisingly, Criterion's high-definition transfer is just as strong - fine object detail is excellent, clarity pleasing, and contrast levels consistent throughout the entire film. Once again, however, I am most impressed with the color reproduction; the variety of warm greens, yellows, reds, and browns look absolutely fantastic. Edge-enhancement is not a serious issue of concern. I also did not see any traces of excessive noise filtering. Generally speaking, the fine film grain has been retained - but often times it is also covered by an extremely light layer of shifting noise (see screencaptures #3 and 17). In motion, however, I can not see any difference between the Criterion and Artificial Eye transfers. Lastly, there are absolutely no stability issues to report in this review."

I have no clue myself, other than to say that I believe that the Criterion Blu-ray of The Double Life of Veronique looks absolutely wonderful on my trusty 32'' LCD.

Whichever route you take on this particular fork in the road, I'm sure that you will have an outstanding video presentation of an outstanding movie.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

EDIT:

was gonna say I'd send you the AE version for free.... but you're in Germany

thanks ;D yeah being in germany sucks in some cases. did finish the movie on hulu, really good movie that has his great moving movies.
escepially the ending was well made.

===

wish i could use hulu+ without paying a lot of money to some ebay prepaid ripoff offer ;P (40$ for a 25$ card?)

wow the zatoichi movies are on the free hulu. and stagecoach

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

It has a cracking trailer as well

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3865

Pro-B

Ha Haaa!!! Wow!
I kid you not, I squealed with joy watching that thing. And that is something I have not done since seeing the American Hustle trailer. That's a perfect trailer for the films too. The inclusion of that killer tune gave me chills throughout. Bravo on that two barreled shot gun edit too. So very kinetic. .

Thanks for that Pro-B!

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

This is from Pro-B's review of the video presentation for the Criterion Blu-ray of The Double Life of Veronique...

"It appears that Criterion and Artificial Eye have had access to the same master (supplied by French distributors MK2). Unsurprisingly, Criterion's high-definition transfer is just as strong - fine object detail is excellent, clarity pleasing, and contrast levels consistent throughout the entire film. Once again, however, I am most impressed with the color reproduction; the variety of warm greens, yellows, reds, and browns look absolutely fantastic. Edge-enhancement is not a serious issue of concern. I also did not see any traces of excessive noise filtering. Generally speaking, the fine film grain has been retained - but often times it is also covered by an extremely light layer of shifting noise (see screencaptures #3 and 17). In motion, however, I can not see any difference between the Criterion and Artificial Eye transfers. Lastly, there are absolutely no stability issues to report in this review."

I have no clue myself, other than to say that I believe that the Criterion Blu-ray of The Double Life of Veronique looks absolutely wonderful on my trusty 32'' LCD.

Whichever route you take on this particular fork in the road, I'm sure that you will have an outstanding video presentation of an outstanding movie.

I've got the Artificial Eye edition of THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE and found the picture and sound quality both to be excellent, although I have not seen the Criterion edition. The AE disc has no booklet but does have a few interesting bonus features. And at only $12 imported from England, including shipping, it was a real bargain!

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by Danchez

Yes to everything you said. I absolutely loved The Devil's Backbone and immediately after finishing it, I had no desire to watch pretty much anything else for the next day or so.

Definitely! Such an emotionally layered and powerful film, not to mention very chilling and frightening.

The sequence when the two boys go to fetch water, pure cinema at it's best.

[jacobb1313]

Originally Posted by Forget it kid

hey quick question why do you think criterion has never released a animated movie (house doesn't count cause they used animation as special effects for that movie)

Probably because animations are - primarily - studio features with larger budgets and licensed from existing works, and therefore put through heavily-marketed distribution chains (see: Disney Vault). Criterion would get the dregs, so to speak. That, and I have a suspicion that restoring an animated feature to Criterion standards would be a hefty, expensive undertaking. They'd have to get a restoration from a foundation or team up with the production house, and for a lot of independents, those no longer exist (or didn't exist in the first place!)

Still, if I were to conjecture at titles worth doing, they would be

Princess and the Cobbler AKA Arabian Knight AKA The Recobbled Cut (in Miramax/Disney hell, last I checked)
The Adventures of Prince Achmed Coming to the UK in Blu via BFI
The King and the Mockingbird
Animal Farm
Perfect Blue
Watership Down (WB owns the rights to this one, though)
the films of René Laloux -- Fantastic Planet is already out in the UK on Blu via Eureka
films of Makoto Shinkai (I can dream, can't I?)
rerelease The Girl Who Leapt through Time
and various curiosos, like Princess Iron Fan

The Bakshi's, Disney's and Ghibli's are mostly already accounted for. These are the only other ones I can quickly think of that have had cultural influence, which is the ideal Criterion litmus test, I suppose. And there are probably a couple more out there I can't think of.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Ha Haaa!!! Wow!
I kid you not, I squealed with joy watching that thing. And that is something I have not done since seeing the American Hustle trailer. That's a perfect trailer for the films too. The inclusion of that killer tune gave me chills throughout. Bravo on that two barreled shot gun edit too. So very kinetic. .

Thanks for that Pro-B!

Abdrewes, you are probably familiar with Black Strobe, but if you are not, you should check out the entire album the song comes from. Edgy retro style, rather good for gangster films

Black Strobe - I'm a Man Lyrics - YouTube

Pro-B

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jacobb1313

Probably because animations are - primarily - studio features with larger budgets and licensed from existing works, and therefore put through heavily-marketed distribution chains (see: Disney Vault). Criterion would get the dregs, so to speak. That, and I have a suspicion that restoring an animated feature to Criterion standards would be a hefty, expensive undertaking. They'd have to get a restoration from a foundation or team up with the production house, and for a lot of independents, those no longer exist (or didn't exist in the first place!)

Still, if I were to conjecture at titles worth doing, they would be

Princess and the Cobbler AKA Arabian Knight AKA The Recobbled Cut (in Miramax/Disney hell, last I checked)
The Adventures of Prince Achmed Coming to the UK in Blu via BFI
The King and the Mockingbird
Animal Farm
Perfect Blue
Watership Down (WB owns the rights to this one, though)
the films of René Laloux -- Fantastic Planet is already out in the UK on Blu via Eureka
films of Makoto Shinkai (I can dream, can't I?)
rerelease The Girl Who Leapt through Time
and various curiosos, like Princess Iron Fan

The Bakshi's, Disney's and Ghibli's are mostly already accounted for. These are the only other ones I can quickly think of that have had cultural influence, which is the ideal Criterion litmus test, I suppose. And there are probably a couple more out there I can't think of.

The Great Owl would love to see a Criterion Blu-ray of The Secret of NIMH, obviously.

I also think that The Plague Dogs would be a cool choice for an animated film.

[Yami]

The perfect Criterion animation release would be a Yuri Norstein collection. Tale of Tales and Hedgehog in the Fog are considered to be two of the best animated films ever and Miyazaki has cited him as an influence. He has been at work on adapting Gogol's The Overcoat since 1981!

Homevision's Norman Mclaren box set recently went OOP. That would be a good Criterion candidate

[vader4]

Watched The Battle of Algiers for the first time the other day and it has to be one of the all time great war films, it's shocking how much it resembles what we see in the news today. This movie should be required viewing in schools.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Abdrewes, you are probably familiar with Black Strobe, but if you are not, you should check out the entire album the song comes from. Edgy retro style, rather good for gangster films

Black Strobe - I'm a Man Lyrics - YouTube

Pro-B

I heard them on the Rock n Rolla soundtrack and they do kick serious butt. However, that is significantly more than I could say for the film itself- I hate Guy Ritchie with a passion.