How did you get preconceived notions from 'I can't speak to Frances Ha yet'?
I wasn't referring to you. I was just reading building off your post. I know that you weren't referring to Frances Ha, or even implying that Frances Ha was "that kind of movie."
Finally got to finish The Leopard over a couple nights due to it's length.
[Show spoiler]It has a slow pace but I was really hooked on the ballroom sequence towards the end. Whole thing will require a second viewing from me. Liked Burt Lancaster as the Prince and Claudia Cardinale is always a joy to look at. I thought they picture quality was fantastic. You can see why the budget was so huge for the time with the attention to detail used in shooting locations.
Last edited by Kevin Ridge; 08-16-2013 at 02:40 AM.
I don't mind the City Lights cover, though I feel I would like it more if there was contrast between Chaplin's skin color, and his shirt. Having both in gray seems wrong to me His shirt should have been white. Minor complaint I know, but I do feel it would improve the composition.
I think what you're missing here is the white flower. If the shirt was white, it would take the attention (and power) away from the white flower he is holding on the cover. Maybe a lighter shade of grey would have worked though, but not white.
Finally got to finish The Leopard over a couple nights due to it's length.
[Show spoiler]It has a slow pace but I was really hooked on the ballroom sequence towards the end. Whole thing will require a second viewing from me. Liked Burt Lancaster as the Prince and Claudia Cardinale is always a joy to look at. I thought they picture quality was fantastic. You can see why the budge was so huge for the time with the attention to detail used in shooting locations.
The Leopard is 900 different kinds of awesome. It's a beautiful Blu-ray, and the attention to detail is staggering.
Here's my long-winded User Review of the movie...
[Show spoiler]The Criterion Collection has a reputation for releasing understated masterpieces that benefit from minimalism and subtlety. Luchino Visconti's The Leopard, by contrast, is an epic in every sense of the word, and it marches across the screen with a grandiose opulence that demands undivided attention. Like Gone with the Wind or The Godfather, The Leopard is a lengthy film that can intimidate a prospective viewer simply by way of its perceived immensity in scope. Before I finally cleared my schedule and sat down to enjoy this 1963 Italian production that clocks in at over three hours, I felt the same anticipatory head rush that one might feel when starting the first page of an expansive Tolstoy novel.
The Leopard takes place in nineteenth century Italy, and outlines a series of pivotal events in life of the Don Fabrizio, Prince of Salina, a nobleman played with an undeniable larger-than-life presence by American actor Burt Lancaster, as he realizes that his aristocratic way of life is endangered in the face of political revolutions and social shifts in the wake of Giuseppe Garibaldi landing on the coast of Sicily in 1860 and the ensuing unification of Italy. The Prince views the shifting allegiances of his nephew, Tancredi (Alain Delon), as "ignoble", but also understands Tancredi's wisdom concerning the need to evolve with the tide in order to preserve status and prestige. When Tancredi's romance with the gorgeous Angelica (Claudia Cardinale) figures into the equation to maintain wealth and ambition, The Leopard mesmerizes with its multiple undercurrents of jealousy, resentment, and best-laid plans that splash together during an elaborate ballroom scene that takes up most of the final hour of the film. Burt Lancaster's Prince Fabrizio hovers about the celebrations with a unique dignity to show that an aging lion is still a lion.
Some eager online research into the nineteenth century unification of Italy may benefit the viewer, but Visconti's The Leopard is ultimately an intimate meditation on the loss of a way of life, and one man's acceptance of his own inevitable mortality. One does not need to have a scholarly understanding of the Italian politics at hand to identify with the Prince of Salina as he stares tearfully into a mirror while the cacophony of the ballroom festivities is heard from a few feet away.
The Leopard is a joy to behold in all its cinematic scope, and I found myself pausing the film at certain points or replaying certain scenes simply to marvel at the beauty. A scene with the Prince and Don Ciccio, where the two debate about an election on a hilltop during a rabbit hunt while mountains and valleys spread out endlessly on the horizon, is one of the most wondrous sights that I have ever enjoyed during a high definition movie presentation. The Leopard is everything that I had hoped it would be, and this epic masterpiece is given a lovely treatment on this Criterion Blu-ray.
On LD, they had a separate "Criterion Television" run, with one disc a selection of I Love Lucy episodes, a disc of selected The Addams Family episodes, and three discs comprising the run of Robert Altman's Tanner '88.
On DVD, they re-released the Tanner '88 series, Fishing with John, Berlin Alexanderplatz, World on a Wire, and included the TV series versions of Scenes from a Marriage and Fanny and Alexander in the sets with the theatrical versions.
As to why they don't do more, less obscure TV series, it's likely a combination of the major studios releasing them themselves and preferring to put the work required into doing more movies.
Yes, DVD-wise, I did remember Fishing with John was a "failed" TV series (spanning 5 or 6 episodes). World on a Wire is also one I sort of forgot (but its too obscure to be enjoyed repeatedly, at least for me). But I think if there is one TV series that is deserving of a Criterion treatment, its David Lynch's Twin Peaks, one of the most impossible and bizarre TV shows to ever come to light (and amazing that it lasted 2 seasons on network television).
Wow, you are a survivor and your movies are ready to be loaded unto a cargo ship or some sort of vehicle in case you need to flee again. I don't have this "prepper" mentality, but I now see why you store your films in storage bins. It's a reminder never to become too attached to our possessions.
November marks the first month that all new Criterion releases are dual-format editions, including both Blu-ray and DVD. Note that all supplemental features will be available to users of both formats.
CITY LIGHTS - DUAL-FORMAT BLU-RAY AND DVD EDITION
The most cherished film by Charlie Chaplin (Modern Times) is also his ultimate Little Tramp chronicle. The writer-director-star achieved new levels of grace, in both physical comedy and dramatic poignancy, with this silent tale of a lovable vagrant falling for a young blind woman who sells flowers on the street (a magical Virginia Cherrill) and mistakes him for a millionaire. Though this Depression-era smash was made after the advent of sound, Chaplin remained steadfast in his love for the expressive beauty of the pre-talkie form. The result was the epitome of his art and the crowning achievement of silent comedy.
1931 • 87 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • 1.19:1 aspect ratio
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• New, restored 4K digital film transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New audio commentary by Charlie Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance
• Chaplin Today: “City Lights,” a 2003 documentary on the film’s production, featuring Aardman Animations cofounder Peter Lord
• Chaplin Studios: Creative Freedom by Design, a new interview program featuring visual effects expert Craig Barron
• Archival footage from the production of City Lights, including film from the set, with audio commentary by Chaplin historian Hooman Mehran; a costume test; a rehearsal; and a complete scene not used in the film
• Excerpt from Chaplin’s short film The Champion (1915), along with footage of the director with boxing stars at Chaplin Studios in 1918
• Trailers
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Gary Giddins and a 1966 interview with Chaplin
TITLE: City Lights (DUAL-FORMAT BLU-RAY AND DVD EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2316BDDVD
UPC: 7-15515-11111-9
ISBN: 978-1-60465-785-2
SRP: $39.95
STREET: 11/12/13
FRANCES HA - DUAL-FORMAT BLU-RAY AND DVD EDITION
Greta Gerwig is radiant as a woman in her late twenties in contemporary New York, trying to sort out her ambitions, her finances, and, above all, her tight but changing bond with her best friend, Sophie (Mickey Sumner). Meticulously directed by Noah Baumbach (Kicking and Screaming) with a free-and-easy vibe reminiscent of the French New Wave’s most spirited films, and written by Baumbach and Gerwig with an effortless combination of sweetness and wit, Frances Ha gets at both the frustrations and the joys of being young and unsure of where to go next. This wry and sparkling city romance is a testament to the ongoing vitality of independent American cinema.
2013 • 86 minutes • Black & White • 5.1 surround • 1.85:1 aspect ratio
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• New high-definition digital master, with DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio on the Blu-ray
• New conversation between filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich and the film’s cowriter and director, Noah Baumbach
• New conversation between actor and filmmaker Sarah Polley and the film’s cowriter and star, Greta Gerwig
• New conversation about the look of the film between Baumbach, director of photography Sam Levy, and creative director Pascal Dangin
• Trailer
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by playwright Annie Baker
CAT. NO: CC2317BDDVD
UPC: 7-15515-11121-8
ISBN: 978-1-60465-786-9
SRP: $39.95
STREET: 11/12/13
TOKYO STORY - DUAL-FORMAT BLU-RAY/2-DVD EDITION
A profoundly stirring evocation of elemental humanity and universal heartbreak, Tokyo Story is the crowning achievement of the unparalleled Yasujiro Ozu (Late Spring). The film, which follows an aging couple as they leave their rural village to visit their two married children in bustling postwar Tokyo, surveys the rich and complex world of family life with the director’s customary delicacy and incisive perspective on social mores. Featuring lovely performances from Ozu regulars Chishu Ryu (There Was a Father) and Setsuko Hara (Late Autumn), Tokyo Story plumbs and deepens the director’s recurring themes of generational conflict, creating what is without question one of cinema’s mightiest masterpieces.
1953 • 136 minutes • Black & White • Monaural • In Japanese with English subtitles •
1.33:1 aspect ratio
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on
the Blu-ray
• Audio commentary featuring Yasujiro Ozu scholar David Desser, editor of Ozu’s “Tokyo Story”
• I Lived, But . . . , a two-hour documentary from 1953 about Ozu’s life and career, featuring interviews with critics and former cast and crew members
• Talking with Ozu, a forty-minute tribute to the director from 1993, featuring the reflections of filmmakers Lindsay Anderson, Claire Denis, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Aki Kaurismäki, Stanley Kwan, Paul Schrader, and Wim Wenders
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic David Bordwell
TITLE: Tokyo Story (DUAL-FORMAT BLU-RAY/2-DVD EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2309BDDVD
UPC: 7-15515-11021-1
ISBN: 978-1-60465-778-4
SRP: $39.95
STREET: 11/19/13
ZATOICHI: THE BLIND SWORDSMAN - (DUAL-FORMAT 9-BLU-RAY/18-DVD EDITION)
The colossally popular Zatoichi films make up the longest-running action series in Japanese history and created one of the screen’s great heroes: an itinerant blind masseur who also happens to be a lightning-fast swordsman. As this iconic figure, the charismatic and earthy Shintaro Katsu became an instant superstar, lending a larger-than-life presence to the thrilling adventures of a man who lives staunchly by a code of honor and delivers justice in every town and village he enters. The films that feature him are variously pulse-pounding, hilarious, stirring, and completely off-the-wall. This deluxe set features the string of twenty-five Zatoichi films made between 1962 and 1973, collected in one package for the first time.
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
• New digital restorations of all twenty-five films, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-rays
• The Blind Swordsman, a 1978 documentary about Zatoichi portrayer and filmmaker Shintaro Katsu, along with a new interview with its director, John Nathan
• New interview with Asian-film critic Tony Rayns
• Trailers for all twenty-five films
• New English subtitle translations
• PLUS: A book featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien; synopses of the films by critic, novelist, and musician Chris D.; “The Tale of Zatoichi,” the original short story by Kan Shimozawa; and twenty-five new illustrations inspired by the films, by twenty-five different artists
TITLE: Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman (DUAL-FORMAT 9-BLU-RAY/18-DVD EDITION)
CAT. NO: CC2330BDDVD
UPC: 7-15515-11211-6
ISBN: 978-1-60465-800-2
SRP: $224.95
PREBOOK: 10/29/13
STREET: 11/26/13
Attention Canada: CITY LIGHTS is available in all Canada. TOKYO STORY & ZATOICHI: THE BLIND SWORDSMAN are available in English-Speaking Canada only. FRANCES HA is a US only release.
I was not at work that day, because it was a furlough day for state government. I slept an hour later than usual, went for a 10-mile run in the rain, took a shower, and was sitting in a big living room chair reading a book. I was in a pretty cheerful and relaxed mood, because I had nothing to do for the rest of the day after my run, and I had the entire time to relax, read, watch a movie or two, and just chill.
I noticed that it was raining incredibly hard outside, but I just shrugged it off and kept enjoying my book.
I suddenly saw water trickling across my carpet. WTF? I ran over to the window and saw a massive 40-foot-wide raging flash flood river across the apartment courtyard area (in an area that I had never seen any sort of flood water or standing water in the past during rainstorms). The force of the flood was unbelievable, and I would have been swept away had I stepped out my back sliding glass door. I just sort of laughed, threw my hands up in the air, and knew that all was lost. I then picked up most everything extremely valuable that I could pick up in a short time. Within five minutes, my apartment was submerged in five inches or so of water.
Since then, I have had a whole new respect for people who deal with tornadoes, floods, and such.
One minute, you're relaxing at home, minding your own business, and living your normal daily routine. The next minute, your entire life is suddenly thrown into an unbelievable hassle.
I'm thankful that I had a furlough day that day, funnily enough. If I had worked in the office that day, it would have taken me five hours to make my normal 30-minute commute home due to the flooded roads, I would have finally parked my car in front of my apartment, thankful that I could relax, then walked downstairs to my apartment, seen the damage, and absolutely lost my sanity in a split second.
Anyway... The clear plastic containers for the win.
I know what you mean about flooding-We had a storm here in 2000 that dumped close to 30" of rain in less than 24hrs. I still get antsy every time we have heavy rain. My discs are up off the floor and my posters are in plastic containers.
Having a pretty good day-First the Criterion announcements and then my B&N order of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Sweet Smell of Success, and The Devil's Backbone arrived.
On LD, they had a separate "Criterion Television" run, with one disc a selection of I Love Lucy episodes, a disc of selected The Addams Family episodes, and three discs comprising the run of Robert Altman's Tanner '88.
On DVD, they re-released the Tanner '88 series, Fishing with John, Berlin Alexanderplatz, World on a Wire, and included the TV series versions of Scenes from a Marriage and Fanny and Alexander in the sets with the theatrical versions.
As to why they don't do more, less obscure TV series, it's likely a combination of the major studios releasing them themselves and preferring to put the work required into doing more movies.
With the forthcoming restoration I think it's likely that we'll also be getting Fassbinder's elusive TV series Eight Hours Are Not a Day in 2015-ish.
I know what you mean about flooding-We had a storm here in 2000 that dumped close to 30" of rain in less than 24hrs. I still get antsy every time we have heavy rain. My discs are up off the floor and my posters are in plastic containers.
I currently live in a 3rd-floor apartment, so I'm not too worried about flooding. Although there's the potential for the storage locker to get flooded, and a significant amount of my various collections resides in there.
Before this, I lived in a 2nd-floor apartment, but I still had a large number of boxes of books in my mother's basement. They were a foot off the floor. Unfortunately, a really bad rainstorm resulted in about three feet of water. A nephew and I managed to rescue a number of the boxes before the water reached them, but I lost a lot of books (some seriously valuable).
You just have to tell yourself "It's just stuff" to keep from going mad.
I mentioned earlier that it could be up to 3 movies per disc, just based on the number of discs included, and the stock pic shown (it lists 3 movies on the outer page).
Most of the movies are pretty short, and there aren't any extras or commentary tracks on the discs, so 3 movies per disc won't really be an issue, and shouldn't compromise PQ/AQ
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Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
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Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
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Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
I still get antsy every time we have heavy rain. My discs are up off the floor and my posters are in plastic containers.
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