The Criterion Collection

[GentleGiant]

Hi, everyone! I decided to ask this question here instead of creating a separate thread. Hope you don't mind.

I've only just started collecting Criterion Blu-ray discs. Here's the list of what I already have:

Fanny and Alexander
Days of Heaven
Paris, Texas
Playtime
Thin Red Line
8 1/2
Rosemary's Baby
The Red Shoes
Black Narcissus
Stagecoach
Repulsion
Night of the Hunter
12 Angry Men
The Double Life of Veronique
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

So the question is, where do I go next? Please recommend me 5 black-and-white and 5 color Criterion Blu-ray films that you think are essential.

Thanks in advance!

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by GentleGiant

Hi, everyone! I decided to ask this question here instead of creating a separate thread. Hope you don't mind.



So the question is, where do I go next? Please recommend me 5 black-and-white and 5 color Criterion Blu-ray films that you think are essential.

Thanks in advance!

kurosawa movies ! rashomon , seven samurai , sanjuro/yojimbo box...
seventh seal from bergman and one of my absolut favorites godzilla !

color movies: solaris

[thebard]

Originally Posted by GentleGiant

Hi, everyone! I decided to ask this question here instead of creating a separate thread. Hope you don't mind.

I'm only just started collecting Criterion Blu-ray discs. Here's the list of what I already have:

Fanny and Alexander
Days of Heaven
Paris, Texas
Playtime
Thin Red Line
8 1/2
Rosemary's Baby
The Red Shoes
Black Narcissus
Stagecoach
Repulsion
Night of the Hunter
12 Angry Men
The Double Life of Veronique
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

So the question is, where do I go next? Please recommend me 5 black-and-white and 5 color Criterion Blu-ray films that you think are essential.

Thanks in advance!

Definitely Badlands.
Also: Three Colors Trilogy

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by GentleGiant

Hi, everyone! I decided to ask this question here instead of creating a separate thread. Hope you don't mind.

I'm only just started collecting Criterion Blu-ray discs. Here's the list of what I already have:

Fanny and Alexander
Days of Heaven
Paris, Texas
Playtime
Thin Red Line
8 1/2
Rosemary's Baby
The Red Shoes
Black Narcissus
Stagecoach
Repulsion
Night of the Hunter
12 Angry Men
The Double Life of Veronique
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

So the question is, where do I go next? Please recommend me 5 black-and-white and 5 color Criterion Blu-ray films that you think are essential.

Thanks in advance!

Seven Samurai
The Great Dictator (or other Chaplin)
Battle of Algiers
Anatomy of a Murder
M

Videodrome
Purple Noon
Harold and Maude
If...
Black Orpheus

[shortmartin]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

You best see some Altman before my 70s poll Any obscure reccomendations for me before I compile my list?

Abdrewes, can you please post the links to the previous polls, if they're ready at hand? Thanks.

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by GentleGiant

Hi, everyone! I decided to ask this question here instead of creating a separate thread. Hope you don't mind.

I'm only just started collecting Criterion Blu-ray discs. Here's the list of what I already have:

Fanny and Alexander
Days of Heaven
Paris, Texas
Playtime
Thin Red Line
8 1/2
Rosemary's Baby
The Red Shoes
Black Narcissus
Stagecoach
Repulsion
Night of the Hunter
12 Angry Men
The Double Life of Veronique
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

So the question is, where do I go next? Please recommend me 5 black-and-white and 5 color Criterion Blu-ray films that you think are essential.

Thanks in advance!

My suggestions:

The Wages of Fear
Crumb
Sweet Smell of Success
Brazil
The Complete Jean Vigo
Three Colors: Blue, White, and Red
Seven Samurai
Weekend (Godard)
The Battle of Algiers
The Royal Tenenbaums
Rushmore
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

[HuggyBear73]

I'm hoping Criterion.com has their 50% off sale this month. Looking to purchase about 20 titles.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by GentleGiant

Hi, everyone! I decided to ask this question here instead of creating a separate thread. Hope you don't mind.

I've only just started collecting Criterion Blu-ray discs. Here's the list of what I already have:

Fanny and Alexander
Days of Heaven
Paris, Texas
Playtime
Thin Red Line
8 1/2
Rosemary's Baby
The Red Shoes
Black Narcissus
Stagecoach
Repulsion
Night of the Hunter
12 Angry Men
The Double Life of Veronique
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

So the question is, where do I go next? Please recommend me 5 black-and-white and 5 color Criterion Blu-ray films that you think are essential.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome!

Black & White:
01. The 400 Blows
02. Charles Chaplin (all four)
03. Diabolique
04. Down By Law
05. La Haine

Color:
01. 3 Women
02. Belle de Jour
03. Fish Tank
04. Revanche
05. Three Colors Trilogy

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by HuggyBear73

I'm hoping Criterion.com has their 50% off sale this month. Looking to purchase about 20 titles.

I hope so too..I'd like a few new titles

[oildude]

Originally Posted by GentleGiant

Hi, everyone! I decided to ask this question here instead of creating a separate thread. Hope you don't mind.

I've only just started collecting Criterion Blu-ray discs. Here's the list of what I already have:

Fanny and Alexander
Days of Heaven
Paris, Texas
Playtime
Thin Red Line
8 1/2
Rosemary's Baby
The Red Shoes
Black Narcissus
Stagecoach
Repulsion
Night of the Hunter
12 Angry Men
The Double Life of Veronique
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

So the question is, where do I go next? Please recommend me 5 black-and-white and 5 color Criterion Blu-ray films that you think are essential.

Thanks in advance!

Limiting this only to titles in print (thus, no Melville)

Black and White

Harakiri
Anatomy of a Murder
On the Waterfront
Paths of Glory
Battle of Algiers
Wages of Fear
High and Low
Godzilla
The Complete Jean Vigo
The Music Room
Diablolique
Letter Never Sent

(ok, I cheated on the black and whites and added more than five )

Color

Still Walking
Solaris
Carlos
World on a Wire
Topsy-Turvy

[Carletty]

Originally Posted by GentleGiant

Hi, everyone! I decided to ask this question here instead of creating a separate thread. Hope you don't mind.

I've only just started collecting Criterion Blu-ray discs. Here's the list of what I already have:

Fanny and Alexander
Days of Heaven
Paris, Texas
Playtime
Thin Red Line
8 1/2
Rosemary's Baby
The Red Shoes
Black Narcissus
Stagecoach
Repulsion
Night of the Hunter
12 Angry Men
The Double Life of Veronique
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

So the question is, where do I go next? Please recommend me 5 black-and-white and 5 color Criterion Blu-ray films that you think are essential.

Thanks in advance!

Black and White:
Les Enfants Du Paradis
A Bout De Souffle
Les Quatre Cents Coups
Ivanovo Detstvo
The Complete Jean Vigo

Colour:
Weekend
Badlands
Harold and Maude
Belle De Jour
Salo

[The Bronx Bull]

Originally Posted by GentleGiant

Hi, everyone! I decided to ask this question here instead of creating a separate thread. Hope you don't mind.

I've only just started collecting Criterion Blu-ray discs. Here's the list of what I already have:

Fanny and Alexander
Days of Heaven
Paris, Texas
Playtime
Thin Red Line
8 1/2
Rosemary's Baby
The Red Shoes
Black Narcissus
Stagecoach
Repulsion
Night of the Hunter
12 Angry Men
The Double Life of Veronique
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

So the question is, where do I go next? Please recommend me 5 black-and-white and 5 color Criterion Blu-ray films that you think are essential.

Thanks in advance!

B&W
The Wages of Fear
On the Waterfront
The Killing
The Seventh Seal
Diabolique

Color
Brazil
The Ice Storm
Revanche
Badlands
Being John Malkovich

In making this list for you, it's never been more clear to me that B&W films dominate the best titles in the collection.

[JJJ225]

Originally Posted by HuggyBear73

I'm hoping Criterion.com has their 50% off sale this month. Looking to purchase about 20 titles.

Well B&N sale is only 2 months away! If you're going to purchase 20 titles, you should get a B&N sale. You'll save much more money than purchasing from Criterion.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by JJJ225

Well B&N sale is only 2 months away! If you're going to purchase 20 titles, you should get a B&N sale. You'll save much more money than purchasing from Criterion.

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement.

With B&N, you get more chances to save money with additional savings with coupons. The key is not about "outsmarting" the employees, but about the legitimate coupons you can use ($5/50 or $8/40 or 15, 20 or 25% off) in addition to an additional 10% member discount in store! With Criterion.com, you only have 50% off and no chance for further savings.

[JJJ225]

Originally Posted by jw007

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement.

With B&N, you get more chances to save money with additional savings with coupons. The key is not about "outsmarting" the employees, but about the legitimate coupons you can use ($5/50 or $8/40 or 15, 20 or 25% off) in addition to an additional 10% member discount in store! With Criterion.com, you only have 50% off and no chance for further savings.

Yeah, even if you don't use a single coupon, they'd save $40 over the Criterion price ($15 more than the cost of the membership). That doesn't take into account future sales and coupons. Seems like a no brainer to me (if there's a B&N with media section near him/her, of course).

[jw007]

Originally Posted by JJJ225

Yeah, even if you don't use a single coupon, they'd save $40 over the Criterion price ($15 more than the cost of the membership). That doesn't take into account future sales and coupons. Seems like a no brainer to me (if there's a B&N with media section near him/her, of course).

Yes, if HuggyBear73 has the patience to wait until B&N's November sale, then that would be a wise decision, assuming there are stores with media sections in his/her area). I recommend patience! Patience is the key word for now.

[The Great Owl]

On request, I'm double-posting my review from the movie thread. It was a joy to watch this film on Blu-ray at long last.



My first exposure to 2001: A Space Odyssey was through the Arthur C. Clarke novel, which was written as Clarke completed the screenplay with director Stanley Kubrick. In retrospect, I probably did myself a disservice by reading the novel during childhood shortly before I saw the movie on television. Kubrick's film eschews traditional narrative styles to present us with a work of art that functions more as a symphony and a celebration of visual wonder than as a typical plot-driven movie, whereas the Clarke novel offers more concise explanations of phenomena that Kubrick purposely left to our imagination. I have not revisited the novel for a couple of decades, and, with each subsequent viewing of 2001: A Space Odyssey, I am compelled to forget that I ever read the novel so that I can simply appreciate the film on its own majestically vague terms.

During my latest viewing of 2001: A Space Odyssey, as I watched the film on Blu-ray for the first time this evening, I pondered the propensity of human nature to seek and explore, regardless of consequences, but also thought about the age-old description of human life as "once a man, twice a child." Astronaut Bowman's quest for understanding reflects a desire to which any viewer can relate, while the outcome of his quest could very well symbolize our own aging process and the maturity that comes with the realization that we will never truly understand everything around us during our mortal lives. The film's final sequences, which I will not discuss in detail here, are wondrous, but also eerie with their images that reflect aging and, quite possibly, a death of sorts that leads to an afterlife where the being finally achieves transcendence. One could interpret the ending in a Biblical way, where a being experiences a rebirth into an afterlife, but this is only one of countless interpretations that each attentive viewer will kick back and forth in his or her mind like pinballs in a game. Regardless of how one's thought processes grasp the visual splendor of this film, my advice to first-time viewers is simply to watch the events unfold without trying to piece loose ends together.

In technical terms, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a marvel. I am inclined to agree with filmmakers who exalt this film as the pinnacle of practical special effects. This is a film designed by engineers to reflect a convincing vision of life in outer space, and its sequences predicted details of our first lunar landing with surprising accuracy. My personal favorite Stanley Kubrick movie is The Shining, but 2001: A Space Odyssey was an earlier demonstration of Kubrick's ability to create unease through bright light rather than with darkness. Kubrick's uncannily clinical brand of storytelling can turn off many viewers, but his style is brilliantly suited to this particular tale.

This 2007 Blu-ray stands shoulder-to-shoulder with many present-day releases in the format, and I personally believe that the glowing reviews of the presentation from that year of release are still helpful to prospective buyers today. I am curious to see what a more thorough restoration of this film would yield in the Blu-ray format, but I am also stunned at how much better this existing Blu-ray looks than any other home presentation that I have seen of the film. As is, it's a beautiful high definition transfer of a beautiful movie. The audio presentation shines in this film that depends heavily on an orchestral score. A myriad of interesting special features, many of which I have not yet gone through, shed light on the movie without doing any mental heavy lifting. When it comes to interpreting this particular wonder, you're on your own, and that's the most enjoyable aspect of this presentation.

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by Carletty

Great. Classic Barnes and Noble. I've sent them an email.

Great, sounds like I have this to look forward to more often from bandn.com.

Originally Posted by jw007

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement.

With B&N, you get more chances to save money with additional savings with coupons. The key is not about "outsmarting" the employees, but about the legitimate coupons you can use ($5/50 or $8/40 or 15, 20 or 25% off) in addition to an additional 10% member discount in store! With Criterion.com, you only have 50% off and no chance for further savings.

I am however excited about using my coupons, once they start arriving. Looking forward to great deals!

On a side note, I visited my parents this weekend and noticed my dad had The Red Shoes on blu-ray. Haven't seen it, so I grabbed it and told him I'd send it back when I was done. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll say just "keep it." I'm very excited about seeing this, and then maybe adding to my collection.

[Xtempo]

Originally Posted by jw007

Oh most definitely. Even though I've only watched ITMFL once, it just didn't grab me like Chungking Express did. I guess I like exterior filming a lot and In the Mood for Love felt claustrophic at times to me... I wanted to break free of the interiors and "get outside". I understand the shooting was very difficult as in Hong Kong there aren't many "old streets" any longer (which is why they had to shoot a lot of exteriors in Bangkok, Thailand). I just love CE because the film is so free-spirited and "run and gun" Guerrilla filmmaking. The characters in CE are really fun and familiar too. I wish Wong Kar-Wai could make more movies like that one again.

I haven't seen Fallen Angels yet but its on my watch it now list and a bunch of other films on DVD and BD and LD that made me have a huge backlog. I think that is similar to CE or at least I've read that in this thread i think. I wish Criterion had more of his films in the collection.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

On request, I'm double-posting my review from the movie thread. It was a joy to watch this film on Blu-ray at long last.

[Show spoiler]



My first exposure to 2001: A Space Odyssey was through the Arthur C. Clarke novel, which was written as Clarke completed the screenplay with director Stanley Kubrick. In retrospect, I probably did myself a disservice by reading the novel during childhood shortly before I saw the movie on television. Kubrick's film eschews traditional narrative styles to present us with a work of art that functions more as a symphony and a celebration of visual wonder than as a typical plot-driven movie, whereas the Clarke novel offers more concise explanations of phenomena that Kubrick purposely left to our imagination. I have not revisited the novel for a couple of decades, and, with each subsequent viewing of 2001: A Space Odyssey, I am compelled to forget that I ever read the novel so that I can simply appreciate the film on its own majestically vague terms.

During my latest viewing of 2001: A Space Odyssey, as I watched the film on Blu-ray for the first time this evening, I pondered the propensity of human nature to seek and explore, regardless of consequences, but also thought about the age-old description of human life as "once a man, twice a child." Astronaut Bowman's quest for understanding reflects a desire to which any viewer can relate, while the outcome of his quest could very well symbolize our own aging process and the maturity that comes with the realization that we will never truly understand everything around us during our mortal lives. The film's final sequences, which I will not discuss in detail here, are wondrous, but also eerie with their images that reflect aging and, quite possibly, a death of sorts that leads to an afterlife where the being finally achieves transcendence. One could interpret the ending in a Biblical way, where a being experiences a rebirth into an afterlife, but this is only one of countless interpretations that each attentive viewer will kick back and forth in his or her mind like pinballs in a game. Regardless of how one's thought processes grasp the visual splendor of this film, my advice to first-time viewers is simply to watch the events unfold without trying to piece loose ends together.

In technical terms, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a marvel. I am inclined to agree with filmmakers who exalt this film as the pinnacle of practical special effects. This is a film designed by engineers to reflect a convincing vision of life in outer space, and its sequences predicted details of our first lunar landing with surprising accuracy. My personal favorite Stanley Kubrick movie is The Shining, but 2001: A Space Odyssey was an earlier demonstration of Kubrick's ability to create unease through bright light rather than with darkness. Kubrick's uncannily clinical brand of storytelling can turn off many viewers, but his style is brilliantly suited to this particular tale.

This 2007 Blu-ray stands shoulder-to-shoulder with many present-day releases in the format, and I personally believe that the glowing reviews of the presentation from that year of release are still helpful to prospective buyers today. I am curious to see what a more thorough restoration of this film would yield in the Blu-ray format, but I am also stunned at how much better this existing Blu-ray looks than any other home presentation that I have seen of the film. As is, it's a beautiful high definition transfer of a beautiful movie. The audio presentation shines in this film that depends heavily on an orchestral score. A myriad of interesting special features, many of which I have not yet gone through, shed light on the movie without doing any mental heavy lifting. When it comes to interpreting this particular wonder, you're on your own, and that's the most enjoyable aspect of this presentation.

Very good! You are a superb writer/reviewer I have to tell you. This reminds me of when I attempted to write more reviews/thoughts on films and now it is just laborious for me to attempt this again on a regular basis. I like your non-objective take on 2001, and how first-time viewers should just watch and observe as opposed to over-think and over-analyze. This is honestly a film I could never get tired of watching again and again. The key to this re-watchability is the mystery in the story and events of the film. Nothing is easily explained and therefore is always open to new interpretations each time I watch this film. I think this is part of the brilliance of Stanley Kubrick and how he always challenged film audiences with hidden messages and meanings and never opted for conventionality and formulaic filmmaking. I adore this film.