The Criterion Collection

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

So I'm not the only person that was disappointed by Seconds?

I was VERY disappointed. The hype around it, and the description made it sound awesome. It had some cool things visually, odd camera angles and a few scenes

[Show spoiler]like the scene at the "wine wedding"

that had an uncomfortable/forbiding feel to them but overall I thought it was about 30 minutes too long and didn't really keep me hooked.



Slightly off topic, but how often does Criterion release the Eclipse sets? I've got 1 or 2 in my wish list and I know I'm almost certainly getting the Nikkatsu Noir set for Christmas, but are they included in any of the monthly releases or do they have their own schedule?

How often have they (historically) added new ones?

[Carletty]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

If you had to give up one Criterion movie in your Blu-ray collection, what would you give up?

Ministry Of Fear, because everything in this movie looks so forced.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by smoss469

I was VERY disappointed. The hype around it, and the description made it sound awesome. It had some cool things visually, odd camera angles and a few scenes

[Show spoiler]like the scene at the "wine wedding"

that had an uncomfortable/forbiding feel to them but overall I thought it was about 30 minutes too long and didn't really keep me hooked.

Me too...I was very disappointed. The cinematography was the only thing I really liked about it.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Carletty

Ministry Of Fear, because everything in this movie looks so forced.

This one tugs at my heartstrings, because I just watched Ministry of Fear for the first time last night, and I loved it.

I get what you're saying, though. Ministry of Fear has this uncanny "abstraction that is not really abstraction" vibe to it where the story plows full speed ahead with rapid jumps from one major stepping stone to another, and a lot of the story depends on happenstance.

The visuals of Ministry of Fear work wonders for me, though, and I love the strangeness of the setting from mental asylum to the equally-insane setting of WWII London during the air raids. The classic film noir setups were well-suited to the atmosphere.

[Tin Drum]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

It would break my heart to do so, but I'd part ways with Medium Cool if I had to give up one Criterion Blu-ray out of my collection. I mean, I love that movie, but I love it slightly less than the other Criterion Blu-rays that I own.

That's hilarious that you mention that, but I just sold my copy two days ago (kept it for a while thinking I may try it again but I kept thinking of reasons why not to so I went ahead and got rid of it). I hated it.

I've also sold The Naked Kiss. Not sure why I couldn't get into that as I like surreal stuff but that was just..blah.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Tin Drum

That's hilarious that you mention that, but I just sold my copy two days ago (kept it for a while thinking I may try it again but I kept thinking of reasons why not to so I went ahead and got rid of it). I hated it.

I love Medium Cool enough not to want to part with the Blu-ray, because I've seen it twice now, and I'll definitely be revisiting it more in the future. Robert Forster always was a cool cat, and I like the urgency of the 1960s chaos brought to life before our eyes. Everything that I wrote in my glowing review of Medium Cool months ago still stands.

If I had to pick just one to give up, though, my other Criterions take precedence in my collection.

[30hertzrumble]

I think I'd probably swap out MONSOON WEDDING. Not because I don't think it's a great movie, but because I'd seen it quite a few times before picking up the BD. So... it just kinda sits there in the wrap. Chillin.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I don't hate Empire of the Sun, and I don't think that it's Spielberg's worst film, but it's definitely not on the same level as Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Duel, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, War of the Worlds, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Schindler's List, or the myriad of other Spielberg flicks that I'm forgetting to mention.

I just watched it 2 nights ago, not having seen it since 1987. And yeah, it was relatively typical Spielberg — a few iconic scenes (the evacuation in particular) but a weak narrative that got bogged down by over sentimental melodrama. Looked beautiful, though. I think his "action" films fare better because he doesn't have time to let schmaltz take over the story. Not sure how Schindler's List escaped relatively unscathed.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by retablo

I just watched it 2 nights ago, not having seen it since 1987. And yeah, it was relatively typical Spielberg — a few iconic scenes (the evacuation in particular) but a weak narrative that got bogged down by over sentimental melodrama. Looked beautiful, though. I think his "action" films fare better because he doesn't have time to let schmaltz take over the story. Not sure how Schindler's List escaped relatively unscathed.

If Stephen Spielberg did not bring the emotional "suburban children of a broken home" subtext into one of his films, I would be shocked. That's sort of his specialty, and War of the Worlds is a continuation of that specialty.

What I find interesting, however, is Spielberg's earlier films depicted aliens with an innocent curiosity that bordered on cuddly schmaltz (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial), whereas the present-day Spielberg made a movie about aliens staging a fierce invasion of Earth. I do not think that there is a lot to this on the surface, and it's probably just coincidental, given the director's love for science fiction, and his willingness to adapt an H.G. Wells story. Still, it raises an eyebrow.

[joie]

There is an article on the internet, something like, "5 ways to know you're watching a Spielberg movie." One of them is shots of people with their jaws agape -- so true.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by joie

There is an article on the internet, something like, "5 ways to know you're watching a Spielberg movie." One of them is shots of people with their jaws agape -- so true.

I hope that I'm not ruffling any feathers inadvertently here, but one thing I've noticed with Spielberg movies is that none of his female characters have any real sex appeal. I was attracted to the character of Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark because I liked her spunky edge, but there was no outright sex appeal even there. It's not that the women in Spielberg movies are ugly, because they're all attractive, but they're just never presented in a way that exudes any sex appeal.

I like how female characters in Spielberg movies are presented as capable characters on an equal level with the males, and there's something uniquely refreshing about that. I also wonder if the lack of conventional sex appeal is a way to lend a childlike wonder and a sense of innocence to universal-appeal Spielberg movies as though we are all watching them in the same way that we did when we were children.

This is not a complaint, and it's not a negative observation by any stretch, but it's just...different.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Okay...today's discussion about "highly regarded movies that we dislike" compels me to ask a fun question to everyone in the thread.

This may sting a little, but...

If you had to give up one Criterion movie in your Blu-ray collection, what would you give up?


I'll get the ball rolling. It would break my heart to do so, but I'd part ways with Medium Cool if I had to give up one Criterion Blu-ray out of my collection. I mean, I love that movie, but I love it slightly less than the other Criterion Blu-rays that I own.

It's tempting to give up A Safe Place, but I'd feel strange not having the entire America Lost and Found set.

Likely The Last Emperor. I don't have any precise reason, nothing about the film clicked with me. Otherwise, I wouldn't feel horrible about parting with Repo Man, Things to Come, or The Ballad of Narayama.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm a fanboy of Spielberg's War of the Worlds. I read the H.G. Wells novel countless times during my childhood, and the Spielberg movie captured the spirit of that novel adeptly. The images of the tripods coming over the hills of the countryside by the river was exactly how I envisioned the story during my childhood. I think that it's an underrated Spielberg film, and that it's a sci-fi classic.

Same here. I think my first impression of what the Martian war machines should look like was a cover photo of a '20s issue of Amazing Stories. I remember being somewhat disappointed that the '50s version were flying machines. I like the Spielberg version and it's still one of my reference home theater audio discs. When the war machines talk to one another.

[Snicket]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I hope that I'm not ruffling any feathers inadvertently here, but one thing I've noticed with Spielberg movies is that none of his female characters have any real sex appeal. I was attracted to the character of Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark because I liked her spunky edge, but there was no outright sex appeal even there. It's not that the women in Spielberg movies are ugly, because they're all attractive, but they're just never presented in a way that exudes any sex appeal.

I like how female characters in Spielberg movies are presented as capable characters on an equal level with the males, and there's something uniquely refreshing about that. I also wonder if the lack of conventional sex appeal is a way to lend a childlike wonder and a sense of innocence to universal-appeal Spielberg movies as though we are all watching them in the same way that we did when we were children.

This is not a complaint, and it's not a negative observation by any stretch, but it's just...different.

That's an interesting observation Owl.

I skimmed through his movies on IMDB and only 1 stood out as starring women in a leading role, The Color Purple. Thinking about it women in his films are wallpaper in a sense they are there because the script calls for it, not because they ever have anything interesting to do (there may be exceptions of course).

This is not completely a negative thing, considering his films are from a male protagonists POV so why would one expect anything but (sad, yes).

It is odd that he has not done a straight up family drama, as they were so prominent in his early works. Its almost as if his sensibilities point towards it.

[Snicket]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

Likely The Last Emperor. I don't have any precise reason, nothing about the film clicked with me. Otherwise, I wouldn't feel horrible about parting with Repo Man, Things to Come, or The Ballad of Narayama.

Last Emperor was the one I parted with.

[Figster]

Just sharing my recent haul though not all are Criterions. I'm having a Toshiro Mifune film week Yay!

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Figster

Just sharing my recent haul though not all are Criterions. I'm having a Toshiro Mifune film week Yay!

Nicely done! The Yojimbo/Sanjuro set goes above and beyond the old DVD editions of these films, and I had a blast watching my Blu-rays of both movies not too long ago.

I owned all of the Akira Kurosawa Criterion DVDs up until this year, when I sold most of the collection to make room for eventual Blu-ray releases. I regret my hastiness at times (especially with Ran), but it's probably a matter of time until they hit in high definition.

At present, I own...
Seven Samurai (Blu-ray)
Yojimbo/Sanjuro (Blu-ray)
The First Films of Akira Kurosawa (Eclipse DVD)
Postwar Kurosawa (Eclipse DVD)
Stray Dog (Criterion DVD)

Stray Dog is my favorite Kurosawa film behind Seven Samurai, and it's the one DVD that I absolutely positively could not bear to part with.
(I'm convinced that the recent James Bond film, Skyfall, is a loose remake of Stray Dog.)

I probably won't bother to upgrade each and every one of the Kurosawa DVDs that I used to own, because, although I had the utmost respect for those films, I had not revisited them for the past few years. Mentally, I'm in a different place right now, and am more interested in other genres. In time, though, the pendulum may swing back, and I could get into full-tilt Kurosawa enthusiasm mode like I was in back in 2004-2008 or so.

Akira Kurosawa was my introduction to the Criterion Collection, and, for that, I'll always hold the director's work in a special spot in my heart.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Snicket

I skimmed through his movies on IMDB and only 1 stood out as starring women in a leading role, The Color Purple.

The Color Purple was such a brave Spielberg film at the time of its release. I've only seen the film a couple of times, and I've never had a rousing battle cry enthusiasm for it, but I do think of it as a masterful work of cinema.

I liked Laura Dern's character in Jurassic Park when it comes to brave female characters.

My defense of Jurassic Park, incidentally...

I agree with Abdrewes about Jurassic Park being a "nonstop roller coaster filled with one dimensional characters", but I personally love the film just the same. None of us went to see Jurassic Park for the human characters, and Spielberg had that in mind. What I did not realize when I first saw the film in 1993 was that all of this was leading up to the theme park ride. I have this skewed and demented sense of sincere appreciation about the whole venture, in the same way that I sort of admire the Empire in the Star Wars movies.

[Figster]

Thanks Great Owl!
I was so tempted to get the other Kurosawa Criterion DVDs but decided I'm probably better off waiting for the blu ray upgrades, we'll see until when I can hold off though. I can't wait to check Sanjuro and Yojimbo tonight. I've seen the quality of the DVDs and I am expecting to be really impressed with the blus.

One film I am dying to get a blu ray upgrade for is Throne of Blood. Such an amazing film!

[hoytereden]

Last night TCM showed Los Olvidados. I hadn't seen it for many, many years. It' s still a powerful, brutal film that pulls no punches. Has it ever been mentioned as a possible Criterion title?