The Criterion Collection

[jw007]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Don't taze me, but Y Tu Mama Tambien is one that I will probably skip over if and when it comes to Criterion.

I enjoyed the first viewing, but that film was a one-trick pony for me.

That is what I said about Gravity tonight as I just saw it in the IMAX theater. It's a one trick pony but Cuaron does that trick extremely well.

[jw007]

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.

You know, I watched Medium Cool just a few weeks ago and was torn about it. I think its an important film though because it does capture some of the rebellion and culture of the 1960s even though some bits and pieces are slightly staged and dubbed at times. If anything, its an original vision from Wexler and merits recognition of some sort. Of course its not that essential either and if I had to part with that film, I could see myself doing that.

Out of all the films I could give up in my Criterion Collection, it would have to be Che by Soderbergh. It's just not a film I can see myself watching often.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Roninblues

I guess you aren't a Zatoichi fan.

Correct, I am not a Zatoichi fan and have no plans in purchasing this massive set.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

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.

Don't forget Spielberg also directed Minority Report, by far his best science fiction film hands down (and yes, better than Close Encounters as well as E.T.). I could watch Minority Report a countless number of times, even though the ending is disappointing.

In addition to War of the Worlds, Spielberg's A.I. was pretty good too. I may have to revisit that one again.

So who would choose A.I. over E.T.? (sorry, but I'm just not an E.T. fan)

[madmojo]

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?

The Ballad of Narayama, because the form of Japanese narration in it (the seemingly off key singing) annoys me to hell.

[jw007]

Gravity was a pretty amazing film.

I just saw it in IMAX 3D tonight for $10.50 at my local Loews theater.

As I mentioned earlier, the film worked well as a one-trick pony. It did one trick but it did it to perfection. I found the film to be devoid of anything profound or intellectually meaningful and I actually prefer films like Contact and Prometheus over this sort of movie, because they explore the possibility of alien life and human morality.

Without giving away any plot details, I found Gravity to be one of the finest science NON-FICTION films ever made! I write "science non-fiction" because everything in this film was extremely realistic as a "space survival" tale and something like this could possibly occur in the future. Additionally, Sandra Bullock was strangely sexy as hell at times in this film (especially after she slipped out of the spacesuit). The music was beautiful and sublime. The CGI was incredible. The acting was a bit corny at times (from George Clooney). But I have never seen a movie quite like this and the ending is one of the best of any film I've seen in a while.

So I have to give it to Alfonso Cuaron for making an engaging film with an awesome ending. It's worth all the hype, folks, but its nothing like 2001: A Space Odyssey (though it nearly comes close at times). Let's just put it this way, its today's version of 2001 and if Carl Sagan were still around, he'd be pretty proud of this film (No aliens, no UFOs and just a lot of scientific possibilities). Yes, that is the kind of movie that Carl Sagan would dig.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by jw007

So who would choose A.I. over E.T.? (sorry, but I'm just not an E.T. fan)

A.i. is Spielberg's best without a doubt. Since revisiting it last year, it has not left my mind. I have posted my thoughts around these parts several times, but the one review that I think nails it, completely nails it is that of J. Rosenbaum. I agree in each and every point he makes.

I created a Top 25 of all time recently and A.i. made the cut with ease. It's one of my five favorite science fiction films too.

[spanky87]

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.

Wings of Desire. Blah.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

A.i. is Spielberg's best without a doubt. Since revisiting it last year, it has not left my mind. I have posted my thoughts around these parts several times, but the one review that I think nails it, completely nails it is that of J. Rosenbaum. I agree in each and every point he makes.

I created a Top 25 of all time recently and A.i. made the cut with ease. It's one of my five favorite science fiction films too.

I saw A.I. Artificial Intelligence at the theater when it was released, and I wore out the DVD for a few months when it came out. For some reason, I just got tired of the movie after a while. That happens sometimes. I have not revisited it in over a decade.

It's quite brilliant, though. The subtle change in expression in Haley Joel Osment's face when Frances O'Connor reads out the code is a great moment.


Off topic, but I just looked up Haley Joel Osment on the Internet Movie Database to make sure I was spelling the name correctly, and saw that he is starring in a soon-to-be-released movie called The World Made Straight, based on the novel by Ron Rash. Ron Rash is one of my favorite contemporary authors, and his stories all take place a couple hours north of where I live. He's got that whole Cormac McCarthy/William Gay/modern-day-William-Faulkner Southern Literature aesthetic. The World Made Straight is a superb and sad novel, so I'm curious about this movie adaptation. I know nothing of the director (David Burris), but Haley Joel Osmont is starring with Minka Kelly (from the Friday Night Lights TV show), Adelaide Clemens (The Great Gatsby, X-Men: Wolverine), Jeremy Irvine (War Horse), Noah Wyle (E.R. TV show), Steve Earle (the musician), and others.

Hmmm. This could either be amazing or not amazing, but it has straight-to-video written all over it. The movie is in post-production, so I'll have to see what happens.

Here's the poster...

[Show spoiler]

William Gay, one of the authors I mentioned above, wrote the story from which the movie, That Evening Sun, is based. That was a great little movie starring Hal Holbrook, Mia Wasikowska, and Ray McKinnon, but it did not quite go far. I am thinking that The World Made Straight may have a similar outcome. The stories are both quite low-key, and they both venture far from audience expectations with the plot development.

[Abdrewes]

Here's that review I was talking about. I'll go ever further than just saying Rosenbaum nailed it: this piece is one of my all time favorite pieces of criticism.

http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/200...f-both-worlds/

[Lordy]

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.

Easy choice for me: House. Really hated it.

[Scottie]

Bicycle Thieves desperately needs to be released on Blu.

[ccg1978]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Bicycle Thieves desperately needs to be released on Blu.

funny, watched this yesterday. Don't really see all hype but it was an enjoyable movie. Weird thing is that I keep thinking about the movie but nothing really stood out!

[JJJ225]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Bicycle Thieves desperately needs to be released on Blu.

This was one of the very first titles Criterion bested in HD several years ago. I think it's the last one that they have not released yet. Wonder why.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Bicycle Thieves desperately needs to be released on Blu.

Bicycle Thieves is the saddest movie that I've ever seen. I'd gladly upgrade it to Blu-ray, although I have to be in a specific mood to revisit it, to say the least.

[jayembee]

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?

Noooooooooo......

But, OK, I'll play. If I had to pick one, and it has to be Blu-ray rather than DVD, I'd pick The Man Who Fell to Earth. Not because I don't like it, but because I like all the other ones I own better.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jw007

Don't forget Spielberg also directed Minority Report, by far his best science fiction film hands down (and yes, better than Close Encounters as well as E.T.). I could watch Minority Report a countless number of times, even though the ending is disappointing.

In addition to War of the Worlds, Spielberg's A.I. was pretty good too. I may have to revisit that one again.

So who would choose A.I. over E.T.? (sorry, but I'm just not an E.T. fan)

I've never seen Minority Report, or War of the Worlds. With two exceptions, I gave up on Spielberg after Schindler's List. Sorry, but I think his films are "all sound and fury, signifying nothing". In a couple of cases (Jaws and Raiders) they still manage to be extremely watchable, but the rest I can live without. Although I have to say I loved Always just for Audrey Hepburn.

The two post-Schindler exceptions were:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which I watched (in HD) on USA because they happened to air it one night without commercials, and I found it more entertaining than I expected, but it's not something I'd particularly want to see again, and

Lincoln, which I wanted to see because of the cast and the subject matter, and I found it a crushing disappointment.

Anyway, to answer your question, JW, I'd choose virtually anything over E.T.. I loathe that movie with a passion beyond human understanding.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Noooooooooo......

But, OK, I'll play. If I had to pick one, and it has to be Blu-ray rather than DVD, I'd pick The Man Who Fell to Earth. Not because I don't like it, but because I like all the other ones I own better.

I desperately want that movie too

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Bicycle Thieves desperately needs to be released on Blu.

You desperately need to be region-free
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Bicyc...-Blu-ray/8333/

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

A.i. is Spielberg's best without a doubt. Since revisiting it last year, it has not left my mind. I have posted my thoughts around these parts several times, but the one review that I think nails it, completely nails it is that of J. Rosenbaum. I agree in each and every point he makes.

I created a Top 25 of all time recently and A.i. made the cut with ease. It's one of my five favorite science fiction films too.

I'm no Spielberg enthusiast. I wouldn't rank him alongside the greats, although I would rank Jaws as one of the greats. I revisited A.I last year. Ultimately, I still think that it's a failure, but an interesting one. It's Spielberg trying to play Kubrick's tendencies, which just doesn't work. It makes for an interesting viewing, certainly. His sensibilities seep through his attempted Kubrick vision, which just feels odd to watch. I'm glad it was made and it's a better film than most failures, but at the end of the day, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Plus I hate the final 10 minutes.