The Criterion Collection

[blkhrt]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

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.

Have you never seen Grave of the Fireflies? Because I think it definitely takes the cake as far as saddest films go.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I'd choose virtually anything over E.T.. I loathe that movie with a passion beyond human understanding.

I love E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial without shame or irony. It's a good example of a film that succeeds at being a tear-jerker without any obtrusive Hollywood sentimentality. The story just is what it is, and the connection between E.T. and Elliot is genuine.

I don't revisit E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial as often as I revisit Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (which I think is a criminally-underrated movie), but I've plowed through the Blu-ray a couple of times with the utmost joy.

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial came out when I was 10 years old during that magical summer of 1982, when I was just starting to develop a real interest in cinema, and nostalgia admittedly plays a big part in my love for the film.

The interesting thing, though, is that I saw the movie once in the theater back then, and everything about it was instantly etched into my memory. After that initial theatrical viewing, I did not see the movie again until the 2002 travesty re-release, where CGI was added and several original components removed. When the Blu-ray release from last year restored the original 1982 theatrical version to its former glory, that was my first time seeing this original version in 30 years.

Upon revisiting the original 1982 version for the first time in 30 years, I appreciated the many reasons why the film works. It's a simple story that does not overstay its welcome, the talent of the child actors is undeniable, and, although the movie is rough around the edges (and strangely low-budget, considering Spielberg's pull at the time), the true emotion behind the endeavor pulls it through.

Plus, the homage to John Ford's The Quiet Man in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial is pretty awesome.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

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.

I implore you to read that Rosenbaum piece I linked. After viewing it, I saw that Rosenbaum's piece greatly expands on my topical reading-- one of "mecha vs orga", "Kubrick vs Spielberg". I think it's one of the greatest films ever made because of the innate odd tension it has. It's in the movie's DNA & that's what makes it so intriguing.

I don't see it as Spielberg trying to do Kubrick, I see it as (to repeat myself) Kubrick providing the cold, analytical side (ever always reminding us that this boy is mechanical in the way a toaster is) and the gooey, soft humanist side in Spielberg (trying to prove to us that there can be no "artificial intelligence", that this boy is gifted a soul, not just a powerful OS).

I really think its a masterpiece and one that never fails to make me think.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by blkhrt

Have you never seen Grave of the Fireflies? Because I think it definitely takes the cake as far as saddest films go.

I've never seen that one, unfortunately. My knowledge of animated films is lacking, because I've always preferred live action movies. The Secret of NIMH, from which my username was taken, is the lone animated movie in my Blu-ray collection.

As far as the saddest movie category is concerned, Bicycle Thieves does have some good competition from René Clément's Forbidden Games.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jayembee

But to answer The Great Owl's question, I haven't watched it yet (had other stuff to do), but I picked up the recent DigiBook of Halloween today

It's taken a week, but I've dug out (among other things) my horror film DVDs (unfortunately, I don't have many on Blu yet; hopefully next week I'll pick up Criterion's Eyes Without a Face and Island of Lost Souls), and I'm about to start my Halloween-celebration horror movie binge. I'll be finishing off with Halloween on Halloween.

I don't know if I'll get through everything I plan to watch, mostly because I'm going to try doing it in roughly chronological order, but we'll see. I want to watch the entire set of the Universal Classic Monster Legacy Edition DVDs (unfortunately, I don't have the BDs yet), but I might have to skip all the sequels (except Bride of Frankenstein, natch).

I'm starting off with the silents. First up, Kino's "German Horror Classics" DVD boxed set: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Golem, Nosferatu, and Waxworks, to be followed by Carl Theodor Dreyer's Vampyr. Criterion released Vampyr on DVD, but I don't have a copy of it. I'm watching the Image DVD from Blackhawk Films.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I've never seen that one, unfortunately. My knowledge of animated films is lacking, because I've always preferred live action movies. The Secret of NIMH, from which my username was taken, is the lone animated movie in my Blu-ray collection.

As far as the saddest movie category is concerned, Bicycle Thieves does have some good competition from René Clément's Forbidden Games.

Saddest may be Leaving Las Vegas for me. I will ask this again because I am a pestering fellow, WHY DONT YOU OWN UMBERTO D? I find that one more heartbreaking than Bici Thieves.

(Grave of the Fireflies is my favorite animated film, btw)

[ccfixx]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

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.

Check out Vittorio De Sica's Shoeshine (on DVD from Masters of Cinema), as well, if you want more sadness.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Saddest may be Leaving Las Vegas for me. I will ask this again because I am a pestering fellow, WHY DONT YOU OWN UMBERTO D? I find that one more heartbreaking than Bici Thieves.

Originally Posted by ccfixx

Check out Vittorio De Sica's Shoeshine (on DVD from Masters of Cinema), as well, if you want more sadness.

Vittorio De Sica's films are a gap in my cinematic experience that I will remedy one day. Maybe in Spring 2014. I don't know if I can handle these films during the winter.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

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.

My God, Sammy... I was going to throw in my 2 cents about A.I., but there is no need to. To a tee, you described my sentiments on this film. Kubrick is all cold and detached and Spielberg is all warm and fuzzy. The juxtaposition just does not work.

Regarding the final 10 minutes.. shamelessly sentimental. More contrived and weepy than "Safe Haven". That kind of sentimentality is the reason why I, too, would not rank him alongside the greats.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

My God, Sammy... I was going to throw in my 2 cents about A.I., but there is no need to. To a tee, you described my sentiments on this film. Kubrick is all cold and detached and Spielberg is all warm and fuzzy. The juxtaposition just does not work.

Regarding the final 10 minutes.. shamelessly sentimental. More contrived and weepy than "Safe Haven". That kind of sentimentality is the reason why I, too, would not rank him alongside the greats.

This got me laughing. I rented the horror movie, V/H/S/2, from a Redbox booth yesterday. (Here is my quick review.) One of the video segments is entitled "Safe Haven", and it's the best of the segments. It's definitely not sentimental, though!

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

This got me laughing. I rented the horror movie, V/H/S/2, from a Redbox booth yesterday. (Here is my quick review.) One of the video segments is entitled "Safe Haven", and it's the best of the segments. It's definitely not sentimental, though!

ha! no, Owl.. this is a different "Safe Haven" I am referencing. I'd link it here, but you really don't wanna know.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

My God, Sammy... I was going to throw in my 2 cents about A.I., but there is no need to. To a tee, you described my sentiments on this film. Kubrick is all cold and detached and Spielberg is all warm and fuzzy. The juxtaposition just does not work.

Regarding the final 10 minutes.. shamelessly sentimental. More contrived and weepy than "Safe Haven". That kind of sentimentality is the reason why I, too, would not rank him alongside the greats.

Everybody here knows I hate Spielberg's brand of sentiment, but there is much more than just that in the ending. I love Rosenbaum's defense:

It sounds like typical Spielberg goo — for better and for worse — and when you’re watching the film it feels that way. But the minute you start thinking about it, it’s at least as grim as any other future in Kubrick’s work. Humankind’s final gasp belongs to a ****ed-up boy robot with an Oedipus complex who’s in bed with his adopted mother and who finally becomes a real boy at the very moment that he seemingly autodestructs — assuming he vanishes along with her, though if he survives her, it could only be to look back in perpetual longing at their one day together. Real boy or dead robot? Whatever he is, his apotheosis with mommy seems to exhaust his reason for existing. As Richard Pryor once described the death of his father while having sex, “He came and went at the same time.” Like the death of 2001‘s HAL, which might be regarded as David’s grandfather, it’s the film’s most sentimental moment, yet it’s questionable whether it involves any real people at all.



Similar paradoxes — soft and hard, warm goo and icy dryness, mother-love ocean (the first thing we hear and see in the film) and chilly waves that drown cities — are in force throughout. The cruelty of humanity and the warmth of David’s yearnings are established as constants, yet it’s in the nature of Spielberg’s fuzzy styling that we don’t always immediately recognize the cruelty — or all of the paradoxes in David’s warmth. It may not be immediately apparent, for instance, that Professor Hobby, a Wizard of Oz figure, isn’t really a nice fellow; he delights in David’s misery because it proves his experiment has worked — even though it’s hinted that he originally created David to fill an aching gap left by the loss of his own son. It’s implied, for that matter, that all robots point to such lacks, absences, and failures in the people who make them, though only at certain junctures does Spielberg encourage us to see that.

Please read the full review, guys:

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

[Mansinthe]

Spielberg and Lucas made in my opionion a few of the most boring and overrated "cult" movies ever... i just dont like their movies at all. (spielberg movies i liked when i was 12 years old, but thats it)

Empire of the Sun i only watched (and probably liked) cuz of the young christian bale, i wanted to watch that movie after ive seen "Flowers of War" with him.




what criterions are you gonna get in the next B&N sale?

i will go for kubrick& polanski i dont own yet + antichrist and probably a few of the eclipse japanese box sets.

(preordered zatochi already at amazon)

[klauswhereareyou]

Anyone out there who is a fan of classic horror should check out Island of Lost Souls. I had not seen the movie until the other day on the Criterion disc and thought the film was great as were the extras. The image is preaty rough, but if you can get past that it's worth getting.

[Mansinthe]

island of lost souls (did already know the book) made me buy the universal monsters box

[klauswhereareyou]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

island of lost souls (did already know the book) made me buy the universal monsters box

Good choice! I still need to get that set myself, even though at this point I might just opt for the individual releases.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

Good choice! I still need to get that set myself, even though at this point I might just opt for the individual releases.

a few days ago you could get that box for something like 24/25$ (~19GBP). great deal. i did enjoy every movie in that boxset ! but i liked island of lost souls more.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

ha! no, Owl.. this is a different "Safe Haven" I am referencing. I'd link it here, but you really don't wanna know.

I know the one that you're talking about, because I bought my mother a bunch of Nicholas Sparks novels for Christmas last year, since she likes that sort of weepy storytelling. Quite a long way removed from the "Safe Haven" segment in V/H/S/2, though, and that's what made me chuckle.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

Anyone out there who is a fan of classic horror should check out Island of Lost Souls. I had not seen the movie until the other day on the Criterion disc and thought the film was great as were the extras. The image is preaty rough, but if you can get past that it's worth getting.

I love the Island of Lost Souls Blu-ray, and I'm proud of what they did with the image, considering the source material. The extras are a trip, especially the Devo short. The makeup in Island of Lost Souls is still flawless even by today's standards.

I still have a soft spot for the 1977 film, The Island of Dr. Moreau, with Burt Lancaster as the lead role. Barbara Carrera (Never Say Never Again) is quite wonderful. The original film on the Criterion Blu-ray still rules all, though.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I love the Island of Lost Souls Blu-ray, and I'm proud of what they did with the image, considering the source material. The extras are a trip, especially the Devo short. The makeup in Island of Lost Souls is still flawless even by today's standards.

I bet you loved that Devo extra included in the set. Dream Criterion box set: one containing dozen or so never-before-seen New Wave concerts!