The Criterion Collection

[Abdrewes]

Wow! Leaving Las Vegas is not only Cage's best film, but one of my all time favorites. Sure, I am content with the current BluRay, but it leaves a lot to be desired on the supplements front.

However, we may not see the Criterion release for another two years (20th anniversary will fall on October 27, 2015), so I implore everyone to pick up the current release. I, for one, cannot live without it.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by Blu2u

Great review. Can you post pics of the packaging? A hot button topic has been what packaging they are going with for the dual format releases.

Hello Blu2u

Unfortunately, I do not have a market version yet, but when I receive my package I will make sure to post some photos for the community now that I know that there is some interest.

Tenia: Thank you

Lastly, I wanted to quickly point out that director Figgis' latest film, Suspension of Disbelief, will be out in Germany shortly. Since we happen to be very big fans of his work - - we will do our best to review this upcoming release.

NEWS/TRAILER
https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=12382

Suspension of Disbelief Blu-ray



Have a great weekend everyone.

Pro-B

[Infernal King]

I've noticed that (with the obvious exception of Kurosawa) Asian films in the Criterion Collection don't get much love on here.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by Gate

I've noticed that (with the obvious exception of Kurosawa) Asian films in the Criterion Collection don't get much love on here.

i startet with criterion blurays cuz of the asian stuff.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Gate

I've noticed that (with the obvious exception of Kurosawa) Asian films in the Criterion Collection don't get much love on here.

I'm more of an Ozu fan and have nearly all of the dvd editions. I love Asian Cinema.

[Abdrewes]

The poll for the Top 20 films of the 1960s is about to close, so I figure there is no better time to see Marketa Lazarova. The only Czech films I have seen from the period are the key works by Jiří Menzel, Věra Chytilová & Miloš Forman; but I hear this is radically different (for one: it is set in the Middle Ages). I'll comment back with some brief thoughts.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Gate

I've noticed that (with the obvious exception of Kurosawa) Asian films in the Criterion Collection don't get much love on here.

Yes and no. Ozu and Wong Kar-Wai have some pretty vocal fans here and things like Pale Flower and Harikiri get a lot of praise when they come up.

But yeah, Kurosawa is kind of the Godzilla of Asian cine...wait...I think I need another metaphor...

[14728]

It would be awesome to see LLV on CC

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by Gate

I've noticed that (with the obvious exception of Kurosawa) Asian films in the Criterion Collection don't get much love on here.

I've seen some Ozu and Mizoguchi love around these parts. Truth be told, I hold Ozu in a higher category than I do Kurosawa.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by ccfixx

From criterionforum.org...

It looks like Mike Figgis has confirmed on his Twitter account that Criterion will possibly be releasing Leaving Las Vegas in 2014.

Oh that would be great. The current release is definitely lacking some love.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by Gate

I've noticed that (with the obvious exception of Kurosawa) Asian films in the Criterion Collection don't get much love on here.

Wong Kar-wai gets a good amount of love around here and Koreeda was being discussed not long ago.

[IronFingaz]

Originally Posted by Blu2u

Great review. Can you post pics of the packaging? A hot button topic has been what packaging they are going with for the dual format releases.

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Hello Blu2u

Unfortunately, I do not have a market version yet, but when I receive my package I will make sure to post some photos for the community now that I know that there is some interest.

Wouldn't the package just be like what they did with the Samurai Trilogy?

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by IronFingaz

Wouldn't the package just be like what they did with the Samurai Trilogy?

That was my hope, they'd already have the cases sourced and they're the same size as their other cases so it would make sense.

[Blu2u]

Originally Posted by IronFingaz

Wouldn't the package just be like what they did with the Samurai Trilogy?

Tokyo Story is a 3 disc set. I am guessing that they will probably do a digipak on 3+discs and hopefully packaging similar to Samurai Trilogy on 2 disc sets.

[The Great Owl]

I would have written a few words about this earlier, since I saw the Blu-ray last night, but I've been out and about for most of the day today. Here goes...



My interest in Georges Franju's 1960 film, Eyes Without a Face (Les Yeux Sans Visage), originated many years ago when I saw it prominently ranked on a Best Horror Films list in a magazine, so I jumped at the chance to purchase the Criterion DVD release in 2004. That standard definition release was impressive in its own right, with a video presentation well-suited to the film's combination of haunting beauty and visceral grisliness, so I expected great things from the newly-released Criterion Blu-ray upgrade. I am pleased to report that the picture quality of this high definition transfer has gloriously exceeded my expectations. On Blu-ray, Eyes Without a Face shines with a new luminescence that brings out the best in its stark documentary-style tendencies that are laced with fairy tale imagery in the vein of Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast.

Eyes Without a Face is one of the greatest horror films ever made, especially if one defines horror not as a genre, but as an emotion. This movie is not a roller coaster of jump scares and nail-biting chases that are routinely associated with the idea of a horror film. Instead, Eyes Without a Face is a slow chiller that draws energy from fears that are hard-wired into our consciousness from birth and superimposes these fears with character motivations that arouse our sympathy and understanding. The most evil person in this story, Doctor Genessier, a surgeon played by Pierre Brasseur, is driven by an overbearing guilt over an automobile accident that ravaged the face of his beautiful daughter, Christiane, and some of the story's most oddly repulsive moments are those that demonstrate his humanity, especially during one scene where he tends to a young boy patient. Alida Valli, whose cool allure was a highlight of the Orson Welles masterpiece, The Third Man, works wonders in her role as the surgeon assistant by showing us that her despicable actions stem out of sincere gratitude and loyalty to Genessier. As these three characters interact, our inherent fears are constantly exploited by way of the background sounds of barking dogs, an unease felt in the presence of medical personnel, the sight of sharp objects, the glare of car headlights on dark rural roads, and the ghostly featureless sight of Christiane's white mask.

Christiane, who wears the mask to conceal her horribly injured face, is the centerpiece of the film, and the embodiment of what is perhaps our deepest instinctive fear. We are all apprehensive about death, about pain, about rape, or about the unknown, and countless horror films draw their frameworks from those frights. Eyes Without a Face, however, forces us to confront the terrifying idea of becoming disfigured and of losing the tangible characteristics that we use to define ourselves as human beings. Christiane, played with a fragile brilliance by Edith Scob, was once a beautiful woman with an angelic radiance, as evidenced by one painting of her with a dove, and, even through the eyes of her mask, we always sense her crushing sadness and resignation over all that she has lost. Franju wisely uses out-of-focus photography during one reveal, as not to cheat us of the disturbing image that we have all built up in our imaginations. The film spares us no details, however, during its infamous surgery scene where we are held hostage by Franju's matter-of-fact documentary-style depiction of the event that denies us any emotional refuge that we might cling to by way of a victim's screams or reactions that might have been utilized by a lesser director.

Despite the uncomfortably sinister aspect of Eyes Without a Face, one cannot deny the film's ethereal splendor during many sequences. I have always said that my favorite final camera shot of a film comes down to a three-way tie between The Birds, Planet of the Apes, and Le Samourai, but I am seriously considering adding the final shot of Eyes Without a Face to that list after seeing the film in high definition.

The most prominent supplementary feature on this Blu-ray is Georges Franju's Blood of the Beasts, a 22-minute 1949 documentary that blends picturesque scenery of Paris suburbs with unflinchingly graphic footage from slaughterhouses in the area. The film relies on emotionless narration and depicts the brutality with an innocuous straightforwardness. This subject matter simply is what it is, and the camera strives for nothing other than to show the slaughterhouse employees performing their routine daily duties. I only made it through the first few minutes of Blood of the Beasts when I watched my old Criterion DVD of Eyes Without a Face, but I decided to bite the bullet and watch the short feature in its entirety last night on Blu-ray. I probably speak for many owners of this Criterion title when I say that I will only watch this documentary once, but I do believe that it provides some welcome insights into Georges Franju's clinical style of filmmaking that served him so well when he ventured into the realm of horror fiction in Eyes Without a Face.

I thoroughly enjoyed a new Blu-ray exclusive present-day interview with Edith Scob, who happily reminisces about her experiences on the set of the film. The other interview supplements with the writers and with Franju himself are welcome carryovers from the DVD edition.

[Mansinthe]

wow thats a great review you did there. thanks !

did you see "holy motors" ? found some reviews that say that holy motors is kinda a hommage to Eyes without a face.

im gonna grab this one in the next B&N sale, along with the killing / killers kiss, paths of glory .

im looking for some US noir movies right now, should i add kiss me deadly and sweet smell of success as well?

I've seen some Ozu and Mizoguchi love around these parts. Truth be told, I hold Ozu in a higher category than I do Kurosawa.

ozu and mizoguchi made great movies as well thats true. but there are other great directors like oshima, naruse and dont forget imamura , shindo etc..

but these are all japanese directors, chinese and korean classic cinema is a "little" underpressend in the criterion collection (moc , kino , AE , bfi .. ) as well.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

wow thats a great review you did there. thanks !

did you see "holy motors" ? found some reviews that say that holy motors is kinda a hommage to Eyes without a face.

im gonna grab this one in the next B&N sale, along with the killing / killers kiss, paths of glory .

im looking for some US noir movies right now, should i add kiss me deadly and sweet smell of success as well?

I have not yet seen Holy Motors, but I do want to check it out when I have an opportunity. I am wary of making a blind purchase, so I'll probably rent the film first.

Kiss Me Deadly and Sweet Smell of Success both have my highest recommendations if you're looking for good film noir.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by Blu2u

Great review. Can you post pics of the packaging? A hot button topic has been what packaging they are going with for the dual format releases.

3d cover art shows it's a digipak, thankfully.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by spiderbaby

3d cover art shows it's a digipak, thankfully.

boooo!

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

im looking for some US noir movies right now, should i add kiss me deadly and sweet smell of success as well?

They're both very good but if you only get one start with Sweet Smell of Success. I wouldn't think twice before putting it on an essential noir list.

And if you're looking for great American noir look no further than across the channel. Eureka/Masters of Cinema offers very, very good region b editions of Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil.