The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by ccg1978

Is Eyes Without a Face in the same strain as Diobolique?

Eyes Without a Face shares a few strands of cinematic DNA with Diabolique, but Eyes Without a Face has a more viscerally graphic tone and a deeper element of tragic sadness. They're both wonderful films, though, and you could do a lot worse if you're looking for a double feature night.

Now, I could go farther out on a limb and recommend a double feature night of Eyes Without a Face and Sunset Boulevard. Maybe it's just because I saw the Blu-rays on adjacent nights, but I drew quite a few parallels between the stories.

[ccg1978]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Eyes Without a Face shares a few strands of cinematic DNA with Diabolique, but Eyes Without a Face has a more viscerally graphic tone and a deeper element of tragic sadness. They're both wonderful films, though, and you could do a lot worse if you're looking for a double feature night.

Now, I could go farther out on a limb and recommend a double feature night of Eyes Without a Face and Sunset Boulevard. Maybe it's just because I saw the Blu-rays on adjacent nights, but I drew quite a few parallels between the stories.

Thanks sir. I own Diobolique and Sunset and think both films are amazing. I have Eyes Without a Face on my Netflix que and am looking forward to watching . Gotta load it up with horror for Oct

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by onetet

I'd like to see someone take a shot at Pola X, too. Arguably the strangest title in his filmography--certainly the one that has the least in common with his other films.

I need to see it again. I watched it under less than ideal circumstances (sometime during a 20+ hour car ride) and it didn't grip me like his other works I've seen.

[Meek12345]

I'm currently in the middle of a Criterion Collection marathon. I'm watching my collection in numerical order by spine number. I have the following films left to watch:

The Complete Mr. Arkadin
The Double Life of Veronique
Chungking Express
The Hit
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Human Condition
Wings of Desire
Z
Night of the Hunter
Sweet Smell of Success
Pale Flower
The Complete Jean Vigo
The 3 Colors Trilogy
Godzilla
Three Outlaw Samurai
To Be or Not To Be

The films in bold are blind buys. Although, I have seen L'Atalante by Vigo on TCM before. Should I watch all 3 versions of Mr. Arkadin? I guess I should the first time around.

I watched Ran last night with the audio commentary on. The commentary was very informative with Stephen Prince admitting that Lady Kaede is his favorite character because of the historical importance of her performance. The film looked beautiful even on DVD. Although, I hope Criterion will bring it back on Blu-ray.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

The 1970s poll is up. More than a few Criterion titles made my list

Here's my 1970s list.

Five Criterion titles made the cut overall, and one Criterion title was Number One.

[Pjames]

Thank you all for your recommendations. It seems as if I am going to have a very busy week.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Here's my 1970s list.

Five Criterion titles made the cut overall, and one Criterion title was Number One.

Great list! (although, Willy Wonka isn't even on my top 20 of the year it came out)

I would have never guessed your number one, to be honest.

I wonder who will have the most Criterion titles on their list. My money's on JW.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I wonder who will have the most Criterion titles on their list. My money's on JW.

I had a lot (about half I think) on my 60s list...doubt I'd have that much for the 70s one.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

I had a lot (about half I think) on my 60s list...doubt I'd have that much for the 70s one.

I expect to see more Kino & Blue Underground titles on your list this time.

I am so tempted to wedge Suspiria into my list. Decisions, decisions.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I am so tempted to wedge Suspiria into my list. Decisions, decisions.

Suspiria's #1 on mine

[Lordy]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Here's my 1970s list.

Five Criterion titles made the cut overall, and one Criterion title was Number One.

Willy Wonka over Chinatown! So much for your list !!

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Great list! (although, Willy Wonka isn't even on my top 20 of the year it came out)

I would have never guessed your number one, to be honest.

I wonder who will have the most Criterion titles on their list. My money's on JW.

Who, me? Oh my, you might have to wait a while until you see any top 20 lists from me. It takes me months/years to put together lists like that!

I'm not ready to post any top 20s as of yet.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by jw007

Who, me? Oh my, you might have to wait a while until you see any top 20 lists from me. It takes me months/years to put together lists like that!

I'm not ready to post any top 20s as of yet.

It took me six minutes to whip mine together. Not every great film will make it, so there's nothing to fret over. Just find twenty awesome films and call it a day.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

It took me six minutes to whip mine together. Not every great film will make it, so there's nothing to fret over. Just find twenty awesome films and call it a day.

ok... will give it a try.

[fdm]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm sorry to hear about your co-worker.

I was in total agreement with the changes made to The Lord of the Rings trilogy for the film adaptations. The ending of The Return of the King in the book never really reverberated with me, but I loved how the movie wrapped everything up. I was also glad that the characters did not break out into songs during the films.

There have been a handful of movies that have actually improved on the literary source material. The Shawshank Redemption is, perhaps, the finest example.

My hesitation to see Fantastic Mr. Fox so far is not due to the mere fact that changes were made to the source book, but more because of the fact that Wes Anderson happened to be at the helm. I'll be a good sport and check out the movie at some point, though.

I'm undecided. I read Hobbit and Rings long ago, and have still only seen the original (non-extended) Rings films many years after that (when they first came to the big screen, and now another several years have intervened since), haven't managed to get to the Hobbit film(s) yet. Couldn't tell you anything that was different between the books and the films, aside from that the films seemed pretty intense in comparison.

Haven't really done much novel reading for decades (work happened), but the one I'd like to read again is Starship Troopers. I'd like to refresh my memory about what Heinlein originally wrote. He was my first favorite author (and the old saying of the golden age of science fiction is 13 is pretty close for all that), and Verhoeven happens to have become one of my favorite directors. Should be an interesting revisit.

Other than that, I've picked up a few books that films I really enjoyed were based on. Thinking next year might be a good time to check some of them out. (Naked Lunch, pretty sure I'll be in over my head when I get to that one, but for now it's the only Criterion related one I have on deck that I can think of.)

[fdm]

Originally Posted by jayembee

So was I. But then, I never made it past the middle of The Two Towers. I couldn't manage to slog my way through Tolkien's overwritten prose. Boromir's funeral, for example, went on endlessly in the book, while it was just right in the film...

Kind of funny, I recall stopping halfway through Rings also, but finally did pick it up again after quite a spell. Don't think I'll ever get around to them again, but who knows.

[yhzmr]

Originally Posted by ccg1978

Thanks sir. I own Diobolique and Sunset and think both films are amazing. I have Eyes Without a Face on my Netflix que and am looking forward to watching . Gotta load it up with horror for Oct

I watched Diabolique for the first time last night. It's one serious challenge to Hitchcock's claim as Master Of Suspense. Too bad Clouzot was unable to follow that one up with anything else as intriguing. Need to check out EWAF.

[B-Creamy]

I literally have the next 41 criterion titles I'm going to buy listed in order. Anyone else organize their purchases in this fashion?

[Mansinthe]

i made a "list" but its more like

All movies from director XY im missing
Few movies of the genre "noir"
Zatochi box

a few of the japanese Eclipse DVD sets

with the zatichi box im probably gonna end up buying 30+ movies as well.

[B-Creamy]

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

i made a "list" but its more like

All movies from director XY im missing
Few movies of the genre "noir"
Zatochi box

a few of the japanese Eclipse DVD sets

with the zatichi box im probably gonna end up buying 30+ movies as well.

Depending on how I'm looking financially next month Zatoichi may be the one I break my order for. Don't currently have it listed among the 41 because I'm probably gonna wait for a slight price drop. But who knows? I may buy it release day.