The Criterion Collection

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Yessiree. I've always wanted to see it, but somehow never got around to checking it out, although it looks right up my alley.

I divulged in the Top 20 of the 1970s poll in the other forum that I had never seen The Conversation, Taxi Driver, or Chinatown before, despite being intrigued by all three of them for decades now. I guess that we all have gaps in our cinema knowledge like that, where we've somehow missed out on ubiquitously acclaimed movies.
Now is just as good a time as any to take the leap of faith.

It's funny because you seem so well-versed in so many obscure art house flicks, yet those three films are Film Nerd 101 titles. You're going to really enjoy them!

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I really enjoyed The Last Days Of Disco, so hopefully you like it as well.

I haven't seen any Whit Stillman, except for the episode of Homicide: Life on the Streets that he directed, which is possibly my favorite episode of that series. Why that didn't translate into me watching his feature films, I can't quite put my finger on.

Anyway, The Last Days of Disco is one of the films on Netflix that I'm binging on because they'll expire on November 1st, so I'll be getting to it soon.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

The Conversation is Coppola and Hackman's best.

Sorry, but I found it dull as dirt. And I love most of Coppola's films.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I haven't seen any Whit Stillman, except for the episode of Homicide: Life on the Streets that he directed, which is possibly my favorite episode of that series. Why that didn't translate into me watching his feature films, I can't quite put my finger on.

Anyway, The Last Days of Disco is one of the films on Netflix that I'm binging on because they'll expire on November 1st, so I'll be getting to it soon.

And I can't wait till my DVD copy arrives in my library... I'll be going down there and picking it up to borrow for a few days. Sometimes having a physical copy in your hand feels more gratifying than ordering it on Netflix.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jw007

And I can't wait till my DVD copy arrives in my library... I'll be going down there and picking it up to borrow for a few days. Sometimes having a physical copy in your hand feels more gratifying than ordering it on Netflix.

I can't argue with that, but Netflix is my way of checking out films I haven't seen instead of blind-buying them. I could see if the library has it, but they are unlikely to have it on Blu-ray, and Netflix has it in HD.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

The Conversation is Coppola and Hackman's best.

my #5 all time favorite... I love a movie where you can remember the jingle of the score in your head... I'm guessing that Owl will love it. it's haunting. but I won't say anything else w/o spoilers or until a discussion is had later on.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by jw007

And I can't wait till my DVD copy arrives in my library... I'll be going down there and picking it up to borrow for a few days. Sometimes having a physical copy in your hand feels more gratifying than ordering it on Netflix.

Originally Posted by jayembee

I can't argue with that, but Netflix is my way of checking out films I haven't seen instead of blind-buying them. I could see if the library has it, but they are unlikely to have it on Blu-ray, and Netflix has it in HD.

have not decided which is preferable... I have been tempted to make a few blind buys, but am now content to see a film I am interested in on DVD if I can get a hold of a copy at the library. Netflix certainly has its limitations. Obviously, the audio quality doesn't compare to a BD... Not sure how it stacks up against a DVD. and even with a good internet connection, the pic will get blotchy for stretches of the movie.

I had to watch Sweet Smell of Success on DVD the other day and marveled the entire time at how great the picture quality was - even in standard def.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

my #5 all time favorite... I love a movie where you can remember the jingle of the score in your head... I'm guessing that Owl will love it. it's haunting. but I won't say anything else w/o spoilers or until a discussion is had later on.

The score is among my all time favorites. Somewhere in the top five, probably.

[Show spoiler]The final shot gets me every time. His life is literally and figuratively torn apart, and he's just playing his instrument, trying his best to faze out what's surrounding him.

Glad to see some love. It'd probably rank somewhere in my top 20.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Blow Out will be the next Criterion I watch... picked up a copy from the library on my lunch break. The Conversation is in my all time top 10 and I'm fond of Blow Up, too. If this film manages to stand on its own merits, then I could be in for a treat. Let's hope.

I can't wait to hear your thoughts! What a film!

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

The score is among my all time favorites. Somewhere in the top five, probably.

[Show spoiler]The final shot gets me every time. His life is literally and figuratively torn apart, and he's just playing his instrument, trying his best to faze out what's surrounding him.

Glad to see some love. It'd probably rank somewhere in my top 20.

oh, God, yes... regarding your spoiler.. YES! it's brilliant.

[Show spoiler]...and I just love how he keeps hearing the 'innocent' song that Cindy Williams sings over and over in his head.. it's just haunting him. "when the red red robin goes bob bob bobbin' along."

high five on our mutual love for this masterpiece!

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

The score is among my all time favorites. Somewhere in the top five, probably.

[Show spoiler]The final shot gets me every time. His life is literally and figuratively torn apart, and he's just playing his instrument, trying his best to faze out what's surrounding him.

Glad to see some love. It'd probably rank somewhere in my top 20.

I completely agree.

[Show spoiler]The opening shot is also one of my favorite shots of all time.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

I completely agree.

[Show spoiler]The opening shot is also one of my favorite shots of all time.

[Show spoiler] So good.

It's an absolute disgrace that Hackman wasn't nominated.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I can't argue with that, but Netflix is my way of checking out films I haven't seen instead of blind-buying them. I could see if the library has it, but they are unlikely to have it on Blu-ray, and Netflix has it in HD.

It's what I've started doing. Blind buying Criterion has been hit or miss. I've really disliked some popular titles and with their prices, it's a bigger risk when compared to a normal BD release.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Yessiree. I've always wanted to see it, but somehow never got around to checking it out, although it looks right up my alley.

I divulged in the Top 20 of the 1970s poll in the other forum that I had never seen The Conversation, Taxi Driver, or Chinatown before, despite being intrigued by all three of them for decades now. I guess that we all have gaps in our cinema knowledge like that, where we've somehow missed out on ubiquitously acclaimed movies.
Now is just as good a time as any to take the leap of faith.

It's on my Amazon wish list actually. I own the other 2, but never saw The Conversation.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

[Show spoiler] So good.

It's an absolute disgrace that Hackman wasn't nominated.

Hackman was an oversight but a more or less understandable one. Art Carney was kind of odd but other than that the Best Actor field was pretty strong that year.

John Cazale was the one who really got snubbed. He should have been nominated twice that year and should have won for GF2.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by octagon

Hackman was an oversight but a more or less understandable one. Art Carney was kind of odd but other than that the Best Actor field was pretty strong that year.

John Cazale was the one who really got snubbed. He should have been nominated twice that year and should have won for GF2.

He was about the only cast member of GF2 NOT to be nominated, but De Niro did a good job too and thoroughly deserved his victory. If Cazale hadn't died so young, I'm sure he would have been so honored somewhere down the line.

Art Carney was an odd choice and an even odder win. Clearly all of the older voters picked him while the younger voters were split amongst the likes of Pacino and Hoffman.

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

my #5 all time favorite... I love a movie where you can remember the jingle of the score in your head... I'm guessing that Owl will love it. it's haunting. but I won't say anything else w/o spoilers or until a discussion is had later on.

Not only the jingle, but that weird garbled sound of the conversation that keeps getting played over and over can really get stuck in your head too.

For anyone who has it, I would recommend listening to Coppola's commentary on the Conversation disc, very informative and engaging, one of the better ones out there.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

have not decided which is preferable... I have been tempted to make a few blind buys, but am now content to see a film I am interested in on DVD if I can get a hold of a copy at the library. Netflix certainly has its limitations. Obviously, the audio quality doesn't compare to a BD... Not sure how it stacks up against a DVD. and even with a good internet connection, the pic will get blotchy for stretches of the movie.

I will admit that convenience is part of it. Pushing a few buttons on the TV remote is more convenient than driving to the library to get a DVD. I'm not inclined to watch something on Netflix, even in HD, if it's something I already have on DVD. But if it's a choice of acquiring a DVD of something I don't have and want to check out, or watching it on Netflix, I'll choose the latter.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by smoss469

It's what I've started doing. Blind buying Criterion has been hit or miss. I've really disliked some popular titles and with their prices, it's a bigger risk when compared to a normal BD release.

Blind-buying Criterion is less of a problem for me. Back in the days of laserdisc, I found that with movies I was familiar with Criterion had such a good record of picking terrific movies that I was willing to take chances on movies I hadn't seen just because they were releasing it. There were so few that I can honestly say I disliked that I figure that the odds are good. I've become fond of a number of great filmmakers simply by blind-buying films of theirs from Criterion.

That doesn't mean that I won't take advantage of Netflix to watch a Criterion film that I haven't seen yet.

[Icemouth]

Originally Posted by smoss469

It's what I've started doing. Blind buying Criterion has been hit or miss. I've really disliked some popular titles and with their prices, it's a bigger risk when compared to a normal BD release.

Weird. Even if it's cheaper, I'd consider it a bigger risk to buy whatever new $20 boom splosion movie and hope it's not generic and mediocre than buying a classic Criterion

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by octagon

Hackman was an oversight but a more or less understandable one. Art Carney was kind of odd but other than that the Best Actor field was pretty strong that year.

John Cazale was the one who really got snubbed. He should have been nominated twice that year and should have won for GF2.

I dunno. I'd place Hackman above every other nominee (Carney shouldn't even be on there), save maybe for Nicholson.

And Cazale's role was impressive, but hardly award worthy. If any of his performances deserved accolades, it's Dog Day.