The Criterion Collection

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by Tin Drum

My least favorites:

Medium Cool (probably the least favorite of the ones I've seen)
Island of Lost Souls
The Naked Kiss

I watched it last night and I'd likely place it in my bottom 5-10.

[PowellPressburger]

Sweet Movie (1974) is the only purchase that I can recall I regretted buying and got rid of after I watched it. Worst film I've ever seen. It was complete trash and not even worthy trash.

[Scottie]

My least favorite Criterions (from what I've seen).

• 3:10 To Yuma (The remake is infinitely better.)
• 8½ (I honestly appreciate it more with each subsequent watch, but it will take another watch to truly win me over.)
• America Lost And Found: The BBS Story (I only like Five Easy Pieces And The Last Picture Show.)
• Black Moon (Part of me softly likes it, despite how bizarre and stupid it may seem.)
• Brazil (Now this is a film that I REALLY disliked. I don't see why everybody raves about it.)
• Design For Living (I'll need to rewatch this film, but I think I went into it with too high of expectations and it ultimately fell a little short for me. I don't hate it, I'm just uncomfortably neutral towards it.)
• Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (I should have known that I would dislike it prior to seeing it because I hate anything "drug trippy" in movies. This film also put me to sleep, so there's strike two against it.)
• Gomorrah (This is another film that I need to rewatch in order to appreciate it. I went into it expecting a Godfather-esque film, but instead I received over two hours of dialogue. I enjoyed the beginning of Part 1 and the ending of Part 3, but everything in between I could have done without - despite that being the meat and potatoes of the film.)
• Harold And Maude (I can see what the message of the film was and I can respect that, but this film just didn't do it for me.)
• Island Of Lost Souls (I'm pretty sure the sets agitated me more than the entire film. With that being said, this was just too silly for my likings.)
• Life Is Sweet (Reflecting on this film, I guess it isn't AS BAD as I originally made it out to be. However, this film not only started to put me to sleep, but it almost made me throw up at one point, so I think that's a good idea of why I dislike it.)
• Pale Flower (I guess I should probably rewatch this film, but it goes back to that old saying of "don't judge a book by its cover". I felt very cold and reserved throughout the entire film - as I should - but I didn't really like the pacing nor how the entire thing played out.)
• People On Sunday (Hands down my least favorite silent film. I do appreciate silent films whether they are slapsticks or not, but this one was a never-ending bore.)
• Rosetta (It was like watching the same five minutes on repeat for almost two hours. Also, there is no likability or relatability to Rosetta's character.)
• Safety Last! (Scott went into yet another film with high expectations and fell flat on his face. I noticed that I had to force myself to laugh to not feel AS let down as I was. Maybe this is a film that will benefit from a rewatch where I know what I'm going into to.)
• The Seventh Seal (Too many high expectations going in and too many complex ideas thrown my way to grasp in one watch. I need to rewatch this one, but I was let down on the initial viewing.)
• Shock Corridor (I loved The Naked Kiss, but this one put me to sleep. I pretty much figured the plot out, as well, from the first five to ten minutes.)
• Sweet Smell Of Success (I didn't dislike this film, but I think I was expecting a more faster-paced film-noir. A repeat viewing will definitely help with appreciating this film more.)
• The Third Man (Now here is a film that I was let down by. The ratings and reviews for this film are stellar and many refer to it as "the best film-noir". I went into it expecting just that and while I did enjoy the brilliant camerawork, the plot dragged on and on for a good hour or so before getting exciting. I also disliked the whole amusement park ending, as well. It's not as bad as I'm making it out to be, but after shoveling out X amount of dollars to get a brand new and sealed copy of this OOP film, I wasn't expecting to dislike it.)
• Tokyo Drifter (I appreciate it because I truly believe it helped inspire Tarantino for some of his later films, but this film was too much style and not enough substance, in my opinion.)
• Wings Of Desire (One of the only films that I can recall where I was sitting and counting the minutes until it was over. This is hands down one of the most boring films that I have ever seen. I REALLY loved the first half hour or so, but after a while, not only did I lose track of what was going on, but I found the entire thing to be repetitious. There is no denying Wim Wenders' directing abilities, but I was extremely let down by the pacing of this film.)

[amoergosum]

You know what would be fantastic...a Criterion Blu-ray of "The Fountain".
>>>

• new transfer
• audio commentary + more special features
• theatrical cut + redux cut

>>>

We spoke briefly with Aronofsky today in Beverly Hills and had to ask him about the rumor from MTV that said he was re-cutting The Fountain, which is my very favorite Aronofsky movie to date. "I'm not re-cutting it, I'm doing a bit of -- I'd call it more of a redux -- well, I don't even know what that word means for goodness sake," Aronofsky said. So what exactly is he doing if not necessarily a director's cut?

"It's something more for fans. I worked on the film for 6 years and it went through a lot of versions. And there was one version that was much closer to one of the scripts that we had. And we kind of chose between which way we would go with it and they both are kind of interesting. So I was always curious for myself to see what that alternative version would be. And we cut it actually recently, it's done. I would have to get Warner Brothers to support it and get it out there." Unfortunately, since the film fell between the cracks during its original theatrical release in late 2006 (it only made a depressing $10 million at the box office), I imagine that Warner Brothers is very skeptical of ever touching the project again.

Aronofsky did say that, "at some point, hopefully, there'll be enough of a demand that they'll let me go in and do it. But we got to get there." And if you're still a bit confused by this alternate version, you're not alone, as I am, too. And to make it all a bit worse, Aronofsky added this: "It's very similar but it's looking at a few things in a few different ways and answers a few questions for people and raises some new questions in other ways." In the MTV article, he did mention that it would contain "unused footage from the first go-round" and be a "complicated project on a couple of levels."

Source:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/dar...-the-fountain/


Trailer:

The Fountain [Trailer] HD 1080p - YouTube

[CoenP]

Originally Posted by iScottie

My least favorite Criterions (from what I've seen).

• Rosetta (It was like watching the same five minutes on repeat for almost two hours. Also, there is no likability or relatability to Rosetta's character.)
  

Agreed.

[bwdowiak]

I see some recent discussion about the Antonioni film Red Desert on the board here... In general, there seems to be a lot of love for Antonioni on this thread. Red Desert is his best reviewed film on Rotten Tomatoes. I haven't seen the film, but yesterday I did watch many of the '3 reasons' clips that Criterion does and this one stuck out for me. If someone can speak in general terms, what is it about this one that people aren't warming up to?

I need to revisit L'Avventura some time now that my level of film appreciation has matured over the years, but when I saw it, I felt that it was THAT film that was the poster child for boring classic cinema.

Anyway... curious about Red Desert, mostly.

[colinrgeorge]

I'm just gonna come right out and say it. Mike Leigh's Naked is pretentious tripe. Same goes for Slacker.

[Chrysagon]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

You know what would be fantastic...a Criterion Blu-ray of "The Fountain".
>>>
• new transfer
• audio commentary + more special features
• theatrical cut + redux cut

I'd love to see it.

[Scottie]

January 2014 pre-orders are finally up!

01/07/14 - Eclipse Series 40: Late Ray (DVD)
http://www.amazon.com/Eclipse-40-Lat...words=late+ray

01/07/14 - Throne Of Blood (BD / DVD)
http://www.amazon.com/Throne-Blood-B...hrone+of+blood

01/14/14 - Rififi (BD / DVD)
http://www.amazon.com/Rififi-Blu-ray...eywords=rififi

01/14/14 - Thief (BD / DVD)
http://www.amazon.com/Thief-Blu-ray-...keywords=thief

01/21/14 - It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (BD / DVD)
http://www.amazon.com/Its-Mad-World-...+mad+mad+world

01/21/14 - La Vie De Bohème (BD / DVD)
http://www.amazon.com/Vie-Boheme-Blu...+vie+de+boheme

01/28/14 - The Long Day Closes (BD / DVD)
http://www.amazon.com/Long-Day-Close...ong+day+closes

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by Gate

A question for you Criterion fanatics:

What do you think is the worst - or if you prefer, your least favorite - movie in the catalog that's available on Blu-ray?

I would not say worst, but I thought Ministry of Fear was so-so and was probably picked up by Criterion so they could have Fritz Lang in the library.

Also, I am not a fan of Videodrome or Blow Out even though they have a strong following.

Needless to say, I do not think any of these films are awful in any way.

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by iScottie

My least favorite Criterions (from what I've seen).

• 3:10 To Yuma (The remake is infinitely better.)
• 8½ (I honestly appreciate it more with each subsequent watch, but it will take another watch to truly win me over.)
• America Lost And Found: The BBS Story (I only like Five Easy Pieces And The Last Picture Show.)
• Black Moon (Part of me softly likes it, despite how bizarre and stupid it may seem.)
• Brazil (Now this is a film that I REALLY disliked. I don't see why everybody raves about it.)
• Design For Living (I'll need to rewatch this film, but I think I went into it with too high of expectations and it ultimately fell a little short for me. I don't hate it, I'm just uncomfortably neutral towards it.)
• Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (I should have known that I would dislike it prior to seeing it because I hate anything "drug trippy" in movies. This film also put me to sleep, so there's strike two against it.)
• Gomorrah (This is another film that I need to rewatch in order to appreciate it. I went into it expecting a Godfather-esque film, but instead I received over two hours of dialogue. I enjoyed the beginning of Part 1 and the ending of Part 3, but everything in between I could have done without - despite that being the meat and potatoes of the film.)
• Harold And Maude (I can see what the message of the film was and I can respect that, but this film just didn't do it for me.)
• Island Of Lost Souls (I'm pretty sure the sets agitated me more than the entire film. With that being said, this was just too silly for my likings.)
• Life Is Sweet (Reflecting on this film, I guess it isn't AS BAD as I originally made it out to be. However, this film not only started to put me to sleep, but it almost made me throw up at one point, so I think that's a good idea of why I dislike it.)
• Pale Flower (I guess I should probably rewatch this film, but it goes back to that old saying of "don't judge a book by its cover". I felt very cold and reserved throughout the entire film - as I should - but I didn't really like the pacing nor how the entire thing played out.)
• People On Sunday (Hands down my least favorite silent film. I do appreciate silent films whether they are slapsticks or not, but this one was a never-ending bore.)
• Rosetta (It was like watching the same five minutes on repeat for almost two hours. Also, there is no likability or relatability to Rosetta's character.)
• Safety Last! (Scott went into yet another film with high expectations and fell flat on his face. I noticed that I had to force myself to laugh to not feel AS let down as I was. Maybe this is a film that will benefit from a rewatch where I know what I'm going into to.)
• The Seventh Seal (Too many high expectations going in and too many complex ideas thrown my way to grasp in one watch. I need to rewatch this one, but I was let down on the initial viewing.)
• Shock Corridor (I loved The Naked Kiss, but this one put me to sleep. I pretty much figured the plot out, as well, from the first five to ten minutes.)
• Sweet Smell Of Success (I didn't dislike this film, but I think I was expecting a more faster-paced film-noir. A repeat viewing will definitely help with appreciating this film more.)
• The Third Man (Now here is a film that I was let down by. The ratings and reviews for this film are stellar and many refer to it as "the best film-noir". I went into it expecting just that and while I did enjoy the brilliant camerawork, the plot dragged on and on for a good hour or so before getting exciting. I also disliked the whole amusement park ending, as well. It's not as bad as I'm making it out to be, but after shoveling out X amount of dollars to get a brand new and sealed copy of this OOP film, I wasn't expecting to dislike it.)
• Tokyo Drifter (I appreciate it because I truly believe it helped inspire Tarantino for some of his later films, but this film was too much style and not enough substance, in my opinion.)
• Wings Of Desire (One of the only films that I can recall where I was sitting and counting the minutes until it was over. This is hands down one of the most boring films that I have ever seen. I REALLY loved the first half hour or so, but after a while, not only did I lose track of what was going on, but I found the entire thing to be repetitious. There is no denying Wim Wenders' directing abilities, but I was extremely let down by the pacing of this film.)

Wow, is there anything you DO like?

Add me to the list of people nominating A Safe Place. I hate the films of Henry Jaglom. About the only thing I liked was seeing the late, lovely Gwen Welles in something other than Nashville, though she seems like she was completely stoned the whole time, particularly during her speech about dirty old men. I suppose the good thing is it doesn't take up any extra disc space if you consider it to be a supplement on the Drive He Said disc.

[Meek12345]

The Fountain is one of my top 10 movies of all time along with Kill Bill. If they received the Criterion treatment, I would probably go outside and do cartwheels. I'm glad that I'm not the only one that feels this way about these two films. It would be nice to get Tarantino's original combined cut of 1 & 2 on blu-ray with some significant special features.

Will it be nearly impossible for Criterion to get the license of The Fountain from Warner? I have noticed on previous posts that people in general feel that Warner will not cooperate wirh Criterion.

By the way, I watched Thief last week. I think my expectations were too high after going through posts on this thread. I thought it was an interesting movie though and the last heist scene was beautiful. One thing that bothered me was the racial undertones. Some characters were clearly racists, but I'm not sure about James Caan's character. He seems to be a part of the culture of movies in the 60s,70s, and 80s when the lead characters used racial epithets
because they were expected to

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Gate

A question for you Criterion fanatics:

What do you think is the worst - or if you prefer, your least favorite - movie in the catalog that's available on Blu-ray?

Salò. Nothing else is even close.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

I would not say worst, but I thought Ministry of Fear was so-so and was probably picked up by Criterion so they could have Fritz Lang in the library.

I believe they had M long before Ministry of Fear.

[Rich Pure Doom]

I'm thinking of picking up The Earrings of Madame De.. during the upcoming Barnes sale. To those who've seen the disc, how bad is the transfer in motion?

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

I would not say worst, but I thought Ministry of Fear was so-so and was probably picked up by Criterion so they could have Fritz Lang in the library.

They already had Lang in their catalog: M (#30) and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (#231).

[Tin Drum]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Salò. Nothing else is even close.

Actually, this is quite a good film (IMO, of course) even if it's too tough to take at times.

And the blu-ray presentation from Criterion is absolutely stunning.

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by Meek12345

The Fountain is one of my top 10 movies of all time along with Kill Bill. If they received the Criterion treatment, I would probably go outside and do cartwheels. I'm glad that I'm not the only one that feels this way about these two films. It would be nice to get Tarantino's original combined cut of 1 & 2 on blu-ray with some significant special features.

Will it be nearly impossible for Criterion to get the license of The Fountain from Warner? I have noticed on previous posts that people in general feel that Warner will not cooperate wirh Criterion.

I wasn't aware of that. Well, that's a pity.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by jayembee

They already had Lang in their catalog: M (#30) and The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (#231).

I guess I should have worded it differently and said another Lang title in the collection.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Salò. Nothing else is even close.

Originally Posted by Tin Drum

Actually, this is quite a good film (IMO, of course) even if it's too tough to take at times.

And the blu-ray presentation from Criterion is absolutely stunning.

Oh, I can believe that Criterion's Blu-ray is stunning. And, yes, it's quite a good film, looking at it objectively. I'm glad that I've seen it, but I don't expect to ever watch it again, as I did not enjoy watching it the first time.

And since the question was "What do you think is the worst - or if you prefer, your least favorite - movie in the catalog that's available on Blu-ray?" I gave an honest answer. Of all the ones I've seen, it's definitely my least favorite and the worst, if for no other reason than everything else I've seen from the Collection I've liked more.

Now, if it wasn't restricted to Blu-ray, and allowed for DVDs (or even LDs), I still would've answered "Salò, but probably would not have added "Nothing else is even close".

On second thought, if DVDs were included, I'd probably say Salò was my least favorite, but that Armageddon was the worst.