The Criterion Collection

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

BW, I would highly reccomend Bob Le Flambour and Le Samorai above everything else. To clarify, I love Melville, but Army of Shadows is the one film of his that leaves me a tad cold. And I've seen quite a few of his films.

I've only seen Army of Shadows, Le Cercle Rouge, and Leon Morin, Priest.

Le Cercle Rouge is hands down my favorite, Army of Shadows I can take or leave, and Leon Morin, Priest is just eh. I need to rewatch it but it was putting me to sleep on my first viewing.

[The Bronx Bull]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I've only seen Army of Shadows, Le Cercle Rouge, and Leon Morin, Priest.

Le Cercle Rouge is hands down my favorite, Army of Shadows I can take or leave, and Leon Morin, Priest is just eh. I need to rewatch it but it was putting me to sleep on my first viewing.

My ranking would be:

1) Le Cercle Rouge
2) Le Samourai
3) Army of Shadows
4) Le Doulos
5) Le Deuxieme Souffle
6) Bob le Flambeur
7) Le Silence de la Mer
8) Un Flic

I still need to watch Leon Morin: Priest.

[Judex]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

This is the best news I've heard all day. Classe Tous Risques is one of my favorite Criterion DVDs, and I've been holding on tight to my copy. Lino Ventura and Jean-Paul Belmondo for the win.

Oddly enough it's the first time it's had a home video release in the UK.

I love Belmondo in Le Doulos, Such a shame Criterion lost the rights. I wouldn't mind that on blu.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by The Bronx Bull

I love Le Deuxieme Souffle. One of my favorite shots is in that film, as four men wearing wool overcoats look down a mountain slope - keep your eye out for it. As a Melville fan, myself, I consider him to be *underrated*, if anything!

watched the 1st half... so far, really good! the prison escape scene in the first 5 minutes is fantastically done. I love it any time a filmmaker can tell his story without dialogue.

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by The Bronx Bull

My ranking would be:

1) Le Cercle Rouge
2) Le Samourai
3) Army of Shadows
4) Le Doulos
5) Le Deuxieme Souffle
6) Bob le Flambeur
7) Le Silence de la Mer
8) Un Flic

I still need to watch Leon Morin: Priest.

Personally I would rate Le Cercle Rouge below Samourai & Shadows. What surprised me was Leon Morin. I knew going in it was mostly a dialog driven film and expected to be bored stiff. Maybe my expectations were so low it was bound to exceed them, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and never found it boring.

Speaking of French Directors I'm a big fan of Clouzot. Would love to see Criterion release The Murderer lives at 21. I may have to order the MoC version if not. Also if StudioCanal/Lionsgate is never going to release The Raven (Le Corbeau) it would be nice if they sold the rights back to Criterion. That loss of titles still makes me mad

[The Bronx Bull]

Originally Posted by Banned User

Personally I would rate Le Cercle Rouge below Samourai & Shadows. What surprised me was Leon Morin. I knew going in it was mostly a dialog driven film and expected to be bored stiff. Maybe my expectations were so low it was bound to exceed them, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and never found it boring.

Speaking of French Directors I'm a big fan of Clouzot. Would love to see Criterion release The Murderer lives at 21. I may have to order the MoC version if not. Also if StudioCanal/Lionsgate is never going to release The Raven (Le Corbeau) it would be nice if they sold the rights back to Criterion. That loss of titles still makes me mad

I must check out Leon Morin soon, then! Le Cercle Rouge was my first Melville, and I was blown away by the meticulousness of this film. I'm a huge fan of long scenes sans dialogue, such as the heist in Rififi, or the first twenty minutes of There Will Be Blood. Prior to Cercle Rouge, I had seen both Rififi and The Killing, and loved both; the former topped them, however. It's such a shame how far downhill heist films have come since Heat. I'm hoping Thief meets my expectations in January!

As for Clouzot, I've been keeping my eye out for a copy of Le Corbeau for a while now. Just as you, I wish Criterion would obtain the rights and release a Blu-Ray. Les Diabolique and Wages of Fear are two of the best films in my collection for sure (who *doesn't* like these?), and I'd like to expand on Clouzot.

[Abdrewes]

I hope Quadrophenia plays just as good on second viewing.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by jayembee

No one is crazy for liking or disliking any film.

On the other hand, I have to admit that when I saw his list of disliked Criterions, I was slackjawed by how many films in that list are among my favorite Criterions.

So, no, he's not crazy, but I reserve the right to smile at him, and back away slowly...

Well, I have to admit, there are some surprises on his list as well (that I thought were very good to excellent titles). But yes, no one is crazy.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Thebunk

Worst Blind Buys for me:

2) RepoMan - While a bit more enjoyable then Brazil (and I can see how this would have been loved in the 80s by young people) it is just boring to me. Again, the poor 80's special effects (which was a very dark time in my opinion for effects) just makes it so dated. Hard to ignore the influence that it has had though. On the fence of re-watching this again or just putting on ebay as well.

I didn't buy this movie yet and may not. I watched this film OnDemand on my Comcast service and thought it was incredibly campy as it was intended to be.

Just curious, what did you think of this other 80s movie Eating Raoul? I thought the humor was just a tad too crude for me.

[SlickDamian]

I didn't really enjoy Eating Raoul and Broadcast News. Most disappointing Criterions for me.

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Cool! Well, I either like or love almost all of your top 25, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Now, I just need to find the time. Will be showing my wife The Deer Hunter this weekend. Making her sit through Heaven's Gate, however, might be asking too much. I already bored her with the back story about all of the production nightmares, conflict with the studio, etc. Like the great wife she is, she feigned interest.

Ah, I love The Deer Hunter but prefer the beauty and epic scale of Heaven's Gate more. I miss Hollywood epics, we need more!

[jw007]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Well, warned ya--The older generations are the ones who keep pointing out it was a well-known Japanese TV commercial director's stylized feature debut with the same self-indulgently playful use of quick editing and visual-FX gags; it's the young people who say "Huhuh, dood was on drugs..."

Yes, and since the director Obayashi is now an "old man" in his 70s, I shouldn't refer to "older generations" not understanding it. The generation that is old now was young when this movie came out. So probably the current younger generation will find it either too outdated with the (amazing) special effects or bored that there isn't enough sex or violence in there (like today's desensitized teen generation can handle in plethora).

[bluesilo]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Perhaps if you articulate what you found lacking in Red Desert? La Notte is not hugely different in its tone and treatment of characters.

It just felt really slow. Like if I was there for the cinematography I would've been satisfied, but I didn't really get a lot out of it. I'm not sure what else I didn't care for...maybe the cold setting of the factory?

[jw007]

Yes, I'd have to add to the worst blind buy for me other than Che was Eating Raoul, which I actually sold a week later. It is the only Criterion Blu-ray I actually ever sold in my life (up until now).

[Tin Drum]

I guess I love camp then because Eating Raoul and Repo Man (both viewed for the first time on blu from Criterion) are really good films.

I do love the absurd though. A film many hate (Serial Mom) is in my top ten of all time...

[Kevin Ridge]

Been working through my Criterions last two weeks. I was very unimpressed with Brazil on first time viewing. I'll give it another shot down the road but one of my least favorite blind buys and it being on the more expensive side makes it worse. Enjoyed The Devil's Backbone and Sweet Smell of Success. Burt Lancaster is an actor I really need to see more of his movies. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was quite touching though I didn't think the second half held up as much once Brad Pitt was playing himself. My last few blind buys still to watch are Amarcord, Badlands and Fanny and Alexander. I just don't have the time currently to sit and watch something as long as Fanny so I may end up splitting it up over the course of a couple nights. Hopefully that doesn't hurt my viewing of it. After watching these I'm going to go back to rewatching Chaplin movies in anticipated of City Lights.

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by Kevin Ridge

Been working through my Criterions last two weeks. I was very unimpressed with Brazil on first time viewing. I'll give it another shot down the road but one of my least favorite blind buys and it being on the more expensive side makes it worse. Enjoyed The Devil's Backbone and Sweet Smell of Success. Burt Lancaster is an actor I really need to see more of his movies. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was quite touching though I didn't think the second half held up as much once Brad Pitt was playing himself. My last few blind buys still to watch are Amacord, Badlands and Fanny and Alexander. I just don't have the time currently to sit and watch something as long as Fanny so I may end up splitting it up over the course of a couple nights. Hopefully that doesn't hurt my viewing of it. After watching these I'm going to go back to rewatching Chaplin movies in anticipated of City Lights.

Badlands is amazing, hope you enjoy!

[shortmartin]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Cool! Well, I either like or love almost all of your top 25, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Now, I just need to find the time. Will be showing my wife The Deer Hunter this weekend. Making her sit through Heaven's Gate, however, might be asking too much. I already bored her with the back story about all of the production nightmares, conflict with the studio, etc. Like the great wife she is, she feigned interest.

my fav Heaven's Gate story is from one of the supplements, the interview with Cimino, where he talks about how the buggy that is used in the movie is an original from the time period, and they fully restored it for the movie - such a painstaking process that could have been skirted had they paid less attention detail and the idea that how you make the materials of a film matters. My favorite Western, it's fantastic. I think the rolling skating scene is my favorite movie scene ever.

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by shortmartin

my fav Heaven's Gate story is from one of the supplements, the interview with Cimino, where he talks about how the buggy that is used in the movie is an original from the time period, and they fully restored it for the movie - such a painstaking process that could have been skirted had they paid less attention detail and the idea that how you make the materials of a film matters. My favorite Western, it's fantastic. I think the rolling skating scene is my favorite movie scene ever.

I haven't seen the Criterion Blu-Ray yet, that will be corrected on November 5th.

[pro-bassoonist]

Janus is set to release the year's best film



https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=12502

Pro-B