The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Wizard-of-Wars

Got "To Be Or Not To Be" been waiting for this one! Anyone seen it yet?

I love To Be or Not to Be, and I wrote a User Review for it a few weeks back. It's a rather brilliant blend of comedy and adventure that does not feel outdated in the slightest. I got in a few good belly laughs during this one.

[Infernal King]

Originally Posted by demonknight

Anyone looking forward to some Sony possibilities?

I would hope for:
-Adaptation.
-Living in Oblivion
-The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
-Punch-Drunk Love
and maybe
-El Mariachi

I dunno, I'd much rather have Criterion release films which have never been given the Blu-ray treatment.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by blkhrt

I just finished rewatching the Samurai Trilogy this afternoon. This is my first time watching it on blu, although I had seen it on DVD before. I am somewhat surprised this set doesn't get talked about more. The films are wonderful, and the transfer is such an upgrade over the previous releases. If anyone is on the fence about it, I would highly recommend picking it up during the sale.

Thanks for reminding me. I used to own the old old Criterion DVD editions of The Samurai Trilogy before the most recent restorations, so I would love to see how these movies fare in high definition. Add to my list of possibilities for the last half of November.

[PopcornBandit]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

We need to get to the bottom of this. If it's OOP I'm gonna pick up a copy.

This was one of the titles I was planning on picking up during the Criterion sale. Luckily, my store had one in stock and are holding it for me.

[Wizard-of-Wars]

Originally Posted by demonknight

I'm beginning to think that we'll never see that Criterion edition of C.H.U.D.








I'm deeply saddened by this.

Joke of the day right here!!! I love it!!

[smoss469]

So what about:

Basil Dearden's London Underground
Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara

Not much on these on the forum that I've found. Anyone own them and have any thoughts? Blind Buys that looked interesting!

[jrsl76]

Originally Posted by jayembee

re: Breathless

It may well be going OOP soon. I can only say with certainty that Criterion does not list it as such on their site at the moment.

If it does go out of print, I hope no DVDs go along with it. I'm mostly caught up on the blus, but there are still so many Criterion DVDs I don't have.

[Wizard-of-Wars]

Recommend one Criterion to get this sale. And preferably something that's been released recently :-)

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by Wizard-of-Wars

Recommend one Criterion to get this sale. And preferably something that's been released recently :-)

I would recommend The Thin Red Line, a beautiful and devastating war film about human nature.


On another note, I finally picked up my first haul at B&N:

Heaven's Gate: Saving this until the weekend!
Hoop Dreams: Got home and the disc was broken, of course.
Paris, Texas: Now I watched this tonight and do I have some things to say about it!

What a film.

I don't think I have ever seen a film that gives you such beautifully crafted and fully realized characters. The story that this film takes you on, with these characters is simply stunning. It is one of the greatest films of all time and I highly recommend it that everyone should see it! (even though I am late to the party)

[The Great Owl]

Earlier this evening, I watched both the English and Italian versions of Stromboli, from the 3 Films by Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman Blu-ray set that I picked up today. The English version is my favorite, although it was an unwieldy viewing at times because I was inclined to switch subtitle tracks to understand not only the Sicilian dialogue, but also the thickly-accented English dialogue.

Stromboli is an understated, but incredibly beautiful character study, and I enjoyed the gradual process of warming up to Ingrid Bergman's initially unlikeable Karen as I pondered her life history of surviving through unspeakable World War II and postwar settings by utilizing whatever approaches she had at her disposal. Her capability to befriend, seduce, or shame anyone around her in an effort to improve her situation may bewilder many modern viewers who are fortunate enough not to have experienced similar war-torn circumstances. In a sense, Bergman's Karen in Stromboli could be viewed as a darker twin of her Ilsa Lund character in Casablanca, because both are products of their wartime survival instincts, but Rossellini's film presents the associated predicaments in bleaker shades.

I thought of the 2012 film, The Grey, after finishing Stromboli. The comparison may seem unlikely at first, but both films achieve a similar result in that the final plot developments concerning the lead characters are not as significant as the transitions that these characters experience in emotional or spiritual terms.

The island setting is rather majestic, and there were several moments when I wished that this film could have been presented in color so that the full magnitude of the volcano location could have been conveyed. As is, though, it's a beautiful movie. Of course, even if the leisurely-paced character examination does not quicken any pulses, the idea of watching Ingrid Bergman walk around an Italian island looking like Ingrid Bergman is not a bad thing.

Here's looking forward to the other two films in the set.

I am already attuned to the fact that these Rossellini/Bergman pairings are a far cry from Casablanca, Notorious, or Spellbound, but I'm digging the aesthetic so far.

[whbinder]

I came across something quite lovely tonight. it's possible that it's already out there on the internet, but I thought I'd share it here. I just opened a sealed Criterion Laserdisc of "A Night at the Opera". New Criterion discs often came with inserts with instructions for audio, but this one came with a full Voyager Catalog with prices and photos of their growing collection at the time. If there's interest I'd be happy to scan the pages in and post them here. Or perhaps - as mentioned - they're already out there.

[deepbreathsanddeath]

I just chucked on A Safe Place after watching The Last Picture Show. I don't normally stop watching something to go on the Internet and post... But dear god, what have I gotten myself into. I feel like my soul is trying desperately to escape my being to avoid this torture. What the hell is this D:

[rock, stone]

Originally Posted by jayembee

re: Breathless

It may well be going OOP soon. I can only say with certainty that Criterion does not list it as such on their site at the moment.

If it's something you do want, and have been putting off getting it, then you might as well pick it up now. I did that a couple of months ago when the rumors of it going OOP started.

There is also the possibility that this is the first title being "upgraded" into a dual format release, instead of repressing both the Blu and DVDs separately.

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Earlier this evening, I watched both the English and Italian versions of Stromboli, from the 3 Films by Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman Blu-ray set that I picked up today. The English version is my favorite, although it was an unwieldy viewing at times because I was inclined to switch subtitle tracks to understand not only the Sicilian dialogue, but also the thickly-accented English dialogue.

Stromboli is an understated, but incredibly beautiful character study, and I enjoyed the gradual process of warming up to Ingrid Bergman's initially unlikeable Karen as I pondered her life history of surviving through unspeakable World War II and postwar settings by utilizing whatever approaches she had at her disposal. Her capability to befriend, seduce, or shame anyone around her in an effort to improve her situation may bewilder many modern viewers who are fortunate enough not to have experienced similar war-torn circumstances. In a sense, Bergman's Karen in Stromboli could be viewed as a darker twin of her Ilsa Lund character in Casablanca, because both are products of their wartime survival instincts, but Rossellini's film presents the associated predicaments in bleaker shades.

I thought of the 2012 film, The Grey, after finishing Stromboli. The comparison may seem unlikely at first, but both films achieve a similar result in that the final plot developments concerning the lead characters are not as significant as the transitions that these characters experience in emotional or spiritual terms.

The island setting is rather majestic, and there were several moments when I wished that this film could have been presented in color so that the full magnitude of the volcano location could have been conveyed. As is, though, it's a beautiful movie. Of course, even if the leisurely-paced character examination does not quicken any pulses, the idea of watching Ingrid Bergman walk around an Italian island looking like Ingrid Bergman is not a bad thing.

Here's looking forward to the other two films in the set.

I am already attuned to the fact that these Rossellini/Bergman pairings are a far cry from Casablanca, Notorious, or Spellbound, but I'm digging the aesthetic so far.

So... Why aren't you reviewing for this site yet? Lol.
This website would benefit from hiring one more reviewer so we can get more Region B and Asian imports reviewed quicker and I think we would all agree that The Great Owl would make a nice addition to the official reviewers.

Pro-B is doing great work but the output of Region B reviews is far too slow for my liking.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

If you enjoy documentary films, Hoop Dreams is an absolute must see. I think that it is worlds better than his other film, The Interrupters, which failed to engage me and yes.. it's real life footage of street violence in Chicago is nothing anybody really needs or wants to see.

Hoop Dreams is incredible, though. St. Joseph, one of the high schools that is prominently captured in the film, is a school in the same conference as the high school I attended.. well, just fact checked and they have since moved to a different conference, but our basketball team used to play them regularly.

I can't wait to see this documentary film finally...if it is one of the greatest documentaries, a blu-release is mandatory! Criterion: please upgrade this title!!! thank you!

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by jw007

I can't wait to see this documentary film finally...if it is one of the greatest documentaries, a blu-release is mandatory! Criterion: please upgrade this title!!! thank you!

It was shot on SD video, not HD or even film. The extra bump in resolution would probably be comparable to the majority of 28 days later. Aside from the ending which was shot on 35mm and looks stunning, the rest was shot on SD video as well and the "upgrade"--if you can even call it that--is marginal at best.

The only way Hoop Dreams would be upgraded would be in its audio maybe. Even then, I don't think criterion will bother and I'm hapy with that. Personally I don't mind watching stuff shot in SD if I'm watching it on DVD because I'm not really thinking about the picture quality where as SD shot stuff presented on blu-ray seems to drag the "this looks really shitty" thought out my mind.

I think it works as a DVD only set as much as I would like an upgrade in audio.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by jcez28

I wasn't tryin to mock you man, it's just you were being delusional without any strong evidence. You can ask anyone on this forum and they will tell you DVD will be phase out soon. Criterion is a great independent company that knows how to adapt, but right now they're at the top of their game with Hulu and the fan base that continues to grow, you mistook the DVD+Blu-ray format as a negative when all criterion is doing making the transition a bit easy for those who haven't upgrade to blu ray yet

Yes, and I am usually careful about coming off delusional or not. I am actually surprised at myself that I would write something like that. It is delusional actually, you're absolutely right. If I said no, then I'd be delusional right there, so thus I am not. Criterion is as strong as ever and that sure doesn't sound delusional.

[jw007]

deepbreathsanddeath: I think I read somewhere that this film was mostly shot on video (SD), so it probably wouldn't look all that much more impressive if it was released on blu-ray. I'm sure the audio could come out on lossless Dolby 5.1 and maybe some new supplementary features (interviews? retrospect?) that might make this a fairly attractive Criterion BD edition.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I just chucked on A Safe Place after watching The Last Picture Show. I don't normally stop watching something to go on the Internet and post... But dear god, what have I gotten myself into. I feel like my soul is trying desperately to escape my being to avoid this torture. What the hell is this D:

Ugh it's pretty bad lol.

[jw007]

I bought Slacker today at B&N for $17.99 + tax (thus upgrading my old DVD). It was my first purchase during the November sale so far... many more to come... not sure exactly which titles yet though.