The Criterion Collection

[Clare2904]

Merry Christmas to all

I hope the day has been joyous, not too heavy on the waistline & good to your film collection

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Yesssss! Great minds...

Merry Christmas to all, by the way

Indeed! I knew you would approve.

[LegacyCosts]

I think I would have really liked the tree of life if it wasn't for the persistant whispering and corny voice overs. I really hate that about him as a filmmaker, it isn't needed. Let the visuals speak for themselves.

[Visco.]

Originally Posted by Meek12345

I have the same questions deepbreathsanddeath, although I have seen films 1-9. Can someone please answer these questions when they finish the set?

I watched Moon and The Game last night, and enjoyed both immensely. Fun Trivia Fact: The director of Moon, Duncan Jones, is David Bowie's son. I immediately liked him even more after learning about this.

After watching The Game, I automatically added it to my Criterion wishlist. I have now seen 5 films directed by David Fincher, and I rank them as follows:

1. The Game (will own soon)
2. Se7en (own blu-ray digibook)
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (own)
4. The Social Network
5. Fight Club

Hopefully, I can catch Panic Room, Zodiac, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on tv soon. Although, I wasn't a big fan of the original Swedish version of TGWTDT, so I'm not in a big hurry to see the remake.

Well, Merry Christmas everyone!

Fincher's version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a masterpiece and is one of my favorite films of all time. You're making a HUGE mistake if you wait too long to see it. It's Fincher at his best. That's not my opinion. Just fact.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by 14728

Happy holidays! Here's what I got
Criterions:
The Passion of Joan of Arc (DVD)
Z (DVD)
The Man who knew too much (BD)
The Lady Vanishes (BD)
M (BD)
Spartacus (DVD)
Gimme Shelter (BD)
Other:
Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St. Super Deluxe Edition
U2: Achtung Baby Super Deluxe edition
Pink Floyd: The Wall Immersion
Pink Floyd: the Dark Side of the Moon Immersion
Beatles: Live at the BBC the collection
Ramones: Ramones
Chuck Berry: Definitive Collection
Rebel Without a Cause Digibook
I have some films to watch now!

Nice haul! I love Pink Floyd as well.

I ended up with:

BD
Tarantino XX Collection
Zatoichi CC Set
Diabolique
Anatomy of a Murder
Trilogy of Life
Physical Evidence/The Anderson Tapes
Ultimate Gangsters Collection (Classics)
Back to School
Planet of the Apes 5 Film Collection
Planet of the Apes Reboot (2001)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

DVD

Manhattan Murder Mystery
The Outer Limits: Complete Original Series
Eclipse Series: Nikkatsu Noir
Eclipse Series: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa
Eclipse Series: Alexander Korda's Private Lives


Plus got some gift cards to both Amazon and Best Buy.

All I can say is thank goodness I have another week or so off before I have to return to work; hopefully I can make a dent in this stuff!

[Ausjdm]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

Recently did this as well.

1. The Tree of Life
2. The Thin Red Line
3. Days of Heaven
4. The New World
5. To the Wonder
6. Badlands

Really wish the theatrical cut of The New World was available on Blu.

I thought Tree of Life was one of the best shot movies I've ever seen. It's so beautiful I'm not a religious guy but it really gave me scope of your place in the universe. After I watched it I went outside and touched some trees lol I had like a revelation that day it was interesting to say the least

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by smoss469

I ended up with:

DVD

The Outer Limits: Complete Original Series

This really needs to get the same love and attention that was given to The Twilight Zone upgrade.

[MitchA17]

Big gift this year was the Zatoichi box!

My family's the best.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Meek12345

I will definitely catch Fincher's version of TGWTDT as soon as I can then. Also, I have seen Alien^3 before, but it was a long time ago. I need to see it again before I compare it to Fincher's other films. Although, I'm beginning to think you were being sarcastic about including that film in my top 5.

I wasn't being sarcastic, but I wasn't thinking that you were listing your "top 5". You just said that you "have now seen 5 films directed by David Fincher", and I just found it a bit curious that Alien³ had not been in the list of Fincher movies you'd seen.

[Meek12345]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I wasn't being sarcastic, but I wasn't thinking that you were listing your "top 5". You just said that you "have now seen 5 films directed by David Fincher", and I just found it a bit curious that Alien³ had not been in the list of Fincher movies you'd seen.

Sorry, I made a mistake with my original post. I'm dealing with a food and apple cider hangover. I have only seen 6 films by Fincher, but my memory of Alien 3 was too vague to factor into a top 5. Fincher is probably my favorite director working right now. So, even if I ranked Alien 3 at 6, that would still make it a great film for me. I will definitely watch The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remake ASAP. The two votes of confidence from members on this forum made me move it up my watch list. I hope that Criterion will continue to add David Fincher films to their collection.

[Rich Pure Doom]

Originally Posted by Meek12345

Sorry, I made a mistake with my original post. I'm dealing with a food and apple cider hangover. I have only seen 6 films by Fincher, but my memory of Alien 3 was too vague to factor into a top 5. Fincher is probably my favorite director working right now. So, even if I ranked Alien 3 at 6, that would still make it a great film for me. I will definitely watch The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remake ASAP. The two votes of confidence from members on this forum made me move it up my watch list. I hope that Criterion will continue to add David Fincher films to their collection.

Make it 3 recommendations from forum members for Fincher's Dragon Tattoo. It is excellent, and far better than his "classic" films like Seven or Fight Club.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Make it 3 recommendations from forum members for Fincher's Dragon Tattoo. It is excellent, and far better than his "classic" films like Seven or Fight Club.

Agreed! It's sad to see Fincher hasn't made a movie in two years because, I feel, he was really at the peak of his filmmaking prowess in 2011.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by oildude

The New World: Plot Summary

This is, sir, one of the funniest things I have read in recent times

Okay, I recently saw Passion of Joan of Arc on the MoC blu-ray. The last I had seen the film was on a rental CC DVD several years ago. That one had the Voices of Light soundtrack, and for this reason I held back a long time on getting the Eureka blu-ray because for me the score was a very integral part of the images I was seeing. But when during Eureka's Black Friday offers, this one was priced at 8GBP, it became a no-brainer buy. I saw the film in the 20fps version with the piano score (I know Dreyer intended for the film to be seen in complete silence, but I can't imagine doing that, at least for now). It remains a powerful film. Earlier I used to wonder why large portions of the film do not have inter-titles, but now I realize that the inter-titles only reflect the words actually recorded in the written proceedings of the trial, and the script fills in the gaps with imagination and conjecture and does not give them any written dialog. Maria Falconetti's performance is THE reason to watch this film. Out of context it may just appear like a bunch of sad face expressions, but one can really believe her as the woman behind the crusader.

Visually, the change in frame rate itself does not make a huge difference for me, but the image quality is a major bump from the SD version. Of course it's by no means reference grade material, because even after restoration there are plenty of minor scratches and other slight issues, but the image now has tremendous depth and nice texture especially in the (many) close-ups. The piano score does not have the awe-inspiring feel of the Einhorn score, but it is actually pretty good in holding the mood of the scenes.

The package is one of the most beautiful looking I have scene from Eureka. I have posted a few pics (from a crappy camera) of it here. Highly recommended!

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by ravenus

This is, sir, one of the funniest things I have read in recent times

Okay, I recently saw Passion of Joan of Arc on the MoC blu-ray. The last I had seen the film was on a rental CC DVD several years ago. That one had the Voices of Light soundtrack, and for this reason I held back a long time on getting the Eureka blu-ray because for me the score was a very integral part of the images I was seeing. But when during Eureka's Black Friday offers, this one was priced at 8GBP, it became a no-brainer buy. I saw the film in the 20fps version with the piano score (I know Dreyer intended for the film to be seen in complete silence, but I can't imagine doing that, at least for now). It remains a powerful film. Earlier I used to wonder why large portions of the film do not have inter-titles, but now I realize that the inter-titles only reflect the words actually recorded in the written proceedings of the trial, and the script fills in the gaps with imagination and conjecture and does not give them any written dialog. Maria Falconetti's performance is THE reason to watch this film. Out of context it may just appear like a bunch of sad face expressions, but one can really believe her as the woman behind the crusader.

Visually, the change in frame rate itself does not make a huge difference for me, but the image quality is a major bump from the SD version. Of course it's by no means reference grade material, because even after restoration there are plenty of minor scratches and other slight issues, but the image now has tremendous depth and nice texture especially in the (many) close-ups. The piano score does not have the awe-inspiring feel of the Einhorn score, but it is actually pretty good in holding the mood of the scenes.

The package is one of the most beautiful looking I have scene from Eureka. I have posted a few pics (from a crappy camera) of it here. Highly recommended!

I see you also got the Louis Jordan Count Dracula. I remember seeing it many years ago on PBS and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. At the time there was quite a bit of negative talk of the casting of Jordan in the role and, I must say, I went into it with my mind pretty much made up it was going to be a disaster. It didn't take long for me to get caught up in it and I think it's one of the best versions of the story.

[14728]

Originally Posted by smoss469

Nice haul! I love Pink Floyd as well.

I ended up with:

BD
Tarantino XX Collection
Zatoichi CC Set
Diabolique
Anatomy of a Murder
Trilogy of Life
Physical Evidence/The Anderson Tapes
Ultimate Gangsters Collection (Classics)
Back to School
Planet of the Apes 5 Film Collection
Planet of the Apes Reboot (2001)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes

DVD

Manhattan Murder Mystery
The Outer Limits: Complete Original Series
Eclipse Series: Nikkatsu Noir
Eclipse Series: The First Films of Akira Kurosawa
Eclipse Series: Alexander Korda's Private Lives


Plus got some gift cards to both Amazon and Best Buy.

All I can say is thank goodness I have another week or so off before I have to return to work; hopefully I can make a dent in this stuff!

That's a good haul, too. I'm kind of on the fence with the Zatoichi box set, so can someone please tell me of it's worth it?

[The Great Owl]

Ahhh...back in the routine again after a Merry Christmas. I hope that the rest of you had a great holiday as well.

I got home yesterday evening and was in a specific movie mood, so I watched my new Blu-rays of Singin' in the Rain and West Side Story.

Singin' in the Rain is a magnificent film that looks beautiful on Blu-ray. It's old hat to say that an old movie looks as though it were filmed yesterday, but this one really does jump out of the screen with a fresh look. I last saw this Gene Kelly movie over two decades ago, and, while I'm generally not the biggest fan of musicals, I think that this one transcends the genre in so many ways. Watching it last night reminded me of how the biting sarcasm directed toward Hollywood still applies just as much today. More than anything, though, it's one of the most nonstop entertaining movies in history. I love Debbie Reynolds immensely in this movie. I always feel sort of sorry for Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) at the end of Singin' in the Rain, although I know that I shouldn't.

West Side Story has not aged quite as well as Singin' in the Rain, and Natalie Wood, bless her heart, is not quite convincing as a Puerto Rican character. The sheer physicality of this movie is still amazing to see, though, and props still go to the Leonard Bernstein score and the Saul Bass logo. I prefer Robert Wise's forays into the horror and sci-fi genres, but his director talents still ring true here. My favorite scene is the "Cool" dance sequence. Pow!

Both of the above titles were Criterion laserdiscs, interestingly enough. (So I'm not that far outside thread topic boundaries)

Anyway, back to my film noir marathon tonight!


I did not receive any Blu-rays for Christmas, since I told my family that I'm already hooked up pretty well as far as movies go.

However...

As a Christmas gift to me, my brother and sister-in-law put the autographed Tippi Hedren photo that one of my running friends got for me earlier year into a nice frame, so I've got it hanging on the wall right now.
Here is the autographed Tippi Hedren photo (before it was placed in the beautiful black frame).

[Show spoiler]

On my way up to my parents' place on Tuesday, I stopped at a used store in their neck of the woods, and bought a perfect-condition Blu-ray of How to Marry a Millionaire, so I guess that the recent discussion about gradually buying up the Marilyn Monroe films was timely.

[jetthead]

I love How to Marry a Millionaire! How can you not like a movie with Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, and Betty Grable?!

[14728]

Speaking of posters, here's the one I got for Christmas:

JIMI!

[Clare2904]

Thinking ahead to the next Criterion splurge and the fact that lots of people out there received gift cards they may never use, it be worth snapping some up.

I remember from the July B&N sale thread people mentioning sites that resell these gift cards. If anyone has recommendations I'm sure some, me for one, would be interested to check them out.

One thing I do remember though is that not many worked for people outside the US

[Lorenzol]

Originally Posted by Clare2904

Thinking ahead to the next Criterion splurge and the fact that lots of people out there received gift cards they may never use, it be worth snapping some up.

I remember from the July B&N sale thread people mentioning sites that resell these gift cards. If anyone has recommendations I'm sure some, me for one, would be interested to check them out.

One thing I do remember though is that not many worked for people outside the US

I took advantage of the B&N Criterion sale the past few years with a least one 30% or 40% coupon working for the initial purchase but I bought none this year since they wouldn't let you apply the coupons online to the Criterions.