The Criterion Collection

[Quinni]

Just found out about The Fantastic Mr. Fox and Blue is the Warmest Color. Very glad that I held off on the former until now (makes me wonder, though, how often does Criterion consider animated films such as this?), but I'm rather torn about the latter. I own the original comic and adored the story a lot, but knowing what I know about the director and the author's thoughts about the production is making me a bit hesitant.

[Clare2904]

Originally Posted by Hartley

Just a heads up for Canadian Criterion fans in case anyone hasn't mentioned it. Up here the Cineplex store has everything 50% off including all their Criterion films. They aren't listed as Criterion, so you'll have to search individual titles. Annoying layout to the site and their MSRP is listed a couple dollars higher than in the States, but about as good a deal as we get up here on new Criterion stuff!

Don't forget the free movie ticket if you spend over $15. Even better if you also collect Scene points (as I do).

Bought Paths of Glory the other day for $24 ($11 when I subtract the movie ticket I would be buying anyway).

I think the deal end today though, looking at other online coupons so don't wait.

[Norbie]

Just finished A Man Escaped and now I'm desperate for Lancelot du Lac on blu-ray.

Peace.

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by Clare2904

Don't forget the free movie ticket if you spend over $15. Even better if you also collect Scene points (as I do).

Bought Paths of Glory the other day for $24 ($11 when I subtract the movie ticket I would be buying anyway).

I think the deal end today though, looking at other online coupons so don't wait.

For the free ticket does it have to be one movie at $15 or the total of your order?
I order four non Criterion blu rays (Laura, How Green Was My Valley, Grapes of Wrath and Wings) but didn't say anything about getting a ticket on my order even though I did see that on the ad.
Also, a lot of their stuff seems to be back ordered whichs is kind of annoying but I guess at that price I can't really complain

[Clare2904]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

For the free ticket does it have to be one movie at $15 or the total of your order?
I order four non Criterion blu rays (Laura, How Green Was My Valley, Grapes of Wrath and Wings) but didn't say anything about getting a ticket on my order even though I did see that on the ad.
Also, a lot of their stuff seems to be back ordered whichs is kind of annoying but I guess at that price I can't really complain

For some reason the site is freezing on my phone. A quick check tells me the film has to cost $15+ to qualify for a free ticket. I added behind the candelabra x 2 ($9 each) & no free ticket was applied.

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I've seen Kazan's On the Waterfront, East of Eden, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Wild River. They're all outstanding films. On the Waterfront is my favorite (and my favorite Criterion title of 2013), but I also recommend Wild River if you're looking for an underrated masterpiece.

Kazan's film noir, Panic in the Streets, is still in my noir stack waiting to be watched. I have a feeling that I'm really going to dig it.



Here's my User Review of Ida Lupino's The Hitch-Hiker.

I still need to see East of Eden and Wild River. I've heard so many good things about East of Eden, but I can't imagine a better movie than Waterfront.

Originally Posted by baheidstu

The boat chase is fantastic. The rest of the movie is fun if you're a fan of the early 70s blaxploitation cycle because LALD is basically Bond Meets Superfly. So much of it is extremely dated, from the funky music to those garish outfits, but I still enjoy it. Baron Samedi is a cool villain, but the "exploding Kanaga" at the end is embarrassing.

I never really thought of it like that, but you are so right! And the boat chase has to be one of the most over-the-top of the time, and of all Bond Movies.

Originally Posted by Mansinthe

im still debating with myself if i should get world cinema project, im sure the other movies are "good" but the only one i really want (and have already seen on hulu) is the housemaid. kinda hoping for a korean release with eng subs..

Same boat here.... I need to watch the others on Hulu, but then still question do I need to buy if they are all on Hulu.

[lordmorpheus72]

So a few slight interuptions on my movie marathon week have limited the numbers of movies I've fit in so far (emergency at work, an unexpected friend of the wife's crashing at my house, and of course 24 hours of A Christmas Story)... which isn't a bad thing, kind of lets me sit with some of the movies for a while before watching more. However, it did out off my Criterion marathon until today.

Movies I've watched so far, some mentioned here before...

Fistful of Dollars
For a Few Dollars More
The Good, The Band, The Ugly
A Streetcar Named Desire
Despicable Me 2
Before Midnight
Apocalypse Now Redux
Hearts of Darkness

I throughly enjoyed Redux and Hearts of Darkness, though 3 hours and 16 minutes was a little long for Redux. The whole rubber plantation scene was one I thought was best left out of the film. It was nice to see what he had shot, but it seemed to put the movie on pause for a long period of time. I know it was left out originally because he didn't like how it was shot, the actors, etc., and it seemed like a good decision to leave it out.

Now today finally starts my Criterion selections. I'm watching City Lights now and it is brilliant!! What Chaplin does in silent films is simply amazing. I've always heard this, and seen clips from his movies, but to finally sit down and watch some of his movies really makes me appreciate his abilities. The discussion here a few weeks ago, and the Criterion Q&A that streamed on Film Threat really moved some of the Chaplin films to the top of my purchase list.

After City Lights, I'll be watching:
The Gold Rush
Pale Flower (finally!)

And then I'm not sure.... I've got so many to watch I don't know where to start. I wanted to watch some Hitchcock, but my wife saw some of them last night and said she wanted to watch them as well... which really is kind of cool! So I'm thinking maybe Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, Kiss Me Deadly, Seventh Seal, Tokyo Story or something from the When Horror Came to Shochiku Eclipse set.

I still have Monday and Tuesday off so I have time to watch quite a few more, just got to get to it!


Anyone else doing marathons this week? What are you watching? Anything that really blew your skirt up?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by lordmorpheus72

Anyone else doing marathons this week? What are you watching? Anything that really blew your skirt up?

I returned to my film noir stack last night with Elia Kazan's Panic in the Streets. This brilliant 1950 film noir, about a public health doctor and a police detective on the chase to catch a gangster who is infected with bubonic plague and running loose in the city of New Orleans, stars a young Jack Palance as the lead villain and a young Richard Widmark, who has appeared in a few Criterion titles. It's is a fast-paced and intense flick even by today's standards, and it's also an interesting look at post-WWII city culture. My favorite Kazan film is still On the Waterfront, but this one is definitely a firecracker.


An Amazon package arrived at my doorstep last night...

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Logan's Run
Soylent Green

L.A. Confidential and Intolerance are on their way, and I placed a Twilight Time order yesterday for Man in the Dark and Hard Times.

There have been some tremendous deals over the past two months for some great movies that I've been wanting to add, so I'll be spending January and February making minimal purchases while I go through the backlog of unwatched Blu-rays that have stacked up. This will be quite a long film marathon, and that's a good thing.

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by lordmorpheus72

Anyone else doing marathons this week? What are you watching? Anything that really blew your skirt up?

i finished the When Horror Came to Shochiku boxset yesterday. the movies are fun in a B-Movie way of being fun. 2 out of the set are probably "better" in terms of quality (acting etc). overall it was a good set and i will probably revisit one or another movie.

today i will finish the TV show "vikings season 1"

im not sure if i will watch another criterion from my pile of unwatched movies or revisit pacific rim

the last movie that really blow my mind was "metropolis" and the last criterion i did watch was "things to come"

[StonesEGF]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

L.A. Confidential and Intolerance are on their way, and I placed a Twilight Time order yesterday for Man in the Dark and Hard Times.

LA Confidential will fit wonderfully at the back end of your film noir marathon, Owl. I watched it again recently, myself. I usually watch it every couple years, and every time I do, I'm left in awe of how the filmmakers tie all of the seemingly disparate narrative strands together in such a satisfying way.

There are a few movies which I consider to be absolutely perfect, and LA Confidential is one of them. Several of the blu-ray supplements are also very good.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

An Amazon package arrived at my doorstep last night...

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Logan's Run
Soylent Green

how is The Ghost and Mrs. Muir? have you seen it before? I got around to watching Laura on Christmas Day and was floored. I feel that it gives Double Indemnity a run for its money. that could be because I'm still buzzing after seeing a film for this first time, but Laura was a TON of fun!

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by StonesEGF

LA Confidential will fit wonderfully at the back end of your film noir marathon, Owl. I watched it again recently, myself. I usually watch it every couple years, and every time I do, I'm left in awe of how the filmmakers tie all of the seemingly disparate narrative strands together in such a satisfying way.

There are a few movies which I consider to be absolutely perfect, and LA Confidential is one of them. Several of the blu-ray supplements are also very good.

Some friends and I saw L.A. Confidential at the theater on the night of its release, and one particular killing took all of us by surprise. When the movie aired on cable TV the following year, we would watch it almost every time. I somehow never bought the movie on DVD, though, and I haven't seen it for many years. I'm looking forward to plowing through the Blu-ray.

I decided to buy the Blu-ray after remembering L.A. Confidential when I completed the "Top 20 Movies of the 1990s" poll in the Movies forum the other day.

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

how is The Ghost and Mrs. Muir? have you seen it before? I got around to watching Laura on Christmas Day and was floored. I feel that it gives Double Indemnity a run for its money. that could be because I'm still buzzing after seeing a film for this first time, but Laura was a TON of fun!

Laura is my favorite Blu-ray title of 2013. It's a beautiful movie with an outstanding presentation and great extras on the disc.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is a blind buy, and I purchased it simply because I love the Laura Blu-ray so much. I've heard great things about the transfer.

I bought the Twilight Time Blu-ray, Leave Her to Heaven, around the same time that I bought Laura, and I enthusiastically recommend it as well. I'm hoping that Criterion will upgrade Night and the City soon, since Gene Tierney was also quite good in that movie.

[Rich Pure Doom]

I throughly enjoyed Redux and Hearts of Darkness, though 3 hours and 16 minutes was a little long for Redux. The whole rubber plantation scene was one I thought was best left out of the film. It was nice to see what he had shot, but it seemed to put the movie on pause for a long period of time. I know it was left out originally because he didn't like how it was shot, the actors, etc., and it seemed like a good decision to leave it out.

Redux is terrible. I can't think of a single scene in the Redux version that improves the movie. Everything just bogs it down and takes the focus off the real purpose of the movie and the trip down the river. The Redux cut of AN is a mediocre film and the theatrical is a top ten film, all time.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Redux is terrible. I can't think of a single scene in the Redux version that improves the movie. Everything just bogs it down and takes the focus off the real purpose of the movie and the trip down the river. I actually think the Redux cut of AN is a mediocre film and the theatrical is a top ten film, all time.

I enjoyed seeing Apocalypse Now Redux at the theater back in 2001, but the experience of watching this movie after having seen the original so many times while growing up was uncanny. Watching the altered character dynamics in Redux was like watching close friends or family members do something really out of character. With the Blu-ray package, I always stick to the original theatrical version of the movie, and I never bother revisiting Redux.

To its credit, though, Redux does feature a rather stunning nude scene with Aurore Clément, who also stars in the Criterion title, Paris, Texas.

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I returned to my film noir stack last night with Elia Kazan's Panic in the Streets. This brilliant 1950 film noir, about a public health doctor and a police detective on the chase to catch a gangster who is infected with bubonic plague and running loose in the city of New Orleans, stars a young Jack Palance as the lead villain and a young Richard Widmark, who has appeared in a few Criterion titles. It's is a fast-paced and intense flick even by today's standards, and it's also an interesting look at post-WWII city culture. My favorite Kazan film is still On the Waterfront, but this one is definitely a firecracker.


An Amazon package arrived at my doorstep last night...

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Logan's Run
Soylent Green

L.A. Confidential and Intolerance are on their way, and I placed a Twilight Time order yesterday for Man in the Dark and Hard Times.

There have been some tremendous deals over the past two months for some great movies that I've been wanting to add, so I'll be spending January and February making minimal purchases while I go through the backlog of unwatched Blu-rays that have stacked up. This will be quite a long film marathon, and that's a good thing.

That was a nice Christmas package... I still need to get The Bridge on the River Kwai and Soylent Green. I really love Soylent Green, it's just a great 70's over-the-top SciFi film. It really seems to be an explotation film of the apocalypse and future. Makes me laugh everytime I watch it. Which then makes me want to watch the SNL sketch based on the movie with Phil Hartman.

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I enjoyed seeing Apocalypse Now Redux at the theater back in 2001, but the experience of watching this movie after having seen the original so many times while growing up was uncanny. Watching the altered character dynamics in Redux was like watching close friends or family members do something really out of character. With the Blu-ray package, I always stick to the original theatrical version of the movie, and I never bother revisiting Redux.

To its credit, though, Redux does feature a rather stunning nude scene with Aurore Clément, who also stars in the Criterion title, Paris, Texas.

I prefer the original as well, but did enjoy seeing what could've been, and I guess was. It does slow down at points, but I thought was well worth watching. And yes, Aurore Clément is the best part of the rubber plantation scene!

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by lordmorpheus72

That was a nice Christmas package... I still need to get The Bridge on the River Kwai and Soylent Green. I really love Soylent Green, it's just a great 70's over-the-top SciFi film. It really seems to be an explotation film of the apocalypse and future. Makes me laugh everytime I watch it. Which then makes me want to watch the SNL sketch based on the movie with Phil Hartman.

Soylent Green starred some great noir veterans, like Joseph Cotton (The Third Man, Shadow of a Doubt), Edward G. Robinson (Scarlet Street, Double Indemnity, Key Largo), Charleton Heston (Dark City), and even Chuck Connors (Naked Alibi). It's sad that this film was Edward G. Robinson's final role.

I have not seen Soylent Green in ages, but I thought about it recently when I saw a three-disc Blu-ray set that also included The Omega Man and Logan's Run. The Omega Man was one of the first Blu-rays that I ever purchased, but I had also been wanting the other two. A quick search online revealed that I could buy Soylent Green and Logan's Run individually for cheaper than the three-disc set, and then own all three.

Incidentally, Logan's Run stars Jenny Agutter, who has a main role in the Criterion title, Walkabout. Logan's Run is also the weak link out of the three above films, but it's still a "so bad that it's great" type of film that I owned on DVD and have wanted to upgrade.

[14728]

I just watched the Passion of Joan of Arc DVD, and let me say that the film is a masterwork of cinema. Renée Jeanne Falconetti's performance as Joan has moved me, and the direction adds to it's spirituality. There are a couple of problems with the DVD, though.

First off, since it's a French silent film, there's going to be inter titles, obviously. But why do you need subtitles for the inter titles when you could easily just replace them with english inter titles! Maybe they're just trying to keep it as close to the original print as possible, but nobodies gonna care! I just don't understand.

Second, the print isn't that good. There's dust and dirt and haze everywhere! It's not just in a couple scenes, it's in 95% of them! Couldn't they take some time to restore it and actually take these out?

Third, the Voices of Light score sounds fine, but couldn't they sing the parts in english? I don't want to flip to the booklet every time I want to know what they're saying!

I'm not saying that these elements make it a terrible viewing experience, I'm just saying that if they fixed it I would have enjoyed it more. If they upgrade it to BD, hopefully these problems will be fixed, but until then oh well. Speaking of which, is it possible that Passion of Joan of Arc could get a criterion BD upgrade?

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Soylent Green starred some great noir veterans, like Joseph Cotton (The Third Man, Shadow of a Doubt), Edward G. Robinson (Scarlet Street, Double Indemnity, Key Largo), Charleton Heston (Dark City), and even Chuck Connors (Naked Alibi). It's sad that this film was Edward G. Robinson's final role.

I have not seen Soylent Green in ages, but I thought about it recently when I saw a three-disc Blu-ray set that also included The Omega Man and Logan's Run. The Omega Man was one of the first Blu-rays that I ever purchased, but I had also been wanting the other two. A quick search online revealed that I could buy Soylent Green and Logan's Run individually for cheaper than the three-disc set, and then own all three.

Incidentally, Logan's Run stars Jenny Agutter, who has a main role in the Criterion title, Walkabout. Logan's Run is also the weak link out of the three above films, but it's still a "so bad that it's great" type of film that I owned on DVD and have wanted to upgrade.

I need to pick those up myself. One of my best friends in college was a huge fan of Logan's Run. I've never seen the whole movie, or the short-lived series, but seen parts of the movie and it is one of those "so bad it's great films," I have many of those in my collection.

As for Jenny Agutter, I really didn't know who she was until I watched the UK series Coupling many, many years ago. Walkabout and The Wicker Man are favorites of the male characters in the show... and of course Jenny Agutter is the reason.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by manunited1

On to the pretentious subject; I think Moonrise kingdom takes the cake. I hated that the most out of all his work. It was some bullshit fantasy world that Wes Anderson wishes could have been his childhood. The whole thing felt like some ultra hipster fairy tail Boy Scout adventure filled with extra awkward and ultra intelligent mini grown ups. Fantastic mr. Fox was a close second in that category.

I recently finally watched Rushmore for the first time and I thought it was the worst film of Wes Anderson's career. "Pretentiousness" is what that film is all about. I loved Bottle Rocket in comparison to Rushmore. Jason Schwartzman just didn't do it for me. His character was incredibly annoying and even though it was his first ever movie role, he just wasn't "good" yet. I have to agree though that Moonrise Kingdom was also pretentious. I'd say that was Anderson's 2nd worst film next to Rushmore. I still haven't seen Fantastic Mr. Fox yet, so that might be even more pretentious.