The Criterion Collection

[Oblivion138]

Originally Posted by smoss469

I still maintain that 12 Angry Men and Anatomy of a Murder could quite possibly be the best court/legal related double feature ever.

Damn straight.

I'd maybe throw Hara-Kiri in there, as well, for a change of pace. It's structured very much like a courtroom drama.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by smoss469

I'm totally unfamiliar with Hulot's character. Can someone fill me in? Sounds like a Mr. Bean meets Mr. Magoo type.

Think of a much more subtle Mr. Bean.

[smoss469]

Also received my shipping notice for It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. Should be here tomorrow; I hope that crappy cardboard case holds up!

Also received a notice for Our Man In Havana. It was a blind buy but it sounds very interesting!

[The Great Owl]

I just revisited the 1932 original version of Scarface, and I am reminded of how much better it is than the Brian De Palma remake.

Since Criterion is releasing Red River, I'd love to see them pick up Scarface and other Howard Hawks titles. Scarface is a title that warrants some hefty extras, especially to teach younger people about censorship, and I could imagine Criterion handling this well. Criterion does not seem to tackle many Universal titles, but this would be a fun one.

I'll be revisiting another Hawks film, The Big Sleep, this week as well, since I'm weary of waiting for domestic Blu-ray release news.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'll be revisiting another Hawks film, The Big Sleep, this week as well, since I'm weary of waiting for domestic Blu-ray release news.

Just a few more months. Or maybe several.

But probably just a few. Or several.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by octagon

Just a few more months. Or maybe several.

But probably just a few. Or several.

I'm going to revisit Touch of Evil tonight and Gilda later on. I hear faint indications that these will see domestic Blu-ray release at some point, but I'm in the mood to see 'em again now. Best to watch Gilda again before The Lady from Shanghai arrives at my doorstep. I'm still on cloud nine about that, and I was thinking about it yesterday when I watched Man in the Dark, which also stars Ted de Corsia.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I love it, too. The only (slight) disappointment with the release is that it didn't also include the late 90s remake that was done for Showtime. Written by Reginald Rose (who wrote the original teleplay, and the theatrical film screenplay), directed by William Friedkin, and starring (among others) Jack Lemmon, George C. Scott, James Gandolfini, Hume Cronyn, and Edward James Olmos. I guess Criterion figured that having three versions of the story in one set was overkill.

Wow, I can't wait to watch the TV episode of this tonight along with all of those supplements. I might have to seek out the Friedkin version too (maybe the library has it).

Originally Posted by smoss469

I still maintain that 12 Angry Men and Anatomy of a Murder could quite possibly be the best court/legal related double feature ever.

Wow, great idea! Can you believe I don't even own Anatomy of a Murder yet? That's going to change come the February Criterion 50% off sale! Oh, speaking of that film, my mother once met the director, Otto Preminger, when she was much younger. Pretty coooool.

[momaw]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Here's a new article from Ain't It Cool News that makes a case for why Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai is the greatest movie ever made.

Seven Samurai may not be my own favorite movie of all time, but it's right up there, and I agree enthusiastically with everything in the above review. I love how this film introduces us to some truly wonderful human beings.

Cheers to the movie that introduced me to The Criterion Collection.

That was an interesting read. He made a great case as to why he thinks it's the greatest movie ever made, but I don't think he made a case for it actually being the greatest movie ever made.

Personally I love Seven Samurai. Brilliant film. I have a framed mini-poster accompanied by Toshiro Mifune's autograph which is one of my prized possessions.

[ultlife2013]

Anatomy of murder is so good. Real great performance from Jimmy Stewart and Joseph Welch as the judge is really great as well. I got to get that movie someday.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jw007

Wow, great idea! Can you believe I don't even own Anatomy of a Murder yet? That's going to change come the February Criterion 50% off sale! Oh, speaking of that film, my mother once met the director, Otto Preminger, when she was much younger. Pretty coooool.

Anatomy of a Murder is a perfect Criterion title, and the transfer really brings out the best in the amazing music.

Otto Preminger directed my favorite Blu-ray release of 2013, Laura, and he also directed one of my favorite Marilyn Monroe movies, River of No Return.

In fact, Otto Preminger's 1950 movie, Where the Sidewalk Ends, is on its way to me right now from Amazon. As much as I'd like to see some of these classic film noirs hit Blu-ray, I'm not holding my breath for them, and I've ordered a few key standouts (Criss Cross, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Nightmare Alley, etc.) on DVD to tide me over, since the discs are so cheap nowadays.


I'm glad that you enjoyed 12 Angry Men. I love the use of props in the limited setting, like the busted fan, the windows, the rainstorm outside, etc.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by smoss469

I'm totally unfamiliar with Hulot's character. Can someone fill me in? Sounds like a Mr. Bean meets Mr. Magoo type character.

From what I've heard Hulot was the inspiration for Bean, which just goes to show that something brilliant can be easily ruined (I can't stand Rowan Atkinson in general, and Bean in particular). I tend to think of Bean as being a mixture of Hulot and Inspector Clousseau.

Hulot is a bit of a throwback to Charlie Chaplin, specifically The Tramp. The Hulot films are (for all intents and purposes) silent films, being largely dialogue-free, being more focused on Tati's physical comedy. Hulot is also something of a hapless outsider -- in the situations he finds himself in he is clearly a fish out of water.

On edit: forgot to respond to this part...

Originally Posted by smoss469

I still maintain that 12 Angry Men and Anatomy of a Murder could quite possibly be the best court/legal related double feature ever.

Make it a triple bill, and throw in Billy Wilder's Witness for the Prosecution, unfortunately not available on Blu-ray.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by jw007

Wow, I can't wait to watch the TV episode of this tonight along with all of those supplements. I might have to seek out the Friedkin version too (maybe the library has it).

It's been a long time since I've seen it but the Friedkin version is very good.

It's funny, it's not just a shot-for-shot do-over but they don't try to reinvent the wheel either. You can tell everybody involved has a lot of respect for the Lumet film.

It's more an homage than a remake.

[dwk]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

Didn't Criterion lose Trafic to Studio Canal? Id love to have it in the box set but I'm not holding my breath.

StudioCanal does have, outside of France, the worldwide rights to Tati's catalog but Criterion confirmed in emails to multiple people that they got the US home video rights back:

"Regarding Tati, we have recently renewed the rights and they will be going back in print with a new restoration sometime in the future. I hope this helps!"

It is not entirely clear if they got Trafic back, but they have the rest. (It is also unclear how they got the rights back, but the speculation is that the Tati estate arranged it.)

[StLouisRibs]

Hm - if they're able to negotiate the rights for one (set of) StudioCanal title, who's to say they can't negotiate for more?

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by jw007

Wow, great idea! Can you believe I don't even own Anatomy of a Murder yet? That's going to change come the February Criterion 50% off sale! Oh, speaking of that film, my mother once met the director, Otto Preminger, when she was much younger. Pretty coooool.

It's an amazing movie. Stewart plays up the over-matched small town lawyer perfectly and George C Scott is an equally perfect foil as the too smart for his own good big city lawyer. The movie is paced very well and the dialog and conflict are perfectly done. I'm normally wary of longer films and normally I walk away thinking the film would've been better served with 15 minutes less screen time but the time on Anatomy of a Murder just flew by!

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

In fact, Otto Preminger's 1950 movie, Where the Sidewalk Ends, is on its way to me right now from Amazon.

Another good one. Since you loved Laura it's only natural to go after the same pair in another Noir flick!

[momaw]

I've had a good day criterion wise. A month overdue B&N package arrived containing Tokyo Story, Gate of Hell and Late Spring. Another month overdue B&N package containing the Zatoichi box set arrived. I was very happy to get this as I'd resigned myself to having to reorder at a higher price and a lower $AUD. I also received from amazon Throne of Blood. Looks like I'll be occupied for quite a while.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by momaw

I've had a good day criterion wise. A month overdue B&N package arrived containing Tokyo Story, Gate of Hell and Late Spring. Another month overdue B&N package containing the Zatoichi box set arrived. I was very happy to get this as I'd resigned myself to having to reorder at a higher price and a lower $AUD. I also received from amazon Throne of Blood. Looks like I'll be occupied for quite a while.

Were you the one where they refused to re-ship it because of the international fees and would only refund your $$?

[thebard]

Originally Posted by jayembee

From what I've heard Hulot was the inspiration for Bean, which just goes to show that something brilliant can be easily ruined (I can't stand Rowan Atkinson in general, and Bean in particular). I tend to think of Bean as being a mixture of Hulot and Inspector Clousseau.

Don't you be dissin' Mr. Bean!

I think Rowan Atkinson should have been the next Clousseau. He would have blown Steve Martin's bastardization of that character out of the water.

[momaw]

Originally Posted by smoss469

Were you the one where they refused to re-ship it because of the international fees and would only refund your $$?

Yes. I'm a bit torn. On one hand I feel I should contact them and let them know they have arrived, on the other they weren't very helpful in that they wouldn't replace or honor the price if I reordered. I almost bit the bullet yesterday to reorder through Amazon at their higher price. Glad I didn't. Zatoichi is still sitting in my amazon cart.

[K1NG J0RDAN]

Originally Posted by Ausjdm

Isn't the ending chapter

[Show spoiler]the symbolism of women are inherently evil? I thought that was one of the theories with her research?

Yeah I believe you're right. Gotta say though,

[Show spoiler]i was so happy when Dafoe choked her to death