The Criterion Collection

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Brad1107

ummm I could definitely be wrong but i don't think Roeg is in anyway Australian and Weir is definitely more well known over here. I think 99% of us wouldn't know who Roeg is.

WOW, I am incredibly embarrassed now. I honestly should have done my research on Roeg as I thought he was Australian, not British. Wow, epic fail on my part.

Originally Posted by hustlermane

No way Roeg is better known here in Aus than Peter Weir. I'd hazard a guess Baz Lurhmann would be the closest to a household name of Australian directors, with Weir second (and probably a significant distance between the two), and Roeg I don't think would be remembered. Though Walkabout would be known to a lot.

Interesting. I guess Walkabout isn't such a well known movie in Australia then? Hell, what do I know, I'm just another clueless American after all. J/k.

[JJJ225]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

The Great Beauty Blu-ray



So far, the main contender for a film/release of the year!

Pro-B

Great, great film. Can't wait to own it.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by hustlermane

No way Roeg is better known here in Aus than Peter Weir. I'd hazard a guess Baz Lurhmann would be the closest to a household name of Australian directors, with Weir second (and probably a significant distance between the two), and Roeg I don't think would be remembered. Though Walkabout would be known to a lot.

I've always been hesitant to suggest which Aussie directors would be best known down there. Just because they are known to movie buffs here in the States doesn't necessarily mean they are big names there.

Baz Luhrmann is probably the highest profile Aussie director making films today. But if I was to hazard a guess at which ones are the three best known from the perspective of, say, the Australian New Wave, I'd probably say (Dr.) George Miller, Peter Weir, and Bruce Beresford, in that order. Of course, these days, Miller is probably better known as the director of the Happy Feet films than as the director of the Mad Max films.

[JJJ225]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I've always been hesitant to suggest which Aussie directors would be best known down there. Just because they are known to movie buffs here in the States doesn't necessarily mean they are big names there.

Yes. I get the sense that a lot of US film buffs think the uncultured American masses are into the blockbusters, while all French people love Godard, Swedes love Bergman films, etc. Uhhhhhh...no.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by JJJ225

Yes. I get the sense that a lot of US film buffs think the uncultured American masses are into the blockbusters, while all French people love Godard, Swedes love Bergman films, etc. Uhhhhhh...no.

As a German woman told me once during a date, "People everywhere have bad tastes in music and movies."
(Not that liking blockbusters and popular movies equals bad taste, but you get what I'm saying.)

An acquaintance from France had never heard of Le Samourai until I mentioned it to him.

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

Just popped in to notify Criterion fans that The Killers, like a half-dozen other Arrow titles, including The Long Goodbye (another potential Criterion release) plays fine with the pop-up menu trick. If people aren't willing to invest in a region-free player, they should at least be using a Panasonic!

Will these play on a ps3?

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

The Great Beauty Blu-ray



So far, the main contender for a film/release of the year!

Pro-B

Great review as always Pro-B!

I will be blind-buying The Great Beauty because it looks right up my alley, I can't wait for it!

[deepbreathsanddeath]

I already have The Great Beauty pre-ordered but it's also playing in a cinema here in March so I think I'll just keep my blu sealed until after I've seen it on the big screen. Everyone's saying it should be seen in a cinema so there's got to be something to that.

[greekak229]

I ordered the Artificial Eye release of The Great Beauty and watched it a few weeks back and was blown away at how good it was. Truly a remarkable film. It was one of those, "really need to see this now," kinda movie, which is why I bit the bullet and got that release instead of waiting for the Criterion one. I'm content with it though.

Come Tuesday, I'm also very excited to see Blue is the Warmest Color and Tess for the first time.

[sugar_kane]

I liked the Great Beauty, but I think Blue is the Warmest Color was ultimately far more deserving of both the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Oh well, both award shows are popularity contests more than they are a representation of good film.

[ShellOilJunior]

I'm very pleased with the Foreign Correspondent blu-ray. No complaints about PQ. I'll tackle the extras this week.

I had re-watched Frances Ha a couple weeks ago. I can understand why some might find Frances annoying. She's a mess, a bit pretentious at times

[Show spoiler](Seems like they kind of shoehorned in Proust and Frances's impulse to learn French to read Proust even though nobody thinks she'll actually do it. I've read all of In Search of Lost Time so when someone name drops Proust it looks silly to me)

, but ultimately she's charming. The final shot of her is quite beautiful, too.

I'm just having a tough time wrapping my head around how Lev and Benji can afford an apartment in NYC when both of them seem to be idling hipsters.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by JJJ225

I get the sense that a lot of US film buffs think the uncultured American masses are into the blockbusters, while all French people love Godard, Swedes love Bergman films, etc. Uhhhhhh...no.

Back in my Usenet newsgroup days, I was amused to note that in the US TV groups, there would be this general attitude that American TV sucked and British TV was great. But if you looked in the UK TV groups, there was a large contingent of people who thought British TV sucked and American TV was where it was at.

I think there's a "familiarity breeds contempt" thing going on there, but I think that -- at least on the part of Americans regarding British TV -- the perception is skewed largely because most of the British TV we'd see here in the Colonies is, for lack of a better term, the cream of the crop. We're not seeing the bad stuff, and there is bad stuff. Their TV schedules are filled with a lot of the same type of garbage that ours are. A lot of it is our garbage, but a surprising amount is their own, home-grown garbage.

[zeroman987]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I'm very pleased with the Foreign Correspondent blu-ray. No complaints about PQ. I'll tackle the extras this week.

I had re-watched Frances Ha a couple weeks ago. I can understand why some might find Frances annoying. She's a mess, a bit pretentious at times

[Show spoiler](Seems like they kind of shoehorned in Proust and Frances's impulse to learn French to read Proust even though nobody thinks she'll actually do it. I've read all of In Search of Lost Time so when someone name drops Proust it looks silly to me)

, but ultimately she's charming. The final shot of her is quite beautiful, too.

I'm just having a tough time wrapping my head around how Lev and Benji can afford an apartment in NYC when both of them seem to be idling hipsters.

Their parents are rich and pay for it.

As for Frances, I found her charming. I also liked the fact that she was willing to work to achieve her goals instead of expecting things served to her on a platter.

[shadedpain4]

Seemed like a ton of people in these parts purchased the Zatoichi set, but I haven't seen much chatter about the films. If you purchased it, have you dug in yet? If so, How many have you watched? Opinions? Reflections?

I'm curious if anyone else is enjoying this release.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Seemed like a ton of people in these parts purchased the Zatoichi set, but I haven't seen much chatter about the films. If you purchased it, have you dug in yet? If so, How many have you watched? Opinions? Reflections?

I'm curious if anyone else is enjoying this release.

There's a Zatoichi-specific thread where people are gushing about it.

[Tin Drum]

Can't wait to hear that party scene from the beginning of The Great Beauty on my home theater.

[Tin Drum]

Can't wait to hear that party scene from the beginning of The Great Beauty on my home theater.

I love that Paolo Sorrentino has brought Toni Servillo to my mind. He's amazing in all of Sorrentino's films he stars in, but he's got some other great performances too: A Quiet Life for one (not region A though).

[lordmorpheus72]

So I remember someone said they saw on the Criterion FB page that the Flash Sale would be Tuesday... any other confirmations of this? I couldn't find it on their page. Thanks!

[Justanothercrow421]

Originally Posted by lordmorpheus72

So I remember someone said they saw on the Criterion FB page that the Flash Sale would be Tuesday... any other confirmations of this? I couldn't find it on their page. Thanks!

for starters, it's Monday....

Criterion's site DOES say they'll be offline 2 PM EST for maintenance...setting up for the sale? who knows?

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I already have The Great Beauty pre-ordered but it's also playing in a cinema here in March so I think I'll just keep my blu sealed until after I've seen it on the big screen. Everyone's saying it should be seen in a cinema so there's got to be something to that.

I haven't been to the theater in close to 6 months. The irony is that I have seen more movies in these last 6 months than I have during any 6 month stretch in my entire life. Fatherhood will do that to you. Of course, I knew about The Great Beauty, but only decided to actually watch the trailer this past weekend. There are two theaters showing the film in Chicago this week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that they will still have it on their schedule come Friday. If any recent film seems to scream "See me on the big screen!" This would seem to be it.