The Criterion Collection

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Edward J Grug III

I think you may have just saved me from buying this blu ray...

It's subtle and ha amore of a clear story and structure, not as fragmented as Tree of Life.

[The Great Owl]

I've decided to go see The Great Beauty at the Plaza Theatre tomorrow afternoon.

That Blu-ray artwork makes me want to get out and join the party.

[spargs]

Originally Posted by BladeRunner2007

I just couldn't decide so I ordered them all

Nice! I tend to do the exact same thing, buying everything on my list instead of 1 or 2 items...

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by spargs

Nice! I tend to do the exact same thing, buying everything on my list instead of 1 or 2 items...

My current Amazon wishlist is 110 items. I'd probably get a lot of questions and mean looks from the wife if that order showed up.

[Polaroid]

Just noticed the great beauty box set has a subtle image inside the actual sleeve part, just a simple shot from the film of an eye peeking through a gap, subtle but lovely :-)

[kuro_sawa]

I really wish they put Persona in a plastic case...
I don't know what else to say about it. The artwork is terrific though.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by PrestonXI

Breathless in many ways gave birth to a lot of the modern cinema techniques we take for granted now. The dialogue alone paved the way for filmmakers like Tarantino.

And the documentary-style camera work. In the past few nights I've watched Scorcese' s Who's That Knocking At My Door? and Breathless. I was impressed with how much power and energy each had and how much the former owes to the latter. Neither film is polished but they both have a rock and roll energy. As you say, Godard, like Welles, invented a language of cinema we now take for granted.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Just started to watch, first viewing, been about 15 minutes and so far its incredible, so far i'd say its better than Blue, I think this should have gotten Palm D'or.

I can't believe I've not seen this sooner!

Actually feels A LOT like Tree of Life, like the camera work, the editing and sound (TTOL is on of my favourite films).

no way, Blue is a masterpiece and it had a good story unlike in The Great Beauty. What was the story in that film? Too smart a film for me I guess.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

no way, Blue is a masterpiece and it had a good story unlike in The Great Beauty. What was the story in that film? Too smart a film for me I guess.

I thought the story was quite clear in The Great Beauty, but its a personal preference Maybe I will rematch Blue after seeing this film, waiting for re release from Criterion incase its the full version, plus I want their proper release :P

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

I really wish they put Persona in a plastic case...
I don't know what else to say about it. The artwork is terrific though.

Noooo.... The Digipak is stunning, feels really nice and just makes it feel that extra special, clear cases are nice but they feel cheap and the glossy cover ruins it for me, this feels great :P

[Visco.]

The digipack for The Great Beauty is gorgeous.

Thanks for the pics.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Visco.

The digipack for The Great Beauty is gorgeous.

I know, I wasn't excited cause the cover was a bit meh, but having the physical I LOVE it, the insert double page is stunning and love the contrast of that image compared to the front and the white spine.

They did an AMAZING job with these .. can't wait for Breaking the Waves ><!

[Polaroid]

QUESTION:

Im debating whether to buy Tess and King of The Kill.

Im a fan of both directors, but not keen on the period genre - but do you think these have enough for me to enjoy, as in beautiful score, cinematography and acting? just don't know much about them and would rather watch Criterion version rather than renting or buying cheap before criterion version.

Anyone reckon I should just go for it?

[jw007]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

With new purchases, Criterion or otherwise, I've fallen into the habit of watching the main film with undivided attention and then playing the film a second time through with the commentary track as background noise while I post on my laptop or clean up the apartment. If a commentary track is more lively than usual, then I'll stop whatever else I'm doing and listen to it with undivided attention as well.

I usually watch all or most of the supplementary features with each Blu-ray/DVD purchase, but I often post on the laptop while I'm doing so as well, especially if I'm watching one of the commonplace "back-slapping" making-of documentaries on most newer non-Criterion movies.

When it comes to Criterion movies, I love watching foreign films with subtitles, but, for some reason, I always have trouble paying attention if I'm watching a subtitled special feature (A French director or French actors discussing their movie on a French talk show, for example). Even with my most beloved Melville films and such, I have a difficult time staying interested in the talk show guest appearance supplements and such. Ever so often, I find myself riveted by one of these, but my mind wanders during most of them.

I know what you mean. Those really old French talk show supplements can become slightly dull after a while. The only difference is, I stop what I'm doing every time I watch a film, a film with commentary and/or any supplemental material. You see, I'm not much good for multitasking, so if you can clean your apartment or post online with the commentary running, that is very talented of you. (Maybe I just have too much time on my hands)

[jw007]

Originally Posted by CraigThom

It may take more than one to get a really good commentary. At their best commentaries can provide terrific insight into the making of the films; some have actually helped me enjoy the movies more on subsequent viewings. At their worst commentaries are people who have done no preparation and haven't seen the films in years. They are watching the movie cold, trying to remember stuff, and telling each other what great jobs they did.

The good news it's that it doesn't take long to figure out which ones are a waste of time.

I agree very much. There are some commentary tracks that are just downright annoying. As much as I love Christopher Nolan's audio commentaries (for example), his voice is so soft-spoken that its hard for me to sometimes actually "hear" what he's saying! Sometimes there are scholarly tracks such as commentaries from Peter Cowie, which are good, but just don't hit the spot for me. Personally, I really love Steven Soderbergh's commentaries a lot. I also like John Carpenter's commentaries as well a lot. Nicholas Roeg sometimes throws me a curve ball with his snarky and dry commentaries. I love Scorcese's commentaries as well as commentaries from Peter Bogdanovich. Heck, even Ridley Scott's audio commentaries are good. One of my more recent favorite audio commentaries comes from Michael Mann and James Caan from the Thief Blu-ray release. Superb!

[jw007]

On the audio commentaries thing again, I heard that Kevin Smith's commentary for Chasing Amy is one of the best/funniest out there (which I still need to hear). Also Henry Jaglom talking about how much of a disaster his A Safe Place was might be worth hearing. There's also Michael Bay's commentary for Armageddon (with Bruckheimer, Bruce Willis, and Ben Affleck) that I heard was hilarious. Fincher also does a good commentary track too I heard.

Oh, and David Kalat offers good scholarly commentaries too.

[Visco.]

I want to buy Boogie Nights so I can watch the commentary of PTA and Mark smoking weed. This should happen more.

[CHEЯNOБLY!]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Just started to watch, first viewing, been about 15 minutes and so far its incredible, so far i'd say its better than Blue, I think this should have gotten Palm D'or.

I can't believe I've not seen this sooner!

Actually feels A LOT like Tree of Life, like the camera work, the editing and sound (TTOL is on of my favourite films).

Uhhhh, idk about comparisons to TTOL, but Beauty would have been my pick for Palme d'Or. I loved it. The digipak looks great too.
I commented about Blue a couple of pages back...I thought its was good too, just liked Beauty better.

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

I really wish they put Persona in a plastic case...
I don't know what else to say about it. The artwork is terrific though.

No way! These digipaks are stunning.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by CHEЯNOБLY!

Uhhhh, idk about comparisons to TTOL, but Beauty would have been my pick for Palme d'Or. I loved it. The digipak looks great too.
I commented about Blue a couple of pages back...I thought its was good too, just liked Beauty better.



No way! These digipaks are stunning.

Well certain shots looked very similar to Tree, the slow zooming in and focusing on something other than character (lots of shots of statues and other stuff), the scene with he kids running around and camera following them, the use of classical music, more so at start but when it cuts to other random stuff, whilst following the character, the bad CGI (the dinosaurs in Tree and the Birds in Beauty :P) ok that one is a joke.

Also it also had a similar story, point of view from the lead, death is a huge part of both films.

Actually, was even similar with To The Wonder, experimental shots, beautifully shot landmarks and scenes.

I need to rewatch to remember main points with the similarities but there was soooo many for me, I think if I made a video of scenes that I mean and put them side by side you'd probably understand better as I can't explain well haha.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

QUESTION:

Im debating whether to buy Tess and King of The Kill.

Im a fan of both directors, but not keen on the period genre - but do you think these have enough for me to enjoy, as in beautiful score, cinematography and acting? just don't know much about them and would rather watch Criterion version rather than renting or buying cheap before criterion version.

Anyone reckon I should just go for it?

King of the Hill doesn't even feel much like a period piece. Tess, on the other hand, is very much a classic period drama, but it is so easy to get lost in. The cinematography is stunning, maybe the best in any Polanski film.