The Criterion Collection

[Ausjdm]

Originally Posted by CHEЯNOБLY!

In recent years...

Homeland
Girls
Nurse Jackie
Weeds
Scandal
Damages
Red Widow
American Horror Story
The Americans
Orange is the New Black
Young Adult
Girl w/ Dragon Tattoo
Evil Dead (2013)
You're Next
Carrie (2013)
Kick-Ass 2
Frances Ha
Black Swan
American Hustle
Melancholia (Justine)
Blue Jasmine (just won best actress Oscar)
Nymphomaniac
Silver Linings Playbook
Breaking Bad (Skylar)
Winter's Bone (I think qualifies)

Earlier...

Kill Bill vol. 1
Kill Bill vol. 2
Rachel Getting Married
Catwoman (any film she appears in)
Foxy Brown
Jackie Brown
Fish Tank
3 Women
Thelma & Louise
Domino
Bonnie & Clyde
Nights of Cabiria
Repulsion
Belle de Jour
Vivre sa Vie
Jules and Jim (Catherine)
Vagabond
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

I must of had a senior moment even tho I'm in my early 30s to not have thought of those lol. I've seen more than half.. I really need to watch house of cards considering I'm in dc area! Good to know there's a female antihero involved!

[cash_black]

Goddamn do I hate Stalker

[chris_sc77]

Originally Posted by cash_black

Goddamn do I hate Stalker

+1 its horrendous and pretentious
Only Tarkovsky I could get through and really like is Solaris.

Also do we really not know the new titles yet and are gonna have to wait until tom. (the 17th!!!) for the announcements.
They better announce them early thats all I can say .

[kuro_sawa]

In my opinion Stalker is the best Tarkovsky. The region A DVD is nearly unwatchable though. If it were released on blu ray by anybody I'd be ecstatic let alone Criterion.

& I doubt they announce the titles any earlier than normal. Why would they?

[jw007]

Would all hell break loose if Criterion decides to skip a month for announcements? I could see people losing their minds if this actually occurred.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by jw007

Would all hell break loose if Criterion decides to skip a month for announcements? I could see people losing their minds if this actually occurred.

Should be tomorrow. Hopefully they can get them out before everyone is hammered for St. Patrick's day!

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching Edmund Goulding's Nightmare Alley (1947). This makes four top-tier five-star noirs that I've seen this weekend, after seeing In a Lonely Place, Act of Violence, and Where the Sidewalk Ends earlier during the past couple of days.

If there's one crucial life lesson that classic cinema has indoctrinated into my mind with utmost emphasis, it's to avoid getting on the bad side of carnies and sideshow performers. Yeah, Nightmare Alley joins Freaks (1932) and Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) as an invaluable educational tool for this particular safety mandate, except that I think Nightmare Alley might be my favorite of the bunch.

If you are a fan of the beautiful Coleen Gray, who stars in the Criterion film, The Killing, and in the upcoming Criterion release, Red River, then Nightmare Alley should go on your shelf. Once again, though, I hope that 20th Century Fox upgrades this jewel to Blu-ray.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Once again, though, I hope that 20th Century Fox upgrades this jewel to Blu-ray.

They were on a roll there, releasing some incredible classics on Blu, but seem to have trailed off just recently.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by chris_sc77

+1 its horrendous and pretentious
Only Tarkovsky I could get through and really like is Solaris.

Also do we really not know the new titles yet and are gonna have to wait until tom. (the 17th!!!) for the announcements.
They better announce them early thats all I can say .

I love the fact that the words "genius" and "pretentious" have become so subjective losing its descriptive value. There is a whole thread dedicated in trying to find a conclusive definition of "pretention" in art.

I totally disagree with your dismissive minute post.

Most common film viewers miss the compositional beauty seen in Stalker. The story is very poetic which ponders from perpectivism to human nature. It draws one to believe in an "alien" law of physics, nature or maybe "morality".

The minimalist (in the true sense of the word) soundtrack is fantastic and surreal. To see this film in high definition picture and audio would be great, making it the best year for criterion blu ray releases. I would hate to see this film released by Kino (they are a great company, but the last few Tarkovsky films were subpar).

To name Solaris Tarkovsky's best film, is either because you have not seen his other films or do not understand some of his films. Andrei Rublev and Zerkalo are his masterpieces.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Edward J Grug III

They were on a roll there, releasing some incredible classics on Blu, but seem to have trailed off just recently.

In all fairness, a lot of the classic era film noirs are in rough condition.

It speaks volumes about the state of these 1940s/1950s films that many of them are still being newly released in the standard definition DVD format right now in 2014. Hollow Triumph (1948), for instance, is seeing the light of day on a Film Chest DVD release this month.

Three of the movies in the Fox Film Noir DVD series have been upgraded to Blu-ray so far (Laura, Panic in the Streets, Boomerang).

Criterion has three Fox production title noirs on DVD (Night and the City, Thieves' Highway, and Pickup on South Street), so I'm hoping that these will be upgraded soon.

I gave in a few months ago and decided to beef up my DVD collection with some previously-never-owned film noirs that have yet to be released on Blu-ray, like the Warner titles and such, since many of these film noir DVD releases are becoming more difficult to obtain. I'd love to replace them on Blu-ray one day, but I'm just glad to watch them in any form or fashion.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

If there's one crucial life lesson that classic cinema has indoctrinated into my mind with utmost emphasis, it's to avoid getting on the bad side of carnies and sideshow performers.

Charlie Chan at the Circus is another excellent one, but it's not a Noir, it's a Mystery... still worth checking out! It also involves some real carnies if memory serves correctly.

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I gave in a few months ago and decided to beef up my DVD collection with some previously-never-owned film noirs that have yet to be released on Blu-ray, like the Warner titles and such, since many of these film noir DVD releases are becoming more difficult to obtain. I'd love to replace them on Blu-ray one day, but I'm just glad to watch them in any form or fashion.

Have you seen Call Northside 777 yet? It's on my wishlist but I haven't picked it up yet.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

To name Solaris Tarkovsky's best film, is either because you have not seen his other films or do not understand some of his films. Andrei Rublev and Zerkalo are his masterpieces.

I've only seen Ivan's Childhood, Solaris, and Stalker, but all three of these films are marvelous. I love Stalker, and it's one of the films that continue to challenge me with subsequent viewings. There are some offbeat Biblical references and such that sink in more each time. I just hope that a better transfer of the film comes down the pipes at some point.

Solaris is my favorite Tarkovsky film, because it leaves a deeper mental scar than the others, but I cannot say anything negative about any of his three films that I've seen.

Of the three, I'll freely admit that Ivan's Childhood is the only one that I feel that I "understand" in full. I still realize new things each time I watch Solaris and Stalker.

I am looking forward to seeing a theatrical showing of Solaris in a couple of weeks, as a part of the Tuesday Classics series at Midtown Art Cinema here in Atlanta. It's a visually arresting work in every sense, and it'll be a treat to see it on the big screen.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by smoss469

Have you seen Call Northside 777 yet? It's on my wishlist but I haven't picked it up yet.

Call Northside 777 here in my stack waiting for me to watch. I bought this one, along with many other Fox Film Noir DVDs, for a few bucks apiece on Amazon a couple months back. Soon.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I've only seen Ivan's Childhood, Solaris, and Stalker, but all three of these films are marvelous. I love Stalker, and it's one of the films that continue to challenge me with subsequent viewings. There are some offbeat Biblical references and such that sink in more each time. I just hope that a better transfer of the film comes down the pipes at some point.

Solaris is my favorite Tarkovsky film, because it leaves a deeper mental scar than the others, but I cannot say anything negative about any of his three films that I've seen.

At least you are being honest, I enjoyed Solaris, although it was in need of better film editing. It is been argued multiple times on this thread, Soderbergh's version might be the better version (this is in dire need of a blu ray release).

I would encourage you to watch Andrei Rublev, which shows some of the most majestic scenes ever filmed. Zerkalo carries the same psychological/emotional weight as Persona, it might as well be called the Russian equivalent.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

In all fairness, a lot of the classic era film noirs are in rough condition.

For sure, but I hope someone takes on the task of restoring them soon.

I'm mostly done with buying DVDs, simply because I have a wishlist longer than my arm that I'll never get to, so I might as well be buying the blus rather than buying the DVDs and having to upgrade them later.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

At least you are being honest, I enjoyed Solaris, although it was in need of better film editing. It is been argued multiple times on this thread, Soderbergh's version might be the better version (this is in dire need of a blu ray release).

I would encourage you to watch Andrei Rublev, which shows some of the most majestic scenes ever filmed. Zerkalo carries the same psychological/emotional weight as Persona, it might as well be called the Russian equivalent.

I'm holding out for a Blu-ray upgrade of Andrei Rublev, but I've heard from many sources that it's an incredible film in visual terms.

Since you enjoy Tarkovsky, I would recommend Andrey Zvyagintsev's 2003 film, The Return. I saw it in the theater upon its U.S. release years ago, and it's one of the most majestic films of that decade. The film deservedly drew a few comparisons to Tarkovsky's works.

Back to Tarkovksy's Stalker...

I'm a big fan of movies where the setting is a character in its own right (This is a cliche observation that you'll probably encounter in several of my User Reviews here on this site, in fact.).

For this reason, I enjoyed a double feature night years ago of Stalker and The Blair Witch Project. In philosophical and thematic terms, the two movies are vastly disparate, but they're both spot-on in the sense that the settings of the stories unsettle me. All of the scenes in Stalker involving the Zone are downright eerie in a tangible sense.

[Visco.]

I have never seen a Tarkosky film but I have heard such good things about Andrei Rublev, Solaris, and Stalker. I've seen stills of the later 2 films and it looks like something that are essential for me to watch.

I'm actually looking to buy a copy of Solaris. Didn't wanna spend too much during the flash sale.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by Visco.

I have never seen a Tarkosky film but I have heard such good things about Andrei Rublev, Solaris, and Stalker. I've seen stills of the later 2 films and it looks like something that are essential for me to watch.

I'm actually looking to buy a copy of Solaris. Didn't wanna spend too much during the flash sale.

You have the right idea. A film's composition is better appreciated with stills. Some of those scenes can be framed and placed on the wall, being so beautiful.

Solaris is a good starting point, but follow it with Andrei Rublev and Stalker. I made the mistake of watching one of his films when I was in college. Not liking the film during that time, I never followed through watch another film of his for 5 years.

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Call Northside 777 here in my stack waiting for me to watch. I bought this one, along with many other Fox Film Noir DVDs, for a few bucks apiece on Amazon a couple months back. Soon.

Its a great movie, more of a procedural drama than noir but great none the less.
You gotten around to 99 River Street or The Phenix City Story yet? Both directed by Phil Karlson of Kansas City Confidential (which I remember you bringing up a ways back) and also really good.
The Phenix City Story is one to really boil your blood though.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

Its a great movie, more of a procedural drama than noir but great none the less.
You gotten around to 99 River Street or The Phenix City Story yet? Both directed by Phil Karlson of Kansas City Confidential (which I remember you bringing up a ways back) and also really good.
The Phenix City Story is one to really boil your blood though.

I've got The Phenix City Story in my stack waiting to be watched. I'm looking forward to it, because I grew up in LaGrange, Georgia, which is less than an hour away from Phenix City, Alabama (where the film took place). We used to drive through Phenix City all of the time, and some high school friends live there now. Sadly, the film is based on a real assassination that occurred in the city due to the organized crime.

I do not have 99 River Street. I'm saving that until I delve further into the film noir rabbit hole after I finish watching everything in my current stack.