The Criterion Collection

[rock, stone]

Originally Posted by octagon

Wellllllllll, I can kind of see both sides of this. You're right about the retro elements but it does have a very, very strong 80s vibe and not always in a good, transparent way.

I've only watched it once all the way through so nothing specific really comes to mind right now

[Show spoiler] (well Jonathan Pryce's glam finale maybe)

but I do remember getting that fairly strong feeling from time to time.

Not to mention that Brazil's aesthetic was so influential that it you can barely watch any alt-cult-scifi material from the 90s without seeing its fingerprints.

[MitchA17]

Originally Posted by Visco.

I've had my copy of Seven Samurai since that huge CC sale on Amazon last year and still haven't watched it. The runtime is intimidating.

I think the king of intimidating runtimes in the collection might be Shoah. Purchased it last summer, haven't been able to bring myself to start it yet.

[rock, stone]

Originally Posted by MitchA17

I think the king of intimidating runtimes in the collection might be Shoah. Purchased it last summer, haven't been able to bring myself to start it yet.

Ha. Lets just say that Shoah doesn't quite fly right by.

[silverlakephil]

My 5 rewatchable Criterions.Pretty predictable, but I don't care:

Beauty & The Beast
Brazil
Night of The Hunter
Seven Samurai
Wings of Desire

[BLOFELD]

hardly a noticible difference for me. if you're going to post this the thumbnails should be equal in size. you have the BR photo sized larger than the dvd.

BTW I'm using a 60" SAMSUNG 8000 LED + an OPPO BD103 with region free converter.

Originally Posted by tenia

I apologize, it turned out some of the DVD caps are not exact matches. Quite sure I matched them when taking them, but it seems not (or that there has been a delay between me hitting the caps key and the soft taking them, but anyway) :

[RojD]

Originally Posted by MitchA17

I think the king of intimidating runtimes in the collection might be Shoah. Purchased it last summer, haven't been able to bring myself to start it yet.

Shoah puts the 'i' in "immersive," and after I finished it in three sittings, I couldn't think of a thing I'd have wanted cut. It's definitely slow at points, and it's sometimes repetitive, but that's always purposeful in this film. The sheer scale of the horror Lanzmann depicts here--and the persistence of an antisemitism that could even resurrect it--is bone chilling, and every minute of every take seems necessary in retrospect. I liked Schindler's List until I saw this film; now I seriously question the wisdom of that project.

Shoah is long. It's depressing. It's actually horrifying. And it's a brilliant documentary. I usually pay a lot of attention to the formal elements of a film, but I found myself so involved in this film that I just forgot that aspect at times. I know I was incredibly relieved for the breathing space that some of the long takes and repetition gave me.

It's a lot of time to invest in a film that's not exactly uplifting, but it's time very well-spent.

[MitchA17]

Originally Posted by RojD

Shoah puts the 'i' in "immersive," and after I finished it in three sittings, I couldn't think of a thing I'd have wanted cut. It's definitely slow at points, and it's sometimes repetitive, but that's always purposeful in this film. The sheer scale of the horror Lanzmann depicts here--and the persistence of an antisemitism that could even resurrect it--is bone chilling, and every minute of every take seems necessary in retrospect. I liked Schindler's List until I saw this film; now I seriously question the wisdom of that project.

Shoah is long. It's depressing. It's actually horrifying. And it's a brilliant documentary. I usually pay a lot of attention to the formal elements of a film, but I found myself so involved in this film that I just forgot that aspect at times. I know I was incredibly relieved for the breathing space that some of the long takes and repetition gave me.

It's a lot of time to invest in a film that's not exactly uplifting, but it's time very well-spent.

Thanks. Beautiful description. I will most definitely immerse myself in it soon. It's kind of becoming a year for me of experiencing legendary works of art that take a long time to finish (currently reading David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, and in the intro, Dave Eggers lists Shoah alongside things like the book and The 69 Love Songs album from The Magnetic Fields).

[tenia]

Originally Posted by BLOFELD

hardly a noticible difference for me. if you're going to post this the thumbnails should be equal in size. you have the BR photo sized larger than the dvd.

I gave both discs a spin yesterday (I have a Panny BDT-110 and a 50G20 Plasma) and it clearly shows : the DVD can't properly handle the heavily grainy pattern of the movie. All you get from the DVD is a smoother picture lacking precision.

The DVD caps are already bad enough compared to the BD, even at a smaller size. If you upscale them (I chose not to do it, because my BD player software didn't want to, and I wouldn't do it using a picture manager), it's going to be even worse.

Anyway. Won't change your mind so that's useless for me to keep on this discussion, it seems.

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by iScottie

It's my favorite film of 2013 followed closely by The Past.

Amazing scene >>>


"
A World Of Distractions


The film opens with a rooftop party to end all parties: a flashy crowd of the city's sexiest and richest, grooving and grinding above Rome's skyline. When the man of the hour — Jep Gambardella, journalist and onetime novelist, turning 65 — makes his entrance, he's tailored to a fault and surrounded by women.


Director Paolo Sorrentino says this flashy opening is meant to hurl you right into the Roman high life.


"I believe the beginning of movies has to be a breakthrough," he says. "I wanted to create a party scene that's unforgettable, knowing that party scenes are very complicated for directors. We worked a lot, we worked many days. I picked each face one by one."

As the party swirls around him, Jep steps out of the crowd, lights his cigarette and speaks into the camera, reflecting on the one great novel he wrote 40 years ago and the life of substance he's avoided ever since.


"I wanted to make it very clear from the very start that the world we were going to enter is a world made of a people who seek to constantly distract themselves, in order not to dedicate themselves seriously and sensibility to real life," Sorrentino says.


As the party ends, Sorrentino's camera pans out to reveal Rome just before dawn. New York University professor Stefano Albertini says it's the image of an ancient city at peace in a way the film's characters are not.


"It's probably one of the few times of the day when the city is almost a desert," Albertini says. "Because even in the middle of the night there are always lots of people around — but then at dawn you have that metaphysical sensation that you are in an empty city that is in between something."


And as the main character walks home in that early light, he pauses to look at children beginning their day in a convent, the camera lingering to relish the details of the marble columns and arches of ancient buildings."

Source:
http://www.npr.org/2013/11/29/247344...es-corruptions

Jep Gambardella's Party - YouTube

[Herry Dunston]

Originally Posted by RojD

Shoah puts the 'i' in "immersive," and after I finished it in three sittings, I couldn't think of a thing I'd have wanted cut. It's definitely slow at points, and it's sometimes repetitive, but that's always purposeful in this film. The sheer scale of the horror Lanzmann depicts here--and the persistence of an antisemitism that could even resurrect it--is bone chilling, and every minute of every take seems necessary in retrospect. I liked Schindler's List until I saw this film; now I seriously question the wisdom of that project.

Shoah is long. It's depressing. It's actually horrifying. And it's a brilliant documentary. I usually pay a lot of attention to the formal elements of a film, but I found myself so involved in this film that I just forgot that aspect at times. I know I was incredibly relieved for the breathing space that some of the long takes and repetition gave me.

It's a lot of time to invest in a film that's not exactly uplifting, but it's time very well-spent.

And now I feel horrible for being utterly lulled with the doc. I know every film speaks to some people, though; Shoah left an articulate impression on you the same way Secret Sunshine did for me.

[hustlermane]

New announcements in two days, right?

Last month IMO was the strongest I can remember, I almost feel bad for saying what I want this time, as if I'd be being ungrateful. That said, I'm hoping for a box set of sorts, it's been a while since one of those was announced. As for individual titles, it's pretty outrageous that Rivette still isn't in the collection - a director I've barely watched much of because of such a bad representation on home video.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by hustlermane

New announcements in two days, right?

Last month IMO was the strongest I can remember, I almost feel bad for saying what I want this time, as if I'd be being ungrateful. That said, I'm hoping for a box set of sorts, it's been a while since one of those was announced. As for individual titles, it's pretty outrageous that Rivette still isn't in the collection - a director I've barely watched much of because of such a bad representation on home video.

Nah last month was kind of weak for me personally, only one that appeals to me is Picnic upgrade, best month for me has been March for me and Breaking the Waves in April :P Im still waiting for Lynch and some Dogme films, hopefully a box set :P

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by hustlermane

That said, I'm hoping for a box set of sorts, it's been a while since one of those was announced.

My guess is a US release of this.

[Tin Drum]

Originally Posted by iScottie

It's my favorite film of 2013 followed closely by The Past.

Unfortunately, I was none too enamored with The Past. Maybe it was because I had already seen A Separation which is basically a masterpiece of modern film making and I couldn't help but compare the two?

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by jayembee

My guess is a US release of this.

I've never seen any of the films, but the descriptions seem intriguing to say the least.

[ShellOilJunior]

The Hulot set would be great.

Also, any of these upgrades:

The River
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Stray Dog
Hiroshima mon amour/Night and Fog
La Strada
Night on Earth
Onibaba
The Sword of Doom
The Virgin Spring
The Spirit of the Beehive

[White Dang]

just finished watching tess, and it left me hurting, haha.

tess and picnic at hanging rock will be my next purchases.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Tin Drum

Unfortunately, I was none too enamored with The Past. Maybe it was because I had already seen A Separation which is basically a masterpiece of modern film making and I couldn't help but compare the two?

I understand your position and while I personally don't think it comes anywhere close to A Separation, I think it was still an excellent follow-up.

The thing I like about Farhadi's drama pieces is that they have a mystery element all throughout them. Like I posted several weeks ago, I would love Criterion (or another studio) to release some of his earlier films. It would be interesting to see.

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

The Hulot set would be great.

Also, any of these upgrades:

The River
The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Stray Dog
Hiroshima mon amour/Night and Fog
La Strada
Night on Earth
Onibaba
The Sword of Doom
The Virgin Spring
The Spirit of the Beehive

I would love an upgrade of The Virgin Spring.

[Scottie]

If Criterion refuses to finally release Y Tu Mamá También this month, I think I'm going to just import the Canadian Blu-ray.

[natureboy]

I finally broke down and bought the DVD of Le Samourai within the last month so if that gets announced for an upgrade you guys can thank me.