The Criterion Collection

[blujazz]

So this message appears with Breaking the Waves in Amazon…

Item Under Review

While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. (Thanks for the tip!)

We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible.

Anybody know what this is about? I was about to order it.

[pro-bassoonist]

Il Sorpasso Blu-ray REVIEW



Superb release!

Note: The great director Ettore Scola began his career as a screenwriter. (We have reviewed all English-friendly Blu-ray releases of his films). A couple of years after Dino Risi's Il Sorpasso, he directed his first film (omnibus) - Let's Talk About Women, again with Vittorio Gassman playing a character as wild as the one in Il Sorpasso. If you can still find it on DVD, pick up a copy for your library





Pro-B

[fdm]

Originally Posted by blujazz

So this message appears with Breaking the Waves in Amazon…



Anybody know what this is about? I was about to order it.

My standard guess is that they shipped them out in bubble paks and they got damaged in transit. For some funny reason, some people don't seem to like that.

[Meek12345]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

Eat Drink Man Woman is terrific although I'd recommend watching it on a full stomach due to all the delicious food shown!

Thanks for the advice! I made the mistake of watching Mostly Martha on an empty stomach and now I'm off my diet again.Doing too much of this lately I won't make the same mistake with Eat Drink Man Woman.

Originally Posted by Blu-Velvet

I'll reinforce the enthusiasm for MOSTLY MARTHA. I'd love for MOSTLY MARTHA to come out on Blu-ray, especially from Criterion. It did come out on a U.S. DVD from Paramount the same year that the okay but nowhere nearly as good American remake NO RESERVATIONS was in theatres. I remember picking it up at Target, of all places, in a display of half a dozen indie and foreign "food" films on DVD, like BIG NIGHT, EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN, TORTILLA SOUP (the American remake), BOTTLE SHOCK, etc. (Or was BOTTLE SHOCK displayed along with SIDEWAYS, I forget. Another fun, underrated film!) And any of these would go great with BABETTE'S FEAST.

I think the DVD you bought is now being sold on Amazon like it is Out of Print. A used copy is being sold for around $27 and new one for $60. I don't understand why it is so hard to find critically acclaimed and award winning films like this sometimes. Oh well, I remain optimistic that it will be released on blu someday. Also, I tried to watch Babette's Feast a couple months ago, but I only made it about 30 minutes in for some reason I can't remember. I'll have to catch it again sometime.

Also, I really do hope that Criterion picks up Two Days, One Night by the Dardenne brothers. I have seen La Promesse, L'Enfant, and The Kid With a Bike and found all of them quite interesting. I'm on the fence about buying The Kid With a Bike, but I'm sure I'll pick it up soon. I am a newly minted fan of Cecile de France. I recommend Mesrine to all of the members here. Cecile de France is in it and Vincent Cassel(one of my favorite actors) delivers another awesome performance.

[The Stick]

Originally Posted by iScottie

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is one of the greatest things made. I currently have Lola on my DVR, but I think I'll delete it so that I can see it in HD for the first time.

I had previously seen only 3 of Demy's films and was also debating whether or not to delete my recording of Lola too, but I finally decided to give it a watch tonight (bird in hand, I guess)... and so glad I didn't delete. I had no idea what I was in for but I thought it was an excellent film and loved the way the story fell into place at the end. I have a feeling if you liked Umbrellas of Cherbourg - you will like Lola too. I'm now very much looking forward to the Demy set.

The Demy films I've now watched I rate so:

1) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
2) Lola
3) The Young Girls of Rochefort
4) Model Shop

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Blu-Velvet

I'll reinforce the enthusiasm for MOSTLY MARTHA. I'd love for MOSTLY MARTHA to come out on Blu-ray, especially from Criterion. It did come out on a U.S. DVD from Paramount the same year that the okay but nowhere nearly as good American remake NO RESERVATIONS was in theatres. I remember picking it up at Target, of all places, in a display of half a dozen indie and foreign "food" films on DVD, like BIG NIGHT, EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN, TORTILLA SOUP (the American remake), BOTTLE SHOCK, etc. (Or was BOTTLE SHOCK displayed along with SIDEWAYS, I forget. Another fun, underrated film!) And any of these would go great with BABETTE'S FEAST.

Too bad they've stopped doing those theme displays (at least at our store) where they had a recent hit and a bunch of others with a sign assuring that "if you liked this, then you'll like these."

I see no one's falling over themselves to suggest Delicatessen or Eating Raoul as "food films".

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

i had a ball watching Persona for the first time a few weeks back. My User Review of the film is clumsy in retrospect, but it was based on my first of what will inevitably be many viewings. I was quite mesmerized by the film.

I'm just happy that I am now familiar with the source of an album cover from one of my favorite bands.

interesting that you commented on your review... Persona was one of the first reviews that Roger Ebert wrote. He then revisited the film for his Great Movies column 35 years or so later. he admitted to being "frustrated" during his initial viewing. his two reviews are quite different. both 4 stars. I found the differences, however, to be interesting.

don't mean to blow smoke, Owl, but I read your review yesterday and liked it. not an easy film to digest and I'd say you grasped it at least as good as Ebert did his first time around.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gr...e-persona-1966

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/persona-1967

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Il Sorpasso Blu-ray REVIEW



Superb release!

Note: The great director Ettore Scola began his career as a screenwriter. (We have reviewed all English-friendly Blu-ray releases of his films). A couple of years after Dino Risi's Il Sorpasso, he directed his first film (omnibus) - Let's Talk About Women, again with Vittorio Gassman playing a character as wild as the one in Il Sorpasso. If you can still find it on DVD, pick up a copy for your library

[Show spoiler]

Pro-B

Thanks for the review!

I had never heard of the film prior to Criterion's announcement, but after reading a bit about it and hearing all of the positive feedback, I am really looking forward to it.

Originally Posted by The Stick

I had previously seen only 3 of Demy's films and was also debating whether or not to delete my recording of Lola too, but I finally decided to give it a watch tonight (bird in hand, I guess)... and so glad I didn't delete. I had no idea what I was in for but I thought it was an excellent film and loved the way the story fell into place at the end. I have a feeling if you liked Umbrellas of Cherbourg - you will like Lola too. I'm now very much looking forward to the Demy set.

The Demy films I've now watched I rate so:

1) The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
2) Lola
3) The Young Girls of Rochefort
4) Model Shop

I actually almost deleted my recording, too, but I still held on to it since the set won't be out for another 3 months.

Thanks for the feedback on the film, though. I'll definitely move it up a few spots.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

interesting that you commented on your review... Persona was one of the first reviews that Roger Ebert wrote. He then revisited the film for his Great Movies column 35 years or so later. he admitted to being "frustrated" during his initial viewing. his two reviews are quite different. both 4 stars. I found the differences, however, to be interesting.

don't mean to blow smoke, Owl, but I read your review yesterday and liked it. not an easy film to digest and I'd say you grasped it at least as good as Ebert did his first time around.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gr...e-persona-1966

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/persona-1967

Thanks for sharing those. I like what Roger Ebert says in the later review about tacking Persona by taking a literal approach to the film. I was befuddled by many aspects of Persona, but I also somehow never had the feeling while watching the movie that it was a puzzle or that it was purposely ambiguous. I'm looking forward to revisiting it from a number of vantage points.

[Six Demon Bag]

anyone heard about any upcoming 50% off B&N sales this year?

its been a while and i'd like to stock up.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Six Demon Bag

anyone heard about any upcoming 50% off B&N sales this year?

its been a while and i'd like to stock up.

There's usually one every July and October / November.

[The Great Owl]

I just placed this order from Amazon...

Riot in Cell Block 11
Sorcerer
Get Carter (1971)
The Pawnbroker
Men in War

Riot in Cell Block 11 and Sorcerer, in particular, are two long-awaited Blu-rays. As with last week, I placed an order for these together in the hopes that they'll be shipped together in a box to minimize damage, just as Double Indemnity and Touch of Evil were this week.

I'll probably get Il Sorpasso as well, but I'll either order it from Criterion or buy one in person at Barnes & Noble, since it's apparently a digipak.

Originally Posted by Six Demon Bag

anyone heard about any upcoming 50% off B&N sales this year?

Barnes & Noble usually has these sales in July and November.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Thanks for sharing those. I like what Roger Ebert says in the later review about tacking Persona by taking a literal approach to the film. I was befuddled by many aspects of Persona, but I also somehow never had the feeling while watching the movie that it was a puzzle or that it was purposely ambiguous. I'm looking forward to revisiting it from a number of vantage points.

I'm beginning to formulate some original thoughts on the film. As I mentioned in the past, I usually stay away from analysis for films such as this one. I needed a little help with Persona, however, and Ebert at least brought my attention to things I know that I saw in the film, but did not think much about. His second review is really good.

I haven't ranked Persona yet as my first grade for the film was 'incomplete.' Maybe I'll remedy that before returning the disc.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you've never had beer at the Hofbräuhaus in Munich. You haven't lived until you've seen petite waitresses carrying three 2-liter steins in each hand.

Nope, have not been there or seen this. I'm sure that would be quite impressive. When I worked as a busboy in H.S., I had a difficult time carrying a fully loaded tray, and it sounds like these beer steins are much heavier...

An extremely underrated Criterion release is the 1999 film Rosetta; I just saw this recently, and even after just one viewing it's become on of my favorite films. It's a very in-your-face story about a poor young woman living in Belgium, and her attempts at finding work & keeping her head above water. Extremely well-done - and, as always, if it wasn't for the Criterion label I never would have seen the film, let alone heard of this. Note this is not for everyone, as I believe a hand-held camera is used throughout. Here's a review:

http://www.ioncinema.com/reviews/cri...blu-ray-review

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

interesting that you commented on your review... Persona was one of the first reviews that Roger Ebert wrote. He then revisited the film for his Great Movies column 35 years or so later. he admitted to being "frustrated" during his initial viewing. his two reviews are quite different. both 4 stars. I found the differences, however, to be interesting.

don't mean to blow smoke, Owl, but I read your review yesterday and liked it. not an easy film to digest and I'd say you grasped it at least as good as Ebert did his first time around.

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/gr...e-persona-1966

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/persona-1967

Ebert did the same with La Dolce Vita. He first gave it 3 stars then later included it as a Great.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Ebert did the same with La Dolce Vita. He first gave it 3 stars then later included it as a Great.

Ebert also had a kinder reaction to Vincent Gallo's The Brown Bunny when he saw a new edit of the film after his initial viewing at Cannes. There were some quite amusing quotes in context to Ebert's first viewing, as I recall.

In terms of movies like Persona and La Dolce Vita, it's understandable for reviewers to be more receptive to these films upon subsequent viewings. There are several Criterion movies that I thought were dull or inaccessible upon my first viewing, but eventually warmed up to them to the point that I consider them to be favorites. Melville's Léon Morin, Priest is a fine example.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Ebert did the same with La Dolce Vita. He first gave it 3 stars then later included it as a Great.

just cross-checked that and yep, you are right. I didn't think that to be the case knowing that he had it on his sight and sound top 10 list for like 5 decades in a row or something like that, but yes...

interesting. I wasn't taken with La Dolce Vita the first (and only) time I saw it either, but that was MANY years ago. I do believe that time changes your perspective and films have different meanings to someone who is 20 versus someone who has more life experience. LDV is on my long list of films that must be revisited, for sure.

[tonylopez]

My 10 year old daughters always ask when can they watch a film from my Criterion Collection and I explain that movies like Antichrist and Videodrome can be appreciated more at an older age but I did show them THE BLOB recently. Yes they criticized it for it being dated and cheesy and my favorite " why does the lead guy look so old".

But what's the best part about the whole experience of sharing this Criterion gem? Hearing two young girls in the other room sing in unison, " Beware of the blob. It creeps and leaps and glides and slides across the floor." Ha ha!

Can't wait to eventually show them HOUSE and see what reactions I get.

[SammyJankis]

Off to see Under the Skin. Save for the minimal use of dialogue, I really don't know what to expect.

[ShellOilJunior]

I'll be seeing a 35mm print of To Catch a Thief tonight. I've seen the film many times but never on the big screen.