The Criterion Collection

[JJJ225]

Finally watched the Blu Ray of Persona. The film looks better than I ever. I was more impressed with the PQ than I think any other Blu Ray I've ever seen. Stunning.

The movie is, as always, a downright masterpiece. I consider it to be one of the five finest films of all time.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by JJJ225

Finally watched the Blu Ray of Persona. The film looks better than I ever. I was more impressed with the PQ than I think any other Blu Ray I've ever seen. Stunning.

The movie is, as always, a downright masterpiece. I consider it to be one of the five finest films of all time.

What are the other four?

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I enjoyed The Great Beauty enough this weekend to place orders for Il Divo and This Must Be The Place this morning.

You will not be disappointed.

If you can play PAL DVDs, add to your collection The Family Friend. Very atmospheric film. The Consequences of Love is another very atmospheric and very stylish neo-noir thriller with Tony Servillo

The Consequences of Love (2004) -Trailer - YouTube

The Family Friend - L'Amico de Famiglia Sorrentino - YouTube

Pro-B

[I KEEL YOU]

Persona really does look amazing. It's "only" a 2K restoration, but to me it looks clearly better than many 4K releases, for example to take a movie from the same period: Dr. Strangelove. Not that Strangelove looks bad, but it is inferior to Persona and it just goes to show that there are many other factors in what provides great picture than simplistic Ks.

[Oblivion138]

I think Strangelove looks about as good as it can for the way it was shot. It shouldn't look as refined as Persona. It was never meant to. Which could be a part of what you're saying, I suppose. Because it all begins with what the original elements look like, and what the director's intent was. And 2K, 4K, or 8K can't change that. Or at the very least, no one should try to change that. I think that the transfers for both Persona and Strangelove are virtually perfect representations of their respective films.

[jw007]

This has absolutely nothing to do with Criterion, but I just finished watching an Australian film called Lantana (2001) and thought it reminded me a bit of a Robert Altman film. If anyone's seen it, let me know.

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

I think Strangelove looks about as good as it can for the way it was shot. It shouldn't look as refined as Persona. It was never meant to. Which could be a part of what you're saying, I suppose. Because it all begins with what the original elements look like, and what the director's intent was. And 2K, 4K, or 8K can't change that. Or at the very least, no one should try to change that. I think that the transfers for both Persona and Strangelove are virtually perfect representations of their respective films.

I would like to compare Persona to 4K Strangelove on a 4K TV.

Good to see that another 2K master release from Criterion, Il Sorpasso, recently got perfect grades for the video quality.

[ShellOilJunior]

According to Criterion.com and 'My Criterion'. These 10 films are in the most collections:

1. The Royal Tenenbaums 6,582
2. Seven Samurai 6,326
3. Brazil 5,295
4. Rushmore 5,293
5. 8 1/2 5,097
6. The Seventh Seal 4,581
7. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 4,566
8. The Thin Red Line 4,477
9. Days of Heaven 4,186
10. Videodrome 4,109

These are the most collected films without a CC Blu-ray release:

1. Chasing Amy 2686
2. The Silence of the Lambs 2067
3. Grand Illusion 1772
4. Bicycle Thieves 1748
5. Robocop 1698
6. Ikiru 1623
7. Vampyr 1617
8. Monty Python's Life of Brian 1583
9. Do the Right Thing 1517
10. Spartacus 1489

[JJJ225]

Originally Posted by iScottie

What are the other four?

Putting me on the spot! Let's go with...

2001: A Space Odyssey
Annie Hall
The Cranes Are Flying
Last Year at Marienbad
Persona

Something like that?

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by jw007

This has absolutely nothing to do with Criterion, but I just finished watching an Australian film called Lantana (2001) and thought it reminded me a bit of a Robert Altman film. If anyone's seen it, let me know.

Lantana is a great film; I saw it in the theatre back in 2002. Excellent visuals, and I liked the ambiguity re: the story & the characters. Geoffrey Rush & Barbara Hershey were especially good here. I definitely need to watch this again.

On another note, I did recently see Bergman's Wild Strawberries (1957) on the Criterion Blu. Wow, what an amazing film. Great story about an older guy looking back with on his life without a lot of nostalgia, and remembering both the good and bad moments. Very honest & in many ways quietly devastating film. And, the print was incredible. It never ceases to amaze me that b&w films this old can look so good on Blu. I've seen much more recent films on Blu where the PQ isn't nearly as good as either Wild Strawberries or the recent Persona Blu.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

According to Criterion.com and 'My Criterion'. These 10 films are in the most collections:

[Show spoiler]

1. The Royal Tenenbaums 6,582
2. Seven Samurai 6,326
3. Brazil 5,295
4. Rushmore 5,293
5. 8 1/2 5,097
6. The Seventh Seal 4,581
7. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 4,566
8. The Thin Red Line 4,477
9. Days of Heaven 4,186
10. Videodrome 4,109

These are the most collected films without a CC Blu-ray release:

[Show spoiler]

1. Chasing Amy 2686
2. The Silence of the Lambs 2067
3. Grand Illusion 1772
4. Bicycle Thieves 1748
5. Robocop 1698
6. Ikiru 1623
7. Vampyr 1617
8. Monty Python's Life of Brian 1583
9. Do the Right Thing 1517
10. Spartacus 1489

This does not surprise me.

I'm inclined to think that the respective top placements of The Royal Tenenbaums and Chasing Amy are not a reflection of how well-loved these movies are as much as it is a reflection of how these movies are often available for sale in stores that do not sell many other Criterion titles. On the other hand, the fact that these are the top numbers from collections of people who actually care enough to list their collections on the Criterion website could disprove my theory.

I am also reminded that I need to update my own collection on that site.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

I think Strangelove looks about as good as it can for the way it was shot. It shouldn't look as refined as Persona. It was never meant to. Which could be a part of what you're saying, I suppose. Because it all begins with what the original elements look like, and what the director's intent was. And 2K, 4K, or 8K can't change that. Or at the very least, no one should try to change that. I think that the transfers for both Persona and Strangelove are virtually perfect representations of their respective films.

I'm not sure why you would say that. Is it because Persona was an "art" film and Dr. Strangelove was a commercial Hollywood (via Shepperton Studios) movie? I think Kubrick was just as finicky about how his films looked as Bergman was,and the continued confusion about the proper aspect ratio for Strangelove kind of bears that out. I think we may yet see a new transfer or scan of Dr. Strangelove. At least, I hope that's why it's OOP in the U.S. I can't explain it otherwise.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

These are the most collected films without a CC Blu-ray release:

1. Chasing Amy 2686
2. The Silence of the Lambs 2067
3. Grand Illusion 1772
4. Bicycle Thieves 1748
5. Robocop 1698
6. Ikiru 1623
7. Vampyr 1617
8. Monty Python's Life of Brian 1583
9. Do the Right Thing 1517
10. Spartacus 1489

What are these numbers? Are they people that own the criterion DVDs, or people that own some version of the movie, Criterion or not? Because with all but a couple of these probably a ton of people own them cause they were released on the cheap by a major studio and most people would not bother with a criterion release of them. I'm surprised Armageddon and The Rock aren't on this list I'd be curious to see a list of most-owned Criterion DVDs that haven't been released on blu-ray in this country at all, I think Ikiru and Vampyr are the only ones on there, right? EDIT: Bicycle Thieves too apparently.

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

According to Criterion.com and 'My Criterion'. These 10 films are in the most collections:

1. The Royal Tenenbaums 6,582
2. Seven Samurai 6,326
3. Brazil 5,295
4. Rushmore 5,293
5. 8 1/2 5,097
6. The Seventh Seal 4,581
7. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 4,566
8. The Thin Red Line 4,477
9. Days of Heaven 4,186
10. Videodrome 4,109

These are the most collected films without a CC Blu-ray release:

1. Chasing Amy 2686
2. The Silence of the Lambs 2067
3. Grand Illusion 1772
4. Bicycle Thieves 1748
5. Robocop 1698
6. Ikiru 1623
7. Vampyr 1617
8. Monty Python's Life of Brian 1583
9. Do the Right Thing 1517
10. Spartacus 1489

Interesting. Didn't know that The Royal Tenenbaums had that big of a lowest common denominator factor. And I would've been sure that Dazed and Confused had to be in the top 5 at least. Maybe it's because it also has a Universal release. But then again so does Fear and Loathing.

[obscurelabel]

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

I think Strangelove looks about as good as it can for the way it was shot. It shouldn't look as refined as Persona. It was never meant to. Which could be a part of what you're saying, I suppose. Because it all begins with what the original elements look like, and what the director's intent was. And 2K, 4K, or 8K can't change that. Or at the very least, no one should try to change that. I think that the transfers for both Persona and Strangelove are virtually perfect representations of their respective films.

Just to expound on this a bit more, the original negative for Strangelove was printed and printed until it was destroyed, and a lot of work had to be done on the remaining elements to get the film to look as good as it does now (see here). Conversely, Persona has been very well preserved by the Swedish Film Institute, including the negative, so there's a lot more to work with to get a superior image.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

According to Criterion.com and 'My Criterion'. These 10 films are in the most collections:

1. The Royal Tenenbaums 6,582
2. Seven Samurai 6,326
3. Brazil 5,295
4. Rushmore 5,293
5. 8 1/2 5,097
6. The Seventh Seal 4,581
7. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 4,566
8. The Thin Red Line 4,477
9. Days of Heaven 4,186
10. Videodrome 4,109

These are the most collected films without a CC Blu-ray release:

1. Chasing Amy 2686
2. The Silence of the Lambs 2067
3. Grand Illusion 1772
4. Bicycle Thieves 1748
5. Robocop 1698
6. Ikiru 1623
7. Vampyr 1617
8. Monty Python's Life of Brian 1583
9. Do the Right Thing 1517
10. Spartacus 1489

Thanks for the list! I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm not.

Originally Posted by JJJ225

Putting me on the spot! Let's go with...

2001: A Space Odyssey
Annie Hall
The Cranes Are Flying
Last Year at Marienbad
Persona

Something like that?

I like that list.

I haven't seen The Cranes Are Flying, but I can say for a fact that the other four are quite phenomenal.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

What are these numbers?

It's simply a listing of the films' collection count from their Criterion pages.

Total for the site (Spine #'s only, no Eclipse): 633,654

[evilswift]

Originally Posted by jw007

This has absolutely nothing to do with Criterion, but I just finished watching an Australian film called Lantana (2001) and thought it reminded me a bit of a Robert Altman film. If anyone's seen it, let me know.

Lantana was a great film but it actually reminded me a lot more of John Sayles or even Atom Egoyan than Robert Altman.

I loved the entire cast particularly Barbara Hershey, Anthony Lapaglia and Kerry Armstrong.

Seek out Jindabyne if you can. Same director and Laura Linney is fantastic. Has two very memorable (but disturbing) scenes. I'd argue that Jindabyne is a bit more Altman-esque especially since it borrows one of the Raymond Carver stories Altman featured in Short Cuts.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by obscurelabel

Just to expound on this a bit more, the original negative for Strangelove was printed and printed until it was destroyed, and a lot of work had to be done on the remaining elements to get the film to look as good as it does now (see here). Conversely, Persona has been very well preserved by the Swedish Film Institute, including the negative, so there's a lot more to work with to get a superior image.

OK, I misinterpreted your original comment to mean that the way the two films look today was the film-makers' intention. You're right that Dr. Strangelove looks pretty good, all things considered. I found this link, which shows what the restorers were up against.

I'm still hopeful for a 50th anniversary edition this year, with more extras. It would make a great Criterion, of course.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jw007

This has absolutely nothing to do with Criterion, but I just finished watching an Australian film called Lantana (2001) and thought it reminded me a bit of a Robert Altman film. If anyone's seen it, let me know.

I picked it up on DVD back when. I recall liking it, but not overmuch. To be honest, I remember very little about it.

I just found my copy. I'll have to give it a rewatch.