The Criterion Collection

[jw007]

Oblivion138: I've re-fired up a Twin Peaks thread if you want to join in (or anyone else). The last posting was April of 2013 so I just posted in there. Check it out Criterion-lovers.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...34#post9143334

[CHEЯNOБLY!]

Originally Posted by jw007

When I saw the movie a long time ago I pretty much forgot about it quickly afterwards. So seeing it now fresh after seeing the tv series might be enlightening for me. I think one should see the tv show first and then the movie even though I heard the movie is the actual prequel (not sequel).

FWWM is a prequel, but it will tell you who the killer is, which defeats the purpose of season one and part of two.

[demonknight]

Originally Posted by RandyK

Watched my first Wes Anderson in Rushmore today. Really enjoyed it. I love Bill Murray in everything. Think I'll pick up The Life Aquatic when it comes out.

Life Aquatic is my favorite. Still have to see Rushmore, Darjeeling Limited, and Grand Budapest...

[CHEЯNOБLY!]

Originally Posted by Visco.

Guys, Broken Circle Breakdown needs to be picked up by Criterion. This film desperately needs a blu-ray release. The black levels on the DVD are absolutely awful.

The film is probably the most powerful romance I've ever seen. It makes Blue Valentine look like a Disney picture. I haven't seen The Great Beauty but it's going to take a lot to top this as my favorite foreign film last year.

I'm tempted to email CC right now.

Not a comment on whether it should be in the CC cuz I haven't seen it, but I'm getting disturbed by this trend of new films getting DVD only releases.

[iamnoone]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Everyone who does not already own the Australian film, Wake in Fright, should purchase it at the earliest convenience. It's a marvelous, albeit disturbing, film. I saw the film in theaters when it was first restored, and the Blu-ray release lives up to the big screen experience.

On the B-movie end of the Australian film spectrum, Synapse was supposed to be releasing a Blu-ray of the 1978 eco-horror flick, Long Weekend. I saw this movie on DVD a few years back, and I enjoyed it. Long Weekend tells the story of vacationing couple whose propensity to litter the environment catches up to them when the animals take vengeance into their own hands. Be nice to Mother Nature, because she'll smack you down in a bad way if you are not respectful.

Except that the Australian lab in charge of restoring the WAKE IN FRIGHT print they had found wiped it clean of all grain and texture. So now we are stuck with an overly polished mess instead of what the film really should look like. Someone posted a restoration clip of WIF in one of these threads showing the video tech doing his work on the film, and the tech guy was so clueless that he actually thought he was improving the transfer, where anyone with two brain cells could see the untampered print looked way better before he put it through the digital cleanup making everything a glossy mess.

LONG WEEKEND is terrific, but Synapse never said they were going to do a Blu. In fact, they have always said it was a very slow seller on DVD so chances of a blu were pretty much out of the question.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jw007

I think one should see the tv show first and then the movie even though I heard the movie is the actual prequel (not sequel).

It's a prequel, but it's still intended to be watched after the series, as it gives away major plot points of the series. And the very end of the film is actually a coda to the series.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jw007

Oblivion138: I've re-fired up a Twin Peaks thread if you want to join in (or anyone else). The last posting was April of 2013 so I just posted in there. Check it out Criterion-lovers.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...34#post9143334

Thanks for that. I'll stop talking about the series/movie here.

[hoytereden]

The discussion of Australian Cinema makes me think of a guilty pleasure-Razorback. Haven't seen it in ages, other than the YouTube opening shot clip but that's what I still remember-that moody photography that lifted it above the other Jaws inspired crowd. I see it's going to be released in a few days on Blu-ray.

[RandyK]

Which later Chaplin should I get first: Monsieur Verdoux or The Great Dictator?

Going to have both at some point but just one for now.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by RandyK

Which later Chaplin should I get first: Monsieur Verdoux or The Great Dictator?

Going to have both at some point but just one for now.

The Great Dictator. It was his first talkie and it's hilarious.

(I'm a big fan of Monsieur Verdoux, as well)

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

The discussion of Australian Cinema makes me think of a guilty pleasure-Razorback. Haven't seen it in ages, other than the YouTube opening shot clip but that's what I still remember-that moody photography that lifted it above the other Jaws inspired crowd. I see it's going to be released in a few days on Blu-ray.

Along these lines, Rogue (2007) and Black Water (2008) are both surprisingly impressive Australian films about killer crocodiles. I've seen both of them on DVD, and I am even considering springing for the region free Blu-ray of Rogue.

Rogue received the most mass recognition of the bunch, since it was directed by Greg McLean, who filmed Wolf Creek (a movie that disturbed me too much to watch more than once). Rogue stars the always-beautiful Radha Mitchell, as well as Sam Worthington in an early role. Some of the digital effects are flawed, especially toward the end when the crocodile is seen in all its massive glory, but the first two third of the film are golden.

Black Water is even more suspenseful, although it is more low-key than Rogue. Black Water is also more believable with its story about young people who are trapped in a mangrove tree in an Australian swamp after a crocodile attacks their boat. After I saw Black Water, I had a crush on Maeve Dermody for a long while.

The filmmakers of Black Water also made The Reef (2010), which wins my vote for the best shark movie since Jaws. Check it out on Netflix or somewhere if you have time, because it's quite incredible as far as B-movies go.

None of the above movies will ever be released by Criterion, but that's Criterion's loss.

Australia is full of animals that specialize in killing humans, so the cinematic potential is limitless.

[spanky87]

I should have read the review for the Martin Scorsese World Project collection before I started watching it.

I thought my blu-ray player was broken during those choppy parts of the Housemaid.

[RandyK]

Originally Posted by iScottie

The Great Dictator. It was his first talkie and it's hilarious.

(I'm a big fan of Monsieur Verdoux, as well)

Thanks Scottie. Was actually leaning towards that one.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by RandyK

Which later Chaplin should I get first: Monsieur Verdoux or The Great Dictator?

Going to have both at some point but just one for now.

Disclaimer: I'm not a huge Chaplin fan and wasn't really crazy about either one. They're both very good but not really my thing. That said...

The Great Dictator is pretty much in line with earlier Chaplin. A mix of broad slapstick, dry wit, drama, melodrama and outright schmaltz.

Verdoux is a lot harder to pigeonhole. It's not really a comedy, not even in the dark comedy sense. It's very wry and amusing at times but there aren't a lot of outright laughs. But it's not exactly a heavy drama either. It doesn't take itself that seriously. It kind of reminds me of Kind Hearts and Coronets, if that helps.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by RandyK

Thanks Scottie. Was actually leaning towards that one.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

The discussion of Australian Cinema makes me think of a guilty pleasure-Razorback. Haven't seen it in ages, other than the YouTube opening shot clip but that's what I still remember-that moody photography that lifted it above the other Jaws inspired crowd. I see it's going to be released in a few days on Blu-ray.

Not being released on Blu-ray, but this reminds me of another Aussie suspense thriller that's something of a hidden gem. Friends and I used to joke back in the 80s that if a horror/thriller had Jamie Lee Curtis in it, it was well worth seeing, and this is no exception: Road Games. It's another in the hitchhiker-chased-by-killer sub-genre, but done with a sense of panache (and with an interesting twist). Also stars Stacy Keach as a truck driver that gives Curtis a lift. And yes, despite starring Keach and Curtis, it's Aussie.

[bwdowiak]

just bought a brand new copy of A Night To Remember on ebay for $13.50. been wanting to see this film. happy about this score!

[BillWatkins]

Two of my favorite Aussie horror flicks were never even released on DVD in the US, let alone Blu-ray: Next of Kin (1982) and Dark Age (1987).

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by BillWatkins

Two of my favorite Aussie horror flicks were never even released on DVD in the US, let alone Blu-ray: Next of Kin (1982) and Dark Age (1987).

Not just horror flicks. My very, very first Aussie film blind buy (meaning, I had no knowledge of the film, and was buying it purely because it was Aussie) was a used Betamax tape of Weekend of Shadows. It proved to be, essentially, an Aussie take on The Ox-Bow Incident, and is terrific. As far as I know, it's never been released on any format other than videotape anywhere in the world.

Another Aussie-film used-Betamax blind-buy was Bruce Beresford's Barry McKenzie Holds His Own, which is just completely insane. Again, it appeared on Beta/VHS here in the States, but never DVD (though apparently it was released on DVD in Australia). I never did see its predecessor, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, though. I should think about ordering the Aussie DVDs of the two films.

[demonknight]

Originally Posted by demonknight

It begins... Review Time.

The Royal Tenenbaums- 4/5
Wow. I went into this thinking I would either like it or hate it. I loved it. As of yesterday, it is my second favorite Anderson film, behind Life Aquatic.

Sid and Nancy- 2/5
I really thought I would love this one and... Gary Oldman was really good in it. Webb was so goddamn annoying in it that it often ruined my enjoyment of the film though. The first act was fantastic. That was it. That said, Cox's direction was beautiful.

Cronos- 5/5
This was my second del Toro film (after Pacific Rim), and my first full-length foreign language film (yeah, yeah two characters occasionally speak English, as does the narrator), and it tells me I need to watch more of both. This was such a great character piece; I loved the character of Jesús and the story of his downfall. I did not plan on watching The Devil's Backbone as part of Criterion Month, but it is now on the list. Also on my list is We Are What We Are because of the reoccurrence of the Tito character.

The Brood- 3.5/5
This was a really good Cronenberg film. Not his best (for me, either The Fly or Videodrome), but damn good. It has a genuinely creepy atmosphere and I dug the uneasiness of the thing. I patiently await its impending Criterion release; I may not buy it for a while, but I will get it eventually.