The Criterion Collection

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by sc1957

Are you aware of criteriumforum.org? They have a forum which consists of separate threads for each Criterion release.

Thanks for the link.

[Meek12345]

Originally Posted by Clare2904

What $50 coupon? The one direct from Criterion? Their next flash sale won't be until the first Tuesday of October.

Hey Clare! How do you know that the next Criterion flash sale will be in October? The first sale of the year is usually in February with the second being in September, right?

[RandyK]

If I didn't like Rashômon, is there any chance I would like Seven Samurai?

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by RandyK

If I didn't like Rashômon, is there any chance I would like Seven Samurai?

Definitely. Seven Samurai is a phenomenal film and like no other film before or after it (unless you take into consideration the remake).

I know several people who do not like samurai films but enjoy it.

[RandyK]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Definitely. Seven Samurai is a phenomenal film and like no other film before or after it (unless you take into consideration the remake).

I know several people who do not like samurai films but enjoy it.

Thanks Scottie. I watched Kill Bill and that kind of put me in mood for some more samurai films but I'm not a huge fan of Japanese cinema (that is based on a VERY small sample size). I'll pick it up during the B&N sale.

[Elvis]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

It's crazy to me that there are people who will pay the price for a Criterion release without much interest in the supplements. I don't watch them all and have never listened to one commentary, but there are so many great features and interviews spread across the collection that give so much insight. There are some film makers/critics that if I see they have contributed something, I'm more prone to buy it (Scorsese, Soderbergh, Kent Jones).

I don't mind paying more for a Criterion title as they usually do a good job with the transfer (extras are only looked at once or not at all by me). I look at it as helping to support a company that preserves more obscure and foreign titles that might otherwise be overlooked.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Yes, TCM will be showing them beginning 2 A.M. EST on June 23.

I'm not sure if this is a dumb question, but is the Three Colors trilogy meant to be watched in any particular order?

[octagon]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I'm not sure if this is a dumb question, but is the Three Colors trilogy meant to be watched in any particular order?

Yeah, sort of. It's hard to explain without spoilers but they're interlinked in minor but pretty cool ways. It's not like you have to see one to make sense of the others but if possible watch them in order.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by smoss469

TiVo has been set.

Originally Posted by RandyK

Thanks Scottie. I watched Kill Bill and that kind of put me in mood for some more samurai films but I'm not a huge fan of Japanese cinema (that is based on a VERY small sample size). I'll pick it up during the B&N sale.

I honestly wasn't either, but the Ozu and Kurosawa films have significantly changed me. I find most of the samurai films to be generic, but there are a lot of masterfully crafted ones.

Originally Posted by belcherman

I'm not sure if this is a dumb question, but is the Three Colors trilogy meant to be watched in any particular order?

It's best to watch them in order of Blue, White, and Red, as they all come together in a neat kind of way.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I'm still waiting for a Bergman film to really resonate with me. The final act of Summer With Monika was the closest thing... I have enjoyed everything I've seen (Wild Strawberries, Persona, Smiles of a Summer Night being the others) but kind of figured that I would enjoy them more (the first two) - like I'd really be able to see the mastery that is so easily apparent in, for example, Kurosawa.

Apples and oranges. Bergman's film are usually more about character than about story. My favorite is Smiles of a Summer Night, but also check out The Magician, Virgin Spring, Winter Light and Cries and Whispers. I have not yet seen Fanny and Alexander, but I've heard good things about it. It's on my list.

I like Bergman and Kurasawa, but it depends on my mood which one I might feel like watching.

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I've fallen into the habit of watching the movie itself with undivided attention, and then playing it again with the commentary track while I sit on sofa surfing the web from my laptop. I'm doing this right now, in fact. After watching the re-release Blu-ray of The Lady from Shanghai earlier tonight, I'm now listening to the Peter Bogdanovich commentary track while I post.

I usually go through all of the extras on a Blu-ray after my first viewing. I'll usually surf my laptop while the commonplace back-slapping making-of featurettes are playing on the disc, but I usually watch the Criterion supplements with undivided attention.

I generally love the Criterion extras, except that I sometimes skip through the foreign talk-show intereviews with actors or directors.

Possibly the primary attraction for Criterion discs (besides the interestingly eclectic selection of titles) are the consistently high-quality transfers, however the extras are also a major reason for getting them. Criterion releases with few or no bonus features are the ones I'll only buy on the half-price sales. The others I don't mind paying the normal (usually 25-40% off) discount prices and minor sales, because the bonus features make it well-worth the price. I don't always get around to going through all the bonus items right after watching a film, but sometimes I do and I'm always glad when I decide to watch them immediately after a screening of the film. With films that I've seen recently or have already watched several times before, when I get the Blu-ray I'll often start by watching the film with the commentary and go through all the bonuses before ever re-watching the film by itself. It makes the re-watching of the film all the richer an experience to have all the background and interpretations fresh in my memory. Those I tend to like best are the commentaries, period-era making-of documentaries, and the newly-recorded interviews with directors, cast, and crew reminiscing about the film, especially seeing them in succession. Other complete films, shorts and/or features, by the same director are also most welcome, even when they may be the only extra besides the booklet. (And I forget which film it was now, but one of Kurosawa's had a very entertaining and informative old Japanese talk-show interview with Toshiro Mifune.)

On a large percentage of Criterion releases, the booklet notes and well-chosen selection of supplementary features amount to a private college-level minicourse on the film and/or director. In fact, if you choose any few dozen Criterion titles at random (excluding those with no extras) and watch all the films and their bonus features, you pretty much have the equivalent of an advanced college film course and will very quickly have a better understanding of film in general than many professional film critics, especially if you follow up and watch as many of the other films mentioned in the supplements as you can. The Eclipse sets (sadly on DVD-only) are like intense special-interest classes in a director or genre even though the only bonus is nothing but a well-written set of program notes.

[EPlay]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I still might pick it up, but my curiosity may have piqued for All That Heaven Allows... apart from the cinematography and the use of colors and whatnot, is the story entertaining? Being that I've posted so much here over recent months, maybe some of you might know what I enjoy. would you recommend it for me? nobody will be held responsible if I think it stinks.

(

It is on TCM tomorrow, 6/12, 10:00 p.m. (EST).

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by edward j grug iii

nertz - just noticed the 15th is a sunday this month. We'll have to wait a whole extra day for the announcement!

nooooooooooooooooo!!! :-(

[ultlife2013]

July 4th A Hard Days' Night is being re released in cinemas all across the world. But only British Columbia in Canada, I really hope that some cinema does it as well in the GTA. I would really like to see it on the big screen again.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

If you mean the little girl...yes! Not enough to ruin but it's bad. The thing that pulls me out of the film is a couple of almost cartoonish scenes that folks who've seen it will probably know the ones I'm referring to. Once again, they don't come close to ruining the film but they are jarring to the tone IMO.

I'm not sure the film should be criticized for not accomplishing something it didn't set out to achieve. It's a fairy tale not cinema verite.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by RandyK

Thanks Scottie. I watched Kill Bill and that kind of put me in mood for some more samurai films but I'm not a huge fan of Japanese cinema (that is based on a VERY small sample size). I'll pick it up during the B&N sale.

If you like Kill Bill you should watch Sword of Doom. Tarantino was undoubtedly inspired by it.

[Member-167298]

Originally Posted by bstv69

But his directing made me want to check out Repulsion but I cannot justify buying a horror movie

Wow. A good movie is a good movie, period. Way to relegate an entire genre to second class status. Shall we segregate horror films on this site so they don't mix with the films you deem to be worthy?

If this is your attitude, you are going to miss out on a lot of legitimately classic films, such as Repulsion, that have just as much artistic merit as films from any other genre.

[adamhopelies]

I received JUDEX this morning, and it's actually a three-disc set, as opposed to the advertised 2-discs.

[JeffTheMovieGuy]

Should be getting Godzilla today its due in on Friday but I've noticed with Criterion films they are shipped super fast

[ZeTi]

Originally Posted by bstv69

I watched it on netflix and thought the directing was great but unfortunately I found Mia Farrow to be incredibly annoying and just not my taste. But his directing made me want to check out Repulsion but I cannot justify buying a horror movie

If you found Farrow annoying in "Rosemary's Baby" then you prob. should stay away from "Repulsion" as far as humanly possible. On top of that, it's to this day the most boring motion picture i have ever seen. How this gets labeled as a psychological thriller or horror is beyond me.