The Criterion Collection

[Namuhana]

I hope we get a Blu-ray upgrade of The Virgin Spring soon; it's one of my favorite Bergman films. Any news on if a restoration has been done for it?

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by The Stick

I thought I would follow up my blind buy viewing of Louis Malle's ZAZIE DANS LE METRO with a viewing of Malle's BLACK MOON which I recorded off TCM...

Holy crap (sorry), but what in hell did I just watch?!?!

Talk about a one-two punch...I am down and out for the count, folks

I haven't seen either of those, but I LOVED Malle's Vanya on 42nd Street.

[dannyfriar]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Really? I keep watching and going back, trying to find answers and secrets, even if there are none, it's still worth going back for just to see :-) but fair enough

Originally Posted by hoytereden

It was just the opposite for me-Seeing it on Hulu convinced me to get it just in time for the sale. Two films I've seen there I didn't particularly care for were Vengeance is Mine and Overlord which I was considering prior to seeing them on Hulu Plus. It's a great tool for whittling down those maybe titles on your Criterion Wish List.

I'm glad that I watched it though. Hulu is indeed a good tool to whittle down the choices!

[soarinsteven]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

I hope we get a Blu-ray upgrade of The Virgin Spring soon; it's one of my favorite Bergman films. Any news on if a restoration has been done for it?

I really want them to upgrade Cries & Whispers. It's the only Bergman I love. *sigh*

[Ausjdm]

After I picked up George Washington today I saw blue is the warmest color sitting there at B&N and I thought to myself how are they gonna make this a special edition later? Isn't the rumors the two actresses hate the directors guts and the director wants nothing to do with the movie now??? Maybe bare bones is all we will get?

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by Ausjdm

After I picked up George Washington today I saw blue is the warmest color sitting there at B&N and I thought to myself how are they gonna make this a special edition later? Isn't the rumors the two actresses hate the directors guts and the director wants nothing to do with the movie now??? Maybe bare bones is all we will get?

Nah. That was blown out of proportion. Kind of.

Kechiche — in an uncharacteristic display of clear-headedness — revoked his claims that the film shouldn’t have been released. "It was a remark that was blurted out at that moment, but it's not what I really think," he said. "I was just afraid that was what was going on around the film would prevent people from seeing it for what it really was."

“I have given a year of my life to this film. I had no life during this shoot. I gave everything. I have not criticised the director. I'm just complaining about the technique. It was my dream to work with him because, in France, he is one of the best directors."

On me and Léa. We were saying true anecdotes, but they put all the negative things in the interview. I think every genius is tortured. Sometimes it's hard to do justice to these people.

My father called me after the interview went live going, "What? There's scandal?" We learned so much making this movie. Of course you can't express yourself properly when talking about the huge human adventure we went on, making this movie. The three of us were always together searching, working. It's only normal that there was some conflict. I chose to make the movie the way we did, and I loved it. It's hard for me to talk about this, not because there are secrets I'm trying to hide, but because it was so intense.

I doubt Criterion would add that footnote if they weren't certain of a definitive edition down the road.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by soarinsteven

I really want them to upgrade Cries & Whispers. It's the only Bergman I love. *sigh*

Cries and Whispers was the first Bergman film I ever saw, back during its original theatrical release. I hated it. I thought it looked absolutely gorgeous, but felt the story was too opaque.

It made me avoid Bergman for the next 15-20 years, until I started collecting Criterion LDs. On a friend's recommendation, I tried Smiles of a Summer Night (having already seen and enjoyed Woody Allen's pastiche of it) and loved it. Long story short, I got the LD of Cries and Whispers and gave it another shot, and my reaction was "What the hell was I thinking back when I first saw it?" I can't say that I "love" it, but it's an excellent film nonetheless.

Anyway...I went to the local B&N this evening. Was intending to pick up World Cinema Project, but they didn't have a copy, so instead I got Picnic at Hanging Rock, A Hard Day's Night, Late Spring, and Life of Oharu.

[dtyner92]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Cries and Whispers was the first Bergman film I ever saw, back during its original theatrical release. I hated it. I thought it looked absolutely gorgeous, but felt the story was too opaque.

It made me avoid Bergman for the next 15-20 years, until I started collecting Criterion LDs. On a friend's recommendation, I tried Smiles of a Summer Night (having already seen and enjoyed Woody Allen's pastiche of it) and loved it. Long story short, I got the LD of Cries and Whispers and gave it another shot, and my reaction was "What the hell was I thinking back when I first saw it?" I can't say that I "love" it, but it's an excellent film nonetheless.

Anyway...I went to the local B&N this evening. Was intending to pick up World Cinema Project, but they didn't have a copy, so instead I got Picnic at Hanging Rock, A Hard Day's Night, Late Spring, and Life of Oharu.

Picnic at Hanging Rock, is absolutely brilliant! Its doesn't hurt that it's beautifully shot as well. I watched it for the first time a few days ago, and it quickly shot up the list as one of my favorite films. I'm planing on getting into more Bergman films as well. I've only seen The Seventh Seal and Persona. Very interested to see what else he has in store.
Any recommendation for Bergman would be very useful. Fanny and Alexander, has really caught my interest.

[Saucerful]

Originally Posted by fahrenheit290

Continuing on Antonioni. I'd love if Criterion acquired and restored to blu-ray Blow Up. I love that park sequence so much. It is, after all, the only Antonioni film Ingmar Bergman said was worth watching.

This has probably been mentioned here already, but Blow-Up is a Warner title which makes it an unlikely candidate for a Criterion release, unfortunately.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by dtyner92

Any recommendation for Bergman would be very useful. Fanny and Alexander, has really caught my interest.

Fanny and Alexander is definitely worth getting. And Smiles of a Summer Night is my personal favorite of his films. But you really can't go wrong getting any of the Bergman titles on Blu-ray.

[HD Goofnut]

Took advantage of the Criterion sale at B & N and got Stagecoach, Scanners, The Game, and Traffic. I'd been putting everything other than Scanners off for a long time, but at $19.99 each I don't mind.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by octagon

Okay, but self-important and pretentious aren't necessarily the same thing.

I never really get the feeling that Malick is trying to impress anyone or fancies himself the voice of his generation or anything along those lines. He doesn't seem to pander or curry favor and he's certainly not an attention wh*re.

Even if he takes himself terribly seriously (and I don't know whether he does) does he really make his films out to be more than they are? Do his films pretend to be something they're not?

IMO, yes, The Tree of Life pretends to be something it is not. I absolutely love Badlands and Days of Heaven. In those films, Malick's style was at the service of his plots. TToL is, to me, almost a parody of his early work. It (his style) has almost become an affectation.

You mentioned "sincere" in a previous post... Sincere intentions do not equate to sincere art. There is nothing natural and sincere about the end of TToL. When you've lost your touch, you've lost your touch. No, Rolling Stone magazine - the latest album from (insert rock band who recorded a handful of great albums in the 60's or 70's here) is not a 5 star record. Same goes for Malick. The emperor earned his fancy robe in the 70's, but I'm sorry - now, he's butt a$$ naked.

I don't know if it is the mythology around this guy or what, but w/ TToL, I'd say he lost me.

If you want to see a film where a master filmmaker didn't lose his touch very late in life, watch Robert Bresson's L'Argent. It is streaming on Hulu Plus.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

Lmao people calling Malick pretentious is hilarious. Offering films with a greater sense of purpose, works that require effort when viewing them, does not equate a director to being pretentious.

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

..and what do you know about my taste in film that leads you to draw the conclusion that I have seen a film that requires effort while viewing it and that has lead me to call him pretentious?

I'm still waiting for your answer to my question above. Quite an ignorant generalization. ...and two people thought it was so wonderful that they even liked your comment.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

Took advantage of the Criterion sale at B & N and got Stagecoach, Scanners, The Game, and Traffic. I'd been putting everything other than Scanners off for a long time, but at $19.99 each I don't mind.

I'm convinced that at least a third of all movies made after 1939 were influenced by John Ford's Stagecoach. It's an incredible film that gets better for me with each viewing. The shorter silent film, Bucking Broadway, that is included on the disc is not half bad either.

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by dtyner92

Any recommendation for Bergman would be very useful. Fanny and Alexander, has really caught my interest.

Persona is my favorite Bergman film, but I'm also partial to The Magician, The Seventh Seal, Smiles of a Summer Night, Summer with Monika, and Wild Strawberries (along with the aforementioned The Virgin Spring). You can't really go wrong with any Bergman, though (at least in my mind; then again, I've only seen about 10 of his films, but I found them all rather enjoyable).

[Meek12345]

Originally Posted by Meek12345

Hey Pro-B! Thanks for the review! Do you think that Criterion decided to use the recently restored print from France because they believed that they couldn't make any further improvements or that the film looks as good as it ever will since the original negative was lost? I'm wondering if the film will ever be restored or modified some way in the future. I plan to buy the Demy set, but this "bad" review of Lola's video quality is causing me to have some reservations about buying it.

Hey Pro-B! I thought I should repost my question from early this morning. I'm not sure if you have seen it yet. I imagine you are quite busy most of the time. Thanks in advance for your help!

[dtyner92]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

IMO, yes, The Tree of Life pretends to be something it is not. I absolutely love Badlands and Days of Heaven. In those films, Malick's style was at the service of his plots. TToL is, to me, almost a parody of his early work. It (his style) has almost become an affectation.

You mentioned "sincere" in a previous post... Sincere intentions do not equate to sincere art. There is nothing natural and sincere about the end of TToL. When you've lost your touch, you've lost your touch. No, Rolling Stone magazine - the latest album from (insert rock band who recorded a handful of great albums in the 60's or 70's here) is not a 5 star record. Same goes for Malick. The emperor earned his fancy robe in the 70's, but I'm sorry - now, he's butt a$$ naked.

I don't know if it is the mythology around this guy or what, but w/ TToL, I'd say he lost me.

If you want to see a film where a master filmmaker didn't lose his touch very late in life, watch Robert Bresson's L'Argent. It is streaming on Hulu Plus.

Do you feel this way about all of his later work? Starting from The Thin Red Line to the present?

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

He may be slow, but what he creates is incredible - he's not of everyone, and i get that but I don't understand how people call me pretensious?

I think he's been working on this long before The Tree of Life started, I think Tree of Life was a form of 'Q' but he continued to work on A Voyage of Time. Ah I can't wait haha.

I just find his films so tender and beautiful - there is so much emotion and power behind them and it just works so well, I also admire how he doesn't care what others think and doesn't read reviews - he makes the film HE wants and I really admire that.

But seriously, Lacrimosa put against those space images was just mind-blowing.

The screened a few minutes at Cannes to get buyers:

Lacrimosa by Zbigniew Preisner from his great album Requiem for my Friend is beautiful.

The requiem is dedicated in memory to his good friend and collaborator no other then the famous Krzysztof Kieślowski. That great majestic film scores you criterion fans are listening to when watching The Three Color Trilogy and Double Life of Véronique are composed by Preisner. He is been composing for Kieslowski since Dekalog.

[The Bronx Bull]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

IMO, yes, The Tree of Life pretends to be something it is not. I absolutely love Badlands and Days of Heaven. In those films, Malick's style was at the service of his plots. TToL is, to me, almost a parody of his early work. It (his style) has almost become an affectation.

You mentioned "sincere" in a previous post... Sincere intentions do not equate to sincere art. There is nothing natural and sincere about the end of TToL. When you've lost your touch, you've lost your touch. No, Rolling Stone magazine - the latest album from (insert rock band who recorded a handful of great albums in the 60's or 70's here) is not a 5 star \record. Same goes for Malick. The emperor earned his fancy robe in the 70's, but I'm sorry - now, he's butt a$$ naked.

I don't know if it is the mythology around this guy or what, but w/ TToL, I'd say he lost me.

If you want to see a film where a master filmmaker didn't lose his touch very late in life, watch Robert Bresson's L'Argent. It is streaming on Hulu Plus.

I couldn't disagree more. Early Malick, while I love Badlands and Days of Heaven, pales in comparison to The Thin Red Line, which I feel is his greatest accomplishment yet. One could even argue that Badlands is the most "non-malick" film of the bunch, as he had yet to introduce his concepts of poetry, ambiguity, and a lack of coherence - all of which are incorporated into Days of Heaven.

My ranking:

1) The Thin Red Line (1998)
2) The Tree of Life (2011)
3) Badlands (1973)
4) Days of Heaven (1978)
5) The New World (2005)
6) To The Wonder (2012)

[lemonski]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I'm still waiting for your answer to my question above. Quite an ignorant generalization. ...and two people thought it was so wonderful that they even liked your comment.

One of those was me. As for your question, I read it four times and I still can't understand it, it makes no sense. Maybe that's why you're not getting an answer.