The Criterion Collection

[jw007]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Well, even the matted widescreen ratios weren't around at the time (with some notable exceptions). At any rate, Red River is more of a character drama than a "sprawling vista" movie, so the Academy Ratio seems right.

You're probably right. And I need to watch this movie again anyway since I pretty much forgot what its all about.

At least The Searchers is in color! But that blu-ray is 8 years old (2006)! Isn't it time for a new release of that one? If that came to Criterion, that would rock.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I think I might pull out the HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon. Wish it was on Blu-ray.

That was a great series. I loved the Grumman episode. Documentaries don't exactly ignore the engineering marvels (and the absolutely insane time pressures) but they do tend to give the engineers short shrift.

I would love to get that on BD.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Don't worry, the three films are not connected with one another.



You make some rather excellent points. I never thought about it like that.

With the first entry of the trilogy, we see a woman struggling to find her faith, in the second we see a priest struggling with the uncertainty of his faith, and by the final entry, we do not see the inclusion of any religious ideas at all.

As I reflect back upon all of the films, I cannot help but notice that some of the things talked about, especially towards the end of each, works as a building block for the overall message of the next film. Take a film like Winter Light, for example. We end with the idea of "God's silence", which one of the parishioners expressed was perhaps the worst form of suffering for Jesus, rather than the physical tribulations. It seems that Bergman took this and made it the basis of his final trilogy film and he did a phenomenal job at pulling it off.

All of this talk makes me understand the films a little bit better and I want to watch them again and again. Haha.

Your above post states a great point about the trilogy.

Bergman films have a wealth of great ideas as well as fantastic technical approaches to film making provided by the master of cinematography, Nykvist.

It has been about a decade since I saw these films, I was hoping to revisit the films when they receive a blu ray release. It has been a long wait. I gave up in waiting for Pickpocket to be released and bought the DVD a year ago, now I have the blu-ray also. I am hoping this trilogy will be the next Bergman blu-ray criterion release.

Also I have read that Liv Ullmann's film Miss Julie by playwright August Strindberg will be released in theaters this year. I have read Strindberg's A Dream Play which is great, so it is one film I am looking forward to. And by the way, the beautiful Jessica Chastain will be playing the lead (my favorite actress at this current moment).

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Your above post states a great point about the trilogy.

Bergman films have a wealth of great ideas as well as fantastic technical approaches to film making provided by the master of cinematography, Nykvist.

It has been about a decade since I saw these films, I was hoping to revisit the films when they are receive a blu ray release. It has been a long wait. I gave up in waiting for Pickpocket to be released and bought the DVD a year ago, now I have the blu-ray also. I am hoping this trilogy will be the next Bergman blu-ray criterion release.

Also I have read that Liv Ullmann's film Miss Julie by playwright August Strindberg will be released in theaters this year. I have read Strindberg's A Dream Play which is great, so it is one film I am looking forward to. And by the way, the beautiful Jessica Chastain will be playing the lead (my favorite actress at this current moment).

I love her so much - she was incredible in The Tree of Life.

[SilentDawn]

If anyone is thinking about purchasing Brian De Palma's Blow Out during the sale (or any time), make sure that you do so. I just finished watching it for the first time, and it completely knocked my socks off. The Blu-ray is great, and the features are extensive. Definitely check this out!

Also, I really want a feature-length version of the "film" shown in the beginning of Blow Out. That s&^* was awesome.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Your above post states a great point about the trilogy.

Bergman films have a wealth of great ideas as well as fantastic technical approaches to film making provided by the master of cinematography, Nykvist.

It has been about a decade since I saw these films, I was hoping to revisit the films when they receive a blu ray release. It has been a long wait. I gave up in waiting for Pickpocket to be released and bought the DVD a year ago, now I have the blu-ray also. I am hoping this trilogy will be the next Bergman blu-ray criterion release.

Also I have read that Liv Ullmann's film Miss Julie by playwright August Strindberg will be released in theaters this year. I have read Strindberg's A Dream Play which is great, so it is one film I am looking forward to. And by the way, the beautiful Jessica Chastain will be playing the lead (my favorite actress at this current moment).

Oh I didn't even know Liv Ullmann was making a film, so thanks for sharing that information with me.

Jessica Chastain is a phenomenal actress and I have enjoyed all of her films (probably more) because of her performances.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Well, even the matted widescreen ratios weren't around at the time (with some notable exceptions). At any rate, Red River is more of a character drama than a "sprawling vista" movie, so the Academy Ratio seems right.

Oh, and it needs to be said that even the matted widescreen ratios (1.66, 1.85) aren't really wider than 1.37. They're just shorter. The exposed negative is 1.37, just like any non-widescreen film, and then the top and bottom of the image is matted off.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

I love her so much - she was incredible in The Tree of Life.

Take Shelter was another great performance, a great anchor for Michael Shannon's character.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Take Shelter was another great performance, a great anchor for Michael Shannon's character.

Yeah she was also really good in The Debt

[Ausjdm]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Take Shelter was another great performance, a great anchor for Michael Shannon's character.

Jessica Chastain can only be mention if she's called as I do as, "the angelic Jessica Chastain" lol

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Ausjdm

Jessica Chastain can only be mention if she's called as I do as, "the angelic Jessica Chastain" lol

She is incredible, even if you send her a message on Facebook, she tries to reply, if she can't reply she does send xxjes to know she's read it

I'd love to meet her, or atleast see her on stage

[Scottie]

She seems like an incredibly sweet person.

[Rich Pure Doom]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm grateful that Criterion added Scanners to their queue. The Criterion Collection is sort of like an understanding soccer mom who feeds healthy food to her children on most days, but occasionally takes them to McDonald's for greasy hamburgers. I have a soft spot for the "drive in" Criterion titles, namely Scanners, Videodrome, Equinox, Repo Man, and The Blob.

Scanners is a drive-in movie, but I don't put Videodrome in the same category. Videodrome I actually see as a "great" movie regardless of what it is being compared to.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by SilentDawn

If anyone is thinking about purchasing Brian De Palma's Blow Out during the sale (or any time), make sure that you do so. I just finished watching it for the first time, and it completely knocked my socks off. The Blu-ray is great, and the features are extensive. Definitely check this out!

Also, I really want a feature-length version of the "film" shown in the beginning of Blow Out. That s&^* was awesome.

I thought Blow Out was 100 times better than Blow Up.

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by smoss469

I thought Blow Out was 100 times better than Blow Up.

Never been a fan of Blow Up, I've always found it to be one of Antonioni's weaker works.

Blow Out however, just blew my mind. Truly a fantastic and sublime piece of cinema.

[Clare2904]

My online film club has been commemorating the start of World War I this past fortnight. Tonight we watched Paths of Glory.

Holy sh!t

[ultlife2013]

Awesome news about Boyhood being released by criterion, it was a very interesting movie indeed. It does fit in pretty well with criterion's mission statement.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jw007

Hey (Great) Owl (or anyone else for that matter!):

I was just wondering if Red River would have been even greater had it been shot in technicolor and in anamorphic 2:35 aspect ratio?

It kind of bums me out that some of these classic westerns (Red River, Stagecoach, High Noon, Rio Grande, My Darling Clementine) are black and white. I cannot think of any genre of film moreso than Westerns that NEED to be shot in color! I feel that the Western film was meant to be shown in color because of its huge emphasis on scenery and location! At least if Red River wasn't in 1:37 ratio, it would be better, just so the viewer can see the wide vistas and landscape of the country and locations.

Would you agree?

I like black-and-white westerns and color westerns equally. The black-and-white landscapes remind me of Ansel Adams photographs, which I love. (I usually buy the Ansel Adams calendars from Barnes & Noble each year and keep them on my office wall.)

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Scanners is a drive-in movie, but I don't put Videodrome in the same category. Videodrome I actually see as a "great" movie regardless of what it is being compared to.

"Drive-in" movies and great movies are not mutually exclusive. Scanners and Videodrome are both cases in point.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

Awesome news about Boyhood being released by criterion, it was a very interesting movie indeed. It does fit in pretty well with criterion's mission statement.

I found it HUGELY disappointing and over hyped.

Not sure if these are spoilers but to be safe...

[Show spoiler]

Sure using the same actor over 12 years and seeing him age infant of us was a nice touch but the film was so flawed. A lot of the characters were really annoying and the acting came across as so forced and fake.

It hardly explored key elements of growing up and coming of age, it touched upon elements but hardly explored them enough. Also the film was too short, I feel it needed to be a 6 hour+ film, maybe in two parts like Nymphomaniac for example, that way we would have seen some stories develop and would have been more important, time just moved far too quickly and when an important part of his life happened it just ended so quickly?

For example, when the mum married the teacher it was like over one cut and it happened, and then suddenly he was violent and a drunk? it just didn't explore it enough or show any development.

Also, the film hardly explored sex and death which are huge themes when coming of age and growing up, it touched upon sex a little but hardly enough.

Im probably not explaining it well enough but there are far better coming of age films out there that doesn't need to be over hyped, and tbh the filmd over 12 years came across as a gimmick to hide these flaws and such.

[ultlife2013]

Well, that's one way to look at it.