The Criterion Collection

[Polaroid]

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by anthonyls

Originally Posted by anthonyls

Nice work! they do look good - but for me the artwork looks 100 time abetter on the digipaks.

But would be nice for Criterion to offer both versions to customers, even in form of replacement cases.

[DaveyJoe]

Looks like my post will be completely drowned out by all those giant pictures.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by DaveyJoe

Looks like my post will be completely drowned out by all those giant pictures.

I don't know about a rip off? You could argue Mulholland Dr would be in there as well - on some level.

They would be great to watch as a trilogy on a movie night!

[Thebunk]

Originally Posted by soarinsteven

Yeah, Magnolia is not only my favorite PTA, but one of my favorite films as well. I still remember watching it for the first time years ago. Caught it on a Friday night on IFC back when it was commercial free. I was a little intimidated by the running time, but it flew by. I was captivated every second and felt deeply for every character. Profoundly moving, and told with such wondrous humanity, and really doesn't pass judgement on its characters. The John C. Reilly and Melora Walters story line gets to me in particular. Perhaps for similar reasons LOST is one of my favorite tv shows is that it centers on individuals suffering personal crises whose lives come together whether its fate or coincidence and come to see that some sort of redemption is visible or possible. The film is a tour de force of direction, writing, acting, film editing, music, etc. I ended up watching it again on IFC two nights later those many years ago to confirm what I watched really was that good.

Are you sure you are ok with enjoying this film now that you know you were emotionally manipulated? Or perhaps you are young and/or have ADD. Those HAVE to be the reasons why you enjoy Magnolia so much.

You should really consider checking out Short Cuts or Nashville when you get more mature and older. Only then you will come to know its brilliance and how much of a farce Magnolia is.

[Thebunk]

Originally Posted by DaveyJoe

Interesting to see the Altman vs. PTA comparison. Just the other night I watched 3 Women and couldn't shake the thought that Altman blatantly ripped off Bergman's Persona.

Interestingly, 3 Women really intrigues me and I wish I could check it out without blind buying it.

[DaveyJoe]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

I don't know about a rip off? You could argue Mulholland Dr would be in there as well - on some level.

They would be great to watch as a trilogy on a movie night!

Mulholland Dr went in a different direction with its commentary on the duality of Hollywood. I don't think you should watch Persona and 3 Women back-to-back. I watched Persona 2 weeks ago, and during the 3rd act of 3 Women, all I could think about was that Persona was better.

[DaveyJoe]

Originally Posted by Thebunk

Interestingly, 3 Women really intrigues me and I wish I could check it out without blind buying it.

It's streaming on Netflix if you have that.

[soarinsteven]

Originally Posted by Thebunk

Are you sure you are ok with enjoying this film now that you know you were emotionally manipulated? Or perhaps you are young and/or have ADD. Those HAVE to be the reasons why you enjoy Magnolia so much.

You should really consider checking out Short Cuts or Nashville when you get more mature and older. Only then you will come to know its brilliance and how much of a farce Magnolia is.

Wow. I hope you're being sarcastic or something otherwise this might be the most condescending I've seen in this thread or in all of the internets...which is something!

Yes, I've watched Magnolia recently, and it still profoundly affects me, and yes, I've seen Nashville, and Short Cuts of which I both saw for my first time in my late teens/early 20s, and loved both as well...

[ShellOilJunior]

Boyhood will make for an excellent Criterion spine. Very impressed by Linklater's latest.

Is it too soon to call Linklater one of the very best American directors working today?

[aes3728]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Boyhood will make for an excellent Criterion spine. Very impressed by Linklater's latest.

Is it too soon to call Linklater one of the very best American directors working today?

I don't think it's too soon. But I also won't forgive Bad News Bears

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Boyhood will make for an excellent Criterion spine. Very impressed by Linklater's latest.

Is it too soon to call Linklater one of the very best American directors working today?

I've been saying this for a while now.

Seeing this again today. I'm hesitant on ranking it above his Before films, but I'll be damned if I didn't think it was his masterpiece once it ended.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Helikaon

I liked Oblivion, thought Pacific Rim was fantastic, but was disappointed in Elysium after the impressive District 9. What did you think of the latest Godzilla?

Just for kicks...

Oblivion was one of my favorite movies from 2013. It's visually spectacular, the M83 score is ace, and the story, although derivative, is engaging and fun. Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman, Andrea Riseborough, and Melissa Leo all pull their weight quite well. I've already chimed in on this movie earlier in the thread, but I think that it's pretty cool.

Pacific Rim was fun when I saw it at the theater, but every scene with the two goofy scientists stopped the movie dead in its tracks for me. Those characters took my mind out of the make-believe world altogether, and reminded me that I was watching people who were placed in the movie simply because they looked like two people who would be good for comic relief in a movie. This is why I have not bothered seeing the movie again.

District 9 was alright to see once at the theater, but I have no desire ever to see it again. Why, you ask? Well, I thought that it was a gross movie. Scrubby alien things rummaging through garbage, gore scenes, etc. The movie was literally too gross for me.

I have not seen Elysium, but everything about that movie just screams "heavy-handed" to me.

I loved, loved, loved the new 2014 reboot of Godzilla. The director and crew are on to something here that eludes most big-budget filmmakers, in that they are able to generate a genuine sense of awe in the final 20 minutes of a movie and achieve a worthwhile payoff if they hold back on the big special effects early in the film and concentrate on pacing. There are so many summer movies these days where the big effects are shown throughout the film, and I find myself yawning after the first half hour, but Godzilla held my interest.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Boyhood will make for an excellent Criterion spine. Very impressed by Linklater's latest.

Is it too soon to call Linklater one of the very best American directors working today?

It feels I am only one that found this film really flawed

I will try a revisit as my screening was 30 minute late and had rude people talking through film and not op of that a beeping noise!

But I just found some perts of the film really weak and it just ruined parts for me. The lead was brilliant and will be exciting to see more from him - I found a lot of the acting from other really forced and false? And I also wish it had a lounge runtime to develop certain parts of his life as they happened to quickly or didn't really have time to develop and I was left feeling... Oh well.. what happened or where did that go?

It did have some strong elements and seeing the boy grow infant of you felt really special (I thought before watching it was a bit of a gimmick) but it did work well and did add to the film.

I will try watch again and see if it is better a second time - Oh I also found parts of the soundtrack a tad annoying but thats just me :P

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Just for kicks...

Oblivion was one of my favorite movies from 2013. It's visually spectacular, the M83 score is ace, and the story, although derivative, is engaging and fun. Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman, Andrea Riseborough, and Melissa Leo all pull their weight quite well. I've already chimed in on this movie earlier in the thread, but I think that it's pretty cool.

Pacific Rim was fun when I saw it at the theater, but every scene with the two goofy scientists stopped the movie dead in its tracks for me. Those characters took my mind out of the make-believe world altogether, and reminded me that I was watching people who were placed in the movie simply because they looked like two people who would be good for comic relief in a movie. This is why I have not bothered seeing the movie again.

District 9 was alright to see once at the theater, but I have no desire ever to see it again. Why, you ask? Well, I thought that it was a gross movie. Scrubby alien things rummaging through garbage, gore scenes, etc. The movie was literally too gross for me.

I have not seen Elysium, but everything about that movie just screams "heavy-handed" to me.

I loved, loved, loved the new 2014 reboot of Godzilla. The director and crew are on to something here that eludes most big-budget filmmakers, in that they are able to generate a genuine sense of awe in the final 20 minutes of a movie and achieve a worthwhile payoff if they hold back on the big special effects early in the film and concentrate on pacing. There are so many summer movies these days where the big effects are shown throughout the film, and I find myself yawning after the first half hour, but Godzilla held my interest.

What made Godzilla better for me was as I knew the Director, I could see his style and he kept to his roots in terms of using budget wisely and it really didn't feel like a sell out which it could easily have become.

It was a great reboot and the director is very talented - I did prefer his first, Monsters, but he did a great job with it.

[Show spoiler]I was also surprised the parents death were so soon into the film, I was expecting the dad to be in it throughout, which was very unhollywood to kill off such big actors near start.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

I've been saying this for a while now.

Seeing this again today. I'm hesitant on ranking it above his Before films, but I'll be damned if I didn't think it was his masterpiece once it ended.

One of the things I love about Boyhood is how there are no huge payoffs. Everything unfolds in linear fashion, almost like a novel. In many coming-of-age films there's a certain tendency to pander to the audience. A lesser writer/director would've hit the audience with something really emotional and manipulative.

[Show spoiler]Linklater didn't linger too much with the drunk dude (Mr. King Liquor) which was fine by me because he wasn't Mason's father and frankly the kid had no attachment to him. Same with Jim.

[Thebunk]

Originally Posted by soarinsteven

Wow. I hope you're being sarcastic or something otherwise this might be the most condescending I've seen in this thread or in all of the internets...which is something!

Yes, I've watched Magnolia recently, and it still profoundly affects me, and yes, I've seen Nashville, and Short Cuts of which I both saw for my first time in my late teens/early 20s, and loved both as well...

Yes very sarcastic. You should go back a few pages and read what some people wrote about Magnolia. Funny stuff to say the least...

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

One of the things I love about Boyhood is how there are no huge payoffs. Everything unfolds in linear fashion, almost like a novel. In many coming-of-age films there's a certain tendency to pander to the audience. A lesser writer/director would've hit the audience with something really emotional and manipulative.

[Show spoiler]Linklater didn't linger too much with the drunk dude (Mr. King Liquor) which was fine by me because he wasn't Mason's father and frankly the kid had no attachment to him. Same with Jim.

In terms of your spoiler

[Show spoiler]I wish this part was developed further, the marriage with the mum happen dover one cut of the film, which was annoying and I know its about the son, but would have been nice to see a little more, especially more about he felt towards the relationship. Also the drunk thing juts seemed to happen out of nowhere which also bugged me and again, I wanted to see more of his reaction to this incident in his life, how it affected him etc.

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Just for kicks...

Oblivion was one of my favorite movies from 2013. It's visually spectacular, the M83 score is ace, and the story, although derivative, is engaging and fun. Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Morgan Freeman, Andrea Riseborough, and Melissa Leo all pull their weight quite well. I've already chimed in on this movie earlier in the thread, but I think that it's pretty cool.

Pacific Rim was fun when I saw it at the theater, but every scene with the two goofy scientists stopped the movie dead in its tracks for me. Those characters took my mind out of the make-believe world altogether, and reminded me that I was watching people who were placed in the movie simply because they looked like two people who would be good for comic relief in a movie. This is why I have not bothered seeing the movie again.

District 9 was alright to see once at the theater, but I have no desire ever to see it again. Why, you ask? Well, I thought that it was a gross movie. Scrubby alien things rummaging through garbage, gore scenes, etc. The movie was literally too gross for me.

I have not seen Elysium, but everything about that movie just screams "heavy-handed" to me.

I loved, loved, loved the new 2014 reboot of Godzilla. The director and crew are on to something here that eludes most big-budget filmmakers, in that they are able to generate a genuine sense of awe in the final 20 minutes of a movie and achieve a worthwhile payoff if they hold back on the big special effects early in the film and concentrate on pacing. There are so many summer movies these days where the big effects are shown throughout the film, and I find myself yawning after the first half hour, but Godzilla held my interest.

The scientists oft perfectly into the world that Del Toro built up. They didn't bother as much as I've read they've bothered many people who saw the movie.

[DaveyJoe]

Originally Posted by soarinsteven

Wow. I hope you're being sarcastic or something otherwise this might be the most condescending I've seen in this thread or in all of the internets...which is something!

Yes, I've watched Magnolia recently, and it still profoundly affects me, and yes, I've seen Nashville, and Short Cuts of which I both saw for my first time in my late teens/early 20s, and loved both as well...

I'm pretty sure he was being facetious.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

In terms of your spoiler

[Show spoiler]I wish this part was developed further, the marriage with the mum happen dover one cut of the film, which was annoying and I know its about the son, but would have been nice to see a little more, especially more about he felt towards the relationship. Also the drunk thing juts seemed to happen out of nowhere which also bugged me and again, I wanted to see more of his reaction to this incident in his life, how it affected him etc.

[Show spoiler]I took it as Mason and Sam didn't care about him because they didn't like him and he wasn't their biological father.

[jw007]

I watched Il Sorpasso last night and I was literally and figuratively blown away!

Wow!

Finally an old Italian film I could fully relate to on all levels.

This has got to be the GREATEST blind buy I ever made in the history of buying films.

Man, I wouldn't even know where to begin with this film. First off, I love how spontaneous the story is and how the characters are totally relatable and honest. There were some absolutely HILLARIOUS scenes in this film. I mean, I was laughing out loud at times and worrying the neighbors might hear me. Up until the final minute of the movie which I will not spoil, this was an absolutely delightful story about 2 guys taking a road trip throughout Italy in the early 1960s. The main character named Bruno (Vittorio Gassman) was such a jerk and yet so fun to hang out with at the same time. Then Roberto (Jean-Louis Trintignant) was a character I could somewhat relate to as he was an introverted, ambitious and repressed intellectual who needed some joy and excitement in his life. This is a male-bonding kind of film and I would not hesitate to say that mostly male viewers will appreciate and enjoy this film because many young men experienced and met these types of characters in this story.

Already my favorite scene in the movie was the bit about Bruno poking fun at Antonioni's films about alienation. HA ha ha HEE HEE har HAR HAR!

I particularly loved the Malick-like voiceover from Roberto throughout the film as the audience could go into his mind throughout this joyride of an experience. It's a great device and director Dino Risi used it effectively here.

It's a totally engaging film and I am really happy I bought Il Sorpasso during the sale. Now I want to see more Dino Risi films!

I think Great Owl was wondering what my thoughts would be on this film and I believe he truly will be pleased to hear this.