The Criterion Collection

[belcherman]

A couple of thoughts on this month's anouncements:

I am beyond happy that It Happened One Night has been restored and is coming to Blu Ray via Criterion. Not only is IHON one of the great American comedies, it is a classic representation of 30s comedy: snappy, witty, and sophisticated, even when being silly. The 30s just might be the high-water mark in American film comedy, I'm not sure any decade since has bested it. Also, IHON is the grand-daddy of the romantic comedy with its oft-repeated formula of boy meets girl, girl can't stand boy, through unforeseen circumstance boy and girl must experience various comic misadventures, they fall in love, the end. Gable and Lombard are great together and the writing and direction is just perfect. Believe me, they really don't make them like this any more. I'm also eager to see the new 4K scan of the restored film. I've only seen IHON on broadcast or cable TV and even on cable, the PQ was pretty crappy. IHON deserves better and I expect that Sony and Criterion will deliver it.

I'm also looking forward to Tootsie. The 80s were not a great decade for intelligent comedies. If you look at the top comedies for that decade, most of them were not character-driven -- they were either gag-driven (the Airplane, Police Academy, Naked Gun, National Lampoon franchises) or concept-driven (Ghostbusters, Back to the Future). Movies such as Tootsie and Broadcast News were the exception. Tootsie is snappy, witty and, while not quite sophisticated, it never reaches down for a laugh. The humor arises out of the characters as they react to various, sometimes silly, situations. Kudos to Criterion for releasing it. Just because it isn't obscure, that doesn't mean it isn't important.

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I'm also looking forward to Tootsie. The 80s were not a great decade for intelligent comedies. If you look at the top comedies for that decade, most of them were not character-driven -- they were either gag-driven (the Airplane, Police Academy, Naked Gun, National Lampoon franchises) or concept-driven (Ghostbusters, Back to the Future). Movies such as Tootsie and Broadcast News were the exception. Tootsie is snappy, witty and, while not quite sophisticated, it never reaches down for a laugh. The humor arises out of the characters as they react to various, sometimes sillly, situations. Kudos to Criterion for releasing it. Just because it isn't obscure, that doesn't mean it isn't important.

That really is the best kind of humor in comedies. Too bad that's so rare in today's movies billed as a comedy. As for the last sentence, totally 100% agreed.

[CinemaBlu]

Originally Posted by Helikaon

There's some guy on Facebook kicking up a storm about Criterion releasing Tootsie (below their announcement). Saying Criterion should pass their releases by him first because they are losing their "street cred" and that a lot of their titles lately aren't "Criterion worthy".

EVERY movie should be given the Criterion treatment.

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by CinemaBlu

EVERY movie should be given the Criterion treatment.

I agree, the extras alone as totally worth every movie being given the criterion treatment.

I really hope Criterion releases The Color Of Money, that blu-ray really lacks in the VQ and extras big time!

[Hubunkey]

I don't understand all the hate about Tootsie getting a release. It is simply a criterion upgrade from a previous release. it would be like complaining because they upgraded the Wes Anderson films to Blu-ray. It's a dumb thing to say and I am happy to have it in the collection again. I wish Criterion could release all of the films they did on LD on Blu-ray also, but then again some of them have amazing releases from there respective studio (King Kong, Citizen Kane, etc...) but I wish ALL of the missing commentaries could legally see the light of day. Maybe via a download like Rifftrax does.

[Hubunkey]

[QUOTE=TJS_Blu;9592323]Recently, Criterion has reaffirmed their commitment to the eclipse label.

As far as Eclipse series being released on blu:


I would love a Bulldog Drummond Eclipse set

[Clare2904]

This is why you should watch Tootsie. Over 30 years later and men still look at women the same way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPAat-T1uhE

[Infernal King]

Originally Posted by fahrenheit290

Octopussy is so much fun. "No, ma'am. I'm with the economy tour." And: "Mr. Bond is of a rare breed, soon to become extinct." Enough said.

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Kamal Khan: "You seem to have this nasty habit of surviving."
James Bond: "You know what they say about the fittest."

Hahaha.

Octopussy - Balloon Q - YouTube

Bless you both. Octopussy is a treasure.

[zoodermin]

Just saw The Grand Budapest Hotel. I absolutely loved it. A quirky, funny story, great performances, beautiful settings and superb music. As a fan of Wes Anderson, I must say, this is one of his best. I want the Blu-ray release but I'm waiting until the inevitable Criterion edition is announced.

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

Just saw The Grand Budapest Hotel. I absolutely loved it. A quirky, funny story, great performances, beautiful settings and superb music. As a fan of Wes Anderson, I must say, this is one of his best. I want the Blu-ray release but I'm waiting until the inevitable Criterion edition is announced.

It'll be a long wait, maybe more than a few years.

[zoodermin]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

It'll be a long wait, maybe more than a few years.

I know but I hope that in the meantime, they'll release Moonrise Kingdom.

[ultlife2013]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

I know but I hope that in the meantime, they'll release Moonrise Kingdom.

I bought moonrise kingdom last week and really enjoyed it.

[elecrofunk]

I want them to release The Naked Prey on BD. On of my favorite movies..I'll be waiting a while I'm sure. Also Welcome to the Dollhouse would be great.

edit I would love if dollhouse had loads of interviews with cast members. That would be awesome...and I can't imagine what deleted scenes would be like

[fdm]

Seems to be a huge number of Criterion blu-rays for half off at Best Buy via this link (courtesy of RCX in Best Buy deals thread).

[Judex]

Originally Posted by fdm

Seems to be a huge number of Criterion blu-rays for half off at Best Buy via this link (courtesy of RCX in Best Buy deals thread).

In theory Amazon should price match those. They've matched Best Buy in the past.

[salad]

Originally Posted by fdm

Seems to be a huge number of Criterion blu-rays for half off at Best Buy via this link (courtesy of RCX in Best Buy deals thread).

Also posted here, but this sale may provide an opportunity to fill in gaps:

Is anyone maintaining a list of all Criterion titles that were dual format digipaks?

[tenia]

Originally Posted by jayembee

If you want to argue different levels of "mainstream", that's a separate issue. Me, it's either mainstream or it isn't. To me, a film is mainstream if the film was likely to be shown at any random movie theater in small-town America.

And I don't believe that these 2 movies are widely shown across the world.

[starman15317]

Sometimes I'm guilty of the whole hipster thing, but I'm personally not a hipster at all (my favorite band is U2!)

It's just stupid to not include something just because it's "mainstream". Citizen Kane is one of the greatest films ever made, but because the general public has heard of it, it must not be good, right? I just don't get it.

[Icemouth]

Originally Posted by Hubunkey

I don't understand all the hate about Tootsie getting a release. It is simply a criterion upgrade from a previous release. it would be like complaining because they upgraded the Wes Anderson films to Blu-ray

...which (rightfully) happened about every single one of them

[abuba]

Originally Posted by salad

Also posted here, but this sale may provide an opportunity to fill in gaps:

Is anyone maintaining a list of all Criterion titles that were dual format digipaks?

It has a high possibility that this list is incomplete as it was made by myself.

Tokyo Story
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
Nashville
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Jules and Jim
Foreign Correspondent
King of the Hill
Tess
The Freshman
Persona
The Great Beauty
Breaking the Waves
Il Sorpasso
Ace in the Hole
Red River
Picnic at Hanging Rock
A Hard Day's Night
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Scanners
Y Tu Mamá También

Hope this can help.