The Criterion Collection

[silverlakephil]

I watched IL Sorpasso last night, thanks to The Great Owl's review and enthusiastic recommendation and I absolutely loved it. I never even heard of the term "Commedia all'italiana" until I saw this film and will investigate further. Oh, if you buy this completely unaware of the plot, do not watch the extras first.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

I watched IL Sorpasso last night...
Oh, if you buy this completely unaware of the plot, do not watch the extras first.

you approached it in the right way. unfortunately, for myself and maybe for others who follow this thread with regularity, that ship may have already set sail.

[Infernal King]

Just e-mailed Criterion @ their suggestions address, asking if they'd add Wong Kar Wai's 2046 to the collection. It makes an excellent and I daresay essential companion piece to In the Mood For Love, plus it has yet to be released anywhere in the world on Blu-ray.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

I watched IL Sorpasso last night, thanks to The Great Owl's review and enthusiastic recommendation and I absolutely loved it. I never even heard of the term "Commedia all'italiana" until I saw this film and will investigate further. Oh, if you buy this completely unaware of the plot, do not watch the extras first.

It's probably the best blind-buy I ever made in my life. It's such an engaging and entertaining film. Great Owl and I both recommend this one highly. I bought it without reading his review too!

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

Just e-mailed Criterion @ their suggestions address, asking if they'd add Wong Kar Wai's 2046 to the collection. It makes an excellent and I daresay essential companion piece to In the Mood For Love, plus it has yet to be released anywhere in the world on Blu-ray.

I'd love that too. Unfortunately ... I have a feeling we're going to be disappointed.

[ultlife2013]

I bought Tokyo Story and Repo Man the other day.

[Grethiwha]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

Just e-mailed Criterion @ their suggestions address, asking if they'd add Wong Kar Wai's 2046 to the collection. It makes an excellent and I daresay essential companion piece to In the Mood For Love, plus it has yet to be released anywhere in the world on Blu-ray.

That and Days of Being Wild, which has a couple asian blu-ray releases but with bad English subtitles. I consider 2046 in some ways Kar Wai's masterpiece, and I very much want to own the whole 'trilogy', but right now only In the Mood For Love is available on blu-ray... :\

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by exolstice

8. Dimensionalizing (i.e. adding shitty pop-up storybook effects to movies, more commonly know as 3D).

The only films I can think of that use 3D well is Gravity (perfect use, not over the top, but subtle) and Tron Legacy (not the best 3D but I love th idea of having real world 2D and the Game world 3D).

I have Pina but not got 3D TV yet so can't judge that, but heard its great.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by Infernal King

Just e-mailed Criterion @ their suggestions address, asking if they'd add Wong Kar Wai's 2046 to the collection. It makes an excellent and I daresay essential companion piece to In the Mood For Love, plus it has yet to be released anywhere in the world on Blu-ray.

I believe 2046 is out on blu in South Korea in about 3 weeks.

[Infernal King]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I believe 2046 is out on blu in South Korea in about 3 weeks.

I just looked it up and you're right! Holy crap, this could be very good news, if the transfer and subtitles are good (because yeah, I've heard the subtitles for Days of Being Wild on Blu-ray aren't very good... wish Kino would release it and As Tears Go By...). Gonna have to keep an eye on this.

[jw007]

I finally opened up my Louis Malle Documentary Eclipse series #2 box set last night! I watched the first 2 of the 3 films of his French documentary trilogy (the one on the Tour de France and then one on the French automotive industry/consumers). The Tour de France one was amazing... I don't know how Malle was able to get in there and film specific bicyclists (one collapsed off his bike at one point and then Malle photographed the helicopter coming in to rescue him).

I just started his box set so it's going to take maybe a week or two to go through it all. The Phantom India (6 hour extravaganza) will be coming up next after I finish the first 3 films. And then several more documentaries after that. I feel this is going to be an amazing set to watch and worth the $.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

The only films I can think of that use 3D well is Gravity (perfect use, not over the top, but subtle) and Tron Legacy (not the best 3D but I love th idea of having real world 2D and the Game world 3D).

I have Pina but not got 3D TV yet so can't judge that, but heard its great.

The 3D in Hugo is great too. That's the first (and only) film where I've rewatched it in 2D and felt like it was lacking something.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

you approached it in the right way. unfortunately, for myself and maybe for others who follow this thread with regularity, that ship may have already set sail.

I tried my best to be spoiler-free in my review of the movie, as I always do, while also being honest with my thoughts. Sometimes, that's easier said than done!

silverlakephil, I'm glad that you enjoyed the film!

[jw007]

The Great Owl:

Where does your name derive from? Is this a cinematic reference? Just curious. Owls can be great, I do know this.

JW007

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

The only films I can think of that use 3D well is Gravity (perfect use, not over the top, but subtle) and Tron Legacy (not the best 3D but I love th idea of having real world 2D and the Game world 3D).

When I go to the theater to see a movie that has a 3D release, I'll see it in 3D. I don't have a 3D player or TV at home, so the theater is pretty much the only way I'll see it in 3D. When I see the same films on Blu-ray at home, I tend not to miss the 3D.

The only two films where I do miss the 3D are Avatar and Gravity. There are several other films where I think the 3D worked well enough, but is not essential for the viewing experience. In the cases of Avatar and Gravity, I think the 3D really did a lot to sell the environment, and while I still enjoy the movies considerably at home in 2D, they aren't quite the same.

Anyway, I'm going to add another "sin" to the list: adding extra audio channels. There seems to be an overwhelming desire to re-engineer mono or stereo soundtracks into 5.1 or greater. Now, granted, sometimes the re-engineering is "done right" and it sounds good, but it shouldn't be necessary. For example, Jaws was originally released with a monaural soundtrack, and two of its Oscar wins were for Best Sound and Best Original Score. And yet, when it came out on DVD, Universal felt compelled to create a new DD5.1 soundtrack (which, truth be told, does sound quite nice) I guess because mono just wasn't good enough anymore.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jw007

The Great Owl:

Where does your name derive from? Is this a cinematic reference? Just curious. Owls can be great, I do know this.

If I recall correctly, it's from The Secret of NIMH.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I tried my best to be spoiler-free in my review of the movie, as I always do, while also being honest with my thoughts. Sometimes, that's easier said than done!

silverlakephil, I'm glad that you enjoyed the film!

it was a while back on this thread. it wasn't your review. I haven't had the pleasure of reading your review. I probably won't and that's only because I'm of the minority opinion on this film, too - didn't care for it. was pretty bored with it.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jw007

The Great Owl:

Where does your name derive from? Is this a cinematic reference? Just curious. Owls can be great, I do know this.

JW007

I've always been curious about yours :P

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Anyway, I'm going to add another "sin" to the list: adding extra audio channels. There seems to be an overwhelming desire to re-engineer mono or stereo soundtracks into 5.1 or greater. Now, granted, sometimes the re-engineering is "done right" and it sounds good, but it shouldn't be necessary. For example, Jaws was originally released with a monaural soundtrack, and two of its Oscar wins were for Best Sound and Best Original Score. And yet, when it came out on DVD, Universal felt compelled to create a new DD5.1 soundtrack (which, truth be told, does sound quite nice) I guess because mono just wasn't good enough anymore.

yes! that's definitely in the spirit of the 5 I listed. How Green Was My Valley has a 5.1. track. I sampled a minute of it and it seemed unnecessary and a little too powerful for a film w/ its audio in mono.

[RojD]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

The only films I can think of that use 3D well is Gravity (perfect use, not over the top, but subtle) and Tron Legacy (not the best 3D but I love th idea of having real world 2D and the Game world 3D).

I have Pina but not got 3D TV yet so can't judge that, but heard its great.

So you're in for a major treat. Gravity does action 3D well, but I love what Wenders does in Pina. There aren't a lot of things rushing at or close to the camera, but he uses 3D to give things a texture and a presence like I've seen no one else do. Major treat coming.

Dunno what it is about German documentaries, but I enjoyed Cave of Forgotten Dreams, too. Cave art uses all three dimensions of the surface it's drawn on, and Herzog applies 3D technology to show that. Innovative and smart, but my 3D Oscar goes to Wenders.

Doesn't Wenders have another 3D project out in the US soon?