The Criterion Collection

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Hunh. I found it to be one of only two WA films that I've seen that I actually liked. (The other is Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I liked, but not a whole lot.)

Fantastic Mr. Fox is my favorite.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Tin Drum

Also, I blind bought Judex and ended up loving it. Have you seen Eyes Without A Face? Same director. Same style but definitely a little more surreal. One of my favorite Criterion titles right now.

Although I love Eyes Without a Face, I was hesitant to buy Judex, because I never saw the original Judex stories, and I thought that my experience would be hampered as such.

To my surprise, though, I had an absolute blast with Judex. The movie goes by at a lightning pace, and it's a fine mix of superb visuals, old-school adventure, and beautiful ladies. It's not far removed from the James Bond films that I love so much.

[Clare2904]

Am I correct in thinking that Criterion will still be holding their 24 hour flash sale at the end of this month, maybe the 30th ?

[Edward J Grug III]

Nothing for me there. Maybe the Eclipse set, I guess? But even that isn't too exciting to me.

I think delaying it a day made my anticipation of something great being announced even higher.

Oh well, there's still plenty of unpurchased blus on my to buy list. ;D

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by StLouisRibs

December 2007, which saw the release of Two-Lane Blacktop and that's it.

That was a better month than this one for me

[Joe Dalek]

Originally Posted by jw007

Strange, I just watched The Night Porter for the first time several months ago after I borrowed it from the library. I was very underwhelmed. I found it to be a weak story and somewhat controversial. I'm definitely not interested in purchasing this whatsoever.

As for Time Bandits, I need to revisit this film. It's a loony Gilliam movie.

Safe is the only title here that interests me in the least. Julianne Moore was big in the 90s and still an amazing actress.

The Eclipse set looks interesting but I will pass.

Yes, its a light or "weak" month, but totally unsurprising. Criterion had a strong year and I expect 2015 to be even better.

December is traditionally a smaller month for Criterion, but as usual, I would say that this "weak" month would be the envy of just about any other boutique label. Especially happy to see Eclipse is still active, and as it happens I was just watching some Kinoshita yesterday.

[Joe Dalek]

Please ignore if this has previously been reported, but lots of new stuff on Hulu Plus:

Watership Down (animation!)
Tess
Scanners
The Brood
The Elephant God (Ray)
Where Is My Friend's House? (Kiarostami)
Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down
Jascha Heifetz Master Class series
Judex
La Vie De Boeheme
Breaking The Waves

I might have missed a few.

[RojD]

Originally Posted by jayembee

In this case, me...kinda sorta somewhat. It's not a bad slate, but it doesn't excite me much. The Eclipse set is what interests me the most, but I would have to overcome my resistance to buying DVDs (I'm chagrined to admit that I don't have any of the Eclipse sets; other things just keep jumping the line).

Safe: I saw this in the theater when it came out, and while I thought Moore was terrific, I wasn't overly enamored of the film. I really wanted to like it more than I did, though, so I'd be up for giving it another shot 20 years later.

The Night Porter: Also saw this in the theater when it first came out, and expected to like it more than I did. Liked it quite a bit better when I got the Criterion LD of it (and later, the DVD). But it still doesn't prompt an "I've got to have it on Blu-ray" reaction in me.

Time Bandits: Overall, I'm a fan of Gilliam, but this is one of his lesser efforts, in my opinion. The Robin Hood sequence is the only part that I really found enjoyable. Most of the rest was rather tedious.

Put me in the "excited" category for half these releases. No blockbuster-of-cinema-history here but two movies that found a wedge into my mind and that I can't wait to revisit.

Safe has been in my Top 5 put-on-blu list for a long time. It was the proverbial slo-mo train wreck when I first saw it, fascinating but creepy in a deep way. I think it's by no means an easy film; I'd bet a lot of people are gonna fuss. It's so lean I think you'd probably drop it in the experimental film category, but I remember strongly responding to the way Haynes ties in suggestive social commentary with a Turn of the Screw ending. What a last shot! And it put Julianne Moore firmly on my preferred actor list. She carries the film. I can't wait for this one.

Ditto for The Night Porter. It'll be interesting to see how it's aged. I remember the film as being deliberate and affected and, at the same time, disturbing. My little psyche at the time had trouble taking in the underlying truths here, but I must've recognized their truth on some level since it's lingered in my mind since. Looking forward to revisiting this one. I think The Night Porter and Safe two are great winter watches.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Hunh. I found it to be one of only two WA films that I've seen that I actually liked. (The other is Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I liked, but not a whole lot.)

I saw (on HBO), then bought Fantastic Mr. Fox before I even knew who Wes Anderson was. I double dipped when the Criterion edition came out. I blind bought (something I don't do often) The Life Aquatic based on my long time enjoyment of Bill Murray's dry humor and that my only other Wes Anderson experience had been a good one. Also, the trailers from his other films had made me laugh.

[StLouisRibs]

Originally Posted by Clare2904

Am I correct in thinking that Criterion will still be holding their 24 hour flash sale at the end of this month, maybe the 30th ?

It will be a Tuesday. Last year's was October 1st, so it could well be October 6th this year.

[SlickDamian]

Really looking forward to Safe.
I think that they should start doing Eclipse sets on blu-ray. Still have it cheap and basic but in HD.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

Please ignore if this has previously been reported, but lots of new stuff on Hulu Plus:

Watership Down (animation!)
Tess
Scanners
The Brood
The Elephant God (Ray)
Where Is My Friend's House? (Kiarostami)
Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down
Jascha Heifetz Master Class series
Judex
La Vie De Boeheme
Breaking The Waves

I might have missed a few.

Been looking to watch that Kiarostami, thanks for the update.

[ShellOilJunior]

Criterion 2014 - By the numbers:

76 Spines Total

49 Films new to collection
27 Upgrades

[Mansinthe]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

Been looking to watch that Kiarostami, thanks for the update.

gonna have to check that out as well. so far i watched everything from him that was released by criterion and on hulu

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

As much as I love Far From Heaven -- and I do -- it's a fairly good release that we have now. I'd rather see something like Mulholland Dr., etc. where we could really use a top-of-the-line release.

Don't get me wrong: I would NOT complain about a Far From Heaven release.

What do we have now, the Canadian release? Just curious.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by iScottie

2014 in review

Purchased and potentially for sale after a rewatch
01. Ace in the Hole (May)
02. Blue is the Warmest Color (Feb.) - I will sell it upon the announcement of the Special Edition
03. Fantastic Mr. Fox (Feb.)
04. Foreign Correspondent (Feb.)
05. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Jan.)
06. Jules and Jim (Feb.)
07. Il Sorpasso (Apr.)

Jules and Jim, Scottie?

many here have said that they didn't really care for it (myself included!), but it has stuck w/ me more so than a lot of films that I really liked first time around.

someone sold me their 2 disc DVD from the dual format edition; I printed a custom cover and threw it in a new double disc DVD case. really looking forward to seeing it again, actually.

[The Great Owl]

Happy 50th Birthday to Goldfinger!

(Goldfinger was released on September 17, 1964.)

[alien2010]

Originally Posted by scottpcusa

I've never seen Nothing! Is it really that good that you bought it 3 times?

On a serious note...I will have to check out The Night Porter. I've never seen it.

Nothing is a phenomenal film, its about an opinionated film buff who cuts back on his blu ray purchases to have funds for paying rent, food and other essentials. The ending is fantastic,

[Show spoiler]he wins the Euromillions lottery and buys the Criterion Video Distribution company, where his plans for a pristine blu ray copy of Mulholland Drive come to fruition

As for The Night Porter, its a very dividing film.

[Scottie]

We watched Sherlock, Jr. in my film class today. It was my first introduction to Buster Keaton and I absolutely loved it. Incredibly fun film!

I can't wait to dig into the Kino set now.

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Jules and Jim, Scottie?

many here have said that they didn't really care for it (myself included!), but it has stuck w/ me more so than a lot of films that I really liked first time around.

someone sold me their 2 disc DVD from the dual format edition; I printed a custom cover and threw it in a new double disc DVD case. really looking forward to seeing it again, actually.

The chances of me getting rid of it are very low, as I admire Truffaut and in similar fashion to you, it has stuck with me.

I was very underwhelmed, though, upon my initial viewing.

[MifuneFan]

Sherlock Jr. is great. I thnk it was the second Keaton movie I've seen, after Seven Chances (also really great). Many of the Kino ones are on Netflix, but I've avoided seeing anymore, as I want to get the collection one day.