The Criterion Collection

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by Hard Times Chaney

So, what was the red sun in refernce to in the clue picture posted early this year, since we're clearly not getting Red Sun this year?

Things hinted in the picture aren't necessarily coming that year.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Things hinted in the picture aren't necessarily coming that year.

Yeah, Eraserhead for instance was in the previous year's drawing (among other places). Criterion did release at least 90% of the clues from this New Year's drawing though. I'm wondering if the leftover clues could be applied to a movie released this year. I believe there were only 4 or so that didn't get used:

Garlic on the picnic blanket - Assumed to be for Les Blanks Garlic is like Ten Mothers (could just allude to the Les Blank box set?)

Red Sun - Assumed to be for Red Sun

Girl with hair covering her face at picnic - Speculaton varies here, but includes Ringu, and I think a Godard movie.

Angel with bell - People could only guess about Capra's It's a Wonderful Life

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Yeah, Eraserhead for instance was in the previous year's drawing (among other places). Criterion did release at least 90% of the clues from this New Year's drawing though. I'm wondering if the leftover clues could be applied to a movie released this year. I believe there were only 4 or so that didn't get used:

Garlic on the picnic blanket - Assumed to be for Les Blanks Garlic is like Ten Mothers (could just allude to the Les Blank box set?)

Red Sun - Assumed to be for Red Sun

Girl with hair covering her face at picnic - Speculaton varies here, but includes Ringu, and I think a Godard movie.

Angel with bell - People could only guess about Capra's It's a Wonderful Life

The girl with the hair covering her face is apparently hinting at François Truffaut's Wild Child, while the angel holding the bell is hinting at Breaking the Waves, which we got.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Angel with bell - People could only guess about Capra's It's a Wonderful Life

Surely that was Breaking The Waves?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by iScottie

The girl with the hair covering her face is apparently hinting at François Truffaut's Wild Child, while the angel holding the bell is hinting at Breaking the Waves, which we got.

Ah Truffaut. I was trying to recall which director it was, and just went with Godard . You guys are right about Breaking the Waves too. For some reason I thought just the angel intersecting the waves was the clue for Breaking the Waves, and figured the bell played a separate significance too, but I guess it all belongs to the same thing.

[TJS_Blu]

More good juju for Dragon Inn.

When a restored Dragon Inn was featured in the Cannes Classics presentation and CC's President, and Peter Becker sitting on the Un Certain Regard jury, there was some speculation that we might see this title in the collection. Eureka just posted on fb that Dragon Inn would be joining MoC in 2015. I'm betting that means it'll be getting a wacky C as well. Hopefully, Becker et al. also negotiated a restored A Touch of Zen (Cannes 2015).

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Lynch is an overrated director in my opinion. The best aspect of his films is the dark tone, atmosphere which he produces with his film style. He is, in my opinion, a gateway for the young cinephiles to reach better independent films.

Sure, but you can say that about Fellini in terms of European film too.

Many people do.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Ah Truffaut. I was trying to recall which director it was, and just went with Godard . You guys are right about Breaking the Waves too. For some reason I thought just the angel intersecting the waves was the clue for Breaking the Waves, and figured the bell played a separate significance too, but I guess it all belongs to the same thing.

The bell plays a critical role in Breaking the Waves. Very good movie.

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

More good juju for Dragon Inn.

When a restored Dragon Inn was featured in the Cannes Classics presentation and CC's President, Peter Becker sitting on the Un Certain Regard jury, there was some speculation that we might see this title in the collection. Eureka just posted on fb that Dragon Inn would be joining MoC in 2015. I'm betting that means it'll be getting a wacky C as well. Hopefully, Becker also negotiated a restored A Touch of Zen (Cannes 2015).

They should release it with Goodbye, Dragon Inn! Now that would be something

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

Sure, but you can say that about Fellini in terms of European film too.

Many people do.

It was only until after I saw Mulholland Drive that I got into bigger and better cinema from all over the world. Typical films that I watched prior to my viewing of it consisted of generic action films, direct-to-video thrillers, and other big Hollywood blockbusters.

I was very ignorant towards the world of cinema. I had a dislike for foreign films and I had not even seen one at that point in my life. In fact, the first time I watched a foreign film was in late 2012 (?) and it was Belle de Jour, which I still consider one of the finest works of all time.

Let's just say that I truly made a 180º in my attitude toward film over the past three or four years.

[malakaheso]

We all have our own little path to follow with film. It's a personal journey. It's not a race nor a competition. There is no 'wrong' way to go about getting into cinema. The important thing is to keep an open mind, that's all. Not everything is going to appeal to you and there is nothing wrong with that. It's just how it is.

The problem with 'foreign' films out in these parts--i.e the Anglosphere--is that there are some stupid ideas about how watching a film with subtitles makes you a 'snob', or something equally silly like that, which probably discourages many people from watching them. Film is film. It doesn't matter where it comes from.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

They should release it with Goodbye, Dragon Inn! Now that would be something

Lol, I'd love to see Goodbye in the collection too.

[Ausjdm]

Anyone here recommend, An Autumn Afternoon?

Was randomly searching about the buffalo 66 Japanese blu ray how it was one of the highest bit rates ever vs the American edition. Which lead to YouTube and a Gallo interview where he said Autumn Afternoon was one of Ozu's best...

Let me know thanks

[malakaheso]

An Autumn Afternoon is one of my favourite Ozu films, and its reputation has grown over the years, particularly since it was released on dvd.

It's a great film.

I'm hoping that Criterion will update it soon.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by iScottie

The bell plays a critical role in Breaking the Waves. Very good movie.

Ah I see. I need to check it out, thanks

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

We all have our own little path to follow with film. It's a personal journey. It's not a race nor a competition. There is no 'wrong' way to go about getting into cinema. The important thing is to keep an open mind, that's all. Not everything is going to appeal to you and there is nothing wrong with that. It's just how it is.

The problem with 'foreign' films out in these parts--i.e the Anglosphere--is that there are some stupid ideas about how watching a film with subtitles makes you a 'snob', or something equally silly like that, which probably discourages many people from watching them. Film is film. It doesn't matter where it comes from.

time to share my "my path" story...

I spent much of my summers during my high school years hanging by a friend's house. (let's call him Mark) we'd collectively decide to rent a movie and I was so incredibly disinterested in just about everything he'd choose (it would still qualify as crap to this day) that I eliminated myself from the decision making process at the video store. I didn't make a stink. I just let him pick whatever he wanted to. during the movie, I'd sit there off in my thoughts somewhere. there were these 2 neighbor girls who always hung around w/ us. very pretty. I was infinitely more concerned with what the older girl was doing than in whatever movie Mark had rented.

for quite a while, I thought that I just did not like movies. there was a time in my young adult life when conversation about movies would come up and it would be like:

"bwdowiak, have you seen x movie"
me: "no"

"have you seen y movie"
me: "nope. never."

I think that it was DVD that got me excited about movies and when that FBI warning popped up in (what seemed to be at the time) crystal clear fidelity, I soon became very interested.

the AFI created their first top 100 list and I figured, "if these are the "100 best," there has to be some good stuff here!" so I got hooked on Hitchcock, The Third Man, On the Waterfront, and things of the sort.

it was actually this kind little older woman who I worked with who borrowed me the first Hitch I saw. it was Stage Fright (of all films!) she did voice recordings for dramatic radio shows that were still on the air late at night on AM radio. no idea whatever happened to here, but I owe her a debt of gratitude.

I tried the foreign heavyweights - The Bicycle Thief, The 400 Blows, Breathless, L'Avventura, La Dolce Vita. of the 5, the only one that worked magic on me first time around was The Bicycle Thief.

fast forward to about a year ago... I never thought I'd be so active on this site. if I had, I would have picked a screen name that isn't just a bunch of f**king consonants - you know, one that people might actually remember. anyway, I'm thankful for you good folks who have expanded my film knowledge exponentially in the last year.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by Ausjdm

Anyone here recommend, An Autumn Afternoon?

Was randomly searching about the buffalo 66 Japanese blu ray how it was one of the highest bit rates ever vs the American edition. Which lead to YouTube and a Gallo interview where he said Autumn Afternoon was one of Ozu's best...

Let me know thanks

It's definitely one of his best, it's also his last and i would say it sums up all his other films themes into this one (at least the ones i have seen) so while i would recommend it, i am not sure if it is best to watch it first, not sure if you have seen more of his films.

[MifuneFan]

Confession: Because of the similar titles, actors, and plots, I often can't recall which Ozu film is which

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

time to share my "my path" story...

I enjoyed reading that.

I've been passionate about movies for as long as I can remember. I was six years old when some neighborhood friends and I went to see Star Wars during its second theatrical run in 1978, and I can remember, as clear as day, watching the massive underbelly of the Star Destroyer during the opening scene. Not long after that, I saw Jaws during its first televised showing, and that movie rocked my world. I also remember being fascinated by the first Planet of the Apes film when I saw it on television one afternoon. I developed a childhood fascination with the Universal Monsters, and I read many books about those films whenever I visited the local library. I was also heavily into James Bond films at an early age, because I saw both Goldfinger and Moonraker when I was nine years old. It's funny thinking about those early years now, because I spent more time outdoors than any of the other kids I knew, but I was also a lot more into movies.

The early 1980s, particularly 1982, were a magical time to be a kid with a growing interest in cinema. It's the cool thing these days to backlash against Steven Spielberg, but Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and Poltergeist (Spielberg production) were really something else if you were a kid when they were released. I spent a lot of time reading Famous Monsters Magazine during the early 1980s, and marveling over the R-rated horror films that I was too young to see at the time. I saw my first R-rated film, Ridley Scott's Alien, when I was 10 years old, and that movie really opened up my mind to the possibilities of film.

When I was about 11 years old, a local cable channel started airing Elvira's Movie Macabre, and that intensified my early preoccupation with horror. During high school, I was really into punk/alternative music, and I hung out with a bunch of metalheads, because I related to them more than most of the others at my school. I have a lot of fond memories of visiting Movie Gallery with these friends to watch any and every horror movie on the shelf. (A lot of the Scream Factory Blu-rays have really been hitting that nostalgic sweet spot for 1980s B-movie horror.) All the while, I continued to enjoy the James Bond movies, while also getting heavily into the John Hughes teen movies that catered to my love of music and my increasing fascination with girls.

I did not get into foreign movies until my college years, though. If I remember correctly, La Femme Nikita (1990) and The Vanishing (1988) were the first subtitled foreign films that I ever saw. It's probably trite to say this, but movies like Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Slacker, and Dazed and Confused sparked my interest in independent cinema. I also started going back and discovering more classic films (Hitchcock movies, Humphrey Bogart roles, etc.).

During the early 2000s, I delved full-tilt into foreign films because of my love for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Amelie. I started buying Criterion Collection films during the early 2000s after a friend recommended the Kurosawa films to me. I got into French new wave films shortly after discovering Kurosawa. I also became immersed in classic film noirs movies during the early 2000s, thanks to my discovery of movies like The Night of the Hunter, Double Indemnity, and Out of the Past.

I will not go so far as to say that I've "matured" with respect to my tastes in cinema, because I have not, but my tastes are a lot more diverse now than they have ever been.

Tonight, when I get home, I'm going to revisit The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) by way of the new 4K restoration Blu-ray. I know that this will bring back a flood of great memories of browsing the Movie Gallery shelves during my high school days and watching that movie for the first time with one of my friends.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Confession: Because of the similar titles, actors, and plots, I often can't recall which Ozu film is which

That could be problematic if they weren't all awesome.