The Criterion Collection

[TomN245]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

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

Glad I'm not alone there. Most of the seasonal films have merged into one. Mainly Early Summer, End of Summer, and Late Autumn. Also the Naruse film Late Chrysanthemums and Mizoguchi's Uwasa no Onna.

Ozu's top three for me would be:
1) Tokyo Twilight
2) The Only Son
3) An Autumn Afternoon

...But they're all great to tell you the truth.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by TomN245

...But they're all great to tell you the truth.

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

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

True. I've enjoyed every single movie I've seen from him.

[Scottie]

I've only seen Late Spring and Tokyo Story, but he is definitely one of my favorite directors. I need moreeeee!

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

True. I've enjoyed every single movie I've seen from him.

The only rough spot for me was all of the

[Show spoiler]fart jokes

in Good Morning. I just wasn't prepared for it.

Maybe they drank even more sake than usual when writing it?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I've only seen Late Spring and Tokyo Story, but he is definitely one of my favorite directors. I need moreeeee!

Floating Weeds is my personal favorite. Pretty different from his usual family-oriented films. The Ebert commentary on the Criterion DVD is excellent. It feels like watching a movie with an old friend . The set also comes with the original silent A Story of Floating Weeds which is also really good. I'm hoping Criterion puts this out on BD one day, but I still recommend picking up the DVD in the meantime. It also has one of my fav. covers from a CC release.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Floating Weeds is my personal favorite. Pretty different from his usual family-oriented films. The Ebert commentary on the Criterion DVD is excellent. It feels like watching a movie with an old friend . The set also comes with the original silent A Story of Floating Weeds which is also really good. I'm hoping Criterion puts this out on BD one day, but I still recommend picking up the DVD in the meantime. It also has one of my fav. covers from a CC release.

I have the MOC blu for Floating Weeds, but will cheerfully double dip day one when Criterion upgrades it.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

[Show spoiler]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.

I think an excellent indicator one is passionate about cinema is being driven to tears watching a movie or even a scene that's not from a sad film.

These always get me:

Lawrence of Arabia:

[Show spoiler]The improbable rescue of Gasim

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington:

[Show spoiler]Senator Payne finally cracks and declares himself not fit for office.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona:

[Show spoiler]Spanish guitar, Bardem, Hall and those lap dissolves

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Floating Weeds is my personal favorite. Pretty different from his usual family-oriented films. The Ebert commentary on the Criterion DVD is excellent. It feels like watching a movie with an old friend . The set also comes with the original silent A Story of Floating Weeds which is also really good. I'm hoping Criterion puts this out on BD one day, but I still recommend picking up the DVD in the meantime. It also has one of my fav. covers from a CC release.

Thanks for the recommendation. I believe it's on Hulu, so I have an opportunity to see it.

[Ausjdm]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

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.

Only seen Tokyo Story. But I'll try it why not!

[ShellOilJunior]

Criterion Collection Blu-rays by Director: Leader board

Bergman, Ingmar 9
Kurosawa, Akira 9
Anderson, Wes 6
Antonioni, Michelangelo 5
Chaplin, Charles 5
Godard, Jean Luc 5
Polanski, Roman 5
Soderbergh, Steven 5

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Criterion Collection Blu-rays by Director: Leader board

Bergman, Ingmar 9
Kurosawa, Akira 9
Anderson, Wes 6
Antonioni, Michelangelo 5
Chaplin, Charles 5
Godard, Jean Luc 5
Polanski, Roman 5
Soderbergh, Steven 5

How many for Tommy Wiseau?

surprised about Soderbergh... Traffic, King of the Hill.. w/o checking those are the only two coming to mind

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

How many for Tommy Wiseau?

surprised about Soderbergh... Traffic, King of the Hill.. w/o checking those are the only two coming to mind

Che, Gray's Anatomy, and And Everything is Going Fine.

[fdm]

Originally Posted by rdandura

The ones we have consensus on are Summer Hours, Walkabout, and M being the ones with problems. Believe me, I have been in full blown OCD for a week! Right now, my BDs are fine, but many others aren't.

My M seems to be okay, at least so far, but the other two for me are broke, at least in terms of playback (haven't really looked specifically at the discoloring). My next Criterion watch will be M though, just in case I missed something not included in my sampling the other day.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Che, Gray's Anatomy, and And Everything is Going Fine.

geez.. I am aware of the latter two, but didn't know they were SS.

Thanks SP4!

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

How many for Tommy Wiseau?

Sadly zero. Criterion is trying to get the rights to Homeless in America.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Sadly zero. Criterion is trying to get the rights to Homeless in America.

I'm sure not many would agree, but if CC were to release The Room, I'd pick it up. Whether or not it achieves it's desired effect, it certainly achieves something uniquely wonderful... and, its a cult classic!

there is one shot late in the film that is staged well enough to the point where I actually pity poor Johnny. its that balance between competence and... um.. and... I don't know what, but its that balance that makes it special!

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

The only rough spot for me was all of the

[Show spoiler]fart jokes

in Good Morning. I just wasn't prepared for it.

Maybe they drank even more sake than usual when writing it?

It's a remake of his silent I Was Born, But.... I don't think farts would be funny without sound so maybe since Good Morning had sound it was substituted for the finger pointing; falling down scenes in the original. I love GM and just the way the two boy's actions snowball all the interaction and gossip between the relatives and neighbors.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I'm sure not many would agree, but if CC were to release The Room, I'd pick it up. Whether or not it achieves it's desired effect, it certainly achieves something uniquely wonderful... and, its a cult classic!

there is one shot late in the film that is staged well enough to the point where I actually pity poor Johnny. its that balance between competence and... um.. and... I don't know what, but its that balance that makes it special!

We'll have to get our TW fix from the "forthcoming" sitcom The Neighbors:

http://www.avclub.com/article/rooms-...and-its-206926

[thismightbezach]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Criterion Collection Blu-rays by Director: Leader board

Bergman, Ingmar 9
Kurosawa, Akira 9
Anderson, Wes 6
Antonioni, Michelangelo 5
Chaplin, Charles 5
Godard, Jean Luc 5
Polanski, Roman 5
Soderbergh, Steven 5

Hopefully The Tenant will be Polanski's sixth title in the collection

[Scottie]

Weird question, but how do you guys prefer to store your essays in the DigiPack releases?

I always store them in the case with the spine facing outwards, as opposed to the general way of facing the pages outward.

I don't really know why I do this. Part of me thinks it will prevent damage to the pages. Plus, if you unfold the DigiPack and the essay ends up face-up on the left side, you can open and read it easier.