The Criterion Collection

[Polaroid]

[Show spoiler]

WHY !?!?!?!?!

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

[Show spoiler]

WHY !?!?!?!?!

I don't understand. You're upset that you got La Dolce Vita before everyone else?

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I don't understand. You're upset that you got La Dolce Vita before everyone else?

Noooo, this is from another site, mines on way in post >.< - I'm angry and upset its:

1) Plastic Case
2) That horrible fold out thing

Macbeth, The Innocents and now this :'( Why not make a beautiful booklet D:

[mcvitie]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Noooo, this is from another site, mines on way in post >.< - I'm angry and upset its:

1) Plastic Case
2) That horrible fold out thing

Macbeth, The Innocents and now this :'( Why not make a beautiful booklet D:

You know what, Polaroid, I kind of have to agree. Such a high profile release deserves something a bit more lavish I reckon

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by mcvitie

You know what, Polaroid, I kind of have to agree. Such a high profile release deserves something a bit more lavish I reckon

Haha thank you! - This wa s huge release (I thought) and waited years for, plus we don't have much Fellini in collection, so thought they'd go out with this, even if they kept plastic case at least supply a better booklet!

Would have made a stunning digipak though :'(

[Fellini912]

They had these fold out booklets during their DVD releases, so no surprises.

More than 80% of time I find the essays in the booklets to be useless, more than half the time it is a film critic giving his interpretation of the film, very few get the essence of the film.

The ones with the director's interview or with a short biography are more informative. The rest is trash for me. I find having a poster to be more practical. I can just cut out Marcello Mastroianni (I would of preferred Anita Ekberg or Anouk Aimee) image, if I find the essays useless, and put him on the wall.

Problem solved



At the end of day, the transfer is what matters the most for me. I like to put in good use my big screen and audio system (Nino Rota score will probably sound fantastic)

[Scottie]

I can't even express how eager I am to have La Dolce Vita in my hands. Criterion could throw it in a paper envelope for me at this point.

[fdm]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

I order from B&N from Greece, and they always come in perfect condition in a large box.

The media I order from overseas just about always (aside from some box sets) arrives in better condition than the media I order domestically (USA), and that includes Criterion orders. Sucks really, but I just return them and try for the ones I really want again. Or more often as of late, aside from Criterions, I just say heck with it and go without (and my wallet thanks me afterward, as does my overflowing shelf and closet space); not like I don't have too much to watch already.

[fdm]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Haha thank you! - This wa s huge release (I thought) and waited years for, plus we don't have much Fellini in collection, so thought they'd go out with this, even if they kept plastic case at least supply a better booklet!

Would have made a stunning digipak though :'(

I saw La Dolce Vita for the first time a year or two ago (thanks to Showtime HD free weekend ), never quite got around to the dvd. Looking forward to getting the blu, though yeah that booklet is crap. (Digipaks, well I've never been a fan of them.)

Booklets and extras, though, love 'em. The one thing that I was reminded of (again) with the last Criterion blu I watched, M, is that there can be so many extras it ends up taking a couple nights to get through a single disc. (At least it plays for the time being.)

Kind of prefer a happy medium when it comes to bonus features, an hour or so is reasonable, rather than a 2 or 3 day marathon. Another reason/excuse why my kevyip is rather daunting at this point... and I rarely even bother with the commentaries.

Agenda for the weekend is to tackle a few more browning discs...

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Ausjdm

Totally agree JW. Leaving Las Vegas and the road are in my top 5 most depressing movies ever. What about Schindler's List?

Justin, I haven't seen that film in over a decade but my blu-ray of it is sitting here waiting to be unwrapped some night. I'm probably going to get into a Holocaust marathon week (that sounds so wrong) and watch Shoah and Schindlers List back to back.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jw007

Justin, I haven't seen that film in over a decade but my blu-ray of it is sitting here waiting to be unwrapped some night. I'm probably going to get into a Holocaust marathon week (that sounds so wrong) and watch Shoah and Schindlers List back to back.

I still have yet to watch Shoah - Just don't know when best time is, been down lately and having issues and I know I said I like watching depressing films to help, but this is real not fiction so bit wary! lol I am good with depressing stuff, including documentaries, but most are 2 hours max, this is 9 hours (I have no issues with runtime length, just the length + subject matter).

Will watch soon

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

WHY !?!?!?!?!

(Just for future reference, does anyone have a YouTube clip of Dayton Allen from the old Steve Allen show doing his classic "Whyyyyyy NAWT?"? )

[jw007]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

My only problem with John Hillcoat's adaptation of The Road is that it wussed out by not including the most shocking and bleak moment from the Cormac McCarthy novel. Those who have read the book and seen the film will know exactly what I'm talking about. The moment in the book was horrible, because it really demonstrated how humanity had fallen to the lowest level of hopelessness and resignation.

The movie had some wonderful visuals, and it was spot-on with the novel in every other way, but the omission of that one moment from the novel brought it down a few notches. It's a great movie, but it could have been a Great Movie.

(I'm remembering a recent discussion here about how some of the best movie adaptations have been ones that strayed from the literary source because a director wanted to leave a distinct and innovative mark on the story. I still believe that. Unfortunately, the big change from Cormac McCarthy's The Road to the Hillcoat adaptation reeks more of compromise instead of cinematic necessity.)

I haven't read Cormac McCarthy's novel yet but I've been meaning to do so, so I will not be able to make any comparisons. I'm sure the book is stronger, as 99% of the time the book is always stronger than the film adaptation, however without any bias, The Road on its own is a strong film, albeit minimalistic in terms of post-apocalyptic films (at least in my opinion).

My favorite doomsday/post-apocalyptic films are:

28 Days Later (2002) (Unbelievably terrifying stuff and could be the best zombie film)
Dawn of the Dead/Day of the Dead (1978/1985) (I had to include both of these since they are Romero's finest work)
I Am Legend (2007) (This one just stands out for me still and is great entertainment)
The Stand (1994) (Counts as a television mini-series but it really is a guilty pleasure for me with atrocious acting).
The Book of Eli (2010) (I enjoyed this far more than The Road, even though it was in the vein of Mad Max)
The Road (2009) (A very realistic post-apocalyptic film based on Cormac McCarthy's book)
12 Monkeys (1995) (Still a fantastic vision for a film from Gilliam's own brain)
The Day After (1983) (Chilling possibility of nuclear catastrophe that is frightfully realistic)
The Terminator (1984) (Still a classic and original film from Cameron of a future controlled by AI)
Soylent Green/Logan's Run (1973/1976) (Visceral in their own subtle ways, this pair of 70s classics are essential viewing)

Of course there are other great post-apocalyptic films such as Waterworld, The Matrix, The Road Warrior, The Omega Man, Children of Men, Dr. Strangelove, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and On the Beach, but I can't include everything after all.

I still haven't seen The Quiet Earth, Stalker, A Boy and his Dog, Melancholia, The Rover, When the Wind Blows, The Last Man on Earth and Last Night.

From a Criterion point of view, could anyone name any films in the collection that have a doomsday/post-apocalyptic theme to them?

[The Great Owl]

My Criterion Blu-ray of Eraserhead was in my mailbox today. Seeing as how I ordered this title less than two days ago, I'm thinking that Criterion set a new land speed record getting it here with my regular shipping option.

My disc says, "Second Printing", on the disc label next to the movie runtime.

The package is also in perfect condition.

I was sort of on the fence about this one, because I think that David Lynch is somewhat overrated (with the exception of Dune, which the 1980s kid in me adores). I've been reading about Eraserhead for decades, though, and I've always been curious to see how the film stacks up in terms of its reputation in horror cinema. Until now, it has not been easily available in my neck of the woods.

I will not be watching Eraserhead just yet, though. After watching a few more films from the Buster Keaton box set last night and this morning (Three Ages, The Navigator, Seven Chances, Go West, and Battling Butler), I've decided that I'd like to go straight through this entire set and finish watching all of the Keaton stuff before I watch anything else. I'm about to watch The General in a few minutes, I'll probably watch College right after that, and, after that, I'll just have Steamboat Bill, Jr. and the Lost Keaton short films. I'll be out of town for most of tomorrow, but I'll still probably have the set finished the next couple of days.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jw007

I haven't read Cormac McCarthy's novel yet but I've been meaning to do so, so I will not be able to make any comparisons. I'm sure the book is stronger, as 99% of the time the book is always stronger than the film adaptation, however without any bias, The Road on its own is a strong film, albeit minimalistic in terms of post-apocalyptic films (at least in my opinion).

My favorite doomsday/post-apocalyptic films are:

28 Days Later (2002) (Unbelievably terrifying stuff and could be the best zombie film)
Dawn of the Dead/Day of the Dead (1978/1985) (I had to include both of these since they are Romero's finest work)
I Am Legend (2007) (This one just stands out for me still and is great entertainment)
The Stand (1994) (Counts as a television mini-series but it really is a guilty pleasure for me with atrocious acting).
The Book of Eli (2010) (I enjoyed this far more than The Road, even though it was in the vein of Mad Max)
The Road (2009) (A very realistic post-apocalyptic film based on Cormac McCarthy's book)
12 Monkeys (1995) (Still a fantastic vision for a film from Gilliam's own brain)
The Day After (1983) (Chilling possibility of nuclear catastrophe that is frightfully realistic)
The Terminator (1984) (Still a classic and original film from Cameron of a future controlled by AI)
Soylent Green/Logan's Run (1973/1976) (Visceral in their own subtle ways, this pair of 70s classics are essential viewing)

Of course there are other great post-apocalyptic films such as Waterworld, The Matrix, The Road Warrior, The Omega Man, Children of Men, Dr. Strangelove, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and On the Beach, but I can't include everything after all.

I still haven't seen The Quiet Earth, Stalker, A Boy and his Dog, Melancholia, The Rover, When the Wind Blows, The Last Man on Earth and Last Night.

From a Criterion point of view, could anyone name any films in the collection that have a doomsday/post-apocalyptic theme to them?

What are your opinions on Melancholia and Donnie Darko (IGNORE THE DIRECTORS CUT)?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jw007

From a Criterion point of view, could anyone name any films in the collection that have a doomsday/post-apocalyptic theme to them?

Things to Come is an awesome post-apocalyptic Criterion title. I wouldn't exactly call it a "doomsday film", although that figures into the equation.

A conversation came up in the Scream Factory thread recently when I mentioned that I'd like to see the 1984 British television movie, Threads, on Blu-ray someday. A few of us agreed that this film is probably too serious for Scream Factory, but that it would be a perfect candidate for a Criterion release.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jw007

From a Criterion point of view, could anyone name any films in the collection that have a doomsday/post-apocalyptic theme to them?

La Jetée (inspired 12 Monkeys)?

I would argue The Qatsi trilogy has thematic elements relating to doomsday/post-apocalypse. Not obvious or in your face but it's defiantly got the idea of it in the films.

[Scottie]

The La Jetée / Sans Soleil release is really something else. One of the best things that money can buy.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

What are your opinions on Melancholia and Donnie Darko (IGNORE THE DIRECTORS CUT)?

Why ignore the director's cut? You don't like INXS?

[spargs]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Why ignore the director's cut? You don't like INXS?

The director's cut of Donnie Darko ruined the film for me. It proved that Richard Kelly had no idea why his film had struck a chord with so many people.