The Criterion Collection

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by jayembee

It's a bit off-topic, but we've discussed Howard Hawks films, and which ones we'd like to see come out from Criterion. Well, one of them is now off the table, as the TCM Vault Collection has just released Only Angels Have Wings.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Only-...lu-ray/115152/

BOOOOOO

(Because TCM won't send internationally)

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

Anyway, back to Criterion, these are my planned purchases during the sale:

The Innocents
Macbeth
My Darling Clementine
La Dolce Vita
The Vanishing
Y Tu Mama Tambien
The Shooting/Ride the Whirlwind
The Complete Jacques Tati
L'Avventura
It Happened One Night
Medium Cool

And moving forward about two weeks; that's exactly what I purchased. I also picked up the new Miyazaki releases and a couple of silents that are essential:
Nosferatu
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

So I think I'm pretty well set for Christmas even before Black Thursday/Friday hits.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

And moving forward about two weeks; that's exactly what I purchased. I also picked up the new Miyazaki releases and a couple of silents that are essential:
Nosferatu
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

So I think I'm pretty well set for Christmas even before Black Thursday/Friday hits.

I'm going to lie low on Black Friday, because I'll have my fill after tomorrow when I go to Barnes & Noble to pick up L'Avventura and the new Depeche Mode 2-CD set, Live in Berlin (Some friends and I saw their Atlanta stop during this same tour last year.).

There are some Criterion wild cards that I may or may not pick up tomorrow as well depending on my frame of mind. Nikkatsu Noir, Love Streams, and Senso are the ones that come to mind.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm going to lie low on Black Friday, because I'll have my fill after tomorrow when I go to Barnes & Noble to pick up L'Avventura and the new Depeche Mode 2-CD set, Live in Berlin (Some friends and I saw their Atlanta stop during this same tour last year.).

There are a couple of Criterion wild cards that I may or may not pick up tomorrow as well depending on my frame of mind. Love Streams and Senso are the ones that come to mind.

If that Depeche Mode deluxe release actually had the show on blu ray I'd be buying it too.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

If that Depeche Mode deluxe release actually had the show on blu ray I'd be buying it too.

Yes, that irks me. Especially since the film was directed by Anton Corbijn. This is why I'm opting for the 2-CD set instead of the deluxe set. I just want to listen to the show while I'm driving to and fro over the Thanksgiving holidays.


Don't you hate it when you reply to someone's post and abruptly forget why you were replying in the first place? I initially replied to hoytereden's above post to express my disappointment that Amazon is dragging their feet with shipping my Blu-ray of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. They keep delaying the shipment, and it's not expected to arrive for another week or two.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I agree. It sounds really awesome. have 12 unwatched Criterion Blu-rays (including WOAW) and putting this off is not making my process any easier.

Children of Paradise
David Lean Directs Noel Coward
Kagemusha
The Last Emperor
Marketa Lazarova
The Organizer
The Samurai Trilogy
Shoah
Topsy-Turvy
Les Visiteurs du Soir
World on a Wire
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman

Shoah is mentally and emotionally grueling. I had planned to watch all 9+ hours in one sitting (a cold and rainy Sunday), but it was simply too much: too intense; too thought-provoking; too overwhelming. It's a brilliant piece of filmmaking, one that I intend to watch again sometime ... just make sure that you're in a good place when you sit down to watch it.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Shoah is mentally and emotionally grueling. I had planned to watch all 9+ hours in one sitting (a cold and rainy Sunday), but it was simply too much: too intense; too thought-provoking; too overwhelming. It's a brilliant piece of filmmaking, one that I intend to watch again sometime ... just make sure that you're in a good place when you sit down to watch it.

Thanks for the information. I honestly do not know how I will get through it, but I will hopefully find a way.

Criterion also included three other documentaries (non-making-of) on the release, so I am sure that I will check those out, as well.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Shoah is mentally and emotionally grueling. I had planned to watch all 9+ hours in one sitting (a cold and rainy Sunday), but it was simply too much: too intense; too thought-provoking; too overwhelming. It's a brilliant piece of filmmaking, one that I intend to watch again sometime ... just make sure that you're in a good place when you sit down to watch it.

Shoah is another one that I dismissed upon its release, but now find myself increasingly tempted to purchase.

As I get older, though, I tend to have more difficulty staying upbeat and positive during the winter season. Nothing serious or alarming, thankfully, but the relative lack of vitamin D from the sunlight tends to affect me more with age. I probably ought not to try watching Shoah on a rainy winter day. Curiosity might get the best of me, but we'll see.

[blu-bry]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Anyone else not a fan of World on a Wire?

I started watching it earlier tonight and after about 15-20 minutes, I started dozing off for about 30 minutes. I then watched another hour or so and I just couldn't handle it. I eventually just stopped paying attention and when there was about 1.5 hours left, I just turned it off and will attempt it another time in the future.

I spent an entire Sunday afternoon watching the entire film on Hulu a couple of months ago. I stuck it out and was hugely disappointed.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

I'm keen to add some more eclipse sets to my collection (I currently only have Shochiku horror and Louise Malle) but as I try to be selective about DVD purchases, I was wondering if I could get some feedback about which you guys think are essential Eclipse releases? By that, I mean sets with genuinely great films that you think easily deserve to be in the criterion blu-ray collection.

At the moment I'm eyeing Early Bergman, Late Ray, The Actuality Dramas of Allan King and The Nikkatsu Noir set. Larisa Shapitko looks like a good one too. Ideally I only want to grab one or two. What are your top picks?

I would love some input from you too, Pro-B.

If you are contemplating Eclipse 11: Larisa Shepitko, all I can say is DO IT! I cannot praise this set enough, and it is my first recommendation for anyone looking to explore the Eclipse series or for those who have not yet seen it. This is an outstanding pair of films. Both are haunting and moving. No one explores WWII themes consistently as good as the Russians and other former Soviet states. Shepitko is tops on my list of directors who died before they had a chance to really make a permanent impact on the world stage. She only made four major films, to my knowledge, before being killed in an auto accident while scouting locations for her next feature. I really hope the two in this set get upgraded to Blu-ray some day.

The Ascent is brilliant and powerful. Another plus is the terrific score. It is one of my favorite pieces of music in a film; used sparingly, it builds at just the right moments to underline events with dramatic impact. Shepitko takes us into a story about two men who find themselves trapped in a very bad situation and the choices they make. The ending is unforgettable. It is a grimly realistic look at the risks and terrors of being a partisan - or possibly worse a village peasant family struggling to survive - behind German lines in Belorussia (most partisans in Belorussia were former Red Army soldiers cut-off by the German advance in 1941). The Ascent was Shepitko's final film, the one that put her before the eyes of the world when it won the Golden Bear at the 1977 Berlin International Film Festival. With its richly allegorical themes that propel the characters in the midst of snowy landscapes and wintry despair, it is an astonishing work of maturity from a director finally coming into her own.

Wings is an under-appreciated gem of Russian cinema. A character drama, it explores the post-war frustrations and sorrows of a former female fighter pilot who, a decade after the war, is now head of a provincial school. She can't help but compare her present condition with her past. She realizes that the highlight of her life, the time when she felt the most alive, was the war. Now all she has to look forward to is a dreary bureaucratic job assigned to her for being a war hero. She is in charge of mostly unappreciative and troublesome students who don't care about the war or its effects on Soviet society. But most of all she is conscious that she is growing older, and that she is haunted by memories from her past of a lost love. Very good stuff.


EDIT: Here is a short clip of the main theme to The Ascent, composed by Alfred Schnitke, with some stills from the life of Larisa Shepitko. It starts slow and steadily builds, haunting and beautiful, then terrifying, just like the film itself.

The Ascent Theme - YouTube

[oildude]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Anyone else not a fan of World on a Wire?

I started watching it earlier tonight and after about 15-20 minutes, I started dozing off for about 30 minutes. I then watched another hour or so and I just couldn't handle it. I eventually just stopped paying attention and when there was about 1.5 hours left, I just turned it off and will attempt it another time in the future.

If you can actually doze off to World on a Wire after 15 minutes, you just need to go to bed and watch it later. No sense dismissing a film when you are too tired to give it your attention and then asking if anyone else is not a fan. Not really a fair assessment. Give it another chance. The film is awesome, one of the highlights of the Criterion Collection. It was so strikingly original when it appeared in 1973 that it has since inspired many knock offs and homages, including The Matrix. It is a long movie, originally a TV mini-series, that takes its time to wrap the viewer in its seductive grip. It is a Fassbinder masterpiece, in my opinion. As shadedpain4 points out, its Blu-ray announcement was received with universal acclaim, a film newly restored and unseen by many in years. If you watch it through and still don't like it, well, I guess it isn't for you.

[RojD]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Shoah is mentally and emotionally grueling. I had planned to watch all 9+ hours in one sitting (a cold and rainy Sunday), but it was simply too much: too intense; too thought-provoking; too overwhelming. It's a brilliant piece of filmmaking, one that I intend to watch again sometime ... just make sure that you're in a good place when you sit down to watch it.

What a wonderful film, on the level of content and film-making. I watched it over three (or four?) nights, not only because of its intensity but to accommodate the deliberate pace of the film itself. It permanently altered my view of the Holocaust and the factors that let it happen, and Lanzmann uses a unique approach to documentary. It's really a landmark film.

One of the things you learn in the special features of Shoah is that Lanzmann first shot a raft of footage and then crafted only a part of it into Shoah. Other parts went into other features, and once you see Shoah, you completely understand how more than one great film could come from this footage. So even though the content is hard, I really can't wait to get my hands on the new Cohen release The Last of the Unjust. If it's even half as good.....

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by CMNPlanet

Just arrived this afternoon:

[Show spoiler]

Back sticker:

[Show spoiler]

For scale (FWIW, it's roughly 10"x13"x1")

[Show spoiler]

Mine doesn't arrive until Wednesday.

UNFAIR!

[oildude]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I agree. It sounds really awesome. have 12 unwatched Criterion Blu-rays (including WOAW) and putting this off is not making my process any easier.

Children of Paradise
David Lean Directs Noel Coward
Kagemusha
The Last Emperor
Marketa Lazarova
The Organizer
The Samurai Trilogy
Shoah
Topsy-Turvy
Les Visiteurs du Soir
World on a Wire
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman

Aren't those mostly long running films? Or sets requiring time commitments? I see a pattern here. I still have not started my Zatoichi set but will soon. Shoah is also waiting on me. All the others I have seen.

You are in possession of gold there, pardner. Some of those are among the best films Criterion has released. The Samurai Trilogy is a must see. Mifune is EPIC in that one. Five star performance and one of the greatest characters to appear in a film.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I read this post like 10 times but it still isn't making sense.

You've only seen Secret Sunshine, but Oasis and Peppermint Candy are both dead last, and
Poetry can't be ranked at all?

Huh?

Originally Posted by Helikaon

Heh, I was puzzled at first, but I think he means any other film other than those I mentioned.

As to your question, I would rank them like this:

Oasis
Poetry
Peppermint Candy
Green Fish
Secret Sunshine

I felt the latter lacked the poetry (no pun intended) of some of his other works.

Honestly, I don't even know what I wrote myself.

Because, soon after writing that I realized you were referring to Chang-dong's films, and meanwhile since I had never heard of or seen his other movies, I assumed you meant the rock band Oasis, a hard candy and a form of literature. I'm quite embarrassed to say the least. Lol.

Let's forget about my idiocy there please. Thanks.

[Polaroid]

Re watched The Innocents and wow, better a second viewing, incredible film, so haunting and eery. I highly recommend, has some genuinely creepy moments and modern day ghost/horror/gothic films struggle to even to do now.

Beautiful transfer as well, the amount of detail on the screen is sublime.

[jw007]

Not Criterion-related but last night I watched the 207 minute director's cut of Das Boot. Wow, I hadn't seen this movie in many years, and I needed something more "masculine" after seeing Secret Sunshine the night before. Two very different moods these films give you.

All those depth charges, torpedo bombings and sunken Destroyers really got my blood pumping after the previous night of watching a woman in self-destruction mode.

[WonderWeasel]

I have been wanting to watch 'Children of Paradise' for a while, but it's one of the few Criterion DVD/blu-rays that my local library doesn't have. Barnes & Noble currently has a 50% off Criterion blu-ray sale, so I've considered blind buying it for $20. After checking a few reviews of the release, however, several of the them stated that the digital noise reduction that was used when transferring from the 4K remaster has ruined the grain structure on the Criterion blu-ray release. My question is this: Is it bad enough to distract from the viewing of the film? I've never seen a Criterion release get a bad review on the video remastering/transfer, but this seems to be one of the few. Thanks for any and all help!


P.S. Did I post this in the right thread?

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Shoah is another one that I dismissed upon its release, but now find myself increasingly tempted to purchase.

Maybe some of you fellows should form a mailing group and pass this blu-ray set around, considering y'all are unlikely to watch it more than, say, once a year...if that

[JulesAndJim]

Originally Posted by WonderWeasel

I have been wanting to watch 'Children of Paradise' for a while, but it's one of the few Criterion DVD/blu-rays that my local library doesn't have. Barnes & Noble currently has a 50% off Criterion blu-ray sale, so I've considered blind buying it for $20. After checking a few reviews of the release, however, several of the them stated that the digital noise reduction that was used when transferring from the 4K remaster has ruined the grain structure on the Criterion blu-ray release. My question is this: Is it bad enough to distract from the viewing of the film? I've never seen a Criterion release get a bad review on the video remastering/transfer, but this seems to be one of the few. Thanks for any and all help!


P.S. Did I post this in the right thread?

The film is ruined. You can't even tell the difference between the men and the women.