The Criterion Collection

[spargs]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Seven Days in May would make for an excellent Criterion release.

Any idea who controls it? I hope it's not WB or we may never get it on blu.

Would love this. Frankenheimer had such a great run of films in the 60s. It looks like Paramount released it theatrically, but Warner put out the DVD.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Most of my Eclipse purchases come at the end of a B&N sale when I've already gotten what I planned on buying, but end up with a 25% or 30% coupon unused. 4-5 films for $16 or so is hard to beat.

My favorites are the obvious Japanese ones:
Late Ozu
Postwar Kurosawa
Mizoguchi's Fallen Women

As well as:
Travels With Hiroshi Shimizu
and Misaki Kobayashi Against The System

What are the transfer like? are they the same quality as standard DVD releases or dot hey get a little neglected to keep cost down?

[orbital]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

49th Parallel is already released in France, but there is no review so not sure if it is a new restoration, you can see the screenshots at blubeaver.

Also the Tales of Hoffman is unfortunately OOP from CC, not sure who has them for now.

Thanks for pointing out the Beaver review (link)! Well, I dearly hope that Criterion tackles a Region A upgrade of their neatly stuffed DVD...

[mande2013]

Okay, I never got my L'Eclisse from B&N which shipped to France on November 13, but I just received my L'Avventura, which shipped on November 26, so I guess it's safe to say the former got lost in the mail.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Seven Days in May would make for an excellent Criterion release.

Any idea who controls it? I hope it's not WB or we may never get it on blu.

Ouch! It was originally a Seven Arts production, released theatrically by Paramount but later picked up as part of a package by Warner Brothers for home video distribution. The single disc DVD is OOP, but the title is one of the four included in the TCM Burt Lancaster Classic Film Collection which was released in 2011 and is still available for sale. I'm not a fan of those "flipper" discs at all ...

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

What are the transfer like? are they the same quality as standard DVD releases or dot hey get a little neglected to keep cost down?

the "other site" has DVD reviews for the Eclipse set. part of the reason my interest level piqued for the Ray set is because it received very high marks for PQ. check it out. I've mentioned it before, but I like reading their DVD reviews. Godard's Made in U.S.A., the Ray Eclipse films, and The Friends of Eddie Coyle are a few that received outstanding marks for PQ. ...and then of course, its nice to have the heads up on a few that are absolutely atrocious transfers like the original Tokyo Drifter DVD release.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Ouch! It was originally a Seven Arts production, released theatrically by Paramount but later picked up as part of a package by Warner Brothers for home video distribution. The single disc DVD is OOP, but the title is one of the four included in the TCM Burt Lancaster Classic Film Collection which was released in 2011 and is still available for sale. I'm not a fan of those "flipper" discs at all ...

Seven Arts was originally an independent film production company that made films for other studios, most of which were owned by those studios. Seven Days in May was distributed by Paramount, but was one of several films that Seven Arts retained ownership of. In the late 60s, Seven Arts bought Warner Bros., becoming Warner Bros-Seven Arts. When Kinney bought them a few years later, it all became known as Warner Communications.

What all this means is that films that were owned outright by Seven Arts (as opposed to ones produced by Seven Arts but owned by another studio) are part of the Warner catalog.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Ouch! It was originally a Seven Arts production, released theatrically by Paramount but later picked up as part of a package by Warner Brothers for home video distribution. The single disc DVD is OOP, but the title is one of the four included in the TCM Burt Lancaster Classic Film Collection which was released in 2011 and is still available for sale. I'm not a fan of those "flipper" discs at all ...

I'm not either, but at those prices you could buy 2 copies and print your own labels. That TCM set is a tempting mix of films. Local Hero is a gem.

[Ray Jackson]

Has anyone here seen The Innocents?

I found a copy of the Criterion blu-ray for $12 at a buy/sell shop today. Thinking about a blind buy.

How would you describe the film?

How would you rate it?

Good?

Great?

Classic?

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Seven Arts was originally an independent film production company that made films for other studios, most of which were owned by those studios. Seven Days in May was distributed by Paramount, but was one of several films that Seven Arts retained ownership of. In the late 60s, Seven Arts bought Warner Bros., becoming Warner Bros-Seven Arts. When Kinney bought them a few years later, it all became known as Warner Communications.

What all this means is that films that were owned outright by Seven Arts (as opposed to ones produced by Seven Arts but owned by another studio) are part of the Warner catalog.

One of the things I've never understood is how or why Seven Arts ended up distributing so many titles from the 20th Century-Fox catalog to television during the 1960's and 1970's. I had a large collection of reissue stills at one time that carried the Seven Arts logo or the Warner Brothers-Seven Arts logo on them (I've since replaced most of them with original studio-released copies); the titles included The King of the Khyber Rifles, The Egyptian, Black Widow, Good Morning, Miss Dove, The Left Hand of God, and several others ... if I remember correctly, they were all mid-1950's Cinemascope releases that had been reframed in pan-and-scan versions. Do you know anything about this?

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Has anyone here seen The Innocents?

I found a copy of the Criterion blu-ray for $12 at a buy/sell shop today. Thinking about a blind buy.

How would you describe the film?

How would you rate it?

Good?

Great?

Classic?

Personally, I'd rate the film between "great" and a "classic"...I blind-bought it last month and watched it and thought it was pretty outstanding. It's a really effective atmospheric "gothic" horror film shot with amazing black and white cinematography. I'd say its a safe blind-buy.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Has anyone here seen The Innocents?

I found a copy of the Criterion blu-ray for $12 at a buy/sell shop today. Thinking about a blind buy.

How would you describe the film?

How would you rate it?

Good?

Great?

Classic?

GRAB IT!!!!!! It's an adaptation of a Henry James novel, The Turn of the Screw, and was accurately marketed as a horror story for adults. Deborah Kerr's performance as the governess is absolutely sublime and the Criterion transfer, which was just released a few weeks ago, is wonderful.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by mande2013

Okay, I never got my L'Eclisse from B&N which shipped to France on November 13, but I just received my L'Avventura, which shipped on November 26, so I guess it's safe to say the former got lost in the mail.

Not true. I had items show up yesterday that shipped prior to items I received last week. Give it another few days.

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Has anyone here seen The Innocents?

I found a copy of the Criterion blu-ray for $12 at a buy/sell shop today. Thinking about a blind buy.

How would you describe the film?

How would you rate it?

Good?

Great?

Classic?

Couldn't wait for Criterion, bought the BFI release about 2-3 years ago. I actually enjoy the film more than the original source novella by Henry James. Blasphemous, I know. I also prefer the BFI release as it has better supplements. It's a fantastic film

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I'm not either, but at those prices you could buy 2 copies and print your own labels. That TCM set is a tempting mix of films. Local Hero is a gem.

I have a stand-alone DVD recorder, so I recorded Seven Days in May from an uncut, commercial-free, letter-boxed HD broadcast showing and added the theatrical trailer to it. That will hold me until it gets a blu-ray release, if ever. (The other films in the set I already own on studio-issued, single-sided DVDs.)

I would have loved Criterion to have issued all the Burt Lancaster films that were recently released by other companies on blu-ray, including Separate Tables, Elmer Gantry, The Unforgiven, The Young Savages, and The Swimmer. They were all bare-bones editions, and each of them was worthy of the Criterion treatment. I love what they did with The Sweet Smell of Success and The Leopard.

It was unbelievable how quickly Twilight Time sold out of The Train! I hesitated too long and it was gone ...

[RojD]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Has anyone here seen The Innocents?

I found a copy of the Criterion blu-ray for $12 at a buy/sell shop today. Thinking about a blind buy.

How would you describe the film?

How would you rate it?

Good?

Great?

Classic?

For $12, I'd snap it up pretty quick. The lighting and camera movement alone are worth that. One of the kids needed better direction, IMHO, and there are a couple of mood changes that are abrupt, but otherwise it's a very, very solid movie. And it'll easily reward multiple viewings.

[dkap99]

It's reputation has grown over the years. I'd qualify it as a classic. Great cinematography. The quality of the blu-ray is also exceptional. If you like black and white photography and ghost stories I'd say give it a shot.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by jmclick

I have a stand-alone DVD recorder, so I recorded Seven Days in May from an uncut, commercial-free, letter-boxed HD broadcast showing and added the theatrical trailer to it. That will hold me until it gets a blu-ray release, if ever. (The other films in the set I already own on studio-issued, single-sided DVDs.)

I would have loved Criterion to have issued all the Burt Lancaster films that were recently released by other companies on blu-ray, including Separate Tables, Elmer Gantry, The Unforgiven, The Young Savages, and The Swimmer. They were all bare-bones editions, and each of them was worthy of the Criterion treatment. I love what they did with The Sweet Smell of Success and The Leopard.

It was unbelievable how quickly Twilight Time sold out of The Train! I hesitated too long and it was gone ...

Yeah, me too.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Has anyone here seen The Innocents?

I found a copy of the Criterion blu-ray for $12 at a buy/sell shop today. Thinking about a blind buy.

How would you describe the film?

How would you rate it?

Good?

Great?

Classic?

I thought it was decent at best.

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by jmclick

I have a stand-alone DVD recorder, so I recorded Seven Days in May from an uncut, commercial-free, letter-boxed HD broadcast showing and added the theatrical trailer to it. That will hold me until it gets a blu-ray release, if ever. (The other films in the set I already own on studio-issued, single-sided DVDs.)

I would have loved Criterion to have issued all the Burt Lancaster films that were recently released by other companies on blu-ray, including Separate Tables, Elmer Gantry, The Unforgiven, The Young Savages, and The Swimmer. They were all bare-bones editions, and each of them was worthy of the Criterion treatment. I love what they did with The Sweet Smell of Success and The Leopard.

It was unbelievable how quickly Twilight Time sold out of The Train! I hesitated too long and it was gone ...

I agree with most but The Swimmer was SO not bare bones.
Grindhouse did just as great as Criterion would have done.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Has anyone here seen The Innocents?

I found a copy of the Criterion blu-ray for $12 at a buy/sell shop today. Thinking about a blind buy.

How would you describe the film?

How would you rate it?

Good?

Great?

Classic?

It is PERFECT.

Buy it now and don't look back! Such a haunting film, so beautiful and tragic. It is full of haunting imagery that will stay with you and a brilliant cast.

I fell in love with this film, was a blind buy and I have no regrets.

Originally Posted by RojD

For $12, I'd snap it up pretty quick. The lighting and camera movement alone are worth that. One of the kids needed better direction, IMHO, and there are a couple of mood changes that are abrupt, but otherwise it's a very, very solid movie. And it'll easily reward multiple viewings.

Umm which kid? I thought they were both really great in their roles?