The Criterion Collection

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Time Bandits is the most accessible Terry Gilliam film, and, based on the others that I have seen (Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Meaning of Life, Brazil, The Fisher King, 12 Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, etc.), I think that it's his best film by a long mile.

Can't agree with that at all. I think Time Bandits is my least favorite Gilliam film by a long mile. Well, maybe not a long mile...I'm not enamored of 12 Monkeys, either.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by grim_tales

Is B&N still doing the 50% off sale? It didnt appear they were, to me so I ordered from Amazon

Their 50% off Criterion sale ended on December 1st.

[grim_tales]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Their 50% off Criterion sale ended on December 1st.

Ah I see, thank you

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by grim_tales

Ah I see, thank you

But, there's supposedly a 40% off sale starting on the 16th!

[Vinyl]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

But, there's supposedly a 40% off sale starting on the 16th!

And you know in July they will have another Criterion 50% off sale

[the sordid sentinel]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I just finished watching the Guardians of the Galaxy Blu-ray, and it somehow seems right to follow it up with the Criterion Blu-ray of Time Bandits. Both films feature a motley assortment of characters, they both involve a stolen "MacGuffin" item, and they both have a similarly fun "WTF?" aura about them, although I seem to remember Time Bandits being a bit darker.

I have not seen Time Bandits in over 30 years. I saw it in 1983, during the summer before I started sixth grade, when it aired in the middle of the night on HBO while some neighborhood friends and I were spending the night at one friend's house down the street. We had made S'mores over a campfire in the woods behind our neighborhood earlier that night, then gone inside to watch an MTV video countdown ("Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran and "Every Breath You Take" by The Police were featured prominently in the countdown.). We then stayed up way being as disruptive as we could without waking up this friend's parents. At some point, when we were winding down, Time Bandits started, and we all ended up staying awake through the whole movie. It's really amazing how much of that movie I still remember, considering that I saw it so long ago in the wee hours of the night.

Terry Gilliam movies are a mixed bag with me, and, quite frankly, Time Bandits is the only one that I have been interested in owning, if, for nothing else, to capture and encase another spark of memory from my childhood.

Tonight's viewing should be fun.

That sounds like a great time in the old neighborhood. Wish I didn't have to wait for the next sale to grab Time Bandits, but that is the way things are right now. Love the movie. Gilliam to me is like a high wire walker. Sometimes he makes it to the other side safely and all is well. Other times he splatters on the floor. Absolutely NO in between with Gilliam.

[Mystic]

The Criterion release of Time Bandits is most welcome. The transfer is wonderful, and the extras are great. The film has been a favorite of mine since I originally saw the film in 1981 during its original theatrical run. Thank you, Criterion for another wonderful Blu ray release!

[Scarface32]

I just finished watching Gray's Anatomy (1997) and I have a couple of questions.

1) At the end of the credits it says

Although inspired by actual events, the characters and events depicted in the monologue portion of this motion picture have been fictionalized. Any similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

so is the story just total BS?

2) The ending was unclear, did the surgery not work and he's now blind in one eye? Or can he see out of both, but one is just sharper than the other?

[WonderWeasel]

I just watched 'The Petrified Forest', and damn, Leslie Howard's performance was perfect.

Has anyone heard anything about Criterion releasing his 'Pygmalion' on blu-ray? I saw that there's an out of print DVD, but I'd much rather have a blu-ray.

[Edinburghoscar]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Can't agree with that at all. I think Time Bandits is my least favorite Gilliam film by a long mile. Well, maybe not a long mile...I'm not enamored of 12 Monkeys, either.

Loved 12 Monkeys with Bruce and Brad

[Thebunk]

Am I the only one hoping that Criterion announces the release of the Dardennes Brothers "2 Days, 1 Night" tomorrow? I am a pretty big fan of them and am hoping with all of the end of year critics buzz that it is announced for a spring release. Really though, I would be happy with any Dardennes announcement at this point. A few of their best films have yet to been released stateside on Blu (Le Fils, L'Enfant). Another director(s), I discovered via the collection.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by Thebunk

Am I the only one hoping that Criterion announces the release of the Dardennes Brothers "2 Days, 1 Night" tomorrow? I am a pretty big fan of them and am hoping with all of the end of year critics buzz that it is announced for a spring release. Really though, I would be happy with any Dardennes announcement at this point. A few of their best films have yet to been released stateside on Blu (Le Fils, L'Enfant). Another director(s), I discovered via the collection.

It's one of their best, maybe even edging out Le Fils for number 1. But it doesn't hit theaters here until the 24th, so a Criterion release is still a ways off, if IFC go that route.

[RojD]

I think we're due some Kore-eda. I Wish and Like Father, Like Son have both come out since Still Waking, and they're both impressive. And there's still no R1 blu for Nobody Knows. And if Criterion wants a good short to use as a special feature, how about Kore-eda's short, The Message from Fukushima?

So Jon Mulvaney, if you're reading this, I volunteer to produce the next couple of Kore-eda blus. Just putting that out there....

[hoytereden]

One of my favorite Bergman films-Dreams is on TCM tonight. Not well known but it gives Harriet Andersson a chance to be glamorous. I doubt this is popular enough for a single release but, then again, I was a little surprised that Summer Interlude got it's own release. Anyway, it's an interesting film of two different women; a generation apart, who work together and are unlucky with men. There you go-Bergman in a nutshell.

[jmclick]

I'm very curious to find out what the title of the long-awaited "Warner Brothers pre-code" movie will be. My guess is that it's going to be the most obvious possibility: Baby Face starring Barbara Stanwyck, presented in both its scandalous original cut and its subsequently trimmed and heavily censored version.

This, of course, is the film that really caused all Hades to break loose among the various film censorship boards, and prompted a backlash that effectively ended what we know refer to as the pre-Code era. The original version was thought to be lost for many, many years until a print was discovered some 10 years ago, causing the film to be re-evaluated.

There's much to recommend about the film, including Stanwyck's brilliantly-played, amoral "heroine", Lily Powers, who many viewers think is a "sister under the skin" to her more famous villainous, Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity. John Wayne has a very small scene as one of the young men Stanwyck seduces and discards, but one of the real pleasures (for me, anyway) in the original version is the appearance of actor James Murray, whose footage is entirely missing from the edited version. Murray had achieved film immortality just five years previously, playing the lead in King Vidor's silent classic, The Crowd (another film I wish Criterion would release on blu-ray). Alcoholism completely destroyed his career, and just three years after he appeared as a railroad brakeman in Baby Face, Murray's body would be fished out of the Hudson River; it was never determined if he fell in, was pushed in, or jumped in ... a sad ending to what had been a most promising career.

[jmclick]

Has everyone noticed that there is a spate of Criterion titles currently running at 45% off at Amazon, including some recent releases like The Night Porter? Just a head's up ...

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by jmclick

I'm very curious to find out what the title of the long-awaited "Warner Brothers pre-code" movie will be. My guess is that it's going to be the most obvious possibility: Baby Face starring Barbara Stanwyck, presented in both its scandalous original cut and its subsequently trimmed and heavily censored version.

This, of course, is the film that really caused all Hades to break loose among the various film censorship boards, and prompted a backlash that effectively ended what we know refer to as the pre-Code era. The original version was thought to be lost for many, many years until a print was discovered some 10 years ago, causing the film to be re-evaluated.

There's much to recommend about the film, including Stanwyck's brilliantly-played, amoral "heroine", Lily Powers, who many viewers think is a "sister under the skin" to her more famous villainous, Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity. John Wayne has a very small scene as one of the young men Stanwyck seduces and discards, but one of the real pleasures (for me, anyway) in the original version is the appearance of actor James Murray, whose footage is entirely missing from the edited version. Murray had achieved film immortality just five years previously, playing the lead in King Vidor's silent classic, The Crowd (another film I wish Criterion would release on blu-ray). Alcoholism completely destroyed his career, and just three years after he appeared as a railroad brakeman in Baby Face, Murray's body would be fished out of the Hudson River; it was never determined if he fell in, was pushed in, or jumped in ... a sad ending to what had been a most promising career.

Not sure about Baby Face. It's on that Forbidden Hollywood line already, both versions, and while they are naturally not Blu-ray HD stuff its a pretty good set already.

I thought maybe Freaks at first? Thats requested quite a bit, and that could use a nice comb-over, even though that DVD is quite excellent.

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by jmclick

I'm very curious to find out what the title of the long-awaited "Warner Brothers pre-code" movie will be. My guess is that it's going to be the most obvious possibility: Baby Face starring Barbara Stanwyck, presented in both its scandalous original cut and its subsequently trimmed and heavily censored version.

This, of course, is the film that really caused all Hades to break loose among the various film censorship boards, and prompted a backlash that effectively ended what we know refer to as the pre-Code era. The original version was thought to be lost for many, many years until a print was discovered some 10 years ago, causing the film to be re-evaluated.

There's much to recommend about the film, including Stanwyck's brilliantly-played, amoral "heroine", Lily Powers, who many viewers think is a "sister under the skin" to her more famous villainous, Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity. John Wayne has a very small scene as one of the young men Stanwyck seduces and discards, but one of the real pleasures (for me, anyway) in the original version is the appearance of actor James Murray, whose footage is entirely missing from the edited version. Murray had achieved film immortality just five years previously, playing the lead in King Vidor's silent classic, The Crowd (another film I wish Criterion would release on blu-ray). Alcoholism completely destroyed his career, and just three years after he appeared as a railroad brakeman in Baby Face, Murray's body would be fished out of the Hudson River; it was never determined if he fell in, was pushed in, or jumped in ... a sad ending to what had been a most promising career.

Actually from what I remember it was Sign Of the Cross that brought down the pre-code era.
A lot of people were in an outrage at the amount of violence and the infamous milk bath scene in which Claudette Colberts nipples make very brief appearances.
Baby Face would be great though, really like that one.

[Devildog151]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Has everyone noticed that there is a spate of Criterion titles currently running at 45% off at Amazon, including some recent releases like The Night Porter? Just a head's up ...

Yes, I ordered The 400 blows. Wasn't too interested in blind buying The Night Porter or the others.

I might just wait for the upcoming BN sale to add more to my collection.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by jshaide

Not sure about Baby Face. It's on that Forbidden Hollywood line already, both versions, and while they are naturally not Blu-ray HD stuff its a pretty good set already.

I thought maybe Freaks at first? Thats requested quite a bit, and that could use a nice comb-over, even though that DVD is quite excellent.

Freaks would be an excellent choice for the Criterion treatment; however, it was an MGM production, not a Warner Brothers film.

When I was making my wild guess, I had considered the fact that Baby Face has already been released on DVD, but then again, both versions of My Darling Clementine had also been released as a double feature on DVD by Fox Home Video as part of the Studio Classics line, before Criterion upgraded the title to blu-ray.