The Criterion Collection

[Namuhana]

I got The Long Day Closes for Christmas, so I'm pretty happy!

[SlickDamian]

My Mrs. is pretty amazing. She spoiled me at Christmas. Besides a new Xbox One, she gave me the following Criterion blu rays:
Eraserhead
L'Avventura
The Vanishing
My Darling Clementine
The Big Chill
The Shooting/Ride In the Whirlwind

Besides that amazing haul, I had mentioned to her months ago that I'd like to have a film noir blu collection within our blu collection. I have seen a scattered one and own some fantastic Criterion noir on blu ray (all of my Criterions are blu), but would like to really dig deep into the genre, as I really enjoy it. So she got me very nice blu ray editions of:
The Maltese Falcon
Touch of Evil
Out of the Past
Double Indemnity
Sunset Boulevard

Now that is amazing! She is something else. Can't wait to sink my teeth into all of those!

Merry Christmas, and a happy new year!

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

Besides that amazing haul, I had mentioned to her months ago that I'd like to have a film noir blu collection within our blu collection. I have seen a scattered one and own some fantastic Criterion noir on blu ray (all of my Criterions are blu), but would like to really dig deep into the genre, as I really enjoy it. So she got me very nice blu ray editions of:
The Maltese Falcon
Touch of Evil
Out of the Past
Double Indemnity
Sunset Boulevard

That's "Film Noir 101" right there. I'm hard-pressed to think of five movies that do a better job of representing the genre.

Just as I did last year, I'm planning to devote January to diving into some of my still-unwatched (and already watched) classic-era film noir Blu-rays and DVDs. Winter is a great time for these flicks.

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Clearly.

Yup, I am a lucky, lucky man!

[jrsl76]

I got a few titles this year from my wife and my mom: Time Bandits, The Night Porter and Safe. Excited to give them a spin.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Thank you so much for the "heads up". I already own copies of The Quiet Man and The Pawnbroker, but went to check out the seller's other titles. They were at such low prices that I emailed the seller to make sure that they weren't cut-outs. She/He assured me they weren't, and so I ordered the three-disc set of 1900, The Sands of Iwo Jima, and The Men for a total of just $31.97.

Much obliged!

Awesome. I'm glad somebody here decided it was worth checking out. The Men is a really good movie, btw. Considering the fact that Brando wasted away some of his best years taking bad roles and being weird, it's good to know that this film is out there. Definitely recommended viewing.

[WonderWeasel]

I got a nice little haul from my family today: 'The Killing' to finish off my Kubrick collection, 'Sanjuro', and 'The Uninvited' on Criterion, and 'Hang 'em High'. It's going to be a nice weekend lol.

[WonderWeasel]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

Besides that amazing haul, I had mentioned to her months ago that I'd like to have a film noir blu collection within our blu collection. I have seen a scattered one and own some fantastic Criterion noir on blu ray (all of my Criterions are blu), but would like to really dig deep into the genre, as I really enjoy it. So she got me very nice blu ray editions of:
The Maltese Falcon
Touch of Evil
Out of the Past
Double Indemnity
Sunset Boulevard

Now that is amazing! She is something else. Can't wait to sink my teeth into all of those!

Merry Christmas, and a happy new year!

My brother got me an Amazon gift card, and 'Out of the Past' is getting ordered tonight. Such a great film noir.

Now if Warner would quit announcing and not releasing 'The Big Sleep'!

[moviebuffed]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

My Mrs. is pretty amazing. She spoiled me at Christmas. Besides a new Xbox One, she gave me the following Criterion blu rays:
Eraserhead
L'Avventura
The Vanishing
My Darling Clementine
The Big Chill
The Shooting/Ride In the Whirlwind

Besides that amazing haul, I had mentioned to her months ago that I'd like to have a film noir blu collection within our blu collection. I have seen a scattered one and own some fantastic Criterion noir on blu ray (all of my Criterions are blu), but would like to really dig deep into the genre, as I really enjoy it. So she got me very nice blu ray editions of:
The Maltese Falcon
Touch of Evil
Out of the Past
Double Indemnity
Sunset Boulevard

Now that is amazing! She is something else. Can't wait to sink my teeth into all of those!

Merry Christmas, and a happy new year!

All you married folk are getting the hook up with all those amazing criterions!! makes me wanna get married. Well, almost.

[cakefactory]

I finally watched 8 1/2 (I bought it a year or two ago) and HATED it. I've never had this kind of reaction to a Criterion movie before! I just hated watching the main character and found the movie noisy and incoherent. He was such an emotional cripple and not in an interesting way, he just was a boring turd whose treatment of everyone else was offensive and whose exhausted demeanor made watching him a chore! I don't really even know how to rationalize my reaction to the movie, it was just some kind of violent, visceral hatred. I dunno what the story is. I love a lot of other Italian movies from the time, everything from the weirdo exploitation movies to horror movies to Antonioni, but this just was like fingernails on a blackboard for the entire running time. I had a similar reaction to La Dolce Vita back in college, but I figured that was just me being in a bad mood that day or something and figured several years later that it was time to give Fellini another shot.

My film snob credentials are forever revoked!

I did manage to wash the bad taste out of my mouth by watching "Two Days and One Night," and I sure hope Marion Cotillard gets some more recognition for this. She did win a few awards like the NYFCC best actress, but I am guessing the Oscars will just nominate Jennifer Aniston over her or something.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

I finally watched 8 1/2 (I bought it a year or two ago) and HATED it. I've never had this kind of reaction to a Criterion movie before! I just hated watching the main character and found the movie noisy and incoherent. He was such an emotional cripple and not in an interesting way, he just was a boring turd whose treatment of everyone else was offensive and whose exhausted demeanor made watching him a chore! I don't really even know how to rationalize my reaction to the movie, it was just some kind of violent, visceral hatred. I dunno what the story is. I love a lot of other Italian movies from the time, everything from the weirdo exploitation movies to horror movies to Antonioni, but this just was like fingernails on a blackboard for the entire running time. I had a similar reaction to La Dolce Vita back in college, but I figured that was just me being in a bad mood that day or something and figured several years later that it was time to give Fellini another shot.

My film snob credentials are forever revoked!

I enjoyed 8½ when I first saw it, but I admittedly needed a couple of additional viewings, including one at a theatrical screening this past spring, to get my mind around the film.

I've been through a couple of real-life situations in the past where I was completely burned out (career, my running hobby, etc.), but found myself surrounded by enthusiastic people who would excitedly ask me about my plans. I guess that's why I inherently relate to Marcello Mastroianni's character.

Besides, this is the film that kicked off my fascination with Barbara Steele, who is also amazing in Black Sunday, which is available on Blu-ray from Kino.

[cakefactory]

Yeah, it was fun seeing her as I've seen 6 or 7 of her other movies, but her character wasn't particularly important.

[Scottie]

My first viewing of 8 1/2 left me full of hatred.

My second viewing of 8 1/2 left me full of confusion.

My third viewing of 8 1/2 left me full of love.

It seems to be one of the most polarizing films from the get-go, but it seems to result in more and more positivity as the viewings progress.

[jhiggy23]

The fiancé got me La Dolce Vita, which I love. Fun fact: she spent two months in Rome last summer for a law school study abroad program, so it'll be fun to have her point out some of the spots she's been!

[The Bronx Bull]

Originally Posted by WonderWeasel

My brother got me an Amazon gift card, and 'Out of the Past' is getting ordered tonight. Such a great film noir.

Now if Warner would quit announcing and not releasing 'The Big Sleep'!

Ah, probably my favorite Bogart film. Since I started reading Raymond Chandler's novel, I just watched the movie again recently. Then, decided to check out the 1978 Robert Mitchum remake, since I'm a huge early Mitchum fan. What a mistake! They relocated the plot to modern-day London, and the remake doesn't hold a candle to the original '46 version (or the '44 version, for that matter). There is almost nothing done better in the remake, aside from maybe the elucidation of a few key plot points - which is ironically one of the charming aspects of the chaos in the '46 version.

Then, I also watched 1975's Farewell My Lovely recently, the other Mitchum as Marlowe film. This one is *much* better than the '78 The Big Sleep, which isn't even in the same league. Farewell My Lovely holds up as a neo-noir classic, in my opinion, alongside the likes of Chinatown. If you haven't seen it, do check it out.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by sc1957

That's all right, you're not alone. I don't care for most of the Fellini films I've seen (including 8 1/2, La Dolce Vita, Amarcord, and Satyricon). I do like La Strada.

Nobody says you have to like every director, or every movie by a director, just because lots of other people say they do.

Well, as for me, with my recent purchase of 8 1/2, I'm going to really give Fellini another shot. He's by far the most polarizing director for me, other than Godard. I'm afraid I'm going to follow a similar path of hating it, being confused by it and then loving it, but hopefully I can "endure" this film. It's been mentioned so many times throughout the ages by great filmmakers that there must be something about this movie that resonates with so many people. I cannot ignore a movie of such immense power, whether or not it provokes a positive or negative reaction. I'm going to pump myself up before I drop this disc in my blu-ray player and expect an all-out war with my emotions. I should probably not expect anything, but I will expect "something" and whether or not its good or bad remains to be seen.

8 1/2 is by far the most delayed Criterion purchase I've ever made. As each sale rolls by year by year I always skip purchasing it because I never got around to watching it (I've only seen bits and pieces of it) and now I own it. I will post my thoughts whenever I get around to seeing this.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by iScottie

My first viewing of 8 1/2 left me full of hatred.

My second viewing of 8 1/2 left me full of confusion.

My third viewing of 8 1/2 left me full of love.

It seems to be one of the most polarizing films from the get-go, but it seems to result in more and more positivity as the viewings progress.

I figure this is a possible path, which is the only reason I don't immediately go out and sell it. As others have mentioned, it's got too good of a rep for me to feel comfortable hating it. I have to at least appreciate it on some level! Roger Ebert's great movies essay didn't even begin to help, though, which is unusual cause they almost always give me a hook to get into something I don't like (or cause me to have a much greater appreciation for something I already like). His write-up on 8 1/2, though, didn't really point out anything I didn't see when I watched it, it just was like THIS IS ALL SO GREAT! and I was like NO IT WASN'T!!!

I wasn't confused by it, exactly, I just hated the style and the lapses into dream sequences, especially the one with the harem which seems to be the most lauded scene. I just thought the main character was such a slimeball, especially through that scene. As Great Owl mentioned, though, I could relate to him in the early scenes where he's disillusioned and just surrounded by crowds of annoying people chirping about the project he doesn't want to think about while he just wants to get out of there. I sorta liked the movie for the first maybe, 45 minutes, it just rapidly went downhill from there.

I'll watch it again someday. I didn't hate everything in it and I know I'm missing out on something, but man, what a painful experience sitting through it for this first time was.

For Christmas, I got copies of Belle De Jour (haven't seen it yet) and Seven Samurai (I got the second version of the DVD several years ago but haven't watched it since I first bought it). I will get around to watching those at some point. Seven Samurai wasn't even close to my favorite Kurosawa on first watch, but I think I'll like it a lot more on second viewing.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

My Mrs. is pretty amazing. She spoiled me at Christmas.

[Show spoiler]Besides a new Xbox One, she gave me the following Criterion blu rays:
Eraserhead
L'Avventura
The Vanishing
My Darling Clementine
The Big Chill
The Shooting/Ride In the Whirlwind

Besides that amazing haul, I had mentioned to her months ago that I'd like to have a film noir blu collection within our blu collection. I have seen a scattered one and own some fantastic Criterion noir on blu ray (all of my Criterions are blu), but would like to really dig deep into the genre, as I really enjoy it. So she got me very nice blu ray editions of:
The Maltese Falcon
Touch of Evil
Out of the Past
Double Indemnity
Sunset Boulevard

Now that is amazing! She is something else. Can't wait to sink my teeth into all of those!

Merry Christmas, and a happy new year!

Whoa, hope you did something to spoil her too

Damn, I'm thinking I should get married one of these days. She got any sisters in India

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

I finally watched 8 1/2 (I bought it a year or two ago) and HATED it. I've never had this kind of reaction to a Criterion movie before! I just hated watching the main character

I like this movie a lot, but I understand what you're saying. I had reaction with Sword of Doom, even though Tatsuya Nakadai is one of my favorite actors, and I like Kihachi Okamoto's other films like Samurai Assassin and Kill!.

[spockzombie]

Long time reader, rare poster here. Been more than hesitant to pull the trigger, but an Amazon gift card for the holidays finally compelled me to get Les Blank: Always for Pleasure. Any thoughts on this set?