The Criterion Collection

[Rich Pure Doom]

As far as great streaks of directing go, I'll add Hayao Miyazaki to the running. He didn't make a dud until Howl's Moving Castle so that means he made eight films straight that are varying degrees of greatness. (For the record that's The Castle of Cagliostro, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away.)

I agree with you. Miyazaki's filmography is as good as any live action director but I'd take Howl over Kiki anyday. Just watched Porco Rosso last night (loved it!).

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

I agree with you. Miyazaki's filmography is as good as any live action director but I'd take Howl over Kiki anyday. Just watched Porco Rosso last night (loved it!).

I love Howl's Moving Castle (even the dub, as I love Jean Simmons and Lauren Bacall), but I love the Diana Wynne-Jones novel and its two sequels even more. It's quite different from the film adaptation. A lot of people don't even realise it's an adaptation of a British YA fantasy novel that was written in the 1980s.

I also prefer Howl to Kiki, although both are more enjoyable to me than Porco Rosso and Pom Poko.

[JulesAndJim]

Just saw a great three-movie run directed by Masahiro Shinoda: Himiko (1974), Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees (1975), and Ballad of Orin (1977). Might have to expand that list after I watch more.

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

My blu-ray player is so old, that Netflix is non-existant unless I move to America, and it's only wifi compatible if I buy a dongle that Panasonic no longer makes, so it's now triple the original 100 dollar price. I bought the model that won't support Canadian Netflix, as it depends on you setting up a queue on another device, and the player came out before Netflix moved into Canada. I don't even watch Canadian Netflix most times. No biggie, as I have my desktop hooked up to the TV anyway. My player still works fine, and if a title won't play, I have both my laptop and desktop as backups, plus the cheapass Seiki I bought and hacked to region B/all region playback.

I've been home for the past week and a half as I've been on vacation, and I've been using my laptop as a Blu-ray player with the new TV my parents got for switching to FibreOp (it came the day I came home, so I basically got my own TV for here, as it's set up in the guest room). It's not bad, it's a commercial model LG LED 42" TV. Limited HDMI ports and settings, but there's enough there to get a decent PQ out of it, even if the sound is crap because I'm reliant upon the TV speakers.

Sounds like you're set for the short term then... gotta do what you can!

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Nice collection, not sure how many I got now. I have about a dozen Eclipse sets and I have at least three or four more I really want to get. Love these sets, wonderful movies in them that are overlook by too many

Thanks! I do love the Eclipse sets, some great films bundled, for a good price.

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by aes3728

Your Tigers are making a complete joke out of my conference. Clemson is just dismantling the Sooners. To make it Criterion related- Clemson is Godzilla and OU is a building.

I'll tell you, I had NO idea this game would go that way. I figured with our Offensive Coordinator gone, and Watson out, it'd be a close game. OU has had an amazing offense this season, so I was fully expecting a good close game... not what happened. I will say I'm happy for Stoudt, he was supposed to have an entire season like this, but just couldn't make it happen... glad he did tonight.

Not sure what happened to OU, not the team I saw earlier in the year.

And yeah, keeping it on topic... Raymond Burr is stunned by what happened.

[SlickDamian]

Great directing streak:

Scorsese: Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street. Maybe continue with Silence. That is amazing.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by lordmorpheus72

Thanks. That's what I think is one of the coolest things about the Criterion Collection and this group... the commonality of what have and what we have watched. I know that seems obvious, but it's not always the case in other forums, groups, etc. So yeah, it's cool to see how many films people have in common here that they own, how many they've seen, and how very far behind we all are in watching them!

oh and the few up top that the flash made unreadable (didn't notice until now), are I Married a Witch, Ice Storm, In the Realm of the Senses and It Happened One Night.

Nice... I also have In the Realm of the Senses and Ice Storm (the latter being a film I re-watch once a year usually). I had an urge to watch Merry Christmas Mister Lawrence recently because of the holidays.

[The Great Owl]

I must say that, after watching the Criterion Blu-rays of Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood and Roman Polanski's Macbeth earlier this month, and then watching the Olive Films Blu-ray of Orson Welles's Macbeth this evening, I almost feel as though I'm qualified to teach the Shakespeare play to classrooms. Of course, I guess it helps that I had an extensive familiarity with the text before going into any of these movies.

I'm a big fan of the Welles adaptation, because the black-and-white cinematography is so chilling and claustrophobic. Even though his interpretation is not as viscerally graphic as the Polanski version, the most intense story developments come across in an even more disturbing way.

After tonight's viewing of this 1948 Welles version of Macbeth, I am really looking forward to seeing what Criterion does with the Welles adaptation of Othello, if that film is, indeed, set for a release in the coming year.

While we're on the subject, Welles himself has a fine three-film streak right here, even after the universally applauded Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons...

The Stranger
The Lady from Shanghai
Macbeth

If any of you do not yet own the Turner Classic Movies Blu-ray of The Lady from Shanghai, then I urge you to quit stalling and check it out. It's one of the big Blu-ray success stories of the past year (the corrected disc, of course).

[CinemaBlu]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

Great directing streak:

Scorsese: Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street. Maybe continue with Silence. That is amazing.

IMO, Scorsese hasn't made a bad film since The Color of Money. And even that's no too bad. Just by Scorsese standards.

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

L'avventura:

[Show spoiler]The ending: No words but we know exactly what Claudia is feeling. She feels sorry for Sandro. She's feels like a mother to a child. Great scene!

Don't want to disagree with oyu as I feel that's very subjective, but I do agree in that it's a great great scene. Masterful film. The fact we have to draw mainly off of what we think the characters are feeling just gives it an immensely personal experience. Like I said in my post few pages back, the film operates with its own unique level of communication whether to the viewer or between characters. I guess this can be said equally for Eclisse and La Notte

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by jw007

Nice... I also have In the Realm of the Senses and Ice Storm (the latter being a film I re-watch once a year usually). I had an urge to watch Merry Christmas Mister Lawrence recently because of the holidays.

I just finished seeing that film for the first time last night, and this evening I watched all the supplementary features. I was especially impressed with the documentary on Laurens Van der Post, Hasten Slowly, and now I want to go back and watch the main feature again.

I thought all the actors were brilliant. When interviewed in 2010, Tom Conti says he isn't happy with his performance, but I think he was being way too modest. My only complaint? I can't get Ryûichi Sakamoto's hypnotic music out of my head!

[moviesmovie]

I remember a few months ago a photo was released that hinted that Mulholland Drive was going to be release in Criterion. What happened? Is it ever going to get the Criterion Blu Ray treatment? Thanks in advance.

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Originally Posted by moviesmovie

I remember a few months ago a photo was released that hinted that Mulholland Drive was going to be release in Criterion. What happened? Is it ever going to get the Criterion Blu Ray treatment? Thanks in advance.

Hints have been given for movies that didn't get released or even officially announced until years later. I believe Y Tu Mama Tambien is an example of that. Just because a hint was given doesn't mean it's being released soon. If criterion are releasing it, they'll probably give Mulholland Drive a pretty amazing package. That'll take a while to produce. Plus David Lynch is working on the new season of Twin Peaks and who knows what else. They'll want to get him in to help out with an impressive package. There's no concrete info on when it'll happen. I'm just speculating.

[DaveyJoe]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

Great directing streak:

Scorsese: Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street. Maybe continue with Silence. That is amazing.

Interesting, I thought this was exactly when Scorsese became a shadow of his former self. Most of these movies are really underwhelming, especially considering how good Scorsese used to be.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by DaveyJoe

Interesting, I thought this was exactly when Scorsese became a shadow of his former self. Most of these movies are really underwhelming, especially considering how good Scorsese used to be.

I think that started with Cape Fear, although I've also found Goodfellas to pale with repeated viewings. Bringing Out the Dead was where I threw in the towel. I did like the pilot for Boardwalk Empire, and I do have Hugo on the shelf still to be watched, but beyond those, I haven't watched one of his films in quite some time. I still like his films from the 70s/80s, and still admire his depth of knowledge about cinema, but...

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by Coen

I used to be a huge Scorsese fan. I still have all his films through Shutter Island on DVD. But now I really only consider Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Casino to be masterpieces. Three masterpieces is still pretty good though.

Casino over Goodfellas? Absurdity!
I also dont understand the disdain for Bringing Out the Dead, I think its one of his most underrated movies.
Still havent seen the Aviator or The Departed but I thought that Gangs Of New York wasn't very good (and so does Scorsese himself) and Shutter Island was just okay.
Love Hugo and The Wolf Of Wall Street though, hopefully Silence will be another good one.
In terms of his older stuff, I also think that the King Of Comedy and After Hours are two of the best comedies of the 80's.

[Russ103]

Originally Posted by Coen

HA - yeah, you're not the first to think that is crazy. But I absolutely prefer Casino to Goodfellas.

Oddly enough, I can never watch one without the other.

When I watch Goodfellas, the very next film I have to watch is Casino. Either immediately after, or I'll wait a few days without watching anything else, as I know I need to watch Casino, and can't shake it off until viewed.

I have to watch them together.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by jmclick

I just finished seeing that film for the first time last night, and this evening I watched all the supplementary features. I was especially impressed with the documentary on Laurens Van der Post, Hasten Slowly, and now I want to go back and watch the main feature again.

I thought all the actors were brilliant. When interviewed in 2010, Tom Conti says he isn't happy with his performance, but I think he was being way too modest. My only complaint? I can't get Ryûichi Sakamoto's hypnotic music out of my head!

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence: It's one of my favorite films in the collection and is truly a good blind buy in my opinion for any cinema buff. I remember after having watched it a while back, I totally understood and enjoyed every second of this film. The last time I had an experience like that with a Criterion film was that great Italian 60s movie called Il Sorpasso.

[WonderWeasel]

Originally Posted by aes3728

Your Tigers are making a complete joke out of my conference. Clemson is just dismantling the Sooners. To make it Criterion related- Clemson is Godzilla and OU is a building.

The Big 12 has apparently concentrated on basketball this year. 6 teams in the top 25 with TCU just on the outside of the rankings.