The Criterion Collection

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

I was kind of hoping it would be Satantango since it seems to be one of Bela Tarr most praised films, but after reading there is a much talked about scene

[Show spoiler]involving cat torture i am not sure i can see it

The cat lived! I don't know how they did it but he went on to live with Tarr and his wife.

He discusses it here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2001/mar/24/books.guardianreview

I've seen Satantango twice now, including theatrically last Autumn when the film toured the UK, and I'm now prepared to admit that while I'm glad it exists I'm not particularly fond of it. I like Tarr in general, and I love slow, long movies, but this just doesn't work for me.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

The cat lived! I don't know how they did it but he went on to live with Tarr and his wife.

He discusses it here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2001/mar/24/books.guardianreview

I've seen Satantango twice now, including theatrically last Autumn when the film toured the UK, and I'm now prepared to admit that while I'm glad it exists I'm not particularly fond of it. I like Tarr in general, and I love slow, long movies, but this just doesn't work for me.

I'd prefer the Werckmeister Harmonies. The most haunting film I've ever seen, among other things.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by moviebuffed

belcherman, I completely agree with you on the Hobson's Choice reference to being Dickensian. Looking back, that film was one of my first blind buys with the famed Barnes & Noble Criterion sale. I love this movie! Laughton can do no wrong in my book, such a great actor.

Incidentally, that film also stars John Mills who also starred in Great Expectations (come on Criterion, upgrade is long overdue). Mills IMO was a bit too old for the role of Pip but that's another topic.

Another Mills film I'd like to see in the collection is The Rocking Horse Winner which also stars John Howard Davies who played the title character in Oliver Twist. It's a haunting film.

[Helikaon]

Just saw Lena Dunham on Tinder. Apparently, she's in Amsterdam?

[ChromeJob]

Originally Posted by Helikaon

Just saw Lena Dunham on Tinder. Apparently, she's in Amsterdam?

Which way did you swipe?

[olivianewtonyawn]

Interesting article about what needs to happen to keep us buying blu rays... Hint: everyone be more like Criterion!

https://thedissolve.com/features/exp...elevant-again/

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Yeah I don't see the studio ever releasing a Lana Del Ray set.

On the other hand, 15 years ago no one would've seen Criterion ever releasing a Beastie Boys collection.

[jmclick]

My personal Criterion "discovery" this past weekend was Frances Ha. I had so many people at Barnes & Noble, both store employees and other customers I was conversing with, assure me that I would love it. But I couldn't be convinced. I had never heard of the film, and I hated the out-of-focus artwork that Criterion had chosen for the packaging, and couldn't imagine what it was meant to represent.

But then I bought a used lot of Criterion blu-rays at eBay and Frances Ha was among them. I told myself I would watch it once and then trade it or give it away. Well ... you already know how this story ends. I fell in love with the movie and with leading lady Greta Gerwig and with the supporting cast and with the cinematography, and I can now tell you that you couldn't pry my copy of this little jewel out of my cold dead hands. What a delightful, charming, sweet and funny film! It's at once a brilliant character study of a very unique young woman, and at the same time it contains wry reflections on the human condition that are universal. The supplements only made me appreciate the film more.

I'm still not sure that the artwork is a good advertisement for this ineffably touching and thought-provoking movie, but why quibble? In every way that counts, Frances Ha is a brilliant piece of work, and Criterion has done an excellent job in transferring it to blu-ray.

[Namuhana]

Frances Ha is one of my favorite Criterion films (it's definitely in my top 15). Maybe it's because I'm a young adult still working on what I really want to do/be in life, but I can definitely connect with Frances and her dilemmas. Plus, I want to go to Paris but I certainly don't have enough money for a weekend trip (nor do I know anyone who just happens to have an apartment available).

[Scottie]

I have loved Frances Ha ever since seeing it in theaters. It's everything that I would generally hate in a film, but it works just so damn well and it's so awesome. I love the French New Wave style of it, as well.

In other news, I'm rewatching A Safe Place and this film is so bad that it is hilarious. What the hell were they thinking when making this?

[moviebuffed]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Not Criterion related, but it was confirmed on Twitter a month or two ago that Ryan's Daughter would be coming to blu this year as well, either from WB itself or Warner Archives.

Great news. This is one of the few films Lean directed that the critics did not warm up to but visually it's stunning.

[The Great Owl]

Don't you hate it when you get back late night from an evening get-together with friends and are too tired to give a great Criterion Blu-ray the proper long review that it deserves?

No, I don't hate that either.

Anyway...



I now have a new favorite François Truffaut movie.

Those of you who have seen The Soft Skin will probably think that I'm demented for naming it as my favorite Truffaut, but that's how I roll.

It's probably just as well that I don't write paragraphs upon paragraphs for this movie, because I went into it without knowing anything about the plot except that an extramarital affair is involved, so I think it best for the rest of you who are unfamiliar with the film to go into it the same way. There's something great about watching a story unfold and having no idea what is going to happen in the final scene until it happens.

Françoise Dorléac is really something else in this movie, and I'm reminded that I really need to get cracking on my Jacques Demy box set. Jean Desailly (Le Doulos) is a perfect lead for this particular film, and he hits all of the right notes.

The Soft Skin is Truffaut's homage to Hitchcock, so to speak, but it plays out so in unexpected ways by generating unbelievable suspense during a few offbeat moments. Watch one particular gem of a sequence where Jean Desailly's character is preoccupied while having a drink with a friend after a film introduction speech.

The Soft Skin looks great on this Criterion Blu-ray, and Criterion has excelled with another good black-and-white movie presentation. The extras are short and sweet. The commentary track is French-language and subtitled, which means that I'm not giving it the attention that it deserves right now as I watch it while I'm typing on my laptop.

Everything about The Soft Skin rocks out. I'm so glad that I made a blind purchase.

[JJJ225]

Huge Baumbach and Greta Gerwig fan. Frances Ha is a great, great film.

I saw While We're Young this past weekend. It certainly doesn't feel as effortless as Frances Ha, or really any of Baumbach's past films, but it still works on many levels and is very funny. It also becomes very plot oriented as one point, which I found so strange for Baumbach.

[Martin_31]

I just finished watching The Bicycle Thief. Now that's what I call a powerful film. I was angry almost the entire movie because of the trials this man has to face in life. All the people humiliating him. I haven't been this pissed off since I saw Paths of Glory. But I really like this movie. Definitely going to watch it again without reading the subtitles.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by iScottie

In other news, I'm rewatching A Safe Place and this film is so bad that it is hilarious. What the hell were they thinking when making this?

Did someone write A Safe Place?! Oh no! Say it ain't so! Orson is getting giddy again. See below.

[tisdivine]

What is everyone thoughts/opinions/criticisms on Insignificance? Its the last Roeg criterion I need and as much as Ive been wanting to see it Ive also been putting it off.

I mean Monroe & Einstein in a hotel room for 1 hr 40 min? That seems absolutely dreadful.

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by olivianewtonyawn

Interesting article about what needs to happen to keep us buying blu rays... Hint: everyone be more like Criterion!

https://thedissolve.com/features/exp...elevant-again/

Also this >>>

Stop exploiting your best customers

It’s not like people don’t want special features. They do, but this shouldn’t be abused. When Star Trek Into Darkness debuted on Blu-ray in fall 2013, Paramount split the film’s special features across different outlets, putting some on the version sold at Best Buy, some on the version sold at Target, and reserving others for those who purchased the film as an iTunes download. Buyers cried foul, and rightly so, since it seemed like an attempt to take advantage of the completist impulse of the most hardcore fans. This was an exceptional case, but an illustrative one: There’s still a demand for features-packed Blu-rays when they’re done right.

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by iScottie

In other news, I'm rewatching A Safe Place and this film is so bad that it is hilarious. What the hell were they thinking when making this?

Literally the worst movie I have ever seen. I couldn't watch this in one go, I forced myself to watch it in 3 separate 30 minute sessions just so I could say I watched the entire BBS collection. To think that it has both Jack Nicholson and Orson Welles in it, lol. The only moment of the film that drew any reaction out of me was a weak chuckle when Orson Welles tried to make an elephant in the zoo disappear by concentrating and then turning around to see that the elephant was still there.

Amazing that it has a 4K mastered blu ray release with so many other masterpieces lacking a release, but this is of course because they had to complete the BBS library.

BTW, I disagree with you that it's so bad that it's hilarious. If only it was that. Then it would've been entertaining at least in some way. But in the end, it's just so plain bad that it's atrocious.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by tisdivine

What is everyone thoughts/opinions/criticisms on Insignificance? Its the last Roeg criterion I need and as much as Ive been wanting to see it Ive also been putting it off.

I mean Monroe & Einstein in a hotel room for 1 hr 40 min? That seems absolutely dreadful.

It's not exactly a great blind buy candidate but it's certainly not dreadful. And oddly enough, the Monroe/Einstein scenes are some of the most effective. Tony Curtis is really good as the McCarthy-esque Senator too.

Gary Busey is a bit of a weak link but only because it's impossible to look at him and not think 'hey, look, it's Gary Busey'.

I've only watched it once all the way through and I didn't really know what to make of it but it's well worth a watch and definitely worth a watch for Roeg fans. It took me a few false starts to get into it but once I did it definitely wasn't a chore to finish.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

Literally the worst movie I have ever seen. I couldn't watch this in one go, I forced myself to watch it in 3 separate 30 minute sessions just so I could say I watched the entire BBS collection. To think that it has both Jack Nicholson and Orson Welles in it, lol. The only moment of the film that drew any reaction out of me was a weak chuckle when Orson Welles tried to make an elephant in the zoo disappear by concentrating and then turning around to see that the elephant was still there.

Amazing that it has a 4K mastered blu ray release with so many other masterpieces lacking a release, but this is of course because they had to complete the BBS library.

BTW, I disagree with you that it's so bad that it's hilarious. If only it was that. Then it would've been entertaining at least in some way. But in the end, it's just so plain bad that it's atrocious.

A Safe Place should have been relegated to a bonus feature on one of the discs. Giving it a spine is ludicrous.