The Criterion Collection

[TJS_Blu]

Idle chit-chat dept memo...Remember the Wexner talk where they discussed a pre-code title and some speculated it was Freaks? Well we know there is a DCP available. Hope it makes it to HD regardless of the wacky C content.

[Ausjdm]

Originally Posted by yofx

I'm in the same boat! Echoing this question.

Atleast someone besides me is curious! I guess this movie/release has been forgotten about...

Also yes Shallow Grave is a must watch!

[Fabs]

Originally Posted by joie

I like BFI, too.

You know, the UK is really lucky. Sure, we in the US can go region free, but they have BFI, Eureka/MoC, and Artificial Eye. I notice that there is a lot of overlap between these companies' and Criterion's releases, but I think that the UK companies have released a lot more obscure titles that Criterion hasn't.

And Eureka/MoC is for me, equal to Criterion, in many ways.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by demonknight

Quick! What shall I watch tonight:
Life During Wartime
Shallow Grave
Walker

Walker? As in Walker Texas Ranger? I'd go for that. Always choose Chuck Norris if that's on the table.

[demonknight]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Walker? As in Walker Texas Ranger? I'd go for that. Always choose Chuck Norris if that's on the table.

No. Walker, as in the 1987 film in the Criterion Collection though DVD only.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jayembee

For those who might be interested, I just got an email from Turner Classics Movies Store:

Subject: Up to 40% Off Our Top Criterion Titles!

I've sworn off ordering anything from TCM unless it's an exclusive release from them, but I thought some of you others might be interested. The website is shop.tcm.com

Originally Posted by Ray_Rogers

Which Criterion titles do they consider their top ones though?

No idea. And as I said, I'm not inclined to order any from them, so quite frankly, I don't care, either. I just figured I'd pass on the info so that if anyone else here was interested, they could check it out for themselves.

Nota bene: They also say "up to 40% off", so lord only knows how many are actually have that high a discount.

[ChromeJob]

Originally Posted by jayembee

No idea. And as I said, I'm not inclined to order any from them, so quite frankly, I don't care, either. I just figured I'd pass on the info so that if anyone else here was interested, they could check it out for themselves.



Nota bene: They also say "up to 40% off", so lord only knows how many are actually have that high a discount.

I went through their entire list of Criterion titles and only saw a couple of discounts that were mildly interesting. My wallet doesnt usually open for mildly interesting. Most that I noticed were about 15% off. Pfft.

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by Feiereisel

Heaven's Gate is an interesting case with regard to revisionism. Its status as an anti-Western and its presentation--a director's cut--speak to a sense of revisionism inherent to the film itself.

There is no connection between revisionist politics and revisionist aesthetics here, unless we are suggesting that Cimino is somehow being dishonest across the board, which he has been accused of in the past.

I think he is simply trying to rewrite his past. I don't blame him though. Perhaps he feels that cleaning the film up is the only chance it has to be reevaluated.

Originally Posted by Feiereisel

Based on that text, I'm inclined to think Criterion's edition is representative of the film's original look and aesthetic intent. Ultimately, though, it's a very subjective thing--I'm curious to hear what other people think.

A two year old article from Manohla Dargis also expresses suspicion about the restored print of the film:

“The restoration looks good projected, if surprisingly bright for a film that, in his review, Roger Ebert complained was “so brownish yellow that you want to try Windex on the screen.” In a 1981 Millimeter article about the making of the film its cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond, wrote that Mr. Cimino wanted to “re-create in the audience the experience of being in the West back in those days — when things were noisy and smoky and very, very dusty and dirty.”

"As a restoration demo on the Criterion Blu-ray demonstrates, some of the scenes that looked sepia, almost nicotine brown, have been altered so that the green grass and blue sky pop almost as brightly as they would in Technicolor. This may be a restoration, but it also appears to be an act of directorial revisionism."


I wish Vilmos Zsigmond was involved with the transfer.

[Clare2904]

I too got the email last week about their Criterion sale. It seems the prices went back up but Eraserhead and L'eclisse were to be had for $24. I did not order as the films would have been payment for a lost bet and shipping to the UK was $30.

What was interesting, and people may want to note this if the sale ever comes around again, was that a few days later I received another email from TCM telling me items where still in my cart and to take another 15% off (over $50)

[obscurelabel]

Originally Posted by demonknight

My only question with Walker is... Will I like it? I have been thoroughly disappointed by two of the other three Cox films I have seen. Sid and Nancy, aside from performances, was boring and overlong to me, and Straight to Hell was utter nonsense. That said, Repo Man is in my top 10.

I loved Walker but it's a very tough movie to recommend. It has a dark, satirical tone mixed with some over-the-top comic elements, always an iffy combination to try to pull off. And the

[Show spoiler]intentional anachronisms

can be difficult for some people to take. I wouldn't call it nonsense, certainly, as it has some pointed parallels to the situation in Nicaragua going on at the time; whether you agree with it or not the point of view is pretty audacious. Presumably this movie ended Cox's Hollywood career, so you have to give him some credit for that

The movie is pretty brief so if you don't like it, it doesn't wear out its welcome (I wished it were a bit longer myself). The music by Joe Strummer is unequivocally great.

Proceed at your own risk.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

Idle chit-chat dept memo...Remember the Wexner talk where they discussed a pre-code title and some speculated it was Freaks? Well we know there is a DCP available. Hope it makes it to HD regardless of the wacky C content.

I'm not sure it would be Freaks, unless they could come up with some extra material to pad it -- the surviving cut is only 64 minutes. When I first heard Warner pre-code mentioned, I was hoping for some Busby Berkeley, especially Footlight Parade, but with 42nd Street coming out via WAC, I'm now hoping for I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang or maybe a double feature of Night Nurse and Baby Face. Those last two are great, and I don't see Warner releasing either title themselves, not even via WAC.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I'm not sure it would be Freaks, unless they could come up with some extra material to pad it -- the surviving cut is only 64 minutes. When I first heard Warner pre-code mentioned, I was hoping for some Busby Berkeley, especially Footlight Parade, but with 42nd Street coming out via WAC, I'm now hoping for I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang or maybe a double feature of Night Nurse and Baby Face. Those last two are great, and I don't see Warner releasing either title themselves, not even via WAC.

I've always thought Baby Face was a likely candidate for the Criterion treatment; it would be grand to have the original, pre-release cut and the censored theatrical version on the same blu-ray disc a la My Darling Clementine and Red River. It's a key film in Barbara Stanwyck's canon because it anticipates her celebrated performance as the predatory blonde in Double Indemnity, and it's of interest to John Wayne completists as well. Then, too, it's the film most responsible for Darryl F. Zanuck's exit from Warner Brothers (he wrote the story under the name of Mark Canfield).

I also love it because of the appearances of three supporting players: Theresa Harris, the beautiful, talented and unjustly neglected black actress with the musical voice, who plays Stanwyck's gal pal, Chico; Robert Barrat, the physical fitness fanatic turned actor who has a couple of memorable scenes as Stanwyck's perverse and perverted father; and James Murray, the gifted player who was propelled to stardom in King Vidor's silent masterpiece, The Crowd, and five years later was reduced to playing an uncredited bit (a railroad brakeman) in Baby Face. Murray was a self-destructive alcoholic whose body was pulled out of the Hudson River in 1936; it was never determined whether his death was the result of suicide, murder, or an accident.

Thinking about all the possible supplementary material that Criterion could come up with for Baby Face makes me salivate! I'm thinking they're the only company in North America who could truly do it justice. Here's hoping!

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I'm not sure it would be Freaks, unless they could come up with some extra material to pad it -- the surviving cut is only 64 minutes. When I first heard Warner pre-code mentioned, I was hoping for some Busby Berkeley, especially Footlight Parade, but with 42nd Street coming out via WAC, I'm now hoping for I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang or maybe a double feature of Night Nurse and Baby Face. Those last two are great, and I don't see Warner releasing either title themselves, not even via WAC.

Agreed. I'll bet WB views a title like Baby Face as quaint piece of film history. Criterion probably sees it as an important pre-code film.

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I'm not sure it would be Freaks, unless they could come up with some extra material to pad it -- the surviving cut is only 64 minutes. When I first heard Warner pre-code mentioned, I was hoping for some Busby Berkeley, especially Footlight Parade, but with 42nd Street coming out via WAC, I'm now hoping for I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang or maybe a double feature of Night Nurse and Baby Face. Those last two are great, and I don't see Warner releasing either title themselves, not even via WAC.

I was about to suggest I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang myself. I would love if Criterion put that out. I normally deliberately look ahead and record movies off TCM but I woke up one morning and it was on, had never heard of it, missed the very beginning, but I got sucked into it. It's a simple story shot in gritty fashion and Paul Muni is excellent. That last shot....

Freaks would of course be welcome as well, it needs a Blu-ray already, more 1930s horror in HD would be much appreciated, including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

I haven't seen the others you mentioned, but Baby Face sounds interesting.

[italy12]

I don't know if anyone has posted about this, but has anyone noticed the non-digipak, non-dual format edition of Tess in their local stores?

I went to B&N a week or so ago and noticed a single Blu ray copy, a la Foreign Correspondent, of Tess.

I'm assuming they're slowly going this route with the others that had dual format digis.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by italy12

I don't know if anyone has posted about this, but has anyone noticed the non-digipak, non-dual format edition of Tess in their local stores?

I went to B&N a week or so ago and noticed a single Blu ray copy, a la Foreign Correspondent, of Tess.

I'm assuming they're slowly going this route with the others that had dual format digis.

Oh, maybe it's this one?
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-...n=715515139410

it has a different release date (December 2014) and UPC than this:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-...n=715515114011

[Polaroid]

http://www.criterion.com/current/pos...-by-fred-davis

[silverlakephil]

Originally Posted by italy12

I don't know if anyone has posted about this, but has anyone noticed the non-digipak, non-dual format edition of Tess in their local stores?

I went to B&N a week or so ago and noticed a single Blu ray copy, a la Foreign Correspondent, of Tess.

I'm assuming they're slowly going this route with the others that had dual format digis.

These were being sold at Costco's maybe they're still there?

[Feiereisel]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

There is no connection between revisionist politics and revisionist aesthetics here, unless we are suggesting that Cimino is somehow being dishonest across the board, which he has been accused of in the past.

I think he is simply trying to rewrite his past. I don't blame him though. Perhaps he feels that cleaning the film up is the only chance it has to be reevaluated.





A two year old article from Manohla Dargis also expresses suspicion about the restored print of the film:

“The restoration looks good projected, if surprisingly bright for a film that, in his review, Roger Ebert complained was “so brownish yellow that you want to try Windex on the screen.” In a 1981 Millimeter article about the making of the film its cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond, wrote that Mr. Cimino wanted to “re-create in the audience the experience of being in the West back in those days — when things were noisy and smoky and very, very dusty and dirty.”

"As a restoration demo on the Criterion Blu-ray demonstrates, some of the scenes that looked sepia, almost nicotine brown, have been altered so that the green grass and blue sky pop almost as brightly as they would in Technicolor. This may be a restoration, but it also appears to be an act of directorial revisionism."


I wish Vilmos Zsigmond was involved with the transfer.

I'd count Cimino "rewriting his past" as revision in a broad sense--or at least an extremely literal one.

Interesting comments by Dargis, though! Again, it might just be better to view the new cut (and presentation, apparently) as a new, separate thing.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

http://www.criterion.com/current/pos...-by-fred-davis

certainly got it right with the one they ended up choosing