The Criterion Collection

[Edward J Grug III]

People liking Cloud Atlas?

Are these posts only just showing up from April first?

[pedromvu]

Does anybody know how the Apu Trilogy will work out on Theaters? i mean will they show one each day or the three each day? I might be able to do a trip to San Diego, but only if they show all on the same day.

[StLouisRibs]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

Does anybody know how the Apu Trilogy will work out on Theaters? i mean will they show one each day or the three each day? I might be able to do a trip to San Diego, but only if they show all on the same day.

Speaking based on the showings at the Landmark in DC, but they're staggered across one screem, with Pather Panchali and Aparajito showing alternating the first day and World of Apu being added into the mix more and more frequently as the week goes on. Seems about right.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by Snicket

I can't wait to see everyone flip the hell out when Kirsten Stewart comes into the collection. Completely ignoring the fact the film is great and she is great in it.

Apropos of nothing, really ... but I'm kind of keen on the idea that, with the impending release of Mulholland Drive, stage-screen-and-TV hoofer Ann Miller will be joining the Collection! Who could ever forget her tap-dancing across the bar of a saloon in the improbably entertaining Go West, Young Lady, or her later successes in all those classic MGM musicals, not to mention those insanely fun television advertisements she made on behalf of the "Great American Soups"?

Anyway, back to Kristen Stewart ... I would never in a billion years would have guessed that she would be the first American film performer to win a French Cesar Award. I hope Criterion does release Clouds of Sils Maria; I've been intrigued by the plot of the film since I first read about it months and months ago.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Edward J Grug III

People liking Cloud Atlas?

Are these posts only just showing up from April first?

No, they aren't. A lot of people like Cloud Atlas. What mystifies me is how many people dislike it.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by jayembee

No, they aren't. A lot of people like Cloud Atlas. What mystifies me is how many people dislike it.

This man here really has a problem with it.

See below.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Wolverinejmc

but does anyone know what kind of release Valerie and her Week of Wonders is getting? The scanavo cases are great and all,but i love their digibooks,and this release is by far my most anticipated (outside Mulholland Drive as i never thought that would happen) when was the last time they even did a digibook? Eraserhead is the last i bought.

My general assumption is that the digipacks happen when there are multiple discs (Seven Samurai, Battle of Algiers), special packaging (Godzilla) or when the booklet is thicker than usual (Babette's Feast). Don't have Eraserhead, so I don't know what the scene with that one was. For simplicity and durability, I prefer a case.

Originally Posted by jayembee

No, they aren't. A lot of people like Cloud Atlas. What mystifies me is how many people dislike it.

I have not seen the film but loved the novel which has a wonderful Matryoshka doll structure. Friend of mine that saw the film said that the structure was muddled into a meandering back and forth that unnecessarily tries to draw connections between all the episodes. Even the review on this site mentions that:

Whereas Mitchell's novel presented the six stories in measured progression followed by measured regression (1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2-1), the filmmakers hyper-leap from one time period to the next as often, suddenly and jarringly as they can stomach, without any concession, warning or, now and again, intuitive rhyme or reason.

[jw007]

I just love this photo... it was posted by the Criterion Collection earlier on Tuesday on their Facebook page:

(From the premiere of the Janus Films restoration of PATHER PANCHALI last night. From left to right: Noah Baumbach, Joel Coen, Wes Anderson, and Jim Jarmusch.)

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jayembee

No, they aren't. A lot of people like Cloud Atlas. What mystifies me is how many people dislike it.

Originally Posted by jw007

This man here really has a problem with it.

See below.

It doesn't surprise me that some people dislike it. I mean, I doubt there is a single film in the entire history of cinema that doesn't have at least one detractor.

What surprises me is the number of people that dislike it. It seems to be a very polarizing film.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by Edward J Grug III

People liking Cloud Atlas?

Are these posts only just showing up from April first?

I've had plenty of people tell me I need to give it a shot. I love sci-fi though, even had sci-fi.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by jayembee

It doesn't surprise me that some people dislike it. I mean, I doubt there is a single film in the entire history of cinema that doesn't have at least one detractor.

What surprises me is the number of people that dislike it. It seems to be a very polarizing film.

The average non critic ratings is surprisingly high for it, although recently i started ignoring those since every new superhero movie is the best ever

But yeah i am sure everyone love some movie that most critics hated, i don't see what is wrong with The Fountain for example, one of my favorites.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by jayembee

It doesn't surprise me that some people dislike it. I mean, I doubt there is a single film in the entire history of cinema that doesn't have at least one detractor.

What surprises me is the number of people that dislike it. It seems to be a very polarizing film.

I don't share the opinion of Orson on Cloud Atlas, so don't confuse me with that deceased man. Confused? I'd be too.

I gave it another shot, seeing it for the second time about a month or two ago, and I actually liked it more, only because my expectations had been diminished. I think the story is so massive and the ambitions are so great, that people write this film off as "pretentious" (yes, an overused word but its true), and so with these great, big ideas comes this fear that the story its telling is so confounding, so "out there", so crazy, that it might actually be possible. So I think this is why Cloud Atlas is so polarizing, because its got such massive vision. Either people embrace it or they don't. The problem I had wasn't the story, but the directing and acting, as well as casting, which I found very obnoxious. I wish someone like Terrence Malick could have directed this film, because I bet his version would have been more mature and thought-provoking. The Wachowskis were in over their heads, but they still managed to pull this off... it just could have been something even more deeper than it was.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by jw007

I don't share the opinion of Orson on Cloud Atlas, so don't confuse me with that deceased man. Confused? I'd be too.

I gave it another shot, seeing it for the second time about a month or two ago, and I actually liked it more, only because my expectations had been diminished. I think the story is so massive and the ambitions are so great, that people write this film off as "pretentious" (yes, an overused word but its true), and so with these great, big ideas comes this fear that the story its telling is so confounding, so "out there", so crazy, that it might actually be possible. So I think this is why Cloud Atlas is so polarizing, because its got such massive vision. Either people embrace it or they don't. The problem I had wasn't the story, but the directing and acting, as well as casting, which I found very obnoxious. I wish someone like Terrence Malick could have directed this film, because I bet his version would have been more mature and thought-provoking. The Wachowskis were in over their heads, but they still managed to pull this off... it just could have been something even more deeper than it was.

I haven't seen it again since it was on theaters, and haven't read the book, and agree the directing was a problem, also the make up was distracting, i don't think it was pretentious but feel the ideas could have been conveyed in a more mature way, the way they are in the film it feels kind of silly from what i remember and didn't gave me much interest in re-watching it.

While i can't think seriously of some of its ideas that doesn't mean i can't connect with it in some way, Kieslowski Red and The Double life of Veronique have metaphysical elements that at the same time feel very mysterious, deeply moving and help explore a greater theme.
It might be an unfair comparison, but just saying it could have been great, we don't get that many films with such ambitious ideas.

[Polaroid]

Hated Cloud Atlas, its one of those films where the trailer was better than the actual film lol.

Biggest let down - awful make up, the stories never had time to really develop. I would have been happy with a film focusing on Xun Zhou's characters.

I get what they were trying to achieve, but it was too big for them tbh, I was so excited about it but no, it just didn't work - maybe if it was a trilogy of film and each film was one story? I don't know.

I only saw once, so maybe I need to resist? I just couldn't connect with it.

Despite that I have so much respect for Lana Wachowski - I am a sucker for the Matrix though, despite its flaws, the best part of the matrix for me was Animatrix which is a must see.

Originally Posted by pedromvu

The average non critic ratings is surprisingly high for it, although recently i started ignoring those since every new superhero movie is the best ever

But yeah i am sure everyone love some movie that most critics hated, i don't see what is wrong with The Fountain for example, one of my favorites.

I never got the hate for The Fountain - it was so beautiful and had so much emotion. Also, the special effects are incredible and won't date, Aronofsky tried to make everything ons screen real, the flowers that appear are real and even the gold effect was made from chemical reactions which were mesmerising.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Hated Cloud Atlas, its one of those films where the trailer was better than the actual film lol.

Biggest let down - awful make up, the stories never had time to really develop. I would have been happy with a film focusing on Xun Zhou's characters.

I get what they were trying to achieve, but it was too big for them tbh, I was so excited about it but no, it just didn't work - maybe if it was a trilogy of film and each film was one story? I don't know.

I only saw once, so maybe I need to resist? I just couldn't connect with it.

Despite that I have so much respect for Lana Wachowski - I am a sucker for the Matrix though, despite its flaws, the best part of the matrix for me was Animatrix which is a must see.

You took the words right out of my mouth. I remember watching that trailer and being blown away by it. And it was so much more moving than the actual film.

Did you see Jupiter Ascending? I heard from people it was just beyond bad. A friend of mine actually walked out of the theater (or at least nearly did).

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by jw007

This man here really has a problem with it.

See below.

Welles heartily recommends Something Else.

[Meek12345]

I'm a few days late with this, but I thought it could be helpful to see a list of the current and future/rumored Criterion titles that are currently scheduled to be shown on TCM for May 6-31. Kiss Me Deadly and Seven Samurai aired this past Sunday. Kiss Me Deadly has been shown twice in the last few weeks, so it may pop up again soon.

I have seen all of the films marked with a .

All Times Are Eastern
May 6
8 p.m.-The Killing

May 8
11:30 a.m.-Purple Noon
11:45 p.m.-Mr. Arkadin

May 9
3:15 a.m.-Foreign Correspondent

May 11
4:45 a.m.-The Ascent

May 12
1:30 a.m.-Easy Rider
10:30 p.m.-Modern Times

May 15
8 p.m.-Chimes at Midnight
10:15 p.m.-Orson Welles' Othello

May 16
2 a.m.-Throne of Blood
4 a.m.-Yojimbo
8 a.m.-Things to Come
8 p.m.-The Red Shoes
10:30 p.m.-The Tales of Hoffmann

May 18
2:15 a.m.-Here's Your Life

May 22
2:15 a.m.-A Night to Remember
11:15 a.m.-Hamlet

May 23
1:30 a.m.-F for Fake

May 24
6 p.m.-The Steel Helmet

May 25
3 a.m.-Grand Illusion

May 28
11:45 p.m.-La Jetee

May 29
8 p.m.-The Third Man

Sterling Hayden is the Star of the Month with 21 of his movies scheduled for Wednesdays during May (including great non-Criterion titles such as The Asphalt Jungle, Johnny Guitar and Dr. Strangelove). The Friday Night Spotlight will feature 18 films Orson Welles directed or acted in. I'm really looking forward to the Shakespeare lineup for Welles on 5/15.

Also, I would like to recommend The Story of Film by Mark Cousins. The book and documentary have both been mentioned by other members on here before, but I thought I should bring it up again since it hasn't been mentioned in a while. I prefer the book to the documentary. However, both are quite entertaining and mention several Criterion titles.

[ShellOilJunior]

100 years ago on this day Babe Ruth hit his first home run (Polo Grounds off Jack Warhop).

This guy was born, too:

[The Great Owl]

The Friends of Eddie Coyle arrived in the mail last night. I'm looking forward to diving into it this afternoon.

[Donnie D]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

I am too interested in seeing what they end up releasing, inspired by an episode of The History of Film i decided to watch Sholay a few weeks back, and while it heavily borrows from very well known films i thought it was pretty good, i am interested in which are considered the most well known Bollywood films, since there are a lot on Netflix but i have a suspicion a lot of them might not be good.

I remember watching Mother India when I was very young. Later I found out it was a big hit. Nargis was excellent in it and the music was lovely. It was the first movie to be nominated for Academy Awards Foreign Film from India.

Pakeezah is an exhausting watch but it is so good. Meena Kumari's physical changes always throws me off. Of course it's obvious now why she changed, it took 12 years to finish the film.

Mughal-e-Azam would be another great bollywood film to wish for in a good presentation.