The Criterion Collection

[WonderWeasel]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I watched my Criterion Blu-ray of Ingmar Bergman's Summer with Monika this morning.

This is a beautiful film in so many ways, especially during the long stretch where Monika and Harry escape to their remote summer spot. The movie strikes me as a nonviolent precursor to Bonnie and Clyde or even Natural Born Killers, because of these scenes where the lovers rebel against the world and go off on their own. Reality ultimately crashes the party, but the film is still wonderful even during its later moments that are painful to watch, especially one where Harriet Andersson looks directly into the camera as a real-life representation of the cinema actresses whom she tries to emulate.

It's interesting to think of the controversy that this film generated at the time. Leave it up to America, of course, to turn the movie into a work of exploitation.

What a coincidence! I literally just picked this up today:

[Show spoiler]

I've had a rather terrible region-free DVD of this for years. I figured it was time for an upgrade so I can see the gorgeous Harriet Andersson in high-def for the first time.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by oildude

Carlos.

Nothing wrong with Che, it has fantastic performances and makes for an intense viewing, but in my quest to cull Criterions I will likely never watch again, I sold Che and kept Carlos.

Yeah, I went with Carlos.

I will, someday, get Che though, but #200 will definitely be Carlos.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I'm at 198 Blu-Rays right now, so I've been trying to decide on what will be #200. I decided that it would be a Criterion, and it would be something big, and something I had never seen before.

So, now I'm trying to decide between Carlos and Che. Both sound fascinating. Both are reviewed extremely well. Both are loaded with tons of extras.

*sigh*

Decisions. Decisions.

I like both. I saw Che at one of the roadshow all-day screenings, and have no real desire to revisit it on home video. I'll probably live with the memory of that day rather than watch it again, despite how much I enjoyed it.

I've got the UK Blu-ray of Carlos, as I wasn't region free for Blu-ray when that came out. It has both cuts of the film on there tho. Is the US Blu-ray worth double-dipping on for the extra features alone?

[SolidRaider]

Quick question, when is the next Barnes and Noble sale?

[with_teeth]

The sales have often begun in July. I think one time, though, one started in the end of June. It'll be coming up at any rate (unless B&N decide to forego the sale).

[JJJ225]

Originally Posted by gr451

If anyone has the plastic case for Last Year at Marienbad and willing to sell (with or without discs) please PM me.

When they switched to plastic cases, I replaced all the old cardboard cases except Marienbad. I thought the embossed slipcover was cool. Now I regret it. The packaging has become very discolored around the edges. Whatever material they used for the slipcover was not a good choice.

[filmmusic]

do we have reason to believe that the Woman Next door could be coming from Criterion?
I watched it the other day and loved it.
I had seen it again once in my teens, 20 years ago, but didn't remember anything.

I could buy the Artificial Eye one (I don't have a problem with regions), but I'd like to see what Criterion could come up with, both in terms of quality and extras.

[TwelveMind]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

Well if you live in the U.S. and near a Costco (membership only), they just stocked the following at some of their stores:

($19.99 each)

Paths of Glory
Cries and Whispers
The Game
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Seven Samurai
Hoop Dreams
The Rose
Ride The Pink Horse
Sullivan's Travels

And they should still have these previous four:

A Day In The Country
Every Man For Himself
Don't look Now
An Autumn Afternoon

Thanks very much. It's too bad I live in Canada and the Costco here don't carry them. I'll try my luck if I ever get an opportunity to drive across the border.

[jshaide]

I'll find out about the BN sale pretty soon since my girlfriend works in one (and I used to myself). Will keep the forum posted.

[jhiggy23]

Watched The River last night. Incredibly beautiful and the narration was eloquently written. The story, however, fell a bit flat for me. I also thought that Capt John was an unlikeable character and the actor was poor.

I also watched Le Silence de la Mer. Excellent film. I'm not sure about the rewatchability though.

[monorail91]

Holy cow is Dressed to Kill good! Hadn't even heard of it before this message board, then the Criterion announcement this month. Very compelling thriller with a twist that I did not see coming. Devoured all the special features on the MGM DVD and cannot wait for this to receive the Criterion treatment!

[SlickDamian]

Originally Posted by gr451

Could anyone comment on Revanche (2008) ? Found a copy at good price and wondered if it's worth a blind-buy

One of the best films of the last decade, Criterion, foreign, or otherwise. The Criterion disc is fantastic. Definitely a very solid blind buy. You won't be disappointed!

[tisdivine]

All this talk of Lynch & Blue Velvet left me wondering whats the chance of a Criterion blu of Blue velvet or Lost Highway? Do they have access to all his catalog or just Eraser & MD? I know they are on a lot of people's wishlists but is there really a chance?

[octagon]

I'm a little late to this party but add me to the Revanche amen corner.

It was one of my early BD purchases and in a lot of ways I've been chasing that same high ever since. I honestly think I'd be a lot less prone to blind buying if it weren't for some notable successes early on and Revanche was definitely one of them.

[SexySamSosa67]

Dressed To Kill is going to be my first Criterion Collection pickup. I just hope the audio + video is 5/5.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by SexySamSosa67

Dressed To Kill is going to be my first Criterion Collection pickup. I just hope the audio + video is 5/5.

Why does it not surprise me that a guy with a tag of "SexySamSosa67" is from Illinois?

Nice choice, BTW. Fun movie.

[schan1269]

Originally Posted by gr451

Could anyone comment on Revanche (2008) ? Found a copy at good price and wondered if it's worth a blind-buy

My opinion...

The entire Spielmann filmography is "blind buy"...

Even Antares.

Regardless of when made, country of origin...

Oktober November is just damn good cinema.

Different origin, same(overall) theme is The Sea by Kormakur.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by SexySamSosa67

Dressed To Kill is going to be my first Criterion Collection pickup. I just hope the audio + video is 5/5.

Just don't expect it to look like a new film. DePalma used a lot of filters so I suspect detail won't be super sharp, but it will look the best it possibly can coming from Criterion.

[octagon]

If anybody's interested, Gohastings has a used copy of Last Year at Marienbad in stock and they're running a 35% Memorial Day sale (code: memorialday) that ends today.

http://www.gohastings.com/product/MO.../280939140.uts

The current price is $76.22 so the code should bring it down to $49.54 and shipping is $1.29 per item.

Fair warning: it's used and it's GoHastings. The digipack could be beat to hell, the booklet could be missing...no promises about the condition and they've kind of tightened up on returns so unless the disc itself is damaged or missing you're pretty much rolling the dice.

That said, I've had pretty good luck with them over the years.

[fdm]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

do we have reason to believe that the Woman Next door could be coming from Criterion?
I watched it the other day and loved it.
I had seen it again once in my teens, 20 years ago, but didn't remember anything.

I could buy the Artificial Eye one (I don't have a problem with regions), but I'd like to see what Criterion could come up with, both in terms of quality and extras.

I would imagine this could come eventually from Criterion, given they had it on LD at one time. It just depends on how long you want to wait. (It's one of my favorite Truffauts.)

Me, I went for the Artificial Eye set, as I imagine it will probably be years before Criterion trickles all those Truffaut titles out, if ever for some of them. Of course, they could surprise me.... I am, however, waiting for them to blu-ray the Doinel box.