The Criterion Collection

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by nondiatonic

I can't argue anything you posted. I considered saying The Maltese Falcon. Both movies are essential viewing. Both movies are entertaining and easy to get sucked into. Both movies are classics and influential. Both movies are easier to digest that some of Huston's other works.

So, all things being equal, it came down to which movie I like the better. And I like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre much more than The Maltese Falcon.

I don't think I could choose the essential Huston (only a good entry point). In my eyes he has multiple masterpieces.

There are so many great Huston films, all different but many dealing with the same theme: men following their own code of honor in fulfillment of some kind of doomed quest. Ultimately it comes down to preference. I think I'd choose The Maltese Falcon, for many reasons, but Huston, Bogart and Hammett are three that come to mind.

obCriterion: I'd really like to see them upgrade Wise Blood and Under the Volcano. If they could also do a release of The Dead, that would be cool, too, but I'm not sure where the rights stand for that one.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

I know I know this isn't Criterion related but oh my gosh th new Macbeth film looks incredible!

This guy is very talented, I loved Snowtown.

is it possible to "love" The Snowtown Murders? I'm not squeamish and not averse to heavy subject matter, but this movie was so brutal that I couldn't get past about the 45 minute mark -

[Show spoiler]the part where he orders someone (forgot who) to shoot the dog... and I'm not one who is usually standing at the front of the anti-animal brutality movement either..

the whole thing is just a miserable affair,

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Not to get too OT here, but TSM was one of the most horrific & difficult to watch films I've ever seen. I typically like Australian films, but this was way too graphic for me. What made it worse was that it was based on true events. It was well done & educational for me (since I wasn't aware of the events depicted in the film), but it's not something I would want to watch again. Also, it displayed a side of Australia that I knew was there, but hadn't seen depicted in film before - i.e., the extreme poverty suffered by some of those of European descent in the country.

Switching gears, I wanted to touch on the John Cassavetes discussion that was mentioned a couple of days?! ago on this thread. I've seen some of his films, and find them all interesting - I don't mind films that are intentionally heavy on dialogue.

A Woman Under the Influence was excellent. My strong impression of this film was that the Gena Rowlands character was supposed to suffering from some kind of mental illness. Very disturbing movie. I need to watch it again, since the only time I've seen this was on an old DVD with a pan & scan print.

Enjoyed Minnie & Moskowitz, which I thought was an underrated & hilarious film.

[Show spoiler]One of my favorite scenes was when Minnie & Moskowitz went out to lunch with their respective parents, and Moskowitz's (Seymour C.) mother was telling Minnie (Gena R.) that she was too good for her son, that her son was a bum, etc. - it was the opposite of what you would have expected in a scene like this, which is why it worked so well

Also, I don't think Cassavetes directed this, but he did star in Mikey & Nicky (1977), which was a great piece of raw '70's film-making. I liked how the entire movie took place over one long night.

[Show spoiler]The ending was quite grim, but not unexpected....

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

is it possible to "love" The Snowtown Murders? I'm not squeamish and not averse to heavy subject matter, but this movie was so brutal that I couldn't get past about the 45 minute mark -

[Show spoiler]the part where he orders someone (forgot who) to shoot the dog... and I'm not one who is usually standing at the front of the anti-animal brutality movement either..

the whole thing is just a miserable affair,

Well I loved the filmmaking and the skill from the actors - the subjects not something you tend to love

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by gates70

Anybody see The Leopard ? I love Burt Lancaster movies but this goes against his typical roles.

I've seen it once.
(i have the Australian Bluray which is far superior to the Criterion edition).
I didn't like it much, but I'll have to revisit it with a clearer mind.

(I had some stomach problems as I was watching it and after the end of the film I threw up!)

edit: of course, as the poster below said, I could appreciate the high production values!
But the story, didn't engage me.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by gates70

Anybody see The Leopard ? I love Burt Lancaster movies but this goes against his typical roles.

I saw an unrestored and truncated print of it years and years ago when I was a student at the University of Texas at Austin. At the time, I didn't have a very mature sociopolitical framework through which to watch it, nor did I have a very well-developed historical perspective. Still, I enjoyed the cinematography, the epic sweep of the story, and Lancaster's performance.

The Criterion edition is in my "to be watched" pile, and I'm thinking/hoping that I will understand and appreciate it in a whole new light when I finally set aside a big block of time and see the restored and unedited film.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

is it possible to "love" The Snowtown Murders? I'm not squeamish and not averse to heavy subject matter, but this movie was so brutal that I couldn't get past about the 45 minute mark -

[Show spoiler]the part where he orders someone (forgot who) to shoot the dog... and I'm not one who is usually standing at the front of the anti-animal brutality movement either..

the whole thing is just a miserable affair,

I thought it was a lousy film all 'round. Really didn't like it. Keen to see what he's done with Macbeth tho.

[silverlakephil]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

I know I know this isn't Criterion related but oh my gosh th new Macbeth film looks incredible!

Ok It does link with Criterion because we have two versions in the collection :P

MACBETH - OFFICIAL TEASER TRAILER - YouTube

This guy is very talented, I loved Snowtown.

I dunno, based on the trailer, it seems to be way overdone (IMO). Does Macbeth needs this huge scope? It remains to be seen, so I'll keep my expectations low and be surprised. Of all the previous versions, Polanski's version is my favorite.

[obscurelabel]

Originally Posted by AnamorphicWidescreen

Also, I don't think Cassavetes directed this, but he did star in Mikey & Nicky (1977), which was a great piece of raw '70's film-making. I liked how the entire movie took place over one long night.

[Show spoiler]The ending was quite grim, but not unexpected....

The HomeVision DVD (now out of print and expensive it appears) has a commentary and a documentary extra which details Elaine May's struggles with directing this movie. At one point during filming Mikey and Nicky she fired her cinematographer because he insisted that a dark scene needed more lights. She had been assured that the film stock was sensitive enough to film without them, and kicked him off the set. The camera operator took over and filmed the scene. When the scene was viewed in dailies, it was entirely black with a glimpse of action visible every so often. The original cinematographer was hired back.

She is a very talented woman but it seems she needed a producer that could work with her to get her movies done on budget and on time but not stifle her creativity. Yes, difficult I know. Reportedly on Ishtar she was filming in Morocco and didn't like the way the sand dunes looked, and spent a good deal of time and money moving sand around so that it would match her vision. (This has been related by production designer Paul Sylbert but disputed by others. The production definitely had other problems though).

[Iamspartacus]

Can anyone recommend Medium Cool? Heard Tarantino talking about it but I'm not real familiar with it.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Iamspartacus

Can anyone recommend Medium Cool? Heard Tarantino talking about it but I'm not real familiar with it.

Great film. It plays like a fictional docu-drama with cinema-vérité elements.

[WonderWeasel]

So did any Wes Anderson fans submit a question for the Q&A tomorrow?

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Iamspartacus

Can anyone recommend Medium Cool? Heard Tarantino talking about it but I'm not real familiar with it.

Originally Posted by hariseldon

100% recommend. Astonishing work of art particularly for those of us that lived through that time and watched the convention on TV and TV News

Yes indeed! What a rough year that was. From the lows of the two assassinations and the convention to a much needed high that was the Apollo 8 mission with the reading from Genesis and that iconic earthrise photo.

It's an excellent film but I felt

[Show spoiler]the ending really came out of left field and had a Easy Rider feel to it.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

Yes indeed! What a rough year that was. From the lows of the two assassinations and the convention to a much needed high that was the Apollo 8 mission with the reading from Genesis and that iconic earthrise photo.

They saved 1968.

[ijustblumyself]

World on a Wire has to be one of the most haunting, thought-provoking science fiction films I've ever seen. Fassbinder's direction is to die for.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by jayembee

They saved 1968.

They did indeed. That was a huge gamble since the Russians had successfully flown an unmanned circumlunar flight and it seemed almost a certainty they were going to be first to fly a manned mission.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Iamspartacus

Can anyone recommend Medium Cool? Heard Tarantino talking about it but I'm not real familiar with it.

Here's my User Review that I wrote for Medium Cool.

Medium Cool makes a great double feature with Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. I'm dead serious. Watch the two films, and you'll see what I mean.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Agreed that Medium Cool is an amazing film. It came out before my time so I don't remember the events (I was born in the early '70's), and as a result I felt it was an amazing time-capsule of that era. Filming this during the Democratic National Convention & the protests was brilliant, since a lot of what was going on was completely unscripted & many of these scenes had no actual actors. I have a feeling that Tarantino probably cast Robert Forster in Jackie Brown (1997) based on Forster's performance in MC....

As far as EM directing Mikey & Nicky, she sounds like she was a nightmare to work with. No wonder she didn't direct many films. That being said, I did think M&N & Ishtar were both great. Ishtar is especially amusing & IMHO extremely underrated.

[Clare2904]

Medium Cool was the film last week at my online film club, I personally didn't fancy it.

Tonight it is my turn and I have gone with Larisa Shepiko's The Ascent. I am expecting a fantastic but depressing film.

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by obscurelabel

The HomeVision DVD (now out of print and expensive it appears) has a commentary and a documentary extra which details Elaine May's struggles with directing this movie.

Wow you aren't kidding I pulled up that DVD on amazon the prices are out there! I wonder if this is a film Criterion would try to release a BLU for. I never realized Elaine May directed the film. I really liked her acting aside from her writing. A New Leaf is a good little film. I also liked that her ant Matthau played husband and wife again in California Suite. Loved her performance in that.

also wish we could get a BLU for The Heartbreak Kid with Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd