The Criterion Collection

[jlk5844]

Just Moonrise Kingdom for now, but even that doesn't quicken my pulse, not an immediate priority. The Honeymoon Killers I actually do have in my list of Criterion DVDs that I'm interested in but waiting for an upgrade, but I forget why, will have to look into that one again. Haven't seen any Kieslowski (unfortunately), so I can't get excited for that one. Overall a pretty meh month for me, le sigh...

Was I the only one who assumed the title for Moonrise Kingdom would be the one that was painted into the artwork? (the little rocks on the beach) I think it would've looked great without the yellow text near the top, but as it stands it's still a fantastic cover, and a nice break from the typical Wes Anderson designs like Fantastic Mr. Fox was (though they're inconsistent).

[schlock]

Honeymoon Killers and Breaker Morant for me.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jlk5844

Just Moonrise Kingdom for now, but even that doesn't quicken my pulse, not an immediate priority. The Honeymoon Killers I actually do have in my list of Criterion DVDs that I'm interested in but waiting for an upgrade, but I forget why, will have to look into that one again. Haven't seen any Klieslowski (unfortunately), so I can't get excited for that one. Overall a pretty meh month for me, le sigh...

Was I the only one who assumed the title for Moonrise Kingdom would be the one that was painted into the artwork? (the little rocks on the beach) I think it would've looked great without the yellow text near the top, but as it stands it's still a fantastic cover, and a nice break from the typical Wes Anderson designs like Fantastic Mr. Fox was (though they're inconsistent).

The design would not have worked without the yellow text.

As a painting/art piece without text is obvious choice, but as a design piece that needs to deliver a message, the stones on beach would not be clear enough, especially on a shelf or poster. It would be difficult for some to realise the message or what it is actually selling and it just gets lost in the beautiful painting.

I think the yellow text is perfect, would have been better had the C and the side bars been in yellow to as it would have made the title more stable and part of the design and brought it all together. But its a great design

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

I understand that.
But:
I saw your collection. You have a great collection of movies!
I don't see any fantasy anime in there or something along those lines.
That means you don't like them?
BUT, i saw you had an open mind (if I understood correctly) to Jellyfish Eyes (and good for you, we should all have open minds).

Would you still have this attitude towards it if it wasn't Criterion and it was just a film released in a Japanese Bluray?
I would please ask you to be completely frank..

I can't speak for bwdowiak, but for myself, I'd be more inclined to check out the Jellyfish Eyes if it came out from Criterion than if it came out from, say, Well Go USA. And that's because, as some of us have been saying, our experience with Criterion releases has been good enough that we trust their judgment that there might be something about the film that's worth the gamble.

Let's try this example. Back when The Hunger Games was released, I decided -- based on the trailers and write-ups I'd seen -- that it was not something I had any interest in seeing. At some later point, I was poking around Netflix looking for some things to put in my queue, and I came across their listing for The Hunger Games.

Now Netflix uses some algorithm to determine what kind of star rating (1-5) one would give a movie. I'd found in the past that they are scarily accurate in their predictions. Much to my surprise, they predicted that I'd give THG a 3.something rating. So I figured, why the hell not, and I watched it. And found that I did indeed like it. And it turned out that I liked the sequel even more, and the third film even more than that.

So I ended up seeing some films that I really liked because I trusted Netflix's recommendation based on experience. I probably wouldn't have tried THG if I saw a listing for it on Amazon Prime, because I have no experience regarding the value of their recommendations.

And that's what we're trying to get across here regarding Criterion versus other labels.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by prior

While I didn't like The Double Life of Veronique all that much, A Short Film about Killing or A Short Film about Love... those would be great additions to CC.

Don't know Blind Chance, sounds great.

Blind Chance is a very good early Kieslowski film, though I prefer the two films he made immediately after it (which you mention). They will come out on Blu-ray as both are restored.

The two Australian films are an excellent addition to the collection. Simon Wincer's The Lihgthorsemen could have been a good companion piece to Breaker Morant.

Finally, it would be great if we could get a few more James Ivory films in the collection. I recently revisited Quartet, one of my favorite additions to the HVE/Merchant Ivory Collection, but the old transfer that was used for the DVD is no longer serviceable. A beautiful film that should look glorious on Blu-ray







Pro-B

[tallrichard]

Breaker Morant for me in Sept...rule 303 says it is destiny!

[dressedtokill]

Some interesting additions, I'm definitely buying Moonrise Kingdom, A room with a view and The Honeymoon Killers. That being said, what's up with Criterion lately? Their sort of skimping on the special features lately…
Since I never managed to buy THK dvd, did they manage to port over all the special features?

[oildude]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

The two Australian films are an excellent addition to the collection. Simon Wincer's The Lihgthorsemen could have been a good companion piece to Breaker Morant.

[Show spoiler]

Pro-B

The Lighthorsemen is fantastic. I discovered it on VHS back in the 1980s when many of the Australian New Wave films began appearing in U.S. video stores.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Happy to finally see Honeymoon Killers get af BD upgrade. I will probably wait and see what the Arrow UK release will look like, though, before I commit.

[sjconstable]

Originally Posted by alexandergrape

Speaking of Possession, I strolled through Mondo Vision's limited edition last week. This has got to be one of the most lovingly articulated and reverent releases in the format's history. Everything from the packaging to the special features are so carefully considered. Just beautiful. I wish every great film could have a temple like this. Whatever their next release is (Silver Glove?), it's day one for me.

Should be 'La note bleue' if they receive fixed audio for it.

[octagon]

Not a bad month overall...

Blind Chance, Breaker Morant and The Honeymoon Killers are all very solid probables. A Room With a View would be a definite if I didn't already have it.

Mister Johnson...curious but not yet all that interested and no real interest in Moonrise Kingdom.

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

The design would not have worked without the yellow text.

As a painting/art piece without text is obvious choice, but as a design piece that needs to deliver a message, the stones on beach would not be clear enough, especially on a shelf or poster. It would be difficult for some to realise the message or what it is actually selling and it just gets lost in the beautiful painting.

I think the yellow text is perfect, would have been better had the C and the side bars been in yellow to as it would have made the title more stable and part of the design and brought it all together. But its a great design

Doubling up on the title? Agree to disagree.

[filmmusic]

Just a question:
Maybe The Honeymoon Killers corresponds to that couple in the car in the newsletter?
I am not sure since I haven't seen the movie.

[schlock]

Originally Posted by dressedtokill

Some interesting additions, I'm definitely buying Moonrise Kingdom, A room with a view and The Honeymoon Killers. That being said, what's up with Criterion lately? Their sort of skimping on the special features lately…
Since I never managed to buy THK dvd, did they manage to port over all the special features?

From the specs, it looks like everything from the DVD will be ported over except for "Cast and crew biographies by film historian Bruce Eder", which doesn't sound like any great loss, and it may be included and just not listed on the specs.

[captveg]

Was already in for Moonrise Kingdom.

Breaker Morant is a film that's right in that zone of liking it, but perhaps not liking it enough to own. I may pick it up eventually but it's low priority.

Haven't seen the others. A Room with a View has never interested me, though I quite like Howards End and The Remains of the Day. Blind Chance definitely has me interested. Mister Johnson is probably a title I'd like but it'll be a while until I get around to seeing it more likely than not. Can't say I've ever been too interested in The Honeymoon Killers.

Not the strongest month for me, but their releases are always fascinating.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

So, this month has the release that excited me more in all 2015 so far:
A Room with A View.
(then it was Watership Down and Five Easy Pieces standalone release)

Well, I'm still most enamored of the upcoming Night and the City, but I was briefly overcome with joy when I saw Room With a View pop up.

I own the DVD, but have never watched it, so of course I'm excited about the film itself. But beyond that, I'm very hopeful for what it might mean for the rest of the Merchant-Ivory catalog. A casual acquaintance of mine, Tim Choate (now deceased), made his film debut in The Europeans, which I would love to have on blu-ray, and I'm a great admirer of The Bostonians, Maurice and The Remains of the Day.

What would really be cause for celebration would be a remastered blu-ray of Howards End, which is one of my favorite films to watch on a rainy winter's day. I think Emma Thompson is nothing short of brilliant in that film, and I also greatly admire Vanessa Redgrave's work as well.

Fingers crossed!

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jlk5844

Doubling up on the title? Agree to disagree.

I agree its odd to have the title twice, but it sort of work because the title on beach is blended into the artwork so nicely, its quite subtle.

I think if the beach was empty the design would feel empty, I don't know maybe they could have put some characters on the beach, but that may have been distracting.

I think the artwork would have suited the booklet insert better without the yellow text and they could have kept yellow text on cover with a different background maybe. Similar to what they have done with some previous designs, like the digipaks.

Or if they did release as digipak, have the scene with no yellow text as the insert so when it opens its a nice panoramic shot, similar to Salo, Y Tu Mama Tabien, Breaking the Waves, The Great Beauty. Then kept the main cover with yellow text and alternate image... I don't know, I'm tired lol.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

So we have two films by Bruce 'bland' Beresford and not one by many great international directors? I guess fans of Breaker Morant will be happy because there were apparently problems with the Aussie disc. Mister Johnson is a real dull and forgettable film. How many people are going to buy that? They may as well have released Don's Party hah


This is Criterion's weakest announcement in a long time. I love K.K but Blind Chance is definitely not one of his better films, even if the narrative structure was innovative for its time.

I saw Don's Party when TCM was spotlighting Australian films. They showed it and Muriel's Wedding on the same evening. It was a most enjoyable double bill.

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by jlk5844

Was I the only one who assumed the title for Moonrise Kingdom would be the one that was painted into the artwork? (the little rocks on the beach) I think it would've looked great without the yellow text near the top, but as it stands it's still a fantastic cover, and a nice break from the typical Wes Anderson designs like Fantastic Mr. Fox was (though they're inconsistent).

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the yellow title at the top. I think that the title spelled out on the beach would suffice, though the cover would need to be zoomed in a little bit so that the title would be more visible.

I'm also a little bit surprised that it's #776. I definitely thought it would've been #775. Not that it really matters.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

I saw Don's Party when TCM was spotlighting Australian films. They showed it and Muriel's Wedding on the same evening. It was a most enjoyable double bill.

I ADORE Muriel's Wedding, they got the perfect balance of humour and sadness, a great comedy with some very funny moments and but also a very emotional and touching film. Without the humour it would have been a very very depressing film and the comical moments do help cushion those dark moments.

Toni Collette was PERFECT for that role and really carried the film.

I actually think it would fit very well in the Criterion Collection.