The Criterion Collection

[oildude]

Originally Posted by WonderWeasel

On another note, I watched my blind buy from the June 40% off sale, Letter Never Sent, last night. It was my first Kalatozov film, and I was not disappointed. The only complaint I have is that it felt a bit too short, like the love triangle between Andrei, Sergei, and Tanya should have been developed more.

The cinematography was brilliant (the silhouetted shots of the expedition party walking in the distance were particularly striking), and the restoration is nearly perfect. It's probably the best "budget" Criterion film I've seen so far.

Has anyone seen The Cranes are Flying? My local library has the DVD, and I was thinking about checking it out.

The Cranes are Flying is brilliant and beautiful. One of my top two films I want Criterion to upgrade to Blu-ray ASAP. It would look spectacular.

[monorail91]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

good thing you put the word 'excellent' parenthetically cause YiR was pretty bad.

he also aspires to be Jean Paul Belmondo in that film, too.

Nooooo, love the movie and the novel which inspired it - truly one of my favorite books, and characters in the two leads Nick & Sheeni.

AaronJ and jmclick, trying to catch up to the conversation on Shortbus and In the Realm of the Senses -- -- I don't really give much credence to the pornography versus film debate with some titles. I believe Oshima even wrote that In the Realm of the Senses was his attempt at a "porno" movie. (Not that his own dubbing his film as porn makes it any less of a legitimate film, or any more of porn for viewers with dirty intentions. Just interesting how he says it with such unapologetic bluntness.)

Of course, Shortbus also has a very very funny reference to Realm. The more I think about it the more I like it, but I'm still brewing on it - wrote a review with my initial thoughts here. I'm sure this will be a film I revisit and my ideas will develop more strongly.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

As you can see, the coat from Missing looks nothing like the one in the drawing

Right. For me, the outstanding features of the coat are that it is not belted around the waist; it has no pockets; it has a short collar; and that it appears to be designed so that it can be tightened at the cuffs and just above the knees. It still reminds me of a uniform of some kind that I've seen ... a fireman's coat or something similar ... but I cannot put my finger on it.

[joie]

∆ It is a fireman's coat -- Towering Inferno.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Right. For me, the outstanding features of the coat are that it is not belted around the waist; it has no pockets; it has a short collar; and that it appears to be designed so that it can be tightened at the cuffs and just above the knees. It still reminds me of a uniform of some kind that I've seen ... a fireman's coat or something similar ... but I cannot put my finger on it.

It does resemble a fireman's coat, or at least, certain styles:

[Show spoiler]

[Edward J Grug III]

Not enough fart talk over the last few pages. What's going on?

[Edward J Grug III]

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

As you can see, the coat from Missing looks nothing like the one in the drawing

I agree. It may not be Young and Innocent, but it seems very unlikely that's Missing.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Edward J Grug III

Not enough fart talk over the last few pages. What's going on?

The topic just ran out of gas.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

As to Shortbus, I always wonder why a film like that, clearly explicit, isn't considered pornography. I mean, I know it's rare, but there are actually some porn that is produced that has an actual budget (relatively, anyways), a real story, some at least semi-decent writing, some art direction, etc. The movies that Stormy Daniels has directed for Wicked come to mind.

It seems like an unfair dichotomy. If one is considered pornography, then why not the other? Just something that comes to mind every once in a while. Thinking out loud.

I'm not familiar with Shortbus, but whether something is considered pornography or not largely depends on the filmmaker's purpose in making it. If the intent is for nothing more than the viewer getting his rocks off, it's pornography. If it's for artistic purposes, it's not pornography. So films like In the Realm of the Senses or En la cama or even Last Tango in Paris can be quite explicit while not really being pornography.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by joie

∆ It is a fireman's coat -- Towering Inferno.

I could more easily believe it's a clue for Roxanne, the remake of Cyrano de Bergerac, which starred this year's AFI Career Achievement honoree, Steve Martin ... and which is desperate need of a remastered blu-ray release ... except that I don't think Steve's small town fire chief was ever depicted wearing a fireman's coat in the film. Still, his identity was a mystery to the woman he loved, so the question mark fits.

Nah, you're right. That theory is a bad stretch, too. Oh, well ... time will tell.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

...

Is this possible?

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Edward J Grug III

Not enough fart talk over the last few pages. What's going on?

“Fart for freedom, fart for liberty—and fart proudly.” -- Benjamin Franklin

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I'm not familiar with Shortbus, but whether something is considered pornography or not largely depends on the filmmaker's purpose in making it. If the intent is for nothing more than the viewer getting his rocks off, it's pornography. If it's for artistic purposes, it's not pornography. So films like In the Realm of the Senses or En la cama or even Last Tango in Paris can be quite explicit while not really being pornography.

Yeah, I get that argument. But as I said, while rare, there are pornographic films made with real (again, relatively) budgets, effort put into the story, impressive (again, relatively) sets, decent writing, comedy, etc. I mean, none of them are going to be as good as Shortbus or In The Realm of the Senses, most likely. And they surely are made with titillation as a priority. But they are also made to tell a story, and with some real effort put into them. I mean, I'm pretty sure that Stormy Daniels last director's effort took something like 3 or 4 weeks to shoot.

I dunno. I know deep down you guys are right. It's just something that has always bothered me on some level.

Originally Posted by jmclick

I could more easily believe it's a clue for Roxanne, the remake of Cyrano de Bergerac, which starred this year's AFI Career Achievement honoree, Steve Martin ... and which is desperate need of a remastered blu-ray release ... except that I don't think Steve's small town fire chief was ever depicted wearing a fireman's coat in the film. Still, his identity was a mystery to the woman he loved, so the question mark fits.

Nah, you're right. That theory is a bad stretch, too. Oh, well ... time will tell.

Roxanne is an adorable movie. It's been WAY too long since I've seen it.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Yeah, I get that argument. But as I said, while rare, there are pornographic films made with real (again, relatively) budgets, effort put into the story, impressive (again, relatively) sets, decent writing, comedy, etc. I mean, none of them are going to be as good as Shortbus or In The Realm of the Senses, most likely. And they surely are made with titillation as a priority. But they are also made to tell a story, and with some real effort put into them. I mean, I'm pretty sure that Stormy Daniels last director's effort took something like 3 or 4 weeks to shoot.

Oh, no question. I quite proudly have a porno film in my laserdisc collection: Café Flesh, which is pretty decent (you should excuse the term) science fiction, with some wonderfully bizarre avant-garde sequences. It was one of the few porno films that had cross-over appeal in the midnight movie circuit back in the 70s, much like Flesh Gordon.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Roxanne is an adorable movie. It's been WAY too long since I've seen it.

My third favorite Steve Martin film, just behind L.A. Story and A Simple Twist of Fate, just ahead of All of Me.

[RupertPupkin]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Right. For me, the outstanding features of the coat are that it is not belted around the waist; it has no pockets; it has a short collar; and that it appears to be designed so that it can be tightened at the cuffs and just above the knees. It still reminds me of a uniform of some kind that I've seen ... a fireman's coat or something similar ... but I cannot put my finger on it.

couldn't it be the raincoat-well.. Karlheinz Böhm wears a raincoat like this in Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom" ???

looks on the blu-ray screenshots here :

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Peepi...1/#Screenshots
(ok that doesn't match- this raincoat has pockets and rain hood...)

I don't know the status of the potential rights for a potential Blu-Ray upgrade for Criterion.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by RupertPupkin

couldn't it be the raincoat-well.. Karlheinz Böhm wears a raincoat like this in Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom" ???

looks on the blu-ray screenshots here :

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Peepi...1/#Screenshots
(ok that doesn't match- this raincoat has pockets and rain hood...)

I don't know the status of the potential rights for a potential Blu-Ray upgrade for Criterion.

It's been awhile* since I saw it - Does the coat play into the story at all?

My suggestion was based around the coat check scene in Lost Weekend which does kind of fit...

*Shout out to any U Talkin U2 to Me listers.

[MifuneFan]

The movie has to answer both the coat and question mark. I think this is why Hitchcock's Young and Innocent is a good contender as the bulk of the movie is about a tracking down a missing coat in question

Another I think works, at least on a play on words level is "Code Unknown" (Coat Unknown). Plus Binoche wears a coat like that in the film

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

The movie has to answer both the coat and question mark. I think this is why Hitchcock's Young and Innocent is a good contender as the bulk of the movie is about a tracking down a missing coat in question

The two main characters meet in The Lost Weekend because they are each handed the wrong coat. They have to figure out who the coats they got belong to.

[bdmartin134]

I need a blu ray of Punch Drunk Love from Criterion.. C'mon!!