The Criterion Collection

[ParaOK]

Am I the only one who gets a rush every time this sale comes around? I wasn't able to get everything I wanted as the store was pretty picked over by the time I made it in but for now I picked up:

Charade
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
The Killers
M
Seconds
The Soft Skin
The Sword of Doom
Wages of Fear
Yojimbo and Sanjuro Box Set

I have 6 other titles I want to pick up before this sale is over.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

Sorry if this has already been asked, but are there any printable coupons on line?

If so, what are the links?

Thank you, in advance.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-bargain...-part-2-a.html

At the bottom of the first post on the page, click on the spoiler to see the printable in-store coupons. Enjoy!

[Darth Marcus]

Here's my light haul so far:

The Bridge
The Fisher King
Limelight

I'm tempted to go back and pick up:

Breathless
L'Avventura
Persona

All three of which would be blind-buys.

[jonathanswaqyim]

Originally Posted by Moe Szyslak

Picked up four at the B&N sale:

Eraserhead
The Devil's Backbone
The Blob (blind buy)
On the Waterfront (blind buy)

Thoughts/expectations for the blind buys?

Eraserhead has practically endless replay value and On The Waterfront is a must own in my opinion

[Darth Marcus]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Thinking about picking up Carlos as well.

This thing has a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes...is it really that good?

Good, great, classic...Battle of Algiers classic?

Any feedback would be appreciated?

I'll echo Octagon's sentiments as well. Yes, absolutely pick up Carlos.

[Andrew13]

Has there been any updates on when we might expect upgrades of either Bergman's Faith Trilogy or Rossellini's War Trilogy? Contemplating picking one or both up during the sale, but their DVD only status is making me pause.

On another note, has there been any mention of a Berlin Alexanderplatz upgrade?

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Darth Marcus

I'll echo Octagon's sentiments as well. Yes, absolutely pick up Carlos.

Me as well. Phenomenal, in a word.

[Glanced]

Originally Posted by nondiatonic

The more I think back on the scenarios and the characters, the more I feel like it is an extremely generic B-horror flick that anyone could have made and everyone has (excluding much of the cinematography).

Describing Don't Look Now as "b-horror" undermines its accomplishments as a horror film. I'm hard-pressed to think of any other film in the genre as adult as Don't Look Now is. Very odd reading, nondiatonic.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Darth Marcus

I'm tempted to go back and pick up:

Breathless
L'Avventura
Persona

All three of which would be blind-buys.

Great selections. Can't go wrong with any of those.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by JWFORD

In preparation for the release of Dressed to Kill next month, I rewatched the film on Movieplex on Demand this past weekend. Although De Palma's gender bending suspense thriller is a great film, albeit a rehashing of Hitchcock's Psycho, it is most certainly not the masterpiece it is touted to be. The direction and cinematography are top notch, which is to be expected from De Palma. The museum sequence in particular is absolutely brilliant. However, the plot becomes more increasingly implausible as the film progresses. The film is most assuredly an exercise in style rather than substance, but still manages to work in spite of it. In my opinion, his magnum opus is still his 1976 film Carrie. Oh, how I would swoon over the chance of a Criterion release of that film.

What do you all think of Dressed to Kill? What is your favorite Brian De Palma film?

Saw it the other night on TV.

The

[Show spoiler]murder scene in the elevator

is one of the scariest scenes in film history imo.

...it shook me a little bit.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Darth Marcus

Here's my light haul so far:

The Bridge
The Fisher King
Limelight

I'm tempted to go back and pick up:

Breathless
L'Avventura
Persona

All three of which would be blind-buys.

Persona is unlike any film you will ever see.

One of the most profound, unique movies ever made imo.

...but you will either love it or hate it.

[The Great Owl]

Le Silence De La Mer for $15 after the sale, a 20% coupon, and my membership at B&N.

I already own the MoC Blu-ray of this awesome and understated movie, but I want the Melville documentary, and I also feel as though I should support Jean-Pierre Melville in any general sense that I can.

[nondiatonic]

Originally Posted by Glanced

Describing Don't Look Now as "b-horror" undermines its accomplishments as a horror film. I'm hard-pressed to think of any other film in the genre as adult as Don't Look Now is. Very odd reading, nondiatonic.

I understand where you're coming from. However,

[Show spoiler]the actuality of the supernatural and John's "gift" of second sight are not left up to interpretation. Of course, not every movie needs to be highly interpretable, and there shouldn't be rules for art. But, in a movie like this, spelling everything out seems like an underestimation of the audience. Also, some of the characters screamed B-movie. The blind psychic that screams of impending doom... The disturbed, grieving wife that buys into the supernatural immediately in order to stem her pain and keeps going back for more seances against her husband's suggestions. The husband who doesn't believe in the supernatural, but keeps seeing things he can't explain (until his curiosity and stubbornness push him to put himself in danger). Not to mention the ending that turns into a simple slasher flick (although the shot of his foot breaking through the glass is very eerie).

Don't get me wrong; it wasn't all bad. There were more than a few masterful sequences/motifs/images.

If you have a better suggestion on how to read the movie, I'm interested. I love Roeg, and I really wanted to like this film. I'll probably break it out during my October horror marathon. I hope I get more out of it, but I won't

[Show spoiler]"hold my breath". Eh?

[Member-275053]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Saw it the other night on TV.

The

[Show spoiler]murder scene in the elevator

is one of the scariest scenes in film history imo.

...it shook me a little bit.

I agree, that scene is horrifying (much like your avatar).

Also, the scene towards the end of the film where

[Show spoiler]the killers shoe can be seen as Nancy Allen's character is stepping out of the shower.

Bone-chilling.

[Show spoiler]Did you see the obvious influences from the shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho in both?

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by JWFORD

In preparation for the release of Dressed to Kill next month, I rewatched the film on Movieplex on Demand this past weekend. Although De Palma's gender bending suspense thriller is a great film, albeit a rehashing of Hitchcock's Psycho, it is most certainly not the masterpiece it is touted to be. The direction and cinematography are top notch, which is to be expected from De Palma. The museum sequence in particular is absolutely brilliant. However, the plot becomes more increasingly implausible as the film progresses. The film is most assuredly an exercise in style rather than substance, but still manages to work in spite of it. In my opinion, his magnum opus is still his 1976 film Carrie. Oh, how I would swoon over the chance of a Criterion release of that film.

What do you all think of Dressed to Kill? What is your favorite Brian De Palma film?

May not be a popular opinion here, but IMO De Palma is a hack. He obviously looks to Hitchcock for his inspiration and while he can carry a scene, like the long sequence at the Museum near the beginning of Dressed to Kill, His movies are very superficial with just enough added nudity, violence and quirkiness to be considered provocative at the time. Everytime you point out bad acting or direction people always claim the man is trying to make a point or did it on purpose for whatever reason. I don't buy it. Same goes for Body Double. You know the killer in the first few minutes and the movie and acting is amateurish throughout only saved by Melanie Griffith's good performance and nude shots. Carrie IMO is his best movie by far, but the ending, while fresh at the time and copied to death, is cringe inducing to me and a reflection of things to come from him.

Body Double is just a mash up of Vertigo and Rear Window without the great direction and haunting sound score of Hitchcock's masterpiece. Never understood why so many people love the guy's films. Scarface is enjoyable just because of Pacino's overacting and exaggerated accent. Though Howard Hawks Scarface is a better picture. Wish Criterion would get that.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by JWFORD

I agree, that scene is horrifying (much like your avatar).

Also, the scene towards the end of the film where

[Show spoiler]the killers shoe can be seen as Nancy Allen's character is stepping out of the shower.

Bone-chilling.

[Show spoiler]Did you see the obvious influences from the shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho in both?

Oh yeah.

It's hard to overstate Hitchcock's influence on De Palma in general.

The

[Show spoiler]elevator scene is an obvious homage to the shower scene

imo.

...but I think the

[Show spoiler]elevator scene is scarier

.

[Member-275053]

Originally Posted by Banned User

May not be a popular opinion here, but IMO De Palma is a hack. He obviously looks to Hitchcock for his inspiration and while he can carry a scene, like the long sequence near the beginning of Dressed to Kill, IMO his movies are superficial with added nudity, violence and quirkiness to be considered provocative at the time. Same goes for Body Double. You know the killer in the first few minutes and the movie and acting is amateurish. Carrie IMO is his best movie by far, but the ending while fresh at the time, is cringe inducing to me and a reflection of things to come from him.
Body Double is just a mash up of Vertigo and Rear Window. Never understood why so many people love the guy's films.

While I don't think the comparison to Hitchcock can be disputed, as a matter of fact I'm sure he fully embraces it as do his proponents (see above). To call the director of Blow Out, Carrie, Scarface, Sisters, The Untouchables and his last great film, Femme Fatale, a "hack" is fallacious. Nevertheless, we can both agree that Carrie is his best film.

EDIT: I have not seen Body Double, so cannot comment on your statements concerning it.

[Rich Pure Doom]

Originally Posted by JWFORD

While I don't think the comparison to Hitchcock can be disputed, as a matter of fact I'm sure he fully embraces it as do his proponents (see above). To call the director of Blow Out, Carrie, Scarface, Sisters, The Untouchables and his last great film, Femme Fatale, a "hack" is fallacious. Nevertheless, we can both agree that Carrie is his best film.

EDIT: I have not seen Body Double, so cannot comment on your statements concerning it.

I found Sisters to be absolute B-grade drivel.

[Member-275053]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Oh yeah.

It's hard to overstate Hitchcock's influence on De Palma in general.

The

[Show spoiler]elevator scene is an obvious homage to the shower scene

imo.

...but I think the

[Show spoiler]elevator scene is scarier

.

Yes, it is! Because, De Palma takes it one step further and

[Show spoiler]actually shows the razor cutting the victim

. However, Psycho is a better film overall.

[oxymoron1948]

My planned order for 12 Criterion sale blu rays, to be shipped to England, has been derailed by B&N's suddenly-raised international shipping charges. The threatened charge of $81.87 seems slightly on the high side.

Until the launch of the new B & N website a few days ago, the international shipping charge for the order I had prepared was shown as about $20.00. More interestingly, the marginal charge for each extra blu ray as I built up my order was exactly $0.99 - in other words, if the shipping charge for 12 blu rays was $20.00, the charge for 13 would be $20.99.

It seems a remarkable coincidence that, just as we greet the launch of the new website, this marginal charge has increased six-fold - from $0.99 per extra blu ray to $5.99 per extra blu ray. This increase is somewhat in excess of the level of current inflation, and is one which will, I guess, deter many international buyers.

Maybe B & N have decided on making this mighty increase just as their new website is unveiled. However, my lurking suspicion is that the new website may have brought a fault in the calculation of international shipping charges - why go from $0.99 to $5.99? Why not $6.00?

I have of course contacted the B & N help line more than once since the start of the sale to ask about this, but despite friendly automated responses promising me a reply within 24 hours, silence reigns.

Have anyone else's suspicions been running on these lines?