The Criterion Collection

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by aes3728

Criterion just recently put up an HD transfer (or about to but still made the announcement) on iTunes for Le Samourai. So if you hold off for a few months, perhaps the Flash Sale or November B&N there's a strong possibility Le Samourai will be on Blu.

Le Samourai is my favorite movie in the Criterion Collection, so this is promising news for me.

Le Samourai, Army of Shadows, and Le Cercle Rouge are all on my all-time Top 10 Movies list.

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by jwblu

It's official I have my first Criterion blu-ray & it's Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas

Excellent choice!!!

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Nielsb90

What are people's thoughts on "In the Mood for Love", and how do you rank it compared to "Chungking Express" and "Fallen Angels"?

Ended up blind buying "In the Mood" because I've loved the other two Kar-wai films I've seen and because I've recently visited Hong Kong.

In the Mood for Love is my favorite film of all-time. Nothing that I say can do it justice.

Ranking:
In the Mood for Love
Chungking Express
Fallen Angels
Happy Together
My Blueberry Nights

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by iScottie

In the Mood for Love is my favorite film of all-time. Nothing that I say can do it justice.

I don't know, I expected much more from it. I saw it once.
From first viewing it seemed to me like an overstylised film that overpowered the essence.

Where does 2046 stand in your ranking?
haven't seen it yet.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by aes3728

Criterion just recently put up an HD transfer (or about to but still made the announcement) on iTunes for Le Samourai. So if you hold off for a few months, perhaps the Flash Sale or November B&N there's a strong possibility Le Samourai will be on Blu.

I Want to Believe

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I Want to Believe

Oh, hadn't thought of that because I haven't seen the film.
How does the ? fit the film?

[oildude]

Originally Posted by aes3728

Criterion just recently put up an HD transfer (or about to but still made the announcement) on iTunes for Le Samourai. So if you hold off for a few months, perhaps the Flash Sale or November B&N there's a strong possibility Le Samourai will be on Blu.

This makes perfect sense because I bought the DVD during the last B&N sale in November after holding out for years waiting on an upgrade. I posted that the BD was now inevitable.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...stcount=116287

The rumors of its impending release with a new transfer on BD began shortly afterward.

Any requests for DVDs I should buy in the current sale?

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by oildude

Any requests for DVDs I should buy in the current sale?

Criterion DVDs?

Summertime
Written in the Wind
Magnificent Obsession

[oildude]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Criterion DVDs?

Summertime
Written in the Wind
Magnificent Obsession

Any list must include at least one of these: The Cranes are Flying, The Naked Prey, Ballad of a Soldier, Bergman's Faith Trilogy, The Furies, and a noir or two or three for me to take it seriously.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Criterion DVDs?

Summertime
Written in the Wind
Magnificent Obsession

Summertime is really good.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Oh, hadn't thought of that because I haven't seen the film.
How does the ? fit the film?

I cant say it does, which why it's a longshot for that clue. You could probably say the main character is a bit of a mystery, but that's a stretch for the "?"

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

I don't know, I expected much more from it. I saw it once.
From first viewing it seemed to me like an overstylised film that overpowered the essence.

Where does 2046 stand in your ranking?
haven't seen it yet.

I know you weren't asking me, but I liked 2046 a lot. It was definitely ambitious from a storytelling perspective. And obviously, anyone who hasn't seen Days of Being Wild and In the Mood for Love would almost immediately be saying, "WTF is going on?!"

But I love its complexity and ambition, and I'll be honest: Throw Gong Li and Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi in a 3 hour movie about how to correctly wash dishes, and I'll be a fan.

[Clare2904]

Originally Posted by oildude

Any requests for DVDs I should buy in the current sale?

Buy them all

Everyone throw a few bucks into the hat and we could cover the costs (after stacking every coupon on the planet)

[RojD]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

Good suggestions. Yes, those are all on my list. I've already seen a couple in the Lubitsch set and love them. I've also seen the majority of the Fallen Widow set and like them, but don't love. Grémillon is a little melodramatic and I've been mixed on what I've seen, but I appreciate the context of his films during the war

Yes, the fringe sets will probably come last. You can add Downey to that list.

Scratch that, Flamenco will come last.

And probably the flash sales are the way to collect these because you get superior shipping and loyalty points for Criterions.

I have a real conflicted relationship with melodrama. I hate it when it's maudlin and manipulating....and modern. Ordinary People can make me lose my appetite; maybe I'm just cold-hearted and cynical.

But when I got into silent film more, I realized melodrama can be something other than the M's. It's almost an element of that cinema, like editing or intertitles, and melodrama can still reach over those decades at times and touch me, like in Borzage's work or something like Sunrise.

So I'm completely subjective in how I deal with it. In a Douglas Sirk movie, a guy can become a brain surgeon to right a wrong he did as a youth, and that melodrama doesn't bother me. And there's an awful lot of melodrama in film noir, gritty surface notwithstanding, that I'm perfectly good with. I even respond a bit to something like Cameron's Titanic. But don't make me watch Marley & Me.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by oildude

Any list must include at least one of these: The Cranes are Flying, The Naked Prey, Ballad of a Soldier, Bergman's Faith Trilogy, The Furies, and a noir or two or three for me to take it seriously.

Well, then let's add The Naked Prey, The Furies, Green for Danger, Night Train to Munich, The Passion of Joan of Arc, the Carl Th. Dreyer box set, the Josef von Sternberg box set, Brute Force and The Lady Eve. How much money will you have left at that point, because I could keep going ...?

edit: Oh, Clare2904's idea was even better. Count me in!

[RojD]

Originally Posted by WonderWeasel

I've only seen two of these: Grey Gardens and Hoop Dreams.

Hoop Dreams ... Steve James's approach is definitely meant to evoke more emotion, while the Maysles don't seem to have as much of an agenda when it comes to how they want their film to make you feel. That's my opinion, anyway ☺

Originally Posted by octagon

I've only watched a little more than half but Crumb was very engaging and very much in the interview-heavy style.

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

Can't really answer your questions, but Harlan County, USA is one of the few Criterions I have on DVD. It's a fascinating look at coal towns and rural America. It was shocking to me and I'm in Kentucky. It and Ken Burns' Civil War are my favorite documentaries.
......

Thanks for the input, all. I finally decided to sequence them somewhat by the order of the directors' birth year. Going to start with Hoop Dreams as a more-or-less standard documentary form--I've seen Crumb more recently than Hoop Dreams and remember it better. Then we'll watch Maysles, Blank, Morris, and Oppenheimer until ending with SEL.

With the new Blackhawk release of Man with the Movie Camera, my friend wanted to start with some Vertov -- Kino-Eye -- so we might do that. It hadn't occurred to me that the Vertov's "mechanical eye" ideas are not all far from cinéma vérité. Anyway, it all sounds like fun trip to Maine to watch movies.

(BTW, SkyAntoine, I grew up in KY and have all my family up there. Great place.)

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I know you weren't asking me, but I liked 2046 a lot. It was definitely ambitious from a storytelling perspective. And obviously, anyone who hasn't seen Days of Being Wild and In the Mood for Love would almost immediately be saying, "WTF is going on?!"

But I love its complexity and ambition, and I'll be honest: Throw Gong Li and Tony Leung and Zhang Ziyi in a 3 hour movie about how to correctly wash dishes, and I'll be a fan.

I'm in a minority on this one, but I feel that 2046 is W.K.W's best film, and really a great summation of his visual style and themes while featuring a more complex and intricate narrative. I understand the argument for In The Mood For Love being his best film--it condenses and streamlines W.K.W's style quite adeptly, plus it has an intoxicating atmosphere--but it's a two dimensional mood piece for at least half of its duration. I rate it quite highly, but I definitely can not get behind the notion that it's the best film of the 00's, or even in the top 5 or 10.

Anyway, I'd love to see a blu-ray release of 2046. It's one of the best looking films of the last decade.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Well, then let's add The Naked Prey, The Furies, Green for Danger, Night Train to Munich, The Passion of Joan of Arc, the Carl Th. Dreyer box set, the Josef von Sternberg box set, Brute Force and The Lady Eve. How much money will you have left at that point, because I could keep going ...?

edit: Oh, Clare2904's idea was even better. Count me in!

The problem is I could keep going too..... I have many of those already covered in my "off the top of my head" Criterion wishlist for Blu-ray upgrades.

My "seriously-needs-an-upgrade-but-cannot-afford-to-buy-them-all-on-DVD-and-make-it-happen" list:

[Show spoiler]Le Samourai (DVD purchased, mission accomplished successfully)
The Cranes are Flying
Ballad of a Soldier
The Naked Prey
Pickup on South Street
Thieves' Highway
The Naked City
Stray Dog
The Furies
Heaven Can Wait
Elevator to the Gallows
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Andrei Rublev
The Last Wave
An Angel at my Table
Drunken Angel
The Bad Sleep Well
Red Beard
The Burmese Harp
Fires on the Plain
The Human Condition
Samurai Rebellion
Youth of the Beast
The Lady Eve
Bergman's Faith Trilogy
The Virgin Spring
Night Train to Munich
Fallen Idol
Touchez pas au grisbi
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
Bicycle Thieves
Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara
The BRD Trilogy

[mja345]

I'd love to see them upgrade "The Ruling Class" with Peter O'Toole, which is a great social satire with an absolutely unhinged performance from O'Toole. The PQ is poor because it's a very early Criterion DVD. I'd also love to see an upgrade of Altman's "Short Cuts", as well as "The Devil and Daniel Webster". I honestly don't see "The Ruling Class" or "Daniel Webster" getting BD upgrades any time soon though. I could see "Short Cuts" getting one.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

I'm in a minority on this one, but I feel that 2046 is W.K.W's best film, and really a great summation of his visual style and themes while featuring a more complex and intricate narrative. I understand the argument for In The Mood For Love being his best film--it condenses and streamlines W.K.W's style quite adeptly, plus it has an intoxicating atmosphere--but it's a two dimensional mood piece for at least half of its duration. I rate it quite highly, but I definitely can not get behind the notion that it's the best film of the 00's, or even in the top 5 or 10.

Anyway, I'd love to see a blu-ray release of 2046. It's one of the best looking films of the last decade.

There is a blu-ray release of 2046, although people's feelings on it are mixed to say the least.

It might be my 2nd favorite WKW film for whatever that's worth.