The Criterion Collection

[CriterionBlues]

I've finally delved into Eclipse with this sale and the seemingly endless stream of coupons, but here are the Eclipse sets I'd recommend just from regular viewings.

The first three are bold because I enthusiastically recommend them:

Late Ozu
Raymond Bernard
Pearls of the Czech New Wave
Oshima's Outlaw 60s
Late Ray
Nikkatsu Noir
Kobayashi: Against the System
Larisa Shepitko
Early Fassbinder
Louis Malle Documentaries

I am also interested in upcoming Varda set, both silent Ozu sets, and the Kinoshita, but have not seen any.

[orbital]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

The first three are bold because I enthusiastically recommend them:

(...)
Raymond Bernard
(...)

Just fyi and for those who are region free: Both films from this set have been released on Blu-ray by Eureka/MoC: Wooden Crosses & Les Misérables.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by llj

I can't say you'd like them, but I can list a few I personally enjoyed:

Nikkatsu Noir
Oshima's Outlaw Sixties
Aki Kaurismaki's Proletariat Trilogy
Travels with Hiroshi Shimizu (highly recommended for catalogue purposes because I have serious doubts we'll see any more Shimizu releases for a LONG time)
Pearls of the Czech New Wave
Jean Gremillon During the Occupation

If you're region free there is a volume 2 for that Shimizu set in Japan with English subtitles.

[The Great Owl]

As far as Eclipse sets go, I have to say that the When Horror Came to Shochiku is great fun across the board.

The X from Outer Space is a solid giant monster movie that stands up to most of the Godzilla flicks. Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell is my favorite of the bunch, and it's one screwed-up awesome story that has a beautifully atmospheric conclusion. The Living Skeleton comes across like a bridge between the Japanese monster movies of the 1960s and the Japanese ghost stories in recent decades. Genocide is my second favorite in the box set, and it's a creepy insect-related thriller.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

Raymond Bernard!!!

Agree, but HD is available. I'm counting on CC to release them on blu sooner rather than later.

Oops, missed Orbital's post.

[RojD]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

I watched Senso for the very first time and throughly enjoyed it. Alida Valli and Farley Granger were great in their roles, particularly Alida Valli. Beautiful cinematography and great attention to period detail. I think I loved it so much, I might pick up the other Visconti film The Leopard in the Criterion Collection before the BN sale is over.

If you liked Senso, you'll love The Leopard. Seems people either connect to Visconte's sensibility or they don't, and based on your response to Senso, I'd say you do. The Leopard is a much grander and more complex project for Visconte and he's even more assured with the medium. And that last ballroom segment......

[silverlakephil]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

I watched Senso for the very first time and throughly enjoyed it. Alida Valli and Farley Granger were great in their roles, particularly Alida Valli. Beautiful cinematography and great attention to period detail. I think I loved it so much, I might pick up the other Visconti film The Leopard in the Criterion Collection before the BN sale is over.

Originally Posted by RojD

If you liked Senso, you'll love The Leopard. Seems people either connect to Visconte's sensibility or they don't, and based on your response to Senso, I'd say you do. The Leopard is a much grander and more complex project for Visconte and he's even more assured with the medium. And that last ballroom segment......

I read the review for the Italian 4K release and I compared screenshots with Criterion's version and it seems to be in a different aspect ratio. The color schemes are different as well, so I'm not sure which version to get.

[Page14]

Posted on Criterion's Facebook page ...

"On this date in 1928, Stanley Kubrick was born in the Bronx."

https://www.facebook.com/CriterionCo...notify_me_page

Might have to honor the occasion with a Kubrick film tonight (or maybe not, as I see that TCM has a great Criterion lineup tonight ... including 12 Angry Men, The Thief of Bagdad [1940], That Hamilton Woman, The Phantom Carriage, Cria Cuervos, and The Spirit of the Beehive ... WOW!)

[Vinyl]

Originally Posted by Page14

Posted on Criterion's Facebook page ...

"On this date in 1928, Stanley Kubrick was born in the Bronx."

https://www.facebook.com/CriterionCo...notify_me_page

Might have to honor the occasion with a Kubrick film tonight (or maybe not, as I see that TCM has a great Criterion lineup tonight ... including 12 Angry Men, The Thief of Bagdad [1940], That Hamilton Woman, The Phantom Carriage, Cria Cuervos, and The Spirit of the Beehive ... WOW!)

That is a good lineup. I would love to see blu upgrades of the Thief of Bagdad and Spirit of the Beehive.

[oildude]

Anyone looking to venture into the amazing world of Criterion's Eclipse series should definitely consider Eclipse 11: Larisa Shepitko. It contains an outstanding pair of films that I think are among the greats of world cinema. This was the first Eclipse set I bought over three years ago when I finally realized it was stupid to not venture into these outstanding sets because of my reluctance to purchase DVDs.

No one explores WWII themes consistently as good as the Russians. Shepitko is tops on my list of directors who died before they had a chance to really break onto the world stage (she was killed in a car accident after making only four films while scouting locations for her planned fifth feature).

Wings - an under-appreciated gem of Russian cinema. A character drama, it explores the post-war frustrations and sorrows of a former female fighter pilot who, a decade after the war, is now head of a provincial school. She can't help but compare her present condition with her past. She realizes that the highlight of her life, the time when she felt the most alive, was the war. Now all she has to look forward to is a dreary bureaucratic job assigned to her by the state as a reward for being a war hero. She is in charge of mostly unappreciative and troublesome students who don't care about the war or its effects on Soviet society. But most of all she is conscious that she is growing older, and that she is haunted by memories from her past of a lost love. Very good stuff.

The Ascent - Shepitko's final and most acclaimed film; it is grim, immensely moving, and a testament to the human ability to endure and find solace in the direst of circumstances. Set against a stark winter world captured in beautiful black and white, it is a story about two Russian soldiers-turned-partisans who find themselves trapped in a very bad situation and the choices each man must make. It is a very realistic look at the risks and terrors of being a partisan behind German lines in Belorussia (most were former Red Army soldiers cut-off by the German advance in 1941). The film explores the fragility of the human psyche and has some well done allegorical elements that elevate the story beyond the standard war movie. The ending is truly unforgettable. Another plus is the terrific musical score. It is one of my favorite pieces of music in a film; used sparingly, it builds at just the right moments to underline events with dramatic impact.

[Moj]

The X from Outer Space is a solid giant monster movie that stands up to most of the Godzilla flicks.

I'll respectfully disagree. It's incredibly slow, and not as thematically ambitious.

[Blu-Velvet]

Lots of good recommendations for Eclipse sets to add to a collection. Even though they're only DVDs, the care in transfer and authoring Criterion puts into them make many films look nearly as good as an average Blu-ray from some other distributor.

All of the Japanese Eclipse sets are well-worth getting for those who may only know only a few key films of Kurosawa and Ozu. Besides providing rarely seen early films by both Kurosawa and Ozu, they introduce a whole new range of directors and styles that make fascinating comparisons with the "canonical" titles and directors.

Already mentioned have been the excellent Nikkatsu Noir and Kobayashi Against the System sets, as well as the frequently devastating Mizoguchi's Fallen Women set and the charming Travels with Hiroshi Shimizu set. I can also strongly recommend the unusual Kinoshita and World War II set as an example of Japanese war propaganda films (providing an opposing viewpoint worth double-featuring with any of the Hollywood studio WWII movies made about the same time that incorporate wartime themes and story elements) as well as a study in how a director opposed to the war was able to fulfill his pro-war/anti-foreigner assignment while subtly subverting it, and then outright condemning it in his first post-war film. Another Eclipse set I haven't seen mentioned yet is the brilliant and disturbing The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara set with five intense and probing dramas of 1960s Japan that make a perfect follow-up to the Masaki Kobayashi Against the System set.

As noted by others, the set When Horror Came to Shochiku is quite intriguing with its four diverse and interesting genre experiments by a studio better-known for showcasing personal director visions and quiet character dramas. Each film takes a somewhat different approach, with the first, THE X FROM OUTER SPACE, being the closest in spirit to the entertaining monster fluff put out by Toho and Daie, but with a more self-consciously campy approach aimed at western audiences. The other three use their sometimes pretty bizarre horror genre formulas more as a framework for the contemporary social criticism and character study more in line with Shochiku's traditional subject matter (again aimed just as much at American audiences as at Japanese viewers).

[The Great Owl]

Okay, here....we...go....

I finally decided to jump into my Criterion Blu-ray box set, Zatôichi: The Blind Swordsman, and I just finished watching The Tale of Zatoichi (1962).

The Tale of Zatoichi is a beautifully nuanced black-and-white film that looks great on the Blu-ray. The scene where Zatoichi and Hirate meet while fishing is probably my favorite part of the film, but the conclusion is wonderfully emotional and intense.

Onward to the next film in the set...

[Jowiko96]

Random Question, but since the Criterion Flash Sale is due to appear sometime in Late September or Early/Mid October, are Pre-orders discounted as well?

I was thinking about getting Mulholland Drive around that time. If not, I'll just wait for the next B&N sale.

[Clare2904]

Originally Posted by Jowiko96

Random Question, but since the Criterion Flash Sale is due to appear sometime in Late September or Early/Mid October, are Pre-orders discounted as well?

I was thinking about getting Mulholland Drive around that time. If not, I'll just wait for the next B&N sale.

I'm 99% certain that pre-orders are not included in the Flash sale

[Zen_Amako]

I'm really tempted to pick up Tess, but I already have the BFI release. I'm debating whether or not it's worth getting the Criterion release for the lossless 5.1 audio, the slightly better video, and having the supplements on the Blu-ray.

I finished watching the first part of Marketa Lazarova last night. I had to watch it at least twice to follow the narrative -- at the end of each chapter, I basically had to rewind and watch the chapter (fragment?) again in order to "get it." And even then, I'm sure I missed some stuff. I will say that if you don't mind putting in a bit of effort, this is a fantastic film so far. I'm really looking forward to watching Part 2 tonight!

Marketa has put me in the mood to revisit The Seventh Seal (it's probably the Middle Ages setting and the B&W cinematography). I sold my copy of Seventh Seal a while back but I'm tempted to pick it up again before the B&N sale ends.

[Will.]

Finally watched Watership Down tonight after reading the book. An awesome, dark "children's movie." I wish Criterion would do more animated releases.

[Martin_31]

Originally Posted by Will.

Finally watched Watership Down tonight after reading the book. An awesome, dark "children's movie." I wish Criterion would do more animated releases.

Yes!! More animated films would be awesome.

[Fabs]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

Yes!! More animated films would be awesome.

I would love to see Criterion fund Satoshi Kon's last film, Dreaming Machine. It's stuck in development hell, because they don't have enough funds to finish it after Kon died. So, with Criterion's help they'd be able to finish it.

[Ray Jackson]

Every time I buy a new Criterion, I secretly hope that it goes out of print so that I can rub it in the faces of those who don't have it, the way those filthy scumbags who own The Third Man and Army of Shadows have rubbed it in mine.

...am I the only one?