The Criterion Collection

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by 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?

I hope so.

[D2Girls]

I just picked up a couple of criterions today!
I haven't even watched the previous two I've gotten (eraserhead, and videodrome), but anyways, today, I got seven samurai, Ivan's childhood, and Solaris.

which to watch first?

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by D2Girls

I just picked up a couple of criterions today!
I haven't even watched the previous two I've gotten (eraserhead, and videodrome), but anyways, today, I got seven samurai, Ivan's childhood, and Solaris.

which to watch first?

Those are all very good films. Difficult to choose.

Flip a coin.

(I'd probably go with Solaris, only because it's been far too long since I've seen it, sadly.)

[Scottie]

I just rewatched Night and the City for the second time tonight in anticipation for the Blu-ray release and I still cannot get into it.

I love film-noirs and I think Dassin's Rififi is one of the greatest films ever made, but this one does nothing for me. It's certainly not a bad film, consisting of phenomenal acting by Richard Widmark, but I definitely do not appreciate it nor see any greatness in it like everyone else seems to.

[Martin_31]

Anyone have a list of all the Blu-ray's that have the type of packaging like Eraserhead?

[The Great Owl]

I continued along through the Zatoichi box set with the second film, The Tale of Zatoichi Continues.

Clocking in at 72 minutes, The Tale of Zatoichi Continues plows along at a brisk pace and is almost equal to the first film in terms of emotional content and intensity. This second film ups the ante somewhat in terms of action, and we get to see a lot more actual fight scenes featuring the title character. Shintarô Katsu is still outstanding in the role, and I also enjoyed the work of Tomisaburô Wakayama (Shogun Assassin).


Onward to the third film...

[olivianewtonyawn]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

Anyone have a list of all the Blu-ray's that have the type of packaging like Eraserhead?

I don't know if there is a list but off the top of my head:

Earrings of Madame de...
Sweet Smell of Success
Godzilla
Slacker
Babette's Feast
Dazed and Confused

Not sure if I missed any...

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I continued along through the Zatoichi box set with the second film, The Tale of Zatoichi Continues.

Clocking in at 72 minutes, The Tale of Zatoichi Continues plows along at a brisk pace and is almost equal to the first film in terms of emotional content and intensity. This second film ups the ante somewhat in terms of action, and we get to see a lot more actual fight scenes featuring the title character. Shintarô Katsu is still outstanding in the role, and I also enjoyed the work of Tomisaburô Wakayama (Shogun Assassin).


Onward to the third film...

Have you seen any of the Lone Wolf and Cub movies?

...those are great.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by olivianewtonyawn

I don't know if there is a list but off the top of my head:

Earrings of Madame de...
Sweet Smell of Success
Godzilla
Slacker
Babette's Feast
Dazed and Confused

Not sure if I missed any...

-Nashville
-Scanners
-Carlos

[oildude]

Eclipse 21: Oshima’s Outlaw Sixties is one of the Japanese sets that doesn't get much discussion. Of all the Japanese Eclipse sets, I think it is the most challenging. Nagisa Oshima was a lion of the Japanese New Wave of the 1960s. The movies showcased in this set are some of the most complex of all the films available in Criterion's Japanese cinema library. They are filled with symbolism and frequent absurdities, and some of the story constructs can make parts of them difficult to grasp. The structures vary from experimental to non-linear to more straightforward presentations, although in the latter case there is frequently a layering of elements to their plots that gives them a somewhat controlled chaotic feel. The influence of the French New Wave on Oshima is apparent, especially Godard, and seemed to charge him with an energy to push the boundaries in his approach to these films.

One thing I find striking about Oshima is his fearlessness in asking uncomfortable questions of his audience regarding the dark side of the Japanese psyche. He often acknowledges the postwar implications of the death-obsessed nature of many in Japanese society during the militaristic period before and during WWII, including the cultural impacts and carryover of this mentality into a rebuilt and thriving Japan. He was doing this at a time when few others dared such a thing. The films in this set were all made barely 20 years after Japan's surrender, and only 10 years after the signing of a final peace treaty with the US.

Each film in this Eclipse set is unique, not just in plot, but also in overall look and "feel", even while re-using some of the same actors (who are invariably great in each role they play). In a way, Oshima's Outlaw Sixties is like a Japanese BBS set. Pleasures of the Flesh and Japanese Summer: Double Suicide are probably my favorites.

The most layered and memorable film in the set by far, in my opinion, is Sing a Song of Sex. At its core, Sing a Song of Sex chronicles the actions of four disillusioned and callous Japanese youths who seem only interested in pursuing a good time while remaining disinterested in the social activism swirling around them. Parts of the film are laugh-out-loud funny in the antics of the four students, making it both the most humorous and the most darkly serious film in the Eclipse set. It has multiple themes and subtexts involving, among other things, getting laid, forced sex fantasies, the poor treatment of Koreans in Japanese society, the clash of traditions vs 1960s modernism in post-war Japan, and even the deeper social and political meanings in bawdy pub songs sung by working class Japanese (hence, the title of the film). Ironically, the bawdy nature of these songs is why the young men enjoy them; it never occurs to them that singing these songs becomes their only real connection to the social activism surrounding them.

[tallrichard]

Originally Posted by 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?

Personally, I've used OOP Criterions to fund a bunch of movies purchases...

[tallrichard]

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.

Pre-orders are NOT included in Criterion's flash sale

[foxends]

Are there currently any coupon codes available for non-members for B&N online? Trying to get an end-of-sale purchase in.

[prior]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

2 online only, members & nonmembers, % off single item codes good through August. Should be single use per account (edit -- see below that it may be allowed more than once), no preorder, typical ineligible item list

15% Off N9K4N9L
20% Off T9V7C3R

Also - the sale has been extended by a week - it ends August 3rd.

[olivianewtonyawn]

I think I am done for this sale. Picked up:

High and Low
Harakiri
If...
All That Heaven Allows
Hiroshima Mon Amour
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
Rififi
Tokyo Story
The Fisher King
John Cassavetes Box Set
Andre Gregory & Wallace Shawn Box

[blkhrt]

Originally Posted by olivianewtonyawn

I don't know if there is a list but off the top of my head:

Earrings of Madame de...
Sweet Smell of Success
Godzilla
Slacker
Babette's Feast
Dazed and Confused

Not sure if I missed any...

Just glancing at my shelves. You are missing the following:

Ace in the Hole
Battle of Algiers
Breaking the Waves
Breathless
Foreign Correspondent (These last two have been changed, though)
A Hard Day's Night
Investigation of a Citizen Under Suspicion
Nashville
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Red River
Salo
Seven Samurai
Shoah
Il Sorpasso
Tokyo Story
Y tu Mama Tambien

[olivianewtonyawn]

Originally Posted by blkhrt

Just glancing at my shelves. You are missing the following:

Ace in the Hole
Battle of Algiers
Breaking the Waves
Breathless
Foreign Correspondent (These last two have been changed, though)
A Hard Day's Night
Investigation of a Citizen Under Suspicion
Nashville
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Red River
Salo
Seven Samurai
Shoah
Il Sorpasso
Tokyo Story
Y tu Mama Tambien

I did not the op meant digipaks in general, rather the thinner, more compact sets like Eraserhead specifically.

[Martin_31]

I want to buy a box set but can't decided between the John Cassavetes or Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project. Help!?!?!?!

[oildude]

An impressive set of films. After I watched this Eclipse set three years ago, I googled Koreyoshi Kurahara to discover that he was the director of the early 1980s film Antarctica, a haunting Japanese hit movie (with a mesmerizing Vangelis film score) that was later re-imagined by Disney as Eight Below. Kurahara’s camera work, his use of light and weather to create mood, and the importance played by music in each film, all contribute to make Eclipse 28: The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara a memorable experience. The five films presented here span a period from 1960-1967; as such, Kurahara was a New Wave contemporary of Oshima and this set compliments Eclipse 21: Oshima's Outlaw Sixties. However, the two directors are quite different in their approach, with Kurahara being the more straightforward and accessible. I especially appreciate how the liner notes in the Kurahara set describe each film's place in relation to what was going on at the time in Japanese cinema.

Three years ago I was so impressed with this set that I wrote my thoughts about each film. I have dusted those off, updated, and re-written them here for anyone who may be interested in discovering what awaits in Kurahara's twisted world of truths:

Intimidation (1960) - Criterion describes this as Kurahara's pocket-sized noir (it is only 65 minutes long) but it certainly packs a wallop. Not a moment of time is wasted in this fiendish little Hitchcockian-style tale of blackmail, murder, and deceit. Even though I had figured out a few things early on, the twists and surprises were still there to enjoy.

The Warped Ones (1960) - fantastic jazz music score and camera work accompany this kinetic story about a couple of small time delinquents on the path to greater crimes. One of them wants to be a big-time yakuza gangster, the other just wants to drift day to day supporting himself through thievery as he does what he pleases regardless of consequences to himself and others. It is this second delinquent who dominates the story, presented here as a jazz-loving primitive "wild man". He becomes a sort of dark anti-hero to a group of idiotic hipster artists, including one who wrong-headedly sees him as her means of salvation despite the utter misery he brings into her life.

I Hate But Love (1962) - to me, the most pleasant surprise in the set. It is a romantic dramedy uniquely Japanese in that while being a wickedly entertaining look at the male character's quest to understand the meaning of true love, it also explores dark themes including suicide, violence, pampered celebrities, and destructive personality flaws that tear at relationships. The movie is very watchable, but definitely not a couple’s guide to living happily ever after. The man shows strong misogynic tendencies and the woman is a control freak with that seemingly ubiquitous 1960s Japanese movie trait of being death-obsessed if things don’t work out her way.

Black Sun (1964) – revisits the main character from The Warped Ones later in his life. He is still a jazz obsessed hoodlum living day to day off what he can steal and fence, yet he has matured, if that is the correct word, into no longer being a poisonous tornado in the lives of others. Now the audience feels somewhat sympathetic toward him as it becomes obvious he has spiraled to the bottom, living his days on the edge of starvation as a generally harmless pathetic and lonely crook. There is a lot to digest in Black Sun, as early on the main character is taken captive by a wounded African-American US soldier on the lam for murder and a warped buddy film soon develops out of the situation. The ending is a pure cinematic kick in the groin, and takes the film’s title to its literal conclusion.

Thirst for Love (1967) – as the case liner notes point out, this film was a contemporary of Suzuki’s Branded to Kill and Oshima’s Sing a Song of Sex. In many of the same ways that the latter film is the most memorable in the Oshima’s Outlaw Sixties set, to me Thirst for Love is the most dark, memorable, and layered film in the Kurahara set. Ruriko Asaoka, who also stars in I Hate But Love, plays a character who, as the story unfolds, we discover is not what she appears. The film is difficult to describe, and while each of the five films in the Kurahara set is uniquely different and enjoyable, Thirst for Love is the most different, with voiceovers, narration, and even intertitles to facilitate the telling of the story. It soon becomes apparent that this is a carefully constructed horror movie without advertising itself as such; only after it was over and I thought about it did I fully appreciate the disturbing depths of what Kurahara had crafted.

This is an incredible set of films. Even more so than the Oshima Eclipse set, I feel all of these could have been main line releases. Intimidation, as short as it is, could have been paired with one of the others. In addition to well done and frequently moving stories, Kurahara's ability to create mood is superb. Many scenes in these films take place in the rain, foggy mist, or the dark. The opening scene of Black Sun is a wasteland of bombed out slag and rubble (uncleared leftovers from some WWII bombed out industrial complex) set against a brilliant ocean, creating an initial mood similar in its effect to the opening scene of Blade Runner. And then there is the music for each film.....just brilliant.

My favorites in the set have to be Black Sun and I Hate But Love, but the most memorable and deep film, in my opinion, is Thirst for Love.

[CriterionBlues]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I continued along through the Zatoichi box set with the second film, The Tale of Zatoichi Continues.

Clocking in at 72 minutes, The Tale of Zatoichi Continues plows along at a brisk pace and is almost equal to the first film in terms of emotional content and intensity. This second film ups the ante somewhat in terms of action, and we get to see a lot more actual fight scenes featuring the title character. Shintarô Katsu is still outstanding in the role, and I also enjoyed the work of Tomisaburô Wakayama (Shogun Assassin).


Onward to the third film...

The series is easily watchable, but I'd try to space it out if you can. I binged the first three discs and now a lot of them seem like a blur. Since then I have backed off and watch a disc every few months, up to disc 6 now. With some time in between, I've appreciated them more -- plus I think they inject some new life into the formula about half way through. Soon I'll start back.