The Criterion Collection

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

Made a random stop at a store that sells used DVD & BD. Normally I just look through the BD section since the DVDs are usually just the big studio films that I either already have or seen & don't really wanna own. Today I decided to actually look through the DVD section since I had time to kill. Glad I did since I walked away with these Criterion DVDs: The Rock $5, Spartacus $7 & Ran $10

Congratulations on your haul! You did great! Ran was an especially fantastic bargain ... have you seen the prices on eBay? I'm also impressed with the deal you scored on Spartacus. I own both these titles, and paid a lot more for them. I'm eventually going to pick up the new 4K remaster of Spartacus on blu-ray, but I won't be parting with my Criterion DVD because of all the extras. Send a little of your luck my way, okay?

[pro-bassoonist]

Here Is Your Life Blu-ray REVIEW





Wonderful film and restoration

The Other Swedish cinema -- the one that rejected the old norms/cliches Ingmar Bergman's films essentially established at home and abroad -- begins with these directors: the great Bo Widerberg, Jan Troell, Vilgot Sjöman, etc. They had the type of impact the likes of Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, and the rest of the New Wave directors had in France (both rejected the generation of directors and what they represented before them).

If you take a closer look at Troell's directorial debut, Here Is Your Life, you will see that it really is quite similar to Truffaut's first film, The 400 Blows. Yes, it is very Swedish, but the path it follows isn't.

***

On a related note, I don't know what happened with the Bo Widerberg films Olive Films said they will bring to Blu-ray. In 2013 they announced that they were planning to release these films:

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=12022

Man on the Roof (Bo Widerberg, 1976)
Adalen 31 a.k.a. The Adalen Riots (Bo Widerberg, 1969)
Elvira Madigan (Bo Widerberg, 1967)
Raven's End (Bo Widerberg, 1963)

...but nothing has come out.

No one has mentioned anything about Widerberg's All Things Fair either. And Criterion have not indicated that they will be upgrading Sjöman's films. I would really like to upgrade these and get the Olive Films titles because two of these films, Adalen and Man on the Roof, have been very difficult to see. (I have never owned them).



Pro-B

[ravenus]

Thanks pro-B, HIYL looks very much like a film that would interest me.

[pro-bassoonist]

It is a lovely film, Ravenus

I hope you enjoy it. The extras are outstanding as well.

(Plan for a long afternoon/night. It is quite long).

Pro-B

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Congratulations on your haul! You did great! Ran was an especially fantastic bargain ... have you seen the prices on eBay? I'm also impressed with the deal you scored on Spartacus. I own both these titles, and paid a lot more for them. I'm eventually going to pick up the new 4K remaster of Spartacus on blu-ray, but I won't be parting with my Criterion DVD because of all the extras. Send a little of your luck my way, okay?

Yea I know I got lucky on Ran. Spartacus was good also considering its like $15-$20 on ebay. The only one ive seen from the 3 is The Rock & even though I own the old DVD release im glad to replace it with the Criterion. I still have other Criterion DVDs I could've replaced with BDs but im more then happy with my CC sets like Armageddon, Silence of the Lambs & Straw Dogs.

[StingingVelvet]

I guess they aren't gonna be swayed from using fold-outs rather than booklets, eh?

[pro-bassoonist]

Dressed to Kill Blu-ray REVIEW



1. There are some very strange anomalies on the upcoming release of Dressed to Kill, but at the moment I don't know if Mr. De Palma is aware of them.

2. The anomalies appear throughout the entire film, and some are very distracting. The credits confirm that at least three different parties were involved with the restoration, so I am unsure how they could have been missed. However, there are also areas of the film that look fine.

3. Color scheme -- I saw that there are some claims that the film is "tealed", etc. This isn't true. Criterion's Lee Kline is responsible for the color grading and he is someone that understands extremely well what he is doing.

4. Lastly, I don't know if there is some sort of mastering/encoding defect -- something that caused the stretching externally. However, I don't like to speculate, so when/if there is some new factual information I will update the review/community.

At the moment I have only commented on what is on the disc that we were sent to review.

I hope this helps

Thanks, guys.

Pro-B

[format916]

really looking forward to dressed to kill, so hope to read some other reviews first.

[Namuhana]

Hmmm, now I'm not sure whether or not to get Dressed to Kill. I was kind of iffy on it anyway, but those screen caps aren't that reassuring. I may wait to see whether or not we'll get a reissue.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

Hmmm, now I'm not sure whether or not to get Dressed to Kill. I was kind of iffy on it anyway, but those screen caps aren't that reassuring. I may wait to see whether or not we'll get a reissue.

Have you checked out Arrows's release? I don't know want quality is like and supplements but worth checking out

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Have you checked out Arrows's release? I don't know want quality is like and supplements but worth checking out

I'm not region free, so no I haven't really checked out any foreign releases. It's kind of sad, though, that big fans of the film end up with this 4K release.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Halation

also, is Yi Yi unpopular around here? I never see it mentioned, and it's possibly the best thing...ever...

Incredible film.

[scottpcusa]

Originally Posted by Halation

also, is Yi Yi unpopular around here? I never see it mentioned, and it's possibly the best thing...ever...

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Incredible film.

I adore Yi Yi. It's a fantastic film!

[obscurelabel]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Just bought the 2002 DVD release of Children of Paradise for less than $7. I've never seen it. Those screen caps on the recent blu-ray release are pretty bad. I'd rather have a more filmic presentation.

Does anyone know if this has one of those double fat cases being that it is 2 discs? The packaging pics on the "other site" look like it is a thin regular sized case.

If anyone hasn't already, I can confirm that from my copy that it comes in a "fat" double DVD case

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Well, it's not really a question of StudioCanal "doing nothing here". It's their licensor, Lionsgate. On the other hand, it's possible that Anchor Bay still holds the rights to the above, from when they released a few DVD boxed sets:

The Alec Guinness Collection -- The Ladykillers / The Man in the White Suit / The Lavender Hill Mob / Kind Hearts and Coronets / The Captain's Paradise

Ealing Studios Comedy Collection -- The Maggie / Passport to Pimlico / A Run for Your Money / Whiskey Galore! / The Titfield Thunderbolt

British War Collection -- The Cruel Sea / The Ship That Died of Shame / Went the Day Well? / The Dam Busters / The Colditz Story

(And possibly others; these are the three I have.)

Not really likely, as these sets were released about 10-12 years ago, but it's possible.

In the case of Kind Hearts and Cornets that was one of the films taken from Criterion. You are correct about Lionsgate. They were releasing the StudioCanal Collection in Region A so I assumed this would be released eventually, but apparently Lionsgate just decided to give up early on due to lack of sales I assume. Though that was early on and Bluray has grown quite a bit since then. Its possible Lionsgate still has the license for the others unless the contract lapsed. Just a shame such great movies have HD prints and region A fans have no access to them. All contracts should have clauses that reverse the rights back to the owners if nothing is done with them after a period of time.

For that matter Lionsgate released their version of Ran and had their run. I wish the rights would revert back to the owners, Studiocanal, so Criterion could have a crack at it. Another favorite of mine Le Corbeau (The Raven) by Clouzot was also taken from Criterion and sits in limbo. I wish Criterion would get another Clouzot movie. The MoC release of The Murderer Lives at 21 [L'Assassin habite au 21] has been out for ages now.

Just frustrating.

[R o d]

DVD Beaver is also reporting vertical stretching on Dressed to Kill and notes the distinction between the Criterion Blu-ray and those from MGM and Arrow. The closeups of Nancy Allen's face give a distorted look that seems quite unnatural.

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by R o d

DVD Beaver is also reporting vertical stretching on Dressed to Kill and notes the distinction between the Criterion Blu-ray and those from MGM and Arrow. The closeups of Nancy Allen's face give a distorted look that seems quite unnatural.

He also said after watching it it started to seem almost normal to the point the previous prints look stretched. I think I will just hold on to my MGM release. Really not concerned about the 16 seconds of extra shots cut from it. Though the extras are tempting.

This whole fiasco has brought up some good questions about the 'director approved' logo. How much involvement there is in the process is very questionable and I assume it vary's by director. In this case it states the transfer was 'supervised by the director' so I'm not sure if its a case of altering the image on purpose or what. Would love to hear something from Criterion on the matter. Possibly more insight into the process, but apparently their stance is "This is how the director wanted it"

People are having meltdowns in the Dressed to Kill thread emailing Criterion like crazy. Kind of feel sorry for Criterion if this indeed was DePalma's 'supervision' that resulted in this.

[Brundle]

Just found out The Brood is coming to CC. Pretty excited about that, never got a chance to watch but it gets good online reviews. This will be my 3rd CC title, all of which are Cronenberg, not sure if that's coincidence or what.

[Doctor RoXo]

Originally Posted by Brundle

Just found out The Brood is coming to CC. Pretty excited about that, never got a chance to watch but it gets good online reviews. This will be my 3rd CC title, all of which are Cronenberg, not sure if that's coincidence or what.

I literally just finished watching The Brood for the first time and while it might be my least favorite Cronenberg film, it's still pretty good. Though I won't buy it on release, I'll wait for a sale.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Vinyl

Children of Paradise is a 2 disc set, each part on each disc. I think it is a fat dvd case. I am not sure because haven't seen it for years, though.

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

Can't say whether they have changed it along the way, but originally at least it came in one of those fat double case you describe.

Originally Posted by obscurelabel

If anyone hasn't already, I can confirm that from my copy that it comes in a "fat" double DVD case

thanks, guys, for the info. was hoping it'd be a thin case, so if the case comes slightly beat up, I can throw it in a brand new case. I hope this one is clean. I guess, though, for $7, it can't be beat. I don't know that anyone has ever mentioned the film here in the two years or so that I've hung around here. seems like the DVD is the way to go. the screen caps for the Blu-ray are appalling.