The Criterion Collection

[octagon]

Originally Posted by schlock

I am the exact opposite. I actually deplore the remake, something I don't say about any Hitchcock film - it's overproduced, melodramatic, silly nonsense. The plot moves too slowly, the opera scene is too LONG, and geesh, Que Sera Sera. Just all very cheesy. That said, I don't think the original version is great Hitchcock by any means, it's not, but I still think it's a very good Hitchcock film.

This. Every word of this.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

Ok, today's the last day of the sale & I may able to squeeze 1 or 2 movies out of it. Which of these would be best? I haven't seen any of them before.

The Vanishing (I did see the 93 remake & actually liked it)
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
3 Woman
The Night Porter
Naked Lunch (I love Cronenberg's films)

I tried to get The Vanishing & Investigation last Friday but they were out of both sadly.

I've seen all five and I'd rank them...

1. 3 Women
2. The Vanishing
3. Investigation
4. Naked Lunch
5. Night Porter

"3 Women" is an absolute masterpiece IMO. One of the most surreal and hypnotic films of all-time. I'm a massive Altman fan and I think this is one of his best. "The Vanishing" is incredible as well. If you enjoyed the remake, the original is far superior. A far less compromising film than the remake. "Investigation" is a great film as well. Gian Maria Volonte gives a spellbinding performance. That guy was one hell of an actor and he was never better.

"Naked Lunch" is a film that doesn't work that well for me. I think Cronenberg, as talented as he is, was probably the wrong director for that material. It feels like a film that would have been in Terry Gilliam's wheelhouse. There are definitely some great moments in "Naked Lunch", but it's not a real satisfying film as a whole. "The Night Porter" is a film that raises a thought-provoking premise, but fails to really do a lot with it IMO. It falls flat. It needed to be taken to further extremes to really work, a la "Salo" or "Antichrist". But it backs off. I think "The Night Porter" is one of the poorer films in the collection in all honesty.

[CinemaBlu]

Originally Posted by jw007

Does anyone here by any chance own the Criterion DVDs of Nanook of the North (1922) and Simon of the Desert (1965)?

I realize the former is out of print... I'd love to see a blu-ray version of that.

EDIT: I just noticed its actually available on blu-ray already! https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Nanoo.../63245/#Review

I own the Simon of the Desert DVD. It's my favorite Bunuel film. It's not feature length but it doesn't matter because it's brilliant.

[Nielsb90]

Just ordered Marketa Lazarova as a blind buy. Love history, and often love surreal movies. I sometimes get frustrated if movies get too convoluted so I'm a little nervous about that. I get the sense that this has the same kind of lingering atmosphere as some Tarkovsky movies like Solaris and Stalker - is this wrong?

Either way - I look forward to the experience.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Nielsb90

Just ordered Marketa Lazarova as a blind buy. Love history, and often love surreal movies. I sometimes get frustrated if movies get too convoluted so I'm a little nervous about that. I get the sense that this has the same kind of lingering atmosphere as some Tarkovsky movies like Solaris and Stalker - is this wrong?

Either way - I look forward to the experience.

Best way to describe it - an experience.

Its a phenomenal piece of cinema, it is hard to follow but its easy to re watch over and over and the more you watch the better it gets.

When I first watched it (hope Lynch doesn't hear me!) I watched in two parts and had a small break, but it was so powerful and I adore the film. I got as a blind buy and I have zero regrets.

I can't recommend this film enough, I think everyone should own it or atleast see it once or twice

[ZeTi]

The closing shots in Marketa Lazarova are beyond beautiful.

[Show spoiler]The nuns walking uphills to the Monastery or Church i believe it was ... absolutely breathtaking.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jw007

Made one final trip to Barnes and Noble and bought The Black Stallion as a blind-buy. I did some research on this one and liked the story and theme so I think this is going to be a good one. I will post my final haul on here in a couple of days or less.

I was hugely impressed by Criterion's presentation of The Black Stallion when I watched it last weekend. I was surprised to find that, although I had only seen the movie once before more than 30 years ago, I remembered almost every scene. That's a mark of powerful cinema.

[tenia]

Does anybody knows already what sources Criterion uses for their Night & The City release ? I'd guess some might have received already a retail copy and would have access to the info through the booklet.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by mja345

I've seen all five and I'd rank them...

1. 3 Women
2. The Vanishing
3. Investigation
4. Naked Lunch
5. Night Porter

"3 Women" is an absolute masterpiece IMO. One of the most surreal and hypnotic films of all-time. I'm a massive Altman fan and I think this is one of his best. "The Vanishing" is incredible as well. If you enjoyed the remake, the original is far superior. A far less compromising film than the remake. "Investigation" is a great film as well. Gian Maria Volonte gives a spellbinding performance. That guy was one hell of an actor and he was never better.

"Naked Lunch" is a film that doesn't work that well for me. I think Cronenberg, as talented as he is, was probably the wrong director for that material. It feels like a film that would have been in Terry Gilliam's wheelhouse. There are definitely some great moments in "Naked Lunch", but it's not a real satisfying film as a whole. "The Night Porter" is a film that raises a thought-provoking premise, but fails to really do a lot with it IMO. It falls flat. It needed to be taken to further extremes to really work, a la "Salo" or "Antichrist". But it backs off. I think "The Night Porter" is one of the poorer films in the collection in all honesty.

Wow, many thanks for the very insightful information.

[NolanvsNathan]

Thinking of biting the bullet and blind-buying Pasolini's Trilogy of Life come November.

Any thoughts on the films and wether they'd a make safe blind buy?

I've never seen a Pasolini film before (though have been very eager to), and I enjoy Fellini films and love Bertolucci, if that helps.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by jw007

Made one final trip to Barnes and Noble and bought The Black Stallion as a blind-buy. I did some research on this one and liked the story and theme so I think this is going to be a good one. I will post my final haul on here in a couple of days or less.

It's an excellent film. While each half of the film is distinct and very different from the other half, both work for me. As is so often the case for me, Ebert's review is spot on.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by ZeTi

The closing shots in Marketa Lazarova are beyond beautiful.

Spoiler tags please.

[obscurelabel]

Originally Posted by jw007

Does anyone here by any chance own the Criterion DVDs of Nanook of the North (1922) and Simon of the Desert (1965)?

Simon of the Desert is wonderful. Keep in mind that it's only about 40+ minutes long, but the length fits the film perfectly. It's funny and surprising all the way through.

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by NolanvsNathan

Thinking of biting the bullet and blind-buying Pasolini's Trilogy of Life come November.

Any thoughts on the films and wether they'd a make safe blind buy?

I've never seen a Pasolini film before (though have been very eager to), and I enjoy Fellini films and love Bertolucci, if that helps.

It's been a few years since I saw the Trilogy of Life, but what I remember is that they're pretty different from the standard affair. The closest Fellini films that kind of matches the Trilogy is probably Satyricon. The films were kind of harsh and unrelenting, but there are sequences of humor too. I don't know if I would recommend it as a blind-buy. They weren't for me, but they could be great for some people.

[Kolm14]

Can anyone offer some opinions on Les Cousins or Le Beau Serge by Claude Charbol? I love Godard, Melville, Truffaut, and the new wave in general but haven't touched on Charbol at all. Figured I'd go back for the last day of the sale and grab a few more titles.

Also, my collection if anyone is interested and wants to reccommend other films: https://www.criterion.com/my_criteri...m14/collection

[buffetfroid]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Great list! I'd have to go with:

1. Double Indemnity
2. Sunset Blvd.
3. Witness for the Prosecution
4. Sabrina
5. Some Like It Hot
6. Ace in the Hole
7. Stalag 17
8. One, Two, Three
9. A Foreign Affair
10.The Major and the Minor

I'm surprised by my 10th choice because I have a general aversion to Ginger Rogers ... but she's great in it. My "also-ran" would be Five Graves to Cairo.

I love The Major and the Minor. It's really a subversive film if you think about.

My list would be

1. Sunset Blvd
2. Double Indemnity
3. Stalag 17
4. Major and the Minor
5. Ace in the Hole
6. Some Like it Hot
7. The Apartment
8. Avanti
9. The Lost Weekend
10. Witness for the Prosecution

[Scottie]

Top 5 Billy Wilder

01. Sunset Blvd.
02. The Lost Weekend
03. Ace in the Hole
04. The Seven Year Itch
05. Witness for the Prosecution

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Kolm14

Can anyone offer some opinions on Les Cousins or Le Beau Serge by Claude Charbol? I love Godard, Melville, Truffaut, and the new wave in general but haven't touched on Charbol at all. Figured I'd go back for the last day of the sale and grab a few more titles.

Also, my collection if anyone is interested and wants to reccommend other films: https://www.criterion.com/my_criteri...m14/collection

I enjoyed Le Beau Serge quite a bit. I haven’t seen Les Cousins yet, but I plan to. I think that if you consider yourself a fan of all of those French filmmakers, you’ll like Chabrol. LBS is pretty conventional fare and is quite different from the films he would make later in his career. Nothing about it seems to inspire anyone to report back here with an “Oh, man! Did I ever see a great film!” Even so, it is worth if for Jean-Claude Brialy, the supporting actors, and a nice story about friendship and sacrifice. Chabrol filmed LBS in his home town (or maybe it was a town in which he spent a lot of time as a boy.. I forgot.) Anyway, the CC disc contains what is probably my favorite supplement in the entire collection and that is when JCB and Chabrol re-visit the town in present day and talk about the making of the film.

[ShellOilJunior]

Apparently another site believes this forum "unilaterally" supports Criterion and does not allow criticism.

Yet there are many discussions of PQ vs other region releases, artwork, packaging and replacements.

[Norbie]

Originally Posted by movieben1138

I had the same thing happen with the Demy set. Looked like the stock room crew had used it for a soccer ball before tossing it in the box. I exchanged it at a local store last week. Today, however, I got 3:10 to Yuma in the mail and again I'm going to have to go make an exchange. The case was totally smashed on one side. B&N's shipping department is an absolute joke.

-Ben

Had the same problem when they sent mine all the way to Australia, and because of those I've grown to really dislike these sort of "digipaks". I now prefer something like the Godzilla, The Night of the hunter style.