The Criterion Collection

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Indeed. I purchased the single-disc blu-ray of Giant because, according to the back of the insert, it had the same wealth of bonus features included with the two-disc digibook. When I opened it and put the disc in my player, I discovered that the single disc had no extras.

I emailed Warner Brothers to complain, never expecting to hear back from them, and within 24 hours, they asked for my mailing address, and sent a Fed-Ex package containing the digibook and a pre-paid label to ship back the single disc. And a little later, I got a lovely letter of apology. Very classy!

Well Go USA is also very good with their replacement discs. I have 4 discs that were bronzing. I mailed mine in on a Friday, buy the following Thursday I had my replacement discs & an nice apology letter.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Kurosawa is one of the few directors that when I look at my collection I feel like I have a complete collection of his work. Any Kurosawa experts want to check and let me know of I'm missing anything?

- All 30 of his films, on blu-ray where available (including the Aus release of Sanshiro Sugata with some of the deleted scenes)

There are actually 31 official films, though perhaps you're combining the two parts of Sanshiro Sugata into one film.

On edit: I was including Those Who Make Tomorrow in that count. Adjust accordingly.

He's also allegedly co-wrote and co-directed the film Uma (1941) with Kajirō Yamamoto, but was uncredited.

- The 3 films of Kuroswawa scripts completed by other directors after he died (After The Rain, Dora-heita, and The Sea Is Watching)

- The 3 hour PBS Kurosawa documentary

Am I missing anything?

You're missing (depending on how much a completist you are):

Tora! Tora! Tora! - Kurosawa did some uncredited co-writing for the Japanese sequences.

Runaway Train - Kurosawa wrote, and was supposed to direct this (in the US) in 1970. It was shelved due to production problems, and didn't get made until 1985. A new script was written, based on Kurosawa's, and Andrei Konchalovsky directed it.

Is Those Who Make Tomorrow available somewhere?

Not that I'm aware of.

[WonderWeasel]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Indeed. I purchased the single-disc blu-ray of Giant because, according to the back of the insert, it had the same wealth of bonus features included with the two-disc digibook. When I opened it and put the disc in my player, I discovered that the single disc had no extras.

I emailed Warner Brothers to complain, never expecting to hear back from them, and within 24 hours, they asked for my mailing address, and sent a Fed-Ex package containing the digibook and a pre-paid label to ship back the single disc. And a little later, I got a lovely letter of apology. Very classy!

The only company I've had a problem with is Lionsgate. I purchased a double feature of Apocalypse Now/The Hurt Locker that was supposed to contain redemption codes for digital copies but didn't. I took it back to Wal-Mart to exchange, and none of the three copies we checked had the codes, either. I've emailed Lionsgate/Summit Entertainment four times about it, and have never heard anything back. D**ks. Universal, Sony, and Criterion, on the other hand, have all been great.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by ajnejedi

Blade Runner was nothing compared to the book, as a PKD fan I've read most of his books, and the movie paled in any comparison...

But calling something Jaws in space is just ridiculous.....

Shusett and O'Bannon pitched their script to studios as "Jaws in space," so even the writers knew that's what it was, too.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by ajnejedi

Blade Runner was nothing compared to the book, as a PKD fan I've read most of his books, and the movie paled in any comparison...

But calling something Jaws in space is just ridiculous...

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Shusett and O'Bannon pitched their script to studios as "Jaws in space," so even the writers knew that's what it was, too.

How something is pitched says less about the people pitching the project as it does about the people being pitched to.

Gene Roddenberry pitched Star Trek as "Wagon Train in space", but it doesn't resemble that western in any way that makes sense.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by jayembee

How something is pitched says less about the people pitching the project as it does about the people being pitched to.

Gene Roddenberry pitched Star Trek as "Wagon Train in space", but it doesn't resemble that western in any way that makes sense.

However, being the writers, it's their story to tell. So they should know where its influences came from. Jaws and Alien both share a similar template and structure for sure - both use a very standard monster in the house-type idea, but that doesn't make it a bad thing. Kinda like all those action movies pitched as "Die Hard on a _____" in the 90s. Or Avatar being called Dances With Wolves in space. Doesn't mean they are exactly the same but share enough of the same characteristics to be relatable.

And I can totally see Star Trek as Wagon Train in space - the ensemble, the episodic nature of how the stories were told, the journey, etc.

[Vinyl]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Shusett and O'Bannon pitched their script to studios as "Jaws in space," so even the writers knew that's what it was, too.

Haha, maybe that is why my wife likes both movies so much

[jw007]

Here's a pic of my final haul for this year's summer sale at B&N. Had to get this in before it was too irrelevant.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by jw007

Here's a pic of my final haul for this year's summer sale at B&N. Had to get this in before it was too irrelevant.

[Show spoiler]

Oh no! All of your movies are upside down! Better contact Criterion for replacements!

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Edward J Grug III

Oh no! All of your movies are upside down! Better contact Criterion for replacements!

Ha ha. No, no. Check again, I had to edit the photo . It's correct now.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by jw007

Here's a pic of my final haul for this year's summer sale at B&N. Had to get this in before it was too irrelevant.

Nice haul

[Polaroid]

Why so much hate for Nolan lol - his films aint perfect but they are enjoyable.

As much as I would love him go o back to his routes and make more film like Following, Prestige and memento. I do love watching Inception, Interstellar etc, they are fun and you don't have to over think. He has great casting and his soundtracks are brilliant, I adore Interstellar's music so much.

I get bored of people saying he's the next Kubrick or whatever because that is a load of bollocks. He is his own director an the makes films more a mainstream audience, but tries to make them a bit different and unique.

If you don't like him then be it...

(Memento & Prestige would be great in collection :P)

-

On another note seeing Fantastic 4 later, my main reason for seeing it Philip Glass is freaking scoring it! plus Marvel films can be fun lol.

[Sifox211]

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by Yami

Hou Hsiao-Hsien is surely the most obvious candidate, but there are too many to name...

Shinji Somai
Tsai Ming-liang
Im Kwon-Taek
Shuji Terayama
Tian Zhuangzhuang
Ann Hui
Lino Brocka
Ishmael Bernal
Lav Diaz
Shunji Iwai
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Mamoru Oshii
Hayao Miyazaki
Isao Takahata
Fei Mu
Chen Kaige

Just off the top of my head! Miyazaki in particular is already well represented on Blu-Ray, but Ghibli films in general have been let down in the extras department.

Good choices. I would love to see some Iwai in the collection - Love Letter is a fantastic film! And some Ghibli would be awesome if we could get some decent extras.

[Bob Kramer]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

...

I adore Interstellar's music so much.

...

On another note seeing Fantastic 4 later, my main reason for seeing it Philip Glass is freaking scoring it!

>cough<Koyaanisqatsi>clears throat<

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Bob Kramer

>cough<Koyaanisqatsi>clears throat<

Tbh I found it more to be similar to Bach's organ works more so than Philip Glass' score - But what is wrong with having music inspired by these two artists? Its great and emotional soundtrack.

Also the only reason it is similar to the above is because its using an organ :P

[The Great Owl]

Last night, I watched my Criterion Blu-ray of Zatoichi the Fugitive (1963).

Although the first film in the set is still my favorite so far, this fourth film is the most engaging in terms of visual appeal. The colors are beautiful and the location settings are superb, especially during the fight scene at an abandoned house late in the film. Zatoichi the Fugitive also has the best fight scenes of the series so far, and it's noticeably more action-oriented without sacrificing a lot of the emotional content. There's also a slight femme fatale element in this particular entry, in the form of a woman named Otane, a former interest of Zatoichi who is married to a ronin who rivals Zatoichi in skill.

I took a break after the first three movies, and I'll be taking many more breaks as I go on. I've found the these Zatoichi movies are good to watch on weeknights, because the movies are fairly short and there are no commentary tracks or extras for the individual films as I move through them. I'll likely be watching other Blu-rays on the weekends, and enjoying the Zatoichi series on the occasional weeknights as I have time.


Onward to Zatoichi on the Road...

[CriterionBlues]

So my wallet is reeling.

After my huge B&N haul, I was offered some OOP discs at a good price.

Just bought on Blu-Ray:

Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Howard's End
Leon Morin, Priest
Last Year at Marienbad

I won't tell you the price, but it was below the going market for all combined.

That leaves two OOP Blu-Rays for completion: The Third Man and Pierrot Le Fou.

Also haven't bought Blue is the Warmest Color, but I'm waiting for that 'special edition' that may or may not ever happen.

[ZeTi]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Last night, I watched my Criterion Blu-ray of Zatoichi the Fugitive (1963).

...

Awesome, think i'm gonna start revisiting them again. My Top5 from the first viewing.

#5 E17 / Zatoichi Challenged
#4 E06 / Masseur Ichi and the Chest of Gold
#3 E14 / The Blind Swordsman's Pilgrimage
#2 E01 / The Tale of Zatoichi
#1 E21 / Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival

[CriterionBlues]

Love the Zatoichi series. Thanks, Owl for bringing it back up.

My favorites -- loosely ranked:

Zatoichi's Pilgrimage
Zatoichi's Vengeance
Tale of Zatoichi
Zatoichi and the Chess Expert
Zatoichi's Flashing Sword
Zatoichi's Revenge

Edit: I have only seen up to 15.

[ZeTi]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

Love the Zatoichi series. Thanks, Owl for bringing it back up.

My favorites -- loosely ranked:

Zatoichi's Pilgrimage
Zatoichi's Vengeance
Tale of Zatoichi
Zatoichi and the Chess Expert
Zatoichi's Flashing Sword
Zatoichi's Revenge

Edit: I have only seen up to 15.

You should def. check out the rest ... Zatoichi and the Fire Festival features the always awesome Tatsuya Nakadai in a role similiar to his charakter in "Sword of Doom", prob. the reason why this is my favorite Zatoichi.