The Criterion Collection

[tisdivine]

Anyone heard any updates on Criterion having a flash sale? I renember another poster mentioned that they usually happen around the 1st of October.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

In the unlikely event he's telling the truth, it's obvious he went into the majority of them expecting to hate them for no reason other than to be able to make posts like this. Congrats, being such a forced contrarian is just as intellectually bankrupt as groupthink. I, too, HATED the first Fellini I saw and didn't really like the second, but had the good sense to stop there and the lack of attention-whoring personality not to continue or pretend that they were actually worthless movies and that my opinion was more valid than decades' worth of writing and adulation.

You probably need to give Fellini another chance, his style changed so much over his career that there's probably something to your liking still there.

I for example have seen almost all of Pasolini films, and while in general didn't like it too much, I still found his early stuff like Accattone and Mamma Roma to be great.

Something similar with Tarkovsky although my average of likes there is higher because his output is so small.

[Fabs]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

My Criterion Blu-ray of Dressed to Kill arrived in the mail from Amazon today.
...and it's the first printing.

*sigh*

I was really hoping that I would not have to deal with this.

I could return this to Amazon, or I could email Criterion for a replacement disc. I think that I'll do the latter and get the replacement disc straight from Criterion, since I know that they'll send me the correct one. While I'm at it, I'll request compensation from Amazon...perhaps a $10 credit for my inconvenience.

Argh.

Keep it. In a few years everyone will want that rare first printing

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by jw007

I need to see Cronos again...I remember it being quite bizarre but I hadn't been properly introduced to Guillermo del Toro at the time yet. I have mixed feelings about The Devil's Backbone but then again I only saw that one once too and I bought that in a blind-buy at the time.

I can tell you this though... I absolutely love his current TV series The Strain. I'm totally riveted by that TV show right now and look forward to every new episode. I find it terrifying and unique how it combines ancient mythology, history, science and horror. Have you watched that yet? Or anyone else here for that matter?

Id say you should definitely revist Cronos & The Devils Backbone. I also blind bought them this past summer cause I love his other films & really enjoyed them both, especially Devils Backbone. The Strain is awesome too

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by tisdivine

Anyone heard any updates on Criterion having a flash sale? I renember another poster mentioned that they usually happen around the 1st of October.

There is never news of a flash sale before it actually happens, they are around specific dates, and usually on Tuesday, other than that the only hint is that a day before their website is usually down some time for maintenance.

[SkyAntoine]

I watched Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida last night. Im glad Criterion did these films and Grey Gardens. It is so fascinating to hear eccentric individuals tell their own story. Gates of Heaven was my favorite and I even enjoyed it more than Thin Blue Line primarily because crime docudramas are so commonplace now.

Best of all, without Errol Morris there probably would not have been Best in Show...a personal favorite of mine.

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by tisdivine

Anyone heard any updates on Criterion having a flash sale? I renember another poster mentioned that they usually happen around the 1st of October.

Although I've never purchased from Criterion as I wait for the B&N sales, I always get an email from Criterion when a flash sale starts. If you haven't signed up for the newsletter emails, then doing so will definitely alert you when a sale is imminent.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by Reddington

Although I've never purchased from Criterion as I wait for the B&N sales, I always get an email from Criterion when a flash sale starts. If you haven't signed up for the newsletter emails, then doing so will definitely alert you when a sale is imminent.

I really would hope they could expand their sales internationally, so that we (who don't live in USA) could benefit too from those flash sales.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

Id say you should definitely revist Cronos & The Devils Backbone. I also blind bought them this past summer cause I love his other films & really enjoyed them both, especially Devils Backbone. The Strain is awesome too

As it so happens, I treated myself to a Guillermo del Toro double feature last night. First on the program was Cronos, which I had never seen before, and which I very much enjoyed. It's hard to believe that Cronos was his first feature film; so many of what I now recognize to be his stylistic and thematic trademarks popped up in the film. I was fascinated by the mechanical clockworks of the Cronos device itself, which del Toro helped design, and admired the performances (especially the over-the-top character played by Ron Perlman). The extras on the disc were all fantastic, especially the tour through del Toro's "man cave museum", Bleak House. Del Toro is such an articulate man; I enjoy listening to him expound on his ideas and philosophies.

The second film I watched was Mama, which del Toro produced, but did not personally direct. Still, it was very much a "del Toro film", in the same way that Cat People and I Walked With a Zombie are "Val Lewton films." Children and childhood were again at the forefront of the plot as they were in Cronos, The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth, etc., and the monster turns out to have sympathetic origins. I thought Jessica Chastain was marvelous in an off-beat role, and was also very impressed by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's versatility in playing a dual role (I thought the parts were played by two different actors until the end credits rolled by).

Last night left me convinced that I am very much a Guillermo del Toro fan. I'm especially grateful for the titles that now reside in The Criterion Collection and hope that some of his future work will also be included.

[Scottie]

Janus Films updated their cover photo with a still of Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015), so I have a feeling that this will be released in some capacity by The Criterion Collection.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

I watched Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida last night. Im glad Criterion did these films and Grey Gardens. It is so fascinating to hear eccentric individuals tell their own story. Gates of Heaven was my favorite and I even enjoyed it more than Thin Blue Line primarily because crime docudramas are so commonplace now.

Best of all, without Errol Morris there probably would not have been Best in Show...a personal favorite of mine.

Vernon, Florida is actually my favorite Morris film. I could listen to that gobbler hunter all day.

[Ray Jackson]

Hausu (House) is on TCM late tonight in case anyone's interested.

[wondervamp]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Hausu (House) is on TCM late tonight in case anyone's interested.

Thanks! Just set my DVR. This is my opportunity to watch it before buying before the big sale. Your so awesome!

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by wondervamp

Thanks! Just set my DVR. This is my opportunity to watch it before buying before the big sale. Your so awesome!

No more blind buys bro.

...no more blind buys.

[Fabs]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Hausu (House) is on TCM late tonight in case anyone's interested.

I work at a Nursing Home for older people, and a lot of them leave their TVs on all night - especially on TCM. Tonight at Midnight, a lot of them are going to get confused or scared.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Fabs

I work at a Nursing Home for older people, and a lot of them leave their TVs on all night - especially on TCM. Tonight at Midnight, a lot of them are going to get confused or scared.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by jmclick

As it so happens, I treated myself to a Guillermo del Toro double feature last night. First on the program was Cronos, which I had never seen before, and which I very much enjoyed. It's hard to believe that Cronos was his first feature film; so many of what I now recognize to be his stylistic and thematic trademarks popped up in the film. I was fascinated by the mechanical clockworks of the Cronos device itself, which del Toro helped design, and admired the performances (especially the over-the-top character played by Ron Perlman). The extras on the disc were all fantastic, especially the tour through del Toro's "man cave museum", Bleak House. Del Toro is such an articulate man; I enjoy listening to him expound on his ideas and philosophies.

The second film I watched was Mama, which del Toro produced, but did not personally direct. Still, it was very much a "del Toro film", in the same way that Cat People and I Walked With a Zombie are "Val Lewton films." Children and childhood were again at the forefront of the plot as they were in Cronos, The Devil's Backbone, Pan's Labyrinth, etc., and the monster turns out to have sympathetic origins. I thought Jessica Chastain was marvelous in an off-beat role, and was also very impressed by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's versatility in playing a dual role (I thought the parts were played by two different actors until the end credits rolled by).

Last night left me convinced that I am very much a Guillermo del Toro fan. I'm especially grateful for the titles that now reside in The Criterion Collection and hope that some of his future work will also be included.

I feel the same. I've enjoyed everything he's directed & most of what he's produced. If you get a chance check out Mimic if you haven't seen it already which was his first Hollywood film.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Bob Kramer

Tarr is a derivative snooze. It's like he saw a Tarkovsky tracking shot once and built his entire "career" around that and nothing else, without understanding why Tarkovsky made films the way he did.

Doesn't seem like you understand his films. I certainly can see ppl not liking his films and I do think some of his tracking shots are too long, but I think your statements are off-base. His tracking shots do have a purpose, none more so than the two most notable ones in Werckmeister Harmonies.

[ravenus]

My take on Kuroneko:

Director Kaneto Shindo is a marvel of vivacity at the very least. He died after completing a century, and in a film-making career that began in 1951, was releasing films up to 2 years before his demise. With films like The Naked Island, Children of Hiroshima, Onibaba etc and his documentary on fellow director Kenji Mizoguchi, Shindo has cemented his reputation as one of Japanese cinema's prime names.

Kuroneko aka Black Cat (1968) is a spiritual successor to 1964's Onibaba. Both of them deal with peasant women characters (woman and daughter-in-law) and their murderous interactions with Samurai. Unlike in the films of Akira Kurosawa or Masaki Kobayashi, the Samurai of Shindo's film have no glow of honor or nobility. They are rapacious bastards who exploit the peasantry and are in turn murdered by them. While the motive for murder in Onibaba was survival (the women trade the armor and weapons they get from murdering wounded samurai), here it is revenge (they are the vengeful spirits of peasants raped and killed by soldiers, now sworn to kill and drink the blood of passing samurai). The twist comes when a Samurai sent to tackle the murders of his comrades turns out to be the son/husband of the pair that had been forcibly conscripted and then made his name as a warrior. Whether the spirits of the women will still carry out their vow of vengeance against Samurai, or whether the warrior is able to overcome them forms the rest of the film's narrative.

Kuroneko is brilliantly framed. The scenes set in the house of the spirit women have a deliberate theatricality in terms of the set design, use of props and effects, the erotic ballet like movements of the characters - it is a reflection of the illusion created by the spirits to trap their Samurai victims. The lighting and camera movements are top-notch generating a solid atmosphere. But compared to Onibaba, the narrative feels less visceral and affecting, the repetitive depiction of the seduction and/or killing of Samurai although it is designed to establish a pattern, begins to get tiresome after a while. Really this feels like a short movie stretched out in running time. It is most badly affected in the last act which falls into the "Character in horror film does incredibly stupid things" trap. It's definitely worth watching once, but not more than that for me.

In presentation, Criterion's blu-ray (borrowed from a friend) is superb, with HD visuals that nicely complement Eureka/MoC's fabulous blu-ray of Onibaba. The image has terrific contrast and lovely texture. The mono sound effective conveys dialog and the moody score. Extras are few but significant - there's a 30-min video essay on Kuroneko by critic Tadao Sato and there's a really nice hour-long interview with Kaneto Shindo (shot in 1998) in which he goes over his entire film-making career till that point.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

I feel the same. I've enjoyed everything he's directed & most of what he's produced. If you get a chance check out Mimic if you haven't seen it already which was his first Hollywood film.

I don't think even del Toro himself recommends Mimic.