The Criterion Collection

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

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

He had problems during the production cause of studio interference but on the blu ray of the Directors Cut he said hes more happy with it now since he was able to show more of a version that matched his original vision.

[Polaroid]

Del Toro reminds me of Soderbergh - they both have made some incredible films but also some really awful generic films.

I get they need to make films for money to fund future project but it's a tad annoying lol

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Del Toro reminds me of Soderbergh - they both have made some incredible films but also some really awful generic films.

I get they need to make films for money to fund future project but it's a tad annoying lol

Apart from early efforts like Mimic, GDT has not worked on a project that didn't interest him, it's nowhere like Soderbergh doing an Ocean's Number film specifically to get funds for other projects. I didn't care much for the first Hellboy movie and would have thought it was a money project but apparently he was quite passionate about it, and lobbied hard for the sequel (which turned out immensely better IMO). There might be those who think only his Spanish films are worthwhile, but the man himself loves his comic book movies as much as his gothic fantasies.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Apart from early efforts like Mimic, GDT has not worked on a project that didn't interest him, it's nowhere like Soderbergh doing an Ocean's Number film specifically to get funds for other projects. I didn't care much for the first Hellboy movie and would have thought it was a money project but apparently he was quite passionate about it, and lobbied hard for the sequel (which turned out immensely better IMO). There might be those who think only his Spanish films are worthwhile, but the man himself loves his comic book movies as much as his gothic fantasies.

Pacific rim *cough* and forgot Soderbergh did Oceans.

I do love his recent films though like Contagion - although Side Effects wasn't as good.

I did enjoy the monster creations in Hellboy but not the best films lol

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Pacific rim *cough* and forgot Soderbergh did Oceans.

I do love his recent films though like Contagion - although Side Effects wasn't as good.

I did enjoy the monster creations in Hellboy but not the best films lol

It seems Del Toro was quite passionate about Pacific Rim, it was a fun movie, but after Pan's Labyrinth it feels kind of forgettable, the second Hellboy movie was pretty good, but I havent checked Mimic, I heard it is quite bad though, need to check it on Netflix.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Pacific rim *cough* and forgot Soderbergh did Oceans.

Pacific Rim was indisputably a passion project for GDT who is a big fan of Japanese monster and mecha pop culture. In fact he was disappointed that Legendary Pictures promoted it as a geek movie instead of the family adventure film he wanted to present (which is why there is no gore or overtly disturbing violence in the film). Again, after the relatively disappointing domestic box office of the film, he fought hard for a sequel and finally got the greenlight based on its overseas box-office. You may not care for the movie but the director certainly did.

Quoting from an interview:

“I really wanted to make a movie that had an incredibly airy and light feel,” Del Toro said the other day, reflecting on the film he had just finished. “This is not a super-brooding, super-dark, cynical summer movie. I wanted very much to do a movie that is aiming for a young audience. Adults can be, God willing, entertained by the big, beautiful, sophisticated visuals and the action and all that, but my real hope is that this movie allows for a new generation of kaiju and robot kids that fall in love with giant monsters.”

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Pacific Rim was indisputably a passion project for GDT who is a big fan of Japanese monster and mecha pop culture. In fact he was disappointed that Legendary Pictures promoted it as a geek movie instead of the family adventure film he wanted to present (which is why there is no gore or overtly disturbing violence in the film). Again, after the relatively disappointing domestic box office of the film, he fought hard for a sequel and finally got the greenlight based on its overseas box-office. You may not care for the movie but the director certainly did.

Quoting from an interview:

I thought the sequal was canceled?

[ravenus]

It's reported to be delayed because of issues between Legendary and Universal but as recently as this month, GDT is quoted as saying that it is going to be made and he expects to hand in a script and budget soon.
LINK

[The Great Owl]

On the subject of Guillermo del Toro...

As much as I'd like to, I just cannot get excited about his new film, Crimson Peak. Computer-generated images are not scary, and they probably never will be.

I should revisit The Devil's Backbone, though, because it's been a while. Pan's Labyrinth was a good flick, but I pretty much wore out my DVD for a few months, and haven't felt the need to revisit the movie since.

[monorail91]

I made this as a joke but ended up liking how it turned out -- what if the Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants joined the CC? (Hey -- it still hasn't gotten a Blu-ray release!)

[Show spoiler]

[malakaheso]

Mimic is good for what it is. It has a creepier atmosphere than most films in that 'genre', and there were a few legitimately risky moments. I also found it quite suspenseful.

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

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.

They aren't even using tracking shots in the same way in my view. Tarr's films feel more 'grounded', more 'materialist', for lack of a better word. He has a different sense of time than Tarkovsky and he is even less interested in narrative and character than he was; not that they were always Tarkovsky's priorities, but I couldn't imagine late career Tarr making a film like The Sacrifice, for example.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

On the subject of Guillermo del Toro...

As much as I'd like to, I just cannot get excited about his new film, Crimson Peak. Computer-generated images are not scary, and they probably never will be.

I should revisit The Devil's Backbone, though, because it's been a while. Pan's Labyrinth was a good flick, but I pretty much wore out my DVD for a few months, and haven't felt the need to revisit the movie since.

Thats what is putting me off it - I really think it will be a horror for mainstream... I know thats a crap way to describe it but the effects in The Devils Backbone are haunting and so well done... it just looks a tad corny in the trailers to Crimson peak. It also has that feel to it that its aimed at a different audience to say Pans Labyrinth or Devils Backbone, and yes I am judging this off the trailer which is obviously edited to appeal to the mass but still.

Obviously I will go see it and it has a brilliant cast, but I am not going in expecting to be scared or frightened. I hope when I see it I do change my mind!

Tbh I have no idea why there is so much hype around Del Toro and his horror, I really don't think he's that good at horror or scary films, he's ok at the gothic genre but I just don't see the hype surrounding him.

I don't know he's hit and miss with me....

Pans Labyrinth and Devils Backbone are his best films for me and the only ones I will revisit.

I really feel the horror genre is dying out and yes we have many horrors coming out and a lot are selling well, but they just come across as cheap and there to make a quick bit of money. There is hardly any care left in this genre.

I hoep film like The Witch change my mind...

(also seeing Macbeth on weekend.... SUPER hyped!)

and yes I am rambling on and probably make little sense lol.

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Tbh I have no idea why there is so much hype around Del Toro and his horror, I really don't think he's that good at horror or scary films, he's ok at the gothic genre but I just don't see the hype surrounding him.

I would have disagreed with you vehemently 10 years ago, and I was definitely one of his early advocates. I went to see Mimic because I really liked Chronos and by the time Blade 2 came out I was really into his films, but to me most of his films don't stand up to repeated viewing. He is not a great story teller--there is something oddly disjointed about many of his films, and it's not in a deliberate 'artistic' way either--and while his visuals are impressive, they are not absolutely top shelf. He knows how to frame and light a scene, but with the exception of Pan's Labyrinth his images are not all that memorable.

Personally I think the hype and praise is somewhat the result of scarcity. i.e there is not much genuine competition, particularly in American genre cinema.

Then again, i feel that way about most American directors, including Fincher, and I really like some of his films too, especially Zodiac.

[Polaroid]

I had a horror marathon recently and watch pretty much most the main horrors film that cam out 2014/2015 (majority shockingly were found footage lol..).

What happened to this genre and the audience.

Not even going to attempt The Visit lol.

Why can't people nowadays stick to film like The Innocents for example.... now that is an incredible ghost film.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by 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.

I like it!

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

http://www.crowdsourcestudios.com/media.html

The audio quality is sketchy at best and you can tell the interviewer isn't up on the label, but it is still a good listen.

Thanks for the link, it was really nice to listen to.

However, after listening to the whole podcast I don't know how you came to the conclusion that they will be releasing all these Warner titles. At one point around the 15 minute mark he says that Criterion have released around 800 titles (previous formats included) and that they have around 1400 movies total. Is that what you were referring to?

If there was a possibility of them getting McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Blow-Up, Crash or any other sure sellers, I am pretty certain that they would give us some information.

[CriterionBlues]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

Thanks for the link, it was really nice to listen to.

However, after listening to the whole podcast I don't know how you came to the conclusion that they will be releasing all these Warner titles. At one point around the 15 minute mark he says that Criterion have released around 800 titles (previous formats included) and that they have around 1400 movies total. Is that what you were referring to?

If there was a possibility of them getting McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Blow-Up, Crash or any other sure sellers, I am pretty certain that they would give us some information.

I don't remember the specific quote, but he made some comment that studios sometimes try to give them too much inventory. It has been a couple weeks since I listened and cannot remember if that was specifically about WB, but it was in the context of that conversation.

As for giving more information, I think they normally would at the Wexner talk, but that's not happening. They tend to pick their spots when they communicate about upcoming titles and that hasn't happened in awhile.

I think there is a strong chance of them getting all that you mentioned and plenty more but it will take time for them to develop the releases. We could have a dozen Warner titles in a couple years, but they'll probably come out in a slow trickle.

[Ray Jackson]

I just finished watching House for the first time.

...the Japanese are an intriguing people.

[pro-bassoonist]

The Honeymoon Killers Blu-ray REVIEW



Very effective film that has the raw power and intensity of John Cassavetes' work. Only here the subject makes you feel extremely uncomfortable. Francois Truffaut once said that it was his favorite American film, but I wonder if he eventually changed his mind.

The supplemental features are very good. There are some great bits about Marty Scorsese's involvement. (See the interview with Leonard Kastle). The visual essay is also very informative.



Pro-B