The Criterion Collection

[Bob Kramer]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I was looking over the special features for the upcoming Ikiru release.

While they look very good, one thing I wish Criterion would do more often with foreign films is include interviews with American directors/actors about the influence that classic films like Ikiru had on their careers.

I thought they included interviews with Captain Ascot and Blueblood Baumbach on EVERY RELEASE already?

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by Banned User

No wonder its not your favorite genre watching Scream and Antichrist.

It is by far my favorite genre though I like atmospheric. otherwordly. ghostly films and have never really been a fan of slasher films or over the top gory films. I prefer something like The Innocents or Onibaba. The Haunting is another one that's more concerned with atmosphere and can be down right spooky at times.

I can stand blood in films as I absolutely love Pans Labyrinth, but for the most part am not that big a fan of over the top kills throughout a movie or fake 'who done it' slasher films like Scream. Now I do like so bad its good horror films on occasion.

Yep! I love the old Universal horror movies from the early 1930's, from Dracula all the way through to Dracula's Daughter; my favorite is The Black Cat, with Bride of Frankenstein close on its heels. The second wave of Universal horror in the 1940's is fun, but in my opinion, that decade absolutely belonged to the incomparable Val Lewton. I'm not going to admit how many times I've watched I Walked With a Zombie, but I can quote long stretches of dialogue by heart.

Speaking of which, you mentioned another of my all-time favorite movies, The Haunting. Years and years ago I memorized the first paragraph of Shirley Jackson's source novel, The Haunting of Hill House, and I can still recite it perfectly: "No live organism can continue to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane ..." Robert Wise's film is a classic, perhaps my favorite film of 1963; but I loathed the 1999 remake, a travesty which should be avoided at all costs.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Bob Kramer

I thought they included interviews with Captain Ascot and Blueblood Baumbach on EVERY RELEASE already?

[billzfan]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I was looking over the special features for the upcoming Ikiru release.

While they look very good, one thing I wish Criterion would do more often with foreign films is include interviews with American directors/actors about the influence that classic films like Ikiru had on their careers.

They did it with The Battle of Algiers and a few others.

I don't mind reading subtitles for the films themselves, but it does get a little frustrating having to do it with the special features.

Plus it's just interesting to get a Western perspective on non-Western films.

That a shame too because I know Ikiru is one of Spielberg's favorite films.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by billzfan

That a shame too because I know Ikiru is one of Spielberg's favorite films.

All I'm saying is they could include a short featurette with important directors talking about the film's influence on their work. Doesn't have to take away from the interviews with people who worked on the film.

...that's what they did with The Battle of Algiers.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

No slasher films?!

...come on bro!!!!

Slasher films are awesome, love them as you can see from my collection I love horror in general. As long as it's not too slow or boring that is. The higher the body count & the more gory it is the better I say.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

Slasher films are awesome, love them as you can see from my collection I love horror in general. As long as it's not too slow or boring that is. The higher the body count & the more gory it is the better I say.

That's cool. It's just not what I look for in a movie.

[D2Girls]

the packaging for this digipack seems similar to the eraserhead release
possibly the same, the way everything folds out, the booklets dimensions is pretty much the same
im very happy with this release in general, cant cussing wait to check out the actual movie itself. I've heard nothing but good things about the sound design and I loved the sound design in eraserhead to death.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by D2Girls

the packaging for this digipack seems similar to the eraserhead release
possibly the same, the way everything folds out, the booklets dimensions is pretty much the same
im very happy with this release in general, cant cussing wait to check out the actual movie itself. I've heard nothing but good things about the sound design and I loved the sound design in eraserhead to death.

What release?

[D2Girls]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

What release?

mulholland drive

[CriterionBlues]

Just finished my re-watch of Mulholland Drive and it looks better than I've ever seen it before (in fairness, haven't seen it theatrically). Even though it had been many years and I have seen it numerous times, I was still as riveted as day one. Few 2.5 hour movies make me long for another 2.5 hours.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

Just finished my re-watch of Mulholland Drive and it looks better than I've ever seen it before (in fairness, haven't seen it theatrically). Even though it had been many years and I have seen it numerous times, I was still as riveted as day one. Few 2.5 hour movies make me long for another 2.5 hours.

Mine arrived in the mail today, but sadly I am too busy with school to watch it yet. Hopefully this weekend (or tomorrow)!

[jw007]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

Just finished my re-watch of Mulholland Drive and it looks better than I've ever seen it before (in fairness, haven't seen it theatrically). Even though it had been many years and I have seen it numerous times, I was still as riveted as day one. Few 2.5 hour movies make me long for another 2.5 hours.

I can't wait to buy this during the upcoming B&N sale. It's going to be the first purchase I make in November.

*counting down the days until the start of the sale*

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Yep! I love the old Universal horror movies from the early 1930's, from Dracula all the way through to Dracula's Daughter; my favorite is The Black Cat, with Bride of Frankenstein close on its heels. The second wave of Universal horror in the 1940's is fun, but in my opinion, that decade absolutely belonged to the incomparable Val Lewton. I'm not going to admit how many times I've watched I Walked With a Zombie, but I can quote long stretches of dialogue by heart.

Speaking of which, you mentioned another of my all-time favorite movies, The Haunting. Years and years ago I memorized the first paragraph of Shirley Jackson's source novel, The Haunting of Hill House, and I can still recite it perfectly: "No live organism can continue to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane ..." Robert Wise's film is a classic, perhaps my favorite film of 1963; but I loathed the 1999 remake, a travesty which should be avoided at all costs.

I Walked With a Zombie is one of the very first horror films I can remember seeing-more specifically the "Walk through the Cane Field" sequence. Pure poetry. Someone here mentioned the term "atmospheric"- The Lewton films are the very definition of that.

One early Universal horror I really enjoy is Murders in the Rue Morgue. A very grim pre-code horror (and early writing credit for John Huston) that was Bela and director Florey's consolation prize for turning down Frankenstein. Hopefully, it will be included in the next Universal Horror set.

[Sifox211]

Criterion related news here - I am very excited at the prospect of seeing Terrence Davies' new film Sunset Song, based on the novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon. The novel is part of his trilogy A Scots Quair which is set in the place where I grew up, the Howe of the Mearns. It scandalised the locals when it was published because of its realistic depictions of rural life in the Mearns, but is more memorable for its poetic depictions of the landscape which is truly beautiful - there is a magical quality to the light just needing to be filmed!

Untitled_jpg.jpg

Scratching a livelihood out of the stunning but harsh terrain, the Guthrie family cowers in obedient fear of its brooding patriarch (Peter Mullan), a man prone to sudden and ferocious bursts of anger. As Guthrie's wife retreats into silence, the film's attention shifts to his daughter Chris (Agyness Deyn), a beautiful and intelligent young woman divided between her hatred for the coarse people in her village and her love of the landscape.

Sunset Song recently screened to great acclaim as a Special Presentation at Toronto International Film Festival.

One of Gibbon's short stories is called Greenden - this is set on the Mearns farm of that name that has been in my family for three generations

There's a special preview, possibliy with cast members, at my local arthouse cinema The Belmont but its sold out already

[Race Bannon]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Yep! I love the old Universal horror movies from the early 1930's, from Dracula all the way through to Dracula's Daughter; my favorite is The Black Cat, with Bride of Frankenstein close on its heels. The second wave of Universal horror in the 1940's is fun, but in my opinion, that decade absolutely belonged to the incomparable Val Lewton. I'm not going to admit how many times I've watched I Walked With a Zombie, but I can quote long stretches of dialogue by heart.

Speaking of which, you mentioned another of my all-time favorite movies, The Haunting. Years and years ago I memorized the first paragraph of Shirley Jackson's source novel, The Haunting of Hill House, and I can still recite it perfectly: "No live organism can continue to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane ..." Robert Wise's film is a classic, perhaps my favorite film of 1963; but I loathed the 1999 remake, a travesty which should be avoided at all costs.

Another huge fan of the Val Lewton films and The Black Cat here. I would love to get all of them on blu. (All Lugosi/Karloff films and all Lewton productions).

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by TomN245

My Top 5 Godard:

1. Anything but Histoire(s) du cinema
2. Anything but Histoire(s) du cinema
3. Anything but Histoire(s) du cinema
4. Anything but Histoire(s) du cinema
5. Anything but Histoire(s) du cinema



I like the editing, and the creative ambition Godard has while making it. It's impossible to watch.

Where did you see it? The Artificial Eye version solved a bunch of the subtitle problems that seemed inherent to the manner in which the film is constructed (overlaid text that competes with dialogue etc). I can certainly attest to the fact that it's not "impossible" to watch.

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

The 10 minutes I watched of Goodbye to Language scared me away from anything from Godard past Weekend. Showing obscure political figures on cell phones to each other or whatever it is they’re doing in the beginning of the film is not interesting cinema.

On the contrary I found Goodbye To Language to be one of the most riveting cinematic experiences of my life when I saw it last year (and in IMAX to boot!). It's a beautiful mesh of spectacle and ideas, and features the single-most impressive shot I've seen in some time. I've seen it a couple of times theatrically, and the audience has literally gasped in unison each time.

I don't think it's as simple as writing off everything post-Weekend either. Every Man For Himself, for example, is far more accessible than Weekend.

Late Godard is challenging, but it's wonderful and incredibly rewarding.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

Criterion related news here - I am very excited at the prospect of seeing Terrence Davies' new film Sunset Song, based on the novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon. The novel is part of his trilogy A Scots Quair which is set in the place where I grew up, the Howe of the Mearns. It scandalised the locals when it was published because of its realistic depictions of rural life in the Mearns, but is more memorable for its poetic depictions of the landscape which is truly beautiful - there is a magical quality to the light just needing to be filmed!

I've never been convinced by Davies, but am keen to see this. A bunch of my friends saw it at the London Film Festival a few weeks ago and it's split them down the middle, but those that loved it really LOVED it. I'm certainly excited about his use of 70mm.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

Slasher films are awesome, love them as you can see from my collection

I love the "golden age of slasher films" that went on from 1978 to the mid-1980s.

Halloween
Halloween II
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th: Part 2
Friday the 13th: Part 3
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
My Bloody Valentine
Happy Birthday to Me
Just Before Dawn
Graduation Day
Prom Night
Dressed to Kill
Sleepaway Camp
Terror Train
The Burning
The Slumber Party Massacre
Madman
Visiting Hours
The Final Terror
Curtains
New Year's Evil
Final Exam
The House on Sorority Row
Death Valley
Sweet Sixteen
Sorority House Massacre
...and others...

These slasher movies from that era were often gruesome, but they also had an oddly fun-spirited innocence about them, and they were ingenious with the makeup effects before the days of computer-generated images.

After this "golden age of slasher films", the more recent fare became less interesting to me.

[Roninblues]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I'm with you. I don't really care what the director or the people that worked on the film think about it, I want to know what Americans think about it.

A sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark.