The Criterion Collection

[CriterionBlues]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Do I own it? Yes!

Have I opened it? No.

LOL You beat me to it. But I have thought about opening it numerous times.

[Dr_Bedlo]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Dude GET IT!!!!

One of the most visually stunning films you will ever see.

...old school Japanese horror stories.

I must concur! First saw it in very bad, overly-red VHS tape from the mid 80s. Fell in love with the story telling. Saw it years later on the big screen, not such a great print, but the colors were amazing to me. Worth a blind-buy!

Will be picking this title up during the sale.

[Persona]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

LOL You beat me to it. But I have thought about opening it numerous times.

Why wouldn't you open it...

[starman15317]

Heads up: The restored Apu Trilogy will be on TCM on November 30, starting at 8 PM (ET).

[filmmusic]

I was trying out something now and I found out that some Criterion Blurays (I don't know if it applies to all, I just checked those in my wishlist) are cheaper to buy from deepdiscount seller at amazon.com than the upcoming B&N sale.
They are 52-55% off. (I don't understand though why they don't have the same price in their own site)
The shipping is a bit expensive for my country (they charge $15 per Bluray!!), but maybe this would interest US citizens.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

I was trying out something now and I found out that some Criterion Blurays (I don't know if it applies to all, I just checked those in my wishlist) are cheaper to buy from deepdiscount seller at amazon.com than the upcoming B&N sale.
They are 52-55% off. (I don't understand though why they don't have the same price in their own site)
The shipping is a bit expensive for my country, but maybe this would interest US citizens.

the only problem is that no amount of titles purchased will get you free shipping, so add $4 to each title. even for us here, the best is like $22 shipped.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Atonement is great, and I also love his previous film Pride and Prejudice. Probably one of the best made chick flicks ever.

Awesome! Just picked up Atonement brand new for $5.36 shipped.

[theclickclackman]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Awesome! Just picked up Atonement brand new for $5.36 shipped.

Wish Criterion could put out PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET and BLAST OF SILENCE on Blu. Hope they didn't lose the rights to them.

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Awesome! Just picked up Atonement brand new for $5.36 shipped.

Wonderful choice!

Truly, though, it's a great film.

[CriterionBlues]

Originally Posted by Bucko

Why wouldn't you open it...

I usually leave mine shrink wrapped until I watch them, and I haven't gotten around to watching Brakhage. I really do want to, but it requires a bit of a commitment.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

I usually leave mine shrink wrapped until I watch them, and I haven't gotten around to watching Brakhage. I really do want to, but it requires a bit of a commitment.

A lot of commitment, actually.

There are two or three pieces that I really enjoyed, but overall I found the release to be a struggle to get through.

[SlickDamian]

Originally Posted by the sordid sentinel

Big fan of Cloud Atlas as well. Love that movie. Been itching for a re-watch lately but other stuff keeps getting in the way. Will get on that soon.

I'm a big Cloud Atlas fan as well. That film didn't get near the credit that it deserved.

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Dude GET IT!!!!

One of the most visually stunning films you will ever see.

...old school Japanese horror stories.

"Visually stunning" is the part that interests me; "old school Japanese..." less so. But hey, if Ray says so, then so be it.

[Knaldskalle]

Originally Posted by iScottie

A lot of commitment, actually.

There are two or three pieces that I really enjoyed, but overall I found the release to be a struggle to get through.

Yep. Mothlight; Window Water Baby Moving; The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes are good, and just about all the rest was tedious to me.

I have caught a Brakhage film on the big screen and it really makes a difference from seeing it on a TV.

If you don't know who Stan Brakhage was and the kind of films he made you should not blind buy this set, period. It's the most abstract film-making I've come across (to the level of abstracting the film-making process itself) and if you're not already into "that sort of thing" it will most likely not be for you.

[melo4mvp]

Originally Posted by the sordid sentinel

Well, after a week of intensive viewing I just finished the Zatoichi set. Absolutely loved it. The highest complement I can pay is that after the 25th film ended I wished there were 25 more to watch.

Can't say enough about Katsu's performance. Really affecting. Was always hoping Ichi would eventually wind up with the girl, but not to be. I found the endings of some of these profoundly sad. Thankfully there was plenty of humor to balance that out. Action was top notch, especially in some of the later entries. I liked the way these movies give insight into Japanese life and politics of that time period. Very interesting. Pretty much every outing is visually striking, the cast of directors definitely brought their A game. And I have to say as someone who lives with a disability some of the beats touched on in that regard are exactly true to life.

Totally enjoyed seeing Mifune show up. For my money he is the most compelling presence ever captured on film. He completely owns it in Zatoichi meets Yojimbo. I like the thought of Yojimbo possibly settling into a quiet existence as hinted at in that entry as well. Nice seeing other frequent Kurosawa players popping in and out along the way as well.

Watched the bonus features and found the documentary somewhat sad. You can tell Katsu was quite self destructive. Hated seeing the guy who played a character I cared a lot about in that state. Pretty ballsy to let all of that be captured on film, however.

Will be looking forward to sawing through these again in the near future. So glad I finally sprung for this set.

I too have been going through these this past month or so. On 22 right now. Although similar each one has kept my attention and left me wanting to see the next one. Such a great set.

[WonderWeasel]

I'm a little late to the discussion, but I wanted to mention one of my favorite film adaptations: Hal Ashby's Being There.

I originally read the book about fifteen years ago, and at the time found it to be an entertaining critique of how the beginnings of the mass media and television age affected people, written in simple, straightforward prose. The character of Chance didn't evoke any sympathy from me, or any other emotion really. It was a decent read, but for whatever reason, it didn't make a huge impression on me at the time.

A few years after I read the book, I discovered the film, also written by Kosinski. Even though it was a (mostly) faithful adaptation, Peter Sellers' Chance absolutely blew me away, and made me have to re-read and reevaluate the book. His portrayal helped me identify that Chance wasn't so much a character as he was a vehicle for Jerzy Kosinski's opinion on the effects of mass media consumption and the "selective hearing" that seems to have developed from this overstimulation, if that makes any sense. I realized the lack of emotional attachment to Chance was intentional, because he himself seems incapable of emotion.

And to keep this post somewhat on subject, I think it would also make a great Criterion release because the current blu-ray A/V and special features are lacking, and I'm sure there's a trove of interviews with Sellers and Kosinski. Also, there's a couple of really good documentaries that address Kosinski's sketchy background and the allegations of plagiarism against him.

[CriterionBlues]

And major kudos to The Sordid Sentinel for marathoning Zatoichi. I have been spacing them out and think the next one is 19. They have their ups and downs, but I've heard that the series ends strong.

Of course it went to TV afterward so the series does continue. It would be cool to get the series someday.

[deepbreathsanddeath]

This has no doubt been mentioned before but I was browsing Soderbergh on Wikipedia and on Kafka's page it says:

"In a 2013 interview with Vulture, Soderbergh stated that the rights to the film had reverted to him and executive producer Paul Rassam, and that work had begun on a "completely different" version of the movie. Soderbergh reported that he and Lem Dobbs did some rewriting, inserts were shot during the making of Side Effects, and he plans to dub the film into German and release both the original and new version together."

As nothing has materialised yet, Criterion might release it. Who else would he give Kafka to?

[Arawn]

Originally Posted by the sordid sentinel

I like the thought of Yojimbo possibly settling into a quiet existence as hinted at in that entry as well.

Don't you mean Kuwabatake Sanjuro? Yojimbo wasn't his name.

( Then again, Kuwabatake Sanjuro obviously wasn't his name either... )

[Polaroid]

I hope NOE's film picks video is a hint at a release of one of his films...


Just saw LOVE and I am pleasantly surprised, I loved every moment of it, but I can easily see if you aint a fan you'd hate it.

I think I STAND ALONE would make a great release as I can't find any decent copy son it myself, or a release of I STAND ALONE, IRREVERSIBLE and ENTER THE VOID would be ace .

Ah I can only hope, I know his film aint for everyone. LOVE did put NYMPHOMANIAC to shame though... Oh Lars.