The Criterion Collection

[mja345]

Originally Posted by jw007

That is a great film, Withnail and I, and I can see it pushing some people's buttons, even those with two dimensional minds. As much as I wish people could see the subtext and depth in certain "advanced" motion pictures (and Naked is certainly not for the faint of heart), the fact that this movie affected everyone earlier tonight while we watched it proves its power. Once you've seen this movie, you'll never forget it. That's the bottom line. Johnny has this original "doomsday philosophy" that he goes around using and informing people in this story, unlike any other character I've seen in any other film. That scene with the night watchman (Peter Wight) is probably one of the greatest sequences in cinema, regarding the conversation and dialogue that was said, and how it evolved... and then the last thing he says is: "Don't waste your life". Brilliant. Absolutely bloody brilliant.

It's interesting how certain movies can move us to the point of inducing anger... I can't remember a list of films that have done that to me, since I've watched so many. Certainly, Naked is not a film that angers me, but from a male perspective I can relate a bit to Thewlis's character... I could imagine the female perspective cannot understand this man's character though for many reasons.

Yeah, the sequence starting when Johnny is talking to the young street punk, played by Ewen Bremner, looking for his GF leading into the conversation with the night watchman is incredible. I think of that sequence all of the time. Just incredible filmmaking and acting. Thewlis is masterful.

The last film I can remember making me pissed off I hated it so much was "Juno". The acting, the writing, just absolutely everything annoyed the living shit out of me haha. I suppose we all have films like that for various reasons, but you hate to see it with a masterpiece like "Naked".

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by jw007

That is a great film, Withnail and I, and I can see it pushing some people's buttons, even those with two dimensional minds. As much as I wish people could see the subtext and depth in certain "advanced" motion pictures (and Naked is certainly not for the faint of heart), the fact that this movie affected everyone earlier tonight while we watched it proves its power. Once you've seen this movie, you'll never forget it. That's the bottom line. Johnny has this original "doomsday philosophy" that he goes around using and informing people in this story, unlike any other character I've seen in any other film. That scene with the night watchman (Peter Wight) is probably one of the greatest sequences in cinema, regarding the conversation and dialogue that was said, and how it evolved... and then the last thing he says is: "Don't waste your life". Brilliant. Absolutely bloody brilliant.

It's interesting how certain movies can move us to the point of inducing anger... I can't remember a list of films that have done that to me, since I've watched so many. Certainly, Naked is not a film that angers me, but from a male perspective I can relate a bit to Thewlis's character... I could imagine the female perspective has a harder time understanding this man's character though for many obvious reasons.

A movie such as Naked is a great litmus test for choosing the right film mates. If you're intelligent and can read through what's on the surface on a first viewing, then hell, you're right for me!

I have just seen it once, but right after it ended I knew I just saw something special, and that I had to get it to be able to watch it more times, the same scene you mention with the night watchman is what I thought was the most memorable.

But I see how it is a movie I wouldn't go recommending to everybody, although checking IMDB statistics, apparently the ratings are equal for votes of both men and women, even though far less women have voted on it.

[hoytereden]

My daughter came through for me again: (no B&N where I live)

Night and the City
Mulholland Dr.
Kwaidan
The Honeymoon Killers
Moonrise Kingdom
A Room With a View
My Own Private Idaho
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

I'll probably pick up Ikiru, In Cold Blood and a couple of others before the sale ends but this pretty much covers all the recent releases I'm interested in. Catching up on older upgrades? That's a different story. At last count there were between 30-40 titles on my wish list. I just keep chipping away.

I liked your marathon pictures, Owl. Man, I thought that was Vin Diesel coming out of the woods!

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

My daughter came through for me again: (no B&N where I live)

Night and the City
Mulholland Dr.
Kwaidan
The Honeymoon Killers
Moonrise Kingdom
A Room With a View
My Own Private Idaho
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

I'll probably pick up Ikiru, In Cold Blood and a couple of others before the sale ends but this pretty much covers all the recent releases I'm interested in. Catching up on older upgrades? That's a different story. At last count there were between 30-40 titles on my wish list. I just keep chipping away.

I liked your marathon pictures, Owl. Man, I thought that was Vin Diesel coming out of the woods!

Wish I had a daughter just for this reason - nice pick ups

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Totally getting Antichrist vibes from this.

[filmmusic]

http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/...3750&start=575

If there was any doubt about where the rest of the former Kino Kieslowskis ended up, No End, The Scar, Camera Buff and A Short Film About Killing will all be on the Fandor's Criterion/Hulu channel next week, which can be seen on the "Coming Soon" page.

https://www.fandor.com/films/coming_soon

[ijustblumyself]

Another user popping in to say Ozu is one of the greatest to ever live.

I also find his style to be very, very formally accomplished, and not as 'simple' as some people make it out to be. His control and patience with the camera is almost unprecedented.

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

[Show spoiler]Totally serious. This morning's race was my 49th race of a marathon or ultramarathon distance since the spring of 2009 when I started running these races.

My finish time sucked (5:20:10), because it was a trail race, and because I was mainly treating it as a maintenance run for me to have the time on my feet for winter training, but I had fun.

I ran a trail marathon last month as well, and here are a couple of photos from that race, just in case y'all want to see what The Great Owl looks like in real life.

[Show spoiler]

(Sorry that I'm not really an owl. That's false advertising. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that people on this here forum don't really look like Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Jennifer Lawrence, etc. either.)


Steering this big ship back into Criterion-related waters, I did limp out of the house a few minutes ago to Barnes & Noble.

Phase One of my November 2015 sale haul is complete...

Mulholland Drive
A Special Day
My Own Private Idaho
3 Women

Later on, I plan to buy The Apu Trilogy, In Cold Blood, and Ikiru. This is going to be a light haul for me compared to past sale hauls, but that's all right. I've already got too many still-unwatched films as it is

.

I thought about buying Blue Is the Warmest Color to support Bond girl, Léa Seydoux, but I'll wait around for a while longer to see what the upcoming super-sized edition turns out to be.

Good to "see" Owl! Wish I had the endurance to run like that... mainly to keep uo with the wife.

Criterion related, I keep holding off on Blue as well. I feel like as soon as I buy it the one will get announced. Plus, I need to watch it again before I commit. I enjoyed it, but not sure how often I'd watch it.

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

Yes. Yes you do.

Funny, I didn't notice my typo.. should have said "and I picked up." Ha! Got it during lunch!

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by lordmorpheus72

Good to "see" Owl! Wish I had the endurance to run like that... mainly to keep uo with the wife.

Criterion related, I keep holding off on Blue as well. I feel like as soon as I buy it the one will get announced. Plus, I need to watch it again before I commit. I enjoyed it, but not sure how often I'd watch it.

Yeah, as usual I didn't see it in the theater, so I picked it up right off the bat. I knew I would probably regret it one day, but I really wanted to check out what all the talk was about.

[ShellOilJunior]

I enjoyed a double bill yesterday of Youth of the Beast (Theater) and Code Unknown (Blu-ray).

Youth of the Beast is a hard-boiled gangster picture. It's not as far out there as Branded to Kill but it's out there and a lot of fun.

I'll have more thoughts on Code Unknown as I go through the extras. As for now, buy it.

[The Great Owl]

Last night, I watched my new Criterion Blu-ray of My Own Private Idaho.

When I first saw My Own Private Idaho back in the 1990s, when I was a college student, I was somewhat freaked out by the subject matter, because I was admittedly more close-minded about the world around me than I am these days. Even back then, though, I empathized heavily with the plight of River Phoenix's character, Mike Waters, and I thought that it was an adept cinematic depiction of people looking for their place in the world.

Upon my viewing last night, with many adult years under my belt, the film resonated with me all the more. More than anything, I miss River Phoenix. A few years after the release of My Own Private Idaho and shortly after the death of River Phoenix, R.E.M. dedicated their 1994 album, Monster, to him. Memories from those days come flooding back, and, in retrospect, I see how My Own Private Idaho was a cultural landmark of the time that stood in as an early 1990s version of Jack Kerouac's On the Road.

The dialogue referencing Shakespeare's Henry IV is quite offbeat, and, in this sense, Keanu Reeves's role in My Own Private Idaho is not as far removed from his work in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure as serious film fans would probably like to think. These Shakespearean sequences crack me up, but they also remind me of Fagan's gang in the Dickens novel, Oliver Twist. (It's tough not to think of Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, Flea, as the Artful Dodger.)

On a less cerebral level, I had a mad crush on Chiara Caselli when I first saw the film, and I still have that crush.

My Own Private Idaho looks exceptional on Blu-ray. I had forgotten how beautiful the cinematography is for this title. I have an on/off relationship with Gus Van Sant's works, but this is one particular film of his where everything works.

My Own Private Idaho caught my attention all those years ago because of the title, which is taken from one of my favorite B-52s songs, "Private Idaho." I still love that song.

I'd love to see a Criterion release of Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

[Show spoiler]Last night, I watched my new Criterion Blu-ray of My Own Private Idaho.

When I first saw My Own Private Idaho back in the 1990s, when I was a college student, I was somewhat freaked out by the subject matter, because I was admittedly more close-minded about the world around me than I am these days. Even back then, though, I empathized heavily with the plight of River Phoenix's character, Mike Waters, and I thought that it was an adept cinematic depiction of people looking for their place in the world.

Upon my viewing last night, with many adult years under my belt, the film resonated with me all the more. More than anything, I miss River Phoenix. A few years after the release of My Own Private Idaho and shortly after the death of River Phoenix, R.E.M. dedicated their 1994 album, Monster, to him. Memories from those days come flooding back, and, in retrospect, I see how My Own Private Idaho was a cultural landmark of the time that stood in as an early 1990s version of Jack Kerouac's On the Road.

The dialogue referencing Shakespeare's Henry IV is quite offbeat, and, in this sense, Keanu Reeves's role in My Own Private Idaho is not as far removed from his work in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure as serious film fans would probably like to think. These Shakespearean sequences crack me up, but they also remind me of Fagan's gang in the Dickens novel, Oliver Twist. (It's tough not to think of Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, Flea, as the Artful Dodger.)

On a less cerebral level, I had a mad crush on Chiara Caselli when I first saw the film, and I still have that crush.

My Own Private Idaho looks exceptional on Blu-ray. I had forgotten how beautiful the cinematography is for this title. I have an on/off relationship with Gus Van Sant's works, but this is one particular film of his where everything works.

My Own Private Idaho caught my attention all those years ago because of the title, which is taken from one of my favorite B-52s songs, "Private Idaho." I still love that song.

I'd love to see a Criterion release of Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy.

As it's been years since I've seen My Own Private Idaho I can't really comment on what you've said about it. I simply remember being impressed by it at the time.

But on the subject of Drugstore Cowboy, I couldn't agree more. That would be a fantastic release for the Collection. I actually own that on DVD. I would upgrade that in a second if Criterion released it.

[silverlakephil]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I enjoyed a double bill yesterday of Youth of the Beast (Theater) and Code Unknown (Blu-ray).

Youth of the Beast is a hard-boiled gangster picture. It's not as far out there as Branded to Kill but it's out there and a lot of fun.

I'll have more thoughts on Code Unknown as I go through the extras. As for now, buy it.

I was really impressed with Code Unknown and it's unusual narrative, random scenes of the main characters shot mostly in one take, and in light of the current tragic events in Paris, it made the film that much more relevant.

[jshaide]

Didn't even realize there should be some hopeful title announcements tomorrow!

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by jshaide

Didn't even realize there should be some hopeful title announcements tomorrow!

Yeah. Golf in the morning. Announcements (hopefully) sometime during the day. "Supergirl" at night.

Tomorrow should be great.

[filmmusic]

Finally uploaded an avatar (i generally don't use avatars in forums) from my favourite Criterion title, the first I got and the one that introduced me to the label which I didn't know before.

I know it's irrelevant to the discussion, but felt like sharing!

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Finally uploaded an avatar (i generally don't use avatars in forums) from my favourite Criterion title, the first I got and the one that introduced me to the label which I didn't know before.

I know it's irrelevant to the discussion, but felt like sharing!

About time haha - has bugged me you didn't have one :P!

[diskspinner]

Planning to buy my 1st criterion documentary...I am considering

Gates of heaven/Vernon, FL (blind)
The Thin Blue Line (watched, liked)
Hoop Dreams (Borrowed from library, may watch sometime in the next few days)

Any recommendations?

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by diskspinner

Planning to buy my 1st criterion documentary...I am considering

Gates of heaven/Vernon, FL (blind)
The Thin Blue Line (watched, liked)
Hoop Dreams (Borrowed from library, may watch sometime in the next few days)

Any recommendations?