The Criterion Collection

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by jrsl76

I'm going to pick up my purchases from this BN sale today, and with those I am Criterion Blu-Ray complete, as well as Eclipse complete and Essential Art House complete for the 5 titles not released in the main line. I have all the OOP Criterions with the exception of the Hiroshi Teshigahara set which slipped right by me and I haven't found a decent price on yet. At this point, I need 176 more titles to have a complet3 collection through the February 2016 announcements.

I picked up Teshigahara set on eBay for $105 shipped this month. The seller listed it as "near mint", but it was more like "very good". There are several out there right now on eBay around the $100-125 price. Then there are others at $200+.

My hardest titles to find at a decent price have been the von Sternberg set (had to pay $185 shipped) and Tokyo Olympiad (paid $135).

[Page14]

I stumbled across the clip below which got me to wondering. We've seen Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd get the Criterion treatment. Do you think there's room for more classic comedy acts that are sort of in the same vein? I'm thinking of greats such as Laurel and Hardy or W.C. Fields. They don't seem to get the recognition they deserve these days. (Thinking out loud again).

[Show spoiler]

Best of Laurel and Hardy Stanlio & Ollio - YouTube

[Roninblues]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I'm hoping to get to some of my Arrow stuff this weekend. The Yoshida and Battles set are top of my list to watch.

I hope to watch both this weekend.

[CriterionBlues]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

Does anyone know if there is a possibility for David Lynch's The Straight Story to come to Criterion?

I would like to watch this, but looks like there is only a Japanese version on blu and the DVD release. I found where there are a few Buena Vista/Disney DVD titles on Criterion.

I think just about all David Lynch is on the table. My best guess is we will see Lost Highway, Inland Empire, Straight Story and hopefully something early like The Elephant Man.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Three Colors is the best single trilogy that anyone put together, period. I know it sounds absurd. But when you get to the end of Red you will completely understand. There has never been anything so beautiful, so ... I'll shut up now. Heh.

Red is the best film ever made, IMO.

to lend some objectivity to this discussion, I collected the rankings from TSPDT's top 1000 films. if a film did not rank in the top 1000, I assigned it 1001 points. the lowest sum total is "the greatest film trilogy of all-time" (not necessarily, but humor me, please )

I had this info in a gorgeous looking Excel file, w/ headers... all easy to read and stuff (I'm an Accountant ) unfortunately, the site cannot handle specific formatting

so for example, the Godfather's #s read as follows:
The Godfather (ranked 7,) The Godfather II (ranked 21,) The Godfather III (ranked 934) sum total of 962 which is the 5th lowest (meaning the 5th best)

1 Antonioni's Alienation Trilogy 31 272 103 406
2 Ozu's Noriko Trilogy 62 454 4 520
3 Rosselini's War Trilogy 134 185 241 560
4 Apu Trilogy 59 506 249 814
5 Godfather Trilogy 7 21 934 962
6 Star Wars Trilogy 111 274 1001 1386
7 Kiesloski's Three Colors 275 1001 215 1491
8 Bergman's Faith Trilogy 1001 457 493 1951
9 Wajda's War Trilogy 1001 1001 195 2197
10 Ford's Cavalry Trilogy 663 871 1001 2535
11 Lord of the Rings Trilogy 683 1001 1001 2685
12 Linklater's "Before" Trilogy 975 890 1001 2866
13 Kobayashi Human Condition - none of the films ranked in top 1000

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by jrsl76

I'm going to pick up my purchases from this BN sale today, and with those I am Criterion Blu-Ray complete, as well as Eclipse complete and Essential Art House complete for the 5 titles not released in the main line. I have all the OOP Criterions with the exception of the Hiroshi Teshigahara set which slipped right by me and I haven't found a decent price on yet. At this point, I need 176 more titles to have a complet3 collection through the February 2016 announcements.

The Teshigahara set isn't oop is it?

Edit: to clarify, criterion.com states it is not oop, and they still have all 3 films on their hulu channel. I assume it's just awaiting a repressing.

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

The Teshigahara set isn't oop is it?

It is not available, but I don't believe they have lost the rights. There has been speculation on either an upgrade or repackaging.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

I'll second the vote for Three Colors over Rossellini, and Red is unquestionably the highlight for me. Not that I dislike the Rosselini set. Stromboli is actually my favorite of that group. Buy both.

For some reason, the Rossellini Trilogy didn't work that much for me, I think I am with you that Stromboli was the best of the three, and Voyage to Italy which is the most acclaimed was the hardest to get through.

This were my first Rossellini films though, not sure how his other trilogy compares.

[Roninblues]

Originally Posted by Gusto-Guus

Alright, lads, gonna go one last time on Friday to pick one title. After watching HaraKiri, I'm in the mood for another samurai movie. These are the choices:

Kagemusha
Sanjuro/Yojimbo set
Sword of Doom
The Hidden Fortress
Kuroneko

IF you had to pick one, which would it be?

Sword of Doom

[buffetfroid]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Many of my favorites haven't yet made it to blu-ray; the one I'm really pining for on blu is Ride the High Country. That would make an excellent Criterion release ...

I think it's Warner Bros though

I'd really like the Naked Spur

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

For some reason, the Rossellini Trilogy didn't work that much for me, I think I am with you that Stromboli was the best of the three, and Voyage to Italy which is the most acclaimed was the hardest to get through.

This were my first Rossellini films though, not sure how his other trilogy compares.

Voyage to Italy was a huge influence on Antonioni's style. I'd be lying if I said that I loved it, but it does happen to be the a film that is at the forefront of my conscious... it has stayed with me and I'd like to see it again.

[Arch Stanton]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

I think just about all David Lynch is on the table. My best guess is we will see Lost Highway, Inland Empire, Straight Story and hopefully something early like The Elephant Man.

Has Criterion ever released something shot in standard definition like Inland Empire? I'd definitely buy it purely for extras. You'd imagine all his shorts from that time (Darkened Room etc) and Rabbits in full would get put on as bonus features.

[Arch Stanton]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Now who ever would have guessed that you, The King of Film Noir, would be "strongly overrepresented" by that genre? That's interesting that you also earned that designation in the Western category, though. I'm a huge fan myself, but I think the bulk of mine have been recorded onto homemade DVD-Rs. Many of my favorites haven't yet made it to blu-ray; the one I'm really pining for on blu is Ride the High Country. That would make an excellent Criterion release ...

Oh man, Ride the High Country is such a beautiful film. Gorgeous landscapes and colour. It's been shown in HD a few times here in the UK.

I'd kill for Cheyenne Autumn off someone as well.

[silverlakephil]

Originally Posted by jrsl76

I'm going to pick up my purchases from this BN sale today, and with those I am Criterion Blu-Ray complete, as well as Eclipse complete and Essential Art House complete for the 5 titles not released in the main line. I have all the OOP Criterions with the exception of the Hiroshi Teshigahara set which slipped right by me and I haven't found a decent price on yet. At this point, I need 176 more titles to have a complet3 collection through the February 2016 announcements.

I bet you live right by The Americana. Out of all the B&Ns I've been to, they usually have the most and best collection of Criterions.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by Arch Stanton

Has Criterion ever released something shot in standard definition like Inland Empire? I'd definitely buy it purely for extras. You'd imagine all his shorts from that time (Darkened Room etc) and Rabbits in full would get put on as bonus features.

Hoop Dreams?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by oildude

Looking at the following statistics, 75% of my collection is prior to 1990, and 56% is from the years 1940-1979.

Here is the production year breakdown for my Blu-ray collection.



Movies from 1990 to present only account for 11.5% of my collection.

I make up for that shortcoming by the fact that 22.1% of my movies are from the 1980s, mostly due to nostalgia for my youth, and my long-held belief that 1980s horror movies are like pizza, in that even the bad ones are pretty good.

The 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are well-represented. I'm surprised that the 1930s and 1940s are not featured more prominently, though.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Here is the production year breakdown for my Blu-ray collection.



Movies from 1990 to present only account for 11.5% of my collection.

I make up for that by the fact that 22.1% of my movies are from the 1980s, mostly due to nostalgia for my youth, and my long-held belief that 1980s horror movies are like pizza, in that even the bad ones are pretty good.

The 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are well-represented. I'm surprised that the 1930s and 1940s are not featured more prominently, though.

I wish I "got" horror movies. I'm the exact opposite of you. To me, even the great ones are still pretty bad.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I wish I "got" horror movies. I'm the exact opposite of you. To me, even the great ones are still pretty bad.

There's only a small handful of horror films that I enjoy. For the most part, I find psychological thrillers and mysteries much more terrifying.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I wish I "got" horror movies. I'm the exact opposite of you. To me, even the great ones are still pretty bad.

You've got some wonderful horror movies in your collection, though.
Psycho, The Birds, The Brood, Videodrome, Rosemary's Baby, Eyes Without a Face, Don't Look Now, Nosferatu, The Uninvited, The Innocents, Dressed To Kill, Jaws, The Night of the Hunter, Onibaba, The Shining, The Mist, Island of Lost Souls, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Kwaidan, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, etc.

You've even got the Arrow box set, Edgar Allan Poe's Black Cats, which will be included in my Top 10 Blu-ray releases of 2015 list.

For someone who does not have an affinity for horror, your Blu-ray showing is solid, and I salute you!


I believe that you would enjoy the book, Caligari's Children: The Film as Tale of Terror.

In fact, I am assigning this book to everyone in the thread.

[Scottie]

Sad news.

The tremendous Setsuko Hara died on September 5 at the age of 95. (It's weird that it's just being reported now.)

TOKYO — Setsuko Hara, the muse of Yasujiro Ozu as well as other directors of Japanese cinema’s 1950s and ’60s Golden Age, died on September 5 of pneumonia in a hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture, according to Japanese press reports. Hara was 95.

Born in 1920 in Yokohama, she made her film debut at age 15. Hara shot to fame for her starring role in 1937’s “The New Earth,” a German-Japanese co-production, with Hara playing a woman who ventures to Manchuria, then a Japanese colony, with her new husband. Audiences were attracted to her Western-like features and air of fresh-faced purity.

In the postwar period, with directors such as Akira Kurosawa and Keisuke Kinoshita, Hara portrayed modern women unbound by shackles of feudal mores, with critics making comparisons to Katharine Hepburn and Joan Crawford. In her films with Ozu, such as “Late Spring” (1949), “Early Summer” (1951) and “Tokyo Story” (1953), she also embodied more traditional virtues, including a willingness to sacrifice for the well-being of others. At the same time, she gave the impression of acting from choice, not convention, as in her smiling devotion to the aged parents of her dead husband in “Tokyo Story.”

In 1962, after appearing in her 101st film, Hiroshi Inagaki’s “47 Samurai,” Hara suddenly announced her retirement at age 42, stunning the Japanese film world. After that she never gave a media interview or appeared at industry events, maintaining a Garbo-like silence to the end. She lived in retirement in Kamakura, a seacoast town 30 miles southwest of Tokyo that was the setting for some of her most famous films.

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/se...se-1201648540/