The Criterion Collection

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by colbyw

I quit reading after "Odd Man Out is fantastic", didn't want to see a spoiler, I recently purchased as a blind buy (but it's probably the safest ever). Was watchng Dial M For Murder in 3D earlier and kept saying: Damn, I need to watch Odd Man Out soon. Shit, and Ride the Pink Horse and Riot in Cell Block 11.

*Still need opinion(s) on Downhill Racer. Really want to like it.

Downhill Racer is fantastic. Now we need The Candidate.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by KillaCam

Well I went a little crazy tonight at B&N. I used 25% off coupons on everything in these photos. The regular Criterions came out to 16.19 each plus tax after the 40% off sale, 10% member discount and the 25% coupons. The Apu trilogy came out to $40.49 plus tax. All together I've purchased 62 Criterions since Tuesday with this sale.

[Show spoiler]

First of all, congratulations on your haul! You made some fantastic choices, and it will be interesting to find out which ones you like the best once you've had time to start watching them.

Next, I want to thank you for making me feel a little less guilty about my own splurge at Barnes & Noble this afternoon. I honestly wasn't going to buy anything for myself, but my friends back in the media department gave me four 30% off coupons to combine with the 40% off sale and my 10% membership discount, and I figured it would be rude not to use them, so I picked up Cries and Whispers and Downhill Racer for $15.11 each, the Trilogy of Life boxed set for $30.23, and the Martin Scorsese World Cinema boxed set for $47.24.

My guilt was already somewhat assuaged by what I found in my mailbox when I got home: a big escrow rebate check from my mortgage company that more than covered all the money I spent! Sometimes, Life is Good.

[colbyw]

I love The Candidate. Have it on dvd, need more.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

I loved The Third Man and The Fallen Idol as well, so its not Carol Reed, just the material that took me several sittings to get through. It does have a good reputation and is impeccably made, so it might just be me.

It's not just you. While I liked Odd Man Out well enough to keep it in my collection, I didn't love it like a lot of others do either. I didn't really care if the lead character lived or died, nor did I find it that intense. I do look forward to giving it another chance though since, like you said, it is very well made.

On a much better note, I watched my first two Ingmar Bergman films today (Summer Interlude and Smiles of a Summer Night). I had seen Smiles of a Summer Night before, but it didn't click with me back then for some unknown reason. After watching both discs today, I can say this was one of my most enjoyable double features I've watched in quite some time.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Dammit man!!!!!!!!

...make a decision and live with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did, I bought both. If it helps, I bought Tokyo Story first. It resonated with me more, at the time, since we had cared for both my Mom and Aunt. Of course, now my daughter will be getting married soon so I may be

[Show spoiler] soon sitting alone; peeling fruit.

[mewantbluray]

Hello there, looking to squeeze in one more Criterion in 2015...... Anybody have a 20-25% membership coupon that they can spare?
Trying to decide between

2 Days One Night
A Special Day
Paths of Glory
Anatomy of A Murder

Whatever I don't pick up will just have to be part of my already big batch of expected pick-ups for next July!

Unfortunately neither are on Hulu Plus so this will have to be a blind buy!

[theater dreamer]

Just finished Tokyo Story on Hulu. It's definitely going into my order tonight. Now, I just have to decided who gets it, Best Buy or Amazon. Who gets to send me a dinged up DigiBook that I have to return. By the way, now you all have me paranoid about shrink-wrapped movies. I just went through the Criterions I've not yet opened, and I'd say about 75% have the folded corners and sticker, while the rest are shrink-wrapped. None of the cases appear to be dinged up. I just pray the booklets/foldouts inside aren't at mangled.

It took me a little while to get used to Yasujirô Ozu's style of shooting, but after a short period of adjustment, I found that I actually preferred the static camera. It allows the actors to completely dictate the flow of the scene, and on the rare occasion when he decided to pan a shot, it made it more impactful. I know Yasujirô Ozu style has been discussed in great depth on Criterion Forum, so I'll have to explore that.

I just fell in love with this film. You know you have seen something special when you begin to examine your life, and how you interact with others (especially family). By the end of the movie, I just wanted to give Noriko a big hug.

[Aardvark_DK]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

and on the rare occasion when he decided to pan a shot

Hm, are you sure? I'm reasonably certain that Ozu never used pan shots.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by Aardvark_DK

Hm, are you sure? I'm reasonably certain that Ozu never used pan shots.

There isn't a pan shot. There is, near the graveyard, I believe, a dolly shot.

[Ray Jackson]

Watching The Big City last night, I realized why Ray's films seem to resonate with me more than Ozu films...and I think a lot of it has to do with the acting.

Many of the actors in Tokyo Story and Late Spring employ this kind of bland, monotone style of acting that I find somewhat difficult to connect with. The old man and his wife in Tokyo Story, as well as the daughter-in-law, have these fixed, awkward smiles on their faces in almost every scene and they speak with these monotone voices.

I think it's a Japanese cultural thing where the idea is to put forward a persona of grace, dignity and acceptance, regardless of what you're actually feeling inside. And I get that. I'm not saying one style is better than another.

But I feel as though the acting in the Ray films I've seen is more expressive, dynamic and emotive.

Ozu's films are great and I completely understand why he's so revered.

Perhaps if I actually buy one of his movies and watch it multiple times I'll begin to absorb the power that has thus far eluded me on my initial viewings.

I'm just having trouble deciding whether I should start with Tokyo Story or Late Spring.

...I love the Tokyo Story digibook and packaging is important to me.

The Criterion cases themselves are great works of art.

[kuro_sawa]

The Burroughs: The Movie release is a knockout, one of those "like seeing for the first time" experiences. The lengthy out takes were a more than welcome surprise as well. I haven't listened to the commentary yet but I'm very intrigued as I've never heard Jarmusch speak for any real length of time. One negative I can say is that the NYFF Q&A was awkward and poorly edited, but not so much as to totally ruin it. I'd imagine for any fan of Burroughs this release is a revelation, and I love when Criterion release a film like this packed with extra footage and content. I noticed the collage on the poster/fold-out/non-booklet/whatever was done by Alison Mosshart from Dead Weather/The Kills.

[belcherman]

I just wanted to add a bit to oildude's excellent comments on Odd Man Out. I think some of the people who were disappointed in it were maybe expecting a different kind of movie. Think about the title for a moment. This is the story of a guy who goes from being the center of the story to being a marginalized object, trying to survive while events move on without him. It's not a traditional narrative because Reed is interested in more than just Johnny's struggle to survive, he's interested in the swirl of events surrounding Johnny's flight and the characters and community that make up that world. In the course of Odd Man Out Johnny goes from being a man to being a symbol back to being a man again, but to say more about that journey would be going into spoilerville. In many ways, I was reminded of The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Although Eddie is never a hero, the movie is as much about his world as it is about him, if not more. TFoEC is still on my unwatched pile, so I that's as far as I'll go with that comparison.

As I said in an earlier post, James Mason is a revelation in Odd Man Out. I've always associated him with sad middle-aged types like Norman Main and Humbert Humbert, but when he was young he was as cool and sexy as James Dean. No wonder he was considered one of the best actors of his generation. I need to seek out more of his early work.

[SammyJankis]

For those that pre-order from Criterion's site, do they tend to arrive on release day? I'm looking to pre-order A Brighter Summer Day, and they have the cheapest price. This is what I get for never ordering a title outside of the sales.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

For those that pre-order from Criterion's site, do they tend to arrive on release day? I'm looking to pre-order A Brighter Summer Day, and they have the cheapest price. This is what I get for never ordering a title outside of the sales.

Yes and sometimes before the release date.

[Ray Jackson]

What do folks here generally think of Sword of Doom?

Does it hold up to some of the other great Japanese samura flicks on Criterion?

Is it more of a drama-based character study like Harakiri or a sword-fighting action flick like the Lone Wolf and Cub series?

Is there some substance to it or is it just pure Samurai pulp?

It only has a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Not that reviews are everything.

...but they're not nothing either.

[ParaOK]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

What do folks here generally think of Sword of Doom?

Does it hold up to some of the other great Japanese samura flicks on Criterion?

Is it more of a drama-based character study like Harakiri or a sword-fighting action flick like the Lone Wolf and Cub series?

Is there some substance to it or is it just pure Samurai pulp?

It only has a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Not that reviews are everything.

...but they're not nothing either.

Sword of Doom is my personal favorite samurai film. It works as a character study and an action film. Excellent performance by Tatsuya Nakadai with a nice small part for Toshiro Mifune as well.

[Andrew13]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

What do folks here generally think of Sword of Doom?

Does it hold up to some of the other great Japanese samura flicks on Criterion?

Is it more of a drama-based character study like Harakiri or a sword-fighting action flick like the Lone Wolf and Cub series?

Is there some substance to it or is it just pure Samurai pulp?

It only has a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Not that reviews are everything.

...but they're not nothing either.

There's definitely a lot to explore with Nakadi's character, but it's predominantly an action flick. Though a great action flick at that.

I'd highly recommend it.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Watching The Big City last night, I realized why Ray's films seem to resonate with me more than Ozu films...and I think a lot of it has to do with the acting.

Many of the actors in Tokyo Story and Late Spring employ this kind of bland, monotone style of acting that I find somewhat difficult to connect with. The old man and his wife in Tokyo Story, as well as the daughter-in-law, have these fixed, awkward smiles on their faces in almost every scene and they speak with these monotone voices.

I think it's a Japanese cultural thing where the idea is to put forward a persona of grace, dignity and acceptance, regardless of what you're actually feeling inside. And I get that. I'm not saying one style is better than another.

But I feel as though the acting in the Ray films I've seen is more expressive, dynamic and emotive.

Ozu's films are great and I completely understand why he's so revered.

Perhaps if I actually buy one of his movies and watch it multiple times I'll begin to absorb the power that has thus far eluded me on my initial viewings.

I'm just having trouble deciding whether I should start with Tokyo Story or Late Spring.

...I love the Tokyo Story digibook and packaging is important to me.

The Criterion cases themselves are great works of art.

So what were your final thoughts on The Big City?

I get what you mean about the Japanese acting, but personally I can't get enough of Setsuko Hara, there are several shots of her speaking directly to the camera in her trilogy and I think those capture the performance so well, but it is hard to decide for me between Ray and Ozu I think both are equally good for now.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by ParaOK

Sword of Doom is my personal favorite samurai film. It works as a character study and an action film. Excellent performance by Tatsuya Nakadai with a nice small part for Toshiro Mifune as well.

Originally Posted by Andrew13

There's definitely a lot to explore with Nakadi's character, but it's predominantly an action flick. Though a great action flick at that.

I'd highly recommend it.

Thanks fellas.

...would you put it in the same class of excellence as Harakiri?

Or good, but not quite THAT good?

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

So what were your final thoughts on The Big City?

I get what you mean about the Japanese acting, but personally I can't get enough of Setsuko Hara, there are several shots of her speaking directly to the camera in her trilogy and I think those capture the performance so well, but it is hard to decide for me between Ray and Ozu I think both are equally good for now.

I thought it was really good.

Didn't punch me in the gut like the Apu Trilogy, but it confirmed my suspicion that Ray is one of the greatest, most underappreciated directors of all time.

...now I just have to get my hands on a copy of The Music Room.

As far as Ozu, which film do you like more--Tokyo Story or Late Spring?