The Criterion Collection

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Pretty sure I sold every OOP Criterion sans The Man Who Fell to Earth ($65?) and The Third Man (because I'm keeping it), for $40 or less.

Hell, I'm currently selling Howards End with the corrected disc for $40 but nobody wants to bite.

I sold my copies that have releases with better PQ in other territories to the nutters a long time ago. In the case of Army of Shadows I think I sold it for $60 right when it was announced OOP and could've easily gotten more for it. Turned around and bought the Studio Canal with the (better? correct?) colour grade I prefer for about $15 and bought a bunch of other titles with the remaining money. The only thing that makes me regret selling any one of them is that I could've made a bunch of money off Ray when the copies dry up and go for $1,000.

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by iScottie

New poster for sale through Criterion's website.



https://www.criterion.com/shop_produ...idnight-poster

Nice, wouldn't mind this being announced sooner rather than later!

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

I sold my copies that have releases with better PQ in other territories to the nutters a long time ago. In the case of Army of Shadows I think I sold it for $60 right when it was announced OOP and could've easily gotten more for it. Turned around and bought the Studio Canal with the (better? correct?) colour grade I prefer for about $15 and bought a bunch of other titles with the remaining money. The only thing that makes me regret selling any one of them is that I could've made a bunch of money off Ray when the copies dry up and go for $1,000.

Ray?

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Ray?

You, ya nut!

[italy12]

I could see Boyhood getting a release, but it came out only a year ago or so by Paramount. Maybe they will release it a bit later.

Remember, we still haven't heard an announcement for The Grand Budapest Hotel, and that's almost guaranteed to come!

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by italy12

I could see Boyhood getting a release, but it came out only a year ago or so by Paramount. Maybe they will release it a bit later.

Remember, we still haven't heard an announcement for The Grand Budapest Hotel, and that's almost guaranteed to come!

Last month, when the phantom pages were being added for Paris Belongs to Us, A Brighter Summer Day, and A Poem is a Naked Person, the pages for Boyhood were also added.

[italy12]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Last month, when the phantom pages were being added for Paris Belongs to Us, A Brighter Summer Day, and A Poem is a Naked Person, the pages for Boyhood were also added.

I do seem to remember that, but was it the actual Boyhood page, or pages with some of the cast members?

I'm still waiting for that "Uncompressed mono for the Blu ray" tag that appeared on Vampyr's actual page a few years ago for some October release. Then...nothing.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

You, ya nut!

I got a good brain.

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by italy12

I do seem to remember that, but was it the actual Boyhood page, or pages with some of the cast members?

I'm still waiting for that "Uncompressed mono for the Blu ray" tag that appeared on Vampyr's actual page a few years ago for some October release. Then...nothing.

I took the rerelease of the DVD without the book as a sign it wasn't coming. I'd love to be wrong though.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Can we assume that Boyhood is coming in April? The phantom pages were added last month but I assume something came up to delay the release.

I guess it depends how quick of a fix there was for whatever delayed it last month.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by italy12

I do seem to remember that, but was it the actual Boyhood page, or pages with some of the cast members?

I'm still waiting for that "Uncompressed mono for the Blu ray" tag that appeared on Vampyr's actual page a few years ago for some October release. Then...nothing.

All of the phantom pages added were affiliated with Boyhood.

[Scottie]

Is it unpopular to think Bergman's Faith Trilogy is eons better than The Seventh Seal?

[llj]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I almost turned the movie off when

[Show spoiler]Charlize realizes that her dream is gone, drops to her knees and screams "NOOOOOOO!"

I was like, "Come on. You've GOT to be kidding me."

Mmmm, that was a scene Charlize admitted she was pretty unsure about working too. I didn't mind it, but I was looking at Fury Road's strengths from a different perspective. Your criticisms are actually valid, but Fury Road excels in that it is a generic action story that pares down talky exposition and somehow is driven almost entirely by the drama of the action scenes. So character and theme were near the bottom of what I was really looking at.

The action sequences are incredibly sophisticated and complex, and yet the film succeeds in that it juggles various elements within a single action sequence effectively, maintaining suspense and drama while knowing exactly where the main players are coming from and what they are trying to do.

The film basically sets up a series of technical challenges for the characters and stages them in elaborate ways. Furiosa driving the truck while Max has to go out back and either fix something or fight off bad guys. Or Max needing to take control of the truck while Furiosa is otherwise indisposed, busy with something else, or temporarily incapacitated. The bad guys trying to overtake the truck or stop it using increasingly elaborate mechanisms such as putting people on poles to get on top of the truck, ramming the truck from the side, shooting, etc, sometimes all at the same time. What's impressive about Fury Road is the surprising visual coherency with which all these things are staged, all while there are so many parts in motion at the same time, AND maintaining a heightened sense of drama and tension while not needing to verbally explain what exactly is going on every 5 minutes.

Yes, from a conventional narrative perspective Fury Road is a fairly underwhelming movie. But from a technical standpoint--staging, stuntwork, mise en scene, it really is brilliant in its own way. The drama it's trying to achieve is less the overarching narrative kind and more various immediate ones--"How do we solve the current problem? What should we do next?" --and somehow maintains a high level of tension throughout the movie solely relying on the strength of various "immediate" dramas rather than the strength of an overarching narrative. It wisely keeps the main narrative simple in this case.

The counterargument to this is "well, lots of action movies do this." Well, no, actually, most don't. The common way to stage an action movie is to have a lot of verbal exposition followed by sensory stimulating action sequences with no 'story' behind them, and then followed by more exposition. Often times you get stuff blowing up and then some guy in a computer room with a bunch of other people explaining WHY things are blowing up--a running commentary. That's where Fury Road succeeds over the typical Hollywood blockbuster. There is no running dialogue, you see what is happening in front of you and the drama comes from THAT, not from some guy in a computer room saying "Oh my gawd Mr X just launched the satellite guns and they are blowing away our defense mechanisms," followed by a series of perfunctory explosions or some superhero shooting some laser beam into god-knows-where.

[Miholina]

The Big Sleep is briliant.

[atlantajoseph]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Is it unpopular to think Bergman's Faith Trilogy is eons better than The Seventh Seal?

They are just different animals... the trilogy is a set of contemporary chamber pieces while TSS is more cinematic. I think all four films are brilliant and essential.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Is it unpopular to think Bergman's Faith Trilogy is eons better than The Seventh Seal?

I remember watching The Silence and wanting to kill myself.

...I don't know if that's an endorsement or not.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I remember watching The Silence and wanting to kill myself.

...I don't know if that's an endorsement or not.

I suppose it depends on how much someone likes you.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by llj

Mmmm, that was a scene Charlize admitted she was pretty unsure about working too. I didn't mind it, but I was looking at Fury Road's strengths from a different perspective. Your criticisms are actually valid, but Fury Road excels in that it is a generic action story that pares down talky exposition and somehow is driven almost entirely by the drama of the action scenes. So character and theme were near the bottom of what I was really looking at.

The action sequences are incredibly sophisticated and complex, and yet the film succeeds in that it juggles various elements within a single action sequence effectively, maintaining suspense and drama while knowing exactly where the main players are coming from and what they are trying to do.

The film basically sets up a series of technical challenges for the characters and stages them in elaborate ways. Furiosa driving the truck while Max has to go out back and either fix something or fight off bad guys. Or Max needing to take control of the truck while Furiosa is otherwise indisposed, busy with something else, or temporarily incapacitated. The bad guys trying to overtake the truck or stop it using increasingly elaborate mechanisms such as putting people on poles to get on top of the truck, ramming the truck from the side, shooting, etc, sometimes all at the same time. What's impressive about Fury Road is the surprising visual coherency with which all these things are staged, all while there are so many parts in motion at the same time, AND maintaining a heightened sense of drama and tension.

Yes, from a conventional narrative perspective Fury Road is a fairly underwhelming movie. But from a technical standpoint--staging, stuntwork, mise en scene, it really is brilliant in its own way. The drama it's trying to achieve is less the overarching narrative kind and more various immediate ones--"How do we solve the current problem? What should we do next?" --and somehow maintains a high level of tension throughout the movie solely relying on the strength of various "immediate" dramas rather than the strength of an overarching narrative. It wisely keeps the main narrative simple in this case.

The counterargument to this is "well, lots of action movies do this." Well, no, actually, most don't. The common way to stage an action movie is to have a lot of verbal exposition followed by sensory stimulating action sequences with no 'story' behind them, and then followed by more exposition. Often times you get stuff blowing up and then some guy in a computer room with a bunch of other people explaining WHY things are blowing up--a running commentary. That's where Fury Road succeeds over the typical Hollywood blockbuster. There is no running dialogue, you see what is happening in front of you and the drama comes from THAT, not from some guy in a computer room saying "Oh my gawd Mr X just launched the satellite guns and they are blowing away our defense mechanisms," followed by a series of perfunctory explosions or some superhero shooting some laser beam into god-knows-where.

Nice analysis. I guess that's why I didn't connect with it, though. I was never really given a reason to care how any of those current problems turned out, since I wasn't invested in any of the characters, or, indeed, in the overall outcome. But I understand where you're coming from, and I'm more appreciative of the film. Thanks.

[WonderWeasel]

Just found out my local Alamo Drafthouse is showing Lady Snowblood and The Man Who Fell to Earth next week!!!

[JJJ225]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Is it unpopular to think Bergman's Faith Trilogy is eons better than The Seventh Seal?

I wouldn't say eons, but I agree they're better films.

Persona being better than all of them.