The Criterion Collection

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by jw007

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for people's advice/suggestions/thoughts on a monologue I have to memorize for next week's acting class.

I've chosen Naked as the film of interest. This is obviously one of my favorite Criterion films and in general, favorite films of all time.

I decided to use a scene of when Johnny (David Thewlis) is talking to the security guard about the end of the world and the apocalypse.

It's a really intense scene but the teacher in my class wants us to memorize something that is 1 to 1 1/2 minutes in length. This is about 1 minute and 45 seconds.

I've attached the clip below. It starts at 3:03 and ends at 4:48.

Thoughts?

Can this be classified as a monologue?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N90s...outu.be&t=3m3s

All that scene is brilliant, and I personally prefer the part about the past, present and the future, but it is not exactly a monologue, the part you selected I think works as a monologue.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Personally I just can't understand folks who have 1000+ titles in their collections. I wouldn't take any pleasure from having that many blu-rays, knowing that I would never watch 80% of them more than once.

The point isn't whether you can re-watch 1000+ titles more than once. It's that if the mood strikes you to watch any given film, it's right there on the shelf. Sometimes, I don't even re-watch an entire film, but a specific scene or two comes to mind, and I'll pull the film off the shelf and watch that scene. One example is The Band Wagon. I've seen the film a few times in its entirety (first on LD, then DVD, then BD) but I've watched the "Girl Hunt" sequence dozens of times.

In the 1980s version of The Twilight Zone, there's an episode written by Harlan Ellison, based on a short story of his, "Paladin of the Lost Hour", starring Danny Kaye in one of his last performances. At one point, his character, Gaspar, is talking to a young man about books, and how he had this large library of them. He relates how people, when seeing his book collection, would ask incredulously, "Have you read all these books?". He wouldn't know how to respond to that, until one day he thought of an answer, and the next time someone asked, "Have you read all these books?" he answered, "Of course not. Why would you want to have a library full of books you've already read?"

That's my attitude. I have a large book collection myself, and a large movie collection. I haven't read all the books I have, nor watched all the movies I have. Many of them not even once, let alone more than once. Maybe I'll get to them, or get to them again, before I die; maybe I won't. But the fact that they're there waiting for me pleases me.

[diskspinner]

Originally Posted by jayembee

The point isn't whether you can re-watch 1000+ titles more than once. It's that if the mood strikes you to watch any given film, it's right there on the shelf. Sometimes, I don't even re-watch an entire film, but a specific scene or two comes to mind, and I'll pull the film off the shelf and watch that scene. One example is The Band Wagon. I've seen the film a few times in its entirety (first on LD, then DVD, then BD) but I've watched the "Girl Hunt" sequence dozens of times.

In the 1980s version of The Twilight Zone, there's an episode written by Harlan Ellison, based on a short story of his, "Paladin of the Lost Hour", starring Danny Kaye in one of his last performances. At one point, his character, Gaspar, is talking to a young man about books, and how he had this large library of them. He relates how people, when seeing his book collection, would ask incredulously, "Have you read all these books?". He wouldn't know how to respond to that, until one day he thought of an answer, and the next time someone asked, "Have you read all these books?" he answered, "Of course not. Why would you want to have a library full of books you've already read?"

That's my attitude. I have a large book collection myself, and a large movie collection. I haven't read all the books I have, nor watched all the movies I have. Many of them not even once, let alone more than once. Maybe I'll get to them, or get to them again, before I die; maybe I won't. But the fact that they're there waiting for me pleases me.

and many times, I buy something for $5 New and then sell the Digital copy and it is just $1 or $2 net, you do not get to rent for that amount...and even if I do not like it enough, it might be cheaper/easier to keep it instead of trying sell for $4 including shipping ...not talking about criterion titles though...

[adamhopelies]

A "very good" copy of The Man Who Fell To Earth just went for £155/$220. That's well over £100 more than I paid for it a year ago. Crazy prices.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

You just made my life feel worthless.

There's nothing wrong with it if it makes you feel good.

I just personally take greater satisfaction from narrowing my collection down to select titles that I really love.

...different strokes for different folks.

[Roninblues]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

That's the one Carax I own that I haven't watched yet. I also have the blu of Lovers On The Bridge on the way. Looking forward to that one as I've wanted to see it for awhile. Once I get both of those watched I can move on the Mr X documentary which sounds super interesting to me as well.

I found the Doc. quite interesting.

[adamhopelies]

I went to a screening of Band Of Outsiders with a post-film Q&A by Anna Karina at the weekend. She was on great form, and remains a witty figure. I was surprised by just how much affection she has for Godard, who she spoke of VERY highly.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I'm always looking at what I can downsize, too. the only thing I "collect", per se, are films by directors who I love - which right now is Hitchcock, Truffaut, and Satyajit Ray.. and I don't even have all of their films that have been released on blu-ray.

@Ray - you can't think of 5 more titles that you'd want, but I guarantee, GUARANTEE you , that by mid-summer, you'll find 5 titles that were not even remotely on your radar that will become, "oh my.. I've got to have this. can I sell a kidney to fund this" type of films.

Don't mess with me bro.

...I need help.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by jayembee

The point isn't whether you can re-watch 1000+ titles more than once. It's that if the mood strikes you to watch any given film, it's right there on the shelf.

They also serve who only stand and wait - John Milton

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

A lot of my Blu-rays were blind-buy purchases, but they were no more expensive than "blind buys" of movies tickets at the theater down the street.
My gut instincts with blind buys are usually pretty good, and most of these movies are ones that I want to revisit time and time again.

I've revisited a great many of my Blu-rays multiple times already.

A few of my Blu-rays, on the other hand, have collected dust after my first viewing. I have no desire to part with them or to "downsize", though. I learned a few hard lessons from my days of collecting VHS and DVD, and one of those lessons is that I never know when I'm going to get a random yearning to revisit a random movie that I have not seen in years.

The great thing about having a big collection is that the movies are there to watch on a whim whenever I get a hankering to revisit one. If I'm driving somewhere for work today, and I suddenly start thinking about how I'd like to see Marketa Lazarova again, for example, then all I have to do is venture up to my closet to get it when I arrive home. If I'm driving somewhere for work tomorrow, and I suddenly start thinking about how fun a certain scene in Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan is, then that movie will also be there for me to watch when I get home.

What really sucks is when I have a random yearning to see a particular movie, and then I remember that I used to own it on DVD or VHS, but sold it years ago. I'd prefer for that sort of thing not to happen anymore.

I also have a lot of still-unwatched Blu-rays in my stack right now, but that's part of the fun.

Of course, if I were to lose my entire movie collection all of sudden due to natural disaster, theft, or something of the sort, then I don't think that I would bother to rebuild it. I'd probably go full-tilt into Tyler Durden minimalist mode if that happened, and I'd be oddly happy that I no longer have that burden of owning so many things.

Oh, and I will never own the entire Criterion Collection. There are a lot of Criterion titles (more than half of them, actually) that just do not really intrigue me at the moment.

Yeah I can understand that.

Every October I buy several slasher flicks--Friday the 13th entries, NOES/Halloween sequels--that I feel like watching before Halloween. And then after Halloween is over I realize that I don't really like em that much so I trade them in for something else.

Then next October I end up buying them again.

I've done this for several years running.

...it's a vicious cycle.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Yeah I can understand that.

Every October I buy several slasher flicks--Friday the 13th entries, NOES/Halloween sequels--that I feel like watching before Halloween. And then after Halloween is over I realize that I don't really like em that much so I trade them in for something else.

Then next October I end up buying them again.

I've done this for several years running.

...it's a vicious cycle.

I owned a bunch of 1970s and 1980s horror films on VHS and DVD several years ago, but sold them off at one point, because I decided that it was probably icky for me to own so many horror flicks and that I should "grow up" by watching more thought-provoking movies.

After a while, though, I missed revisiting all of those movies, and, as such, I've purchased all of them on Blu-ray with no plans ever to part with them again.

I just happen to love horror movies, and I shouldn't run from my feelings.

Horror is not my favorite genre. Film noir is actually my favorite genre. I own way more horror Blu-rays than I own film noir Blu-rays, though, simply because there are so many more old-school horror movies available in the format (and I currently own all of the classic-era film noir movies that are available on Region A Blu-ray).

[CPinheiro]

RIP Ettore Scola, one of my favorite registi italiani

[Namuhana]

Sad news about Ettore Scola. I've only seen A Special Day, but I was absolutely floored by it. I'm sure I'll see more of his filmography this year.

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

There's nothing wrong with it if it makes you feel good.

I just personally take greater satisfaction from narrowing my collection down to select titles that I really love.

...different strokes for different folks.

My collection makes no sense to anyone except me (and maybe a few people on here). I've got a few things going for me with my family so my life isn't completely worthless.

I feel the same as some of the others on here. I get quite a bit of enjoyment in scanning my shelves of unwatched movies to pick something out. In the last two years I think I've been to a movie rental store once. I'll Redbox some titles before I buy, but the vast majority are ones that I want to have on hand.

Criterions are another story. They're a sickness and I won't shake it until I die or I get my last DVD to be complete. Right now I'm 102 titles away from having every Criterion spine #. Then, I'll go for the Eclipse series and I need to pick up the Janus 50 film set. One day it will stop....

[ThatOneGuy]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

One day it will stop....

Sounds like only with your death and even then, your children might carry on your legacy.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

I watched two 40s films today: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Sullivan's Travels. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is fantastic, sophisticated, and nuanced, and I'm hoping to get the Blu-ray for my birthday next month. I had a problem with Sullivan's Travels, though. The first half was fun and engaging, but then there was a wide swing in tone about two-thirds of the way into it and it just didn't work for me. I understand that there was to be some sort of suffering, but it was a bit too drastic for me. Did anyone else get a similar feeling? Am I missing something?

I'm glad you enjoyed The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. I watched it for the umpteenth (as in somewhere between my 75th and 100th) time last weekend; it is, and always will be, my favorite movie of all time.

And I know what you mean about Sullivan's Travels. I love Preston Sturges, but I much prefer The Lady Eve and The Palm Beach Story, which are more consistently funny and have stronger female performances. Barbara Stanwyck and Claudette Colbert have razor sharp comedic timing and are beautiful, too; Veronica Lake is pretty, but overall rather bland.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by John Klein

Sounds like only with your death and even then, your children might carry on your legacy.

That's why you have kids, right?

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Personally I just can't understand folks who have 1000+ titles in their collections. I wouldn't take any pleasure from having that many blu-rays, knowing that I would never watch 80% of them more than once.

And while I can understand the desire to have a complete Criterion collection, I personally take great pleasure at looking at the Criterions I do have and knowing how much they had to go through to survive the selection process to become a permanent edition to my book shelf.

...they're like my own personal Criterion special forces unit.

...the elite best of the best.

I can only speak for myself, but my collection isn't about the pleasure of owning a great many titles. I not only watch films for enjoyment, I also study them ... individually and collectively. And on occasion I still write about them, although that isn't as true a statement as it used to be since so many of my favorite magazines have ceased publication.

I once contracted to write an article about the Fox Film Noir DVD series. The publisher sent me advance review copies of the upcoming titles in the series; the others I already owned, and didn't have to try to find or rent or borrow, which saved me a lot of time since I was on a fairly short deadline. I watched all 20-odd films twice (once with and once without the audio commentaries), poured through all the supplements, and managed to turn in a 10,000 word article 30 days later, complete with scans of some of the stills in my personal collection.

That was so much easier than the experience I had trying to assemble a short career sketch and filmography on torch singer Helen Morgan several years earlier. I had seen five of Morgan's eight films, but didn't own copies of any of them, and frankly, trying to write about them based on my memories is something I would never attempt today; there's too much room for error, and sloppy film scholarship is increasingly inexcusable in this day and age. Anyway, that's my perspective.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by jmclick

I can only speak for myself, but my collection isn't about the pleasure of owning a great many titles. I not only watch films for enjoyment, I also study them ... individually and collectively. And on occasion I still write about them, although that isn't as true a statement as it used to be since so many of my favorite magazines have ceased publication.

I once contracted to write an article about the Fox Film Noir DVD series. The publisher sent me advance review copies of the upcoming titles in the series; the others I already owned, and didn't have to try to find or rent or borrow, which saved me a lot of time since I was on a fairly short deadline. I watched all 20-odd films twice (once with and once without the audio commentaries), poured through all the supplements, and managed to turn in a 10,000 word article 30 days later, complete with scans of some of the stills in my personal collection.

That was so much easier than the experience I had trying to assemble a short career sketch and filmography on torch singer Helen Morgan several years earlier. I had seen five of Morgan's eight films, but didn't own copies of any of them, and frankly, trying to write about them based on my memories is something I would never attempt today; there's too much room for error, and sloppy film scholarship is increasingly inexcusable in this day and age. Anyway, that's my perspective.

You have about 4500 titles--bluray and dvds.

How do you store them?

My collection takes up an entire 5-level book shelf and I only have about 200.

[Vidya]

For those of you who have had to replace bronzed discs: do the properly manufactured discs have "second printing" on their labels?