The Criterion Collection

[mja345]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Try the sequel...Two Girls, One Cup.

One of the most provocative, disturbing films I've ever seen.

Was difficult to stomach at times.

...might be better than the original.

The publication Coprophiliac Monthly raved that, "Two Girls, One Cup makes Salo look like Mary Poppins and Pink Flamingos look like Guys and Dolls. A true masterpiece that needs to be in everyone's collection. It's like Citizen Kane or Casablanca for those who have a burning passion for fecal matter."

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by mja345

The publication Coprophiliac Monthly raved that, "Two Girls, One Cup makes Salo look like Mary Poppins and Pink Flamingos look like Guys and Dolls. A true masterpiece that needs to be in everyone's collection. It's like Citizen Kane or Casablanca for those who have a burning passion for fecal matter."

I've emailed Jon Mulvaney about a Criterion release several times.

...he has never responded.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I've emailed Jon Mulvaney about a Criterion release several times.

...he has never responded.

Mulvaney is apparently the guy who openly campaigned for "Salo" to be in the collection, so he's your man in that regard.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I've emailed Jon Mulvaney about a Criterion release several times.

...he has never responded.

At least he didn't say "Go .... in your hat!"

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

I don't usually tweet, post, or whatever while watching films. But I'm watching Head and all I have to say is "wtf?" Has anyone else seen it?

Any film that has Frank Zappa and Victor Mature in the cast can't be all bad.

[ravenus]

Last night I saw Night Train to Munich. Carol Reed's film has more than a passing resemblance to Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes, which I previously wrote about. Fashioned by the same scriptwriters as TLV, once more a bickering pair (Margaret Lockwood again, this time paired with the characteristically snooty Rex Harrison) must work together to stop a fascist European evil from gaining advantage in a global war (at least, as global as the leading countries of that time would admit). The action is again (partly) set on a train, and we also see the return of the stereotype British duo Charters and Caldicott. But Reed's story, set in the beginning of WW2, openly names the enemy (Hitler and Nazism) and the stakes are higher in this game. While not as inventive as the Hitchcock film (and not as striking as his own The Third Man) Reed helms a brisk and engaging ride. Would definitely be interested in hearing about any HD release of the film.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by mja345

Mulvaney is apparently the guy who openly campaigned for "Salo" to be in the collection, so he's your man in that regard.

Which would be quite a feat, considering he's not real.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Which would be quite a feat, considering he's not real.

You don't know that for a fact.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

You don't know that for a fact.

Mulvaney was apparently trying to convince Peter Becker to include a box set of German simulated snuff films disguised as "avant-garde, art-house masterpieces" in the collection. God only knows what the Criterion Collection would look like if Mulvaney were in charge.

[theater dreamer]

Catching the end of Mulholland Drive, which is playing on HBO again. And all I can keep thinking to myself is, "God, I love Naomi Watts."

Should anything ever happen to Sabertooth, I'd gladly fly out to comfort her.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I've seen Solaris three times now and have had pretty much the same reaction each time.

The first 5-10 minutes are pretty slow, but interesting and then there's the weird sped-up sequence where the guy is driving into town with the lights and what not and I'm thinking to myself, "This is pretty cool...I'm watching something special."

Eventually the main guy gets to the space station and I'm definitely intrigued by the story and the whole Sci-Fi feel to it.

Then the

[Show spoiler]wife shows up

and I'm ready for something really interesting to happen.

Then about an hour to 90 minutes in I realize that nothing really interesting is happening and I'm starting to get a little bored.

About two hours in I'm looking at the clock and just waiting for it to be over.

At the very end I'm amazed by the final sequence and feel as though I've watched something special.

...but it's not something I feel like ever watching again.

It's happened like that all three times.

He only had the slow intro to make people with no patience walk out the screening lol

[Sifox211]

Originally Posted by mja345

Very true, Ray, "Solaris" does sneak up on you. You don't feel like you're watching a masterpiece for the balance of the running time, but, at the end, you felt like you just watched a masterpiece. There are very few films that have that quality, but it's certainly one of them. I'm hard-pressed to think of others off the top of my head ...

It's probably the polar opposite of Solaris, but The Green Ray is like that. Somehow it sneaks from mildly irritating to outright masterpiece during the final scenes.

[Marlow27]

Hey guys, quick question for the more knowledgeable of folks, what are the chances of getting a bluray version of The Shop Around the Corner? (Criterion or not). It's one of my most-wanted upgrades; any rumours or news?

[jrsl76]

Originally Posted by Marlow27

Hey guys, quick question for the more knowledgeable of folks, what are the chances of getting a bluray version of The Shop Around the Corner? (Criterion or not). It's one of my most-wanted upgrades; any rumours or news?

That's Warners, so I'd imagine it is a possibility. It could come from the Criterion/Warner deal, but I'd lay better odds on it releasing as a Warner Archive Blu-ray eventually.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Which would be quite a feat, considering he's not real.

I suspect "Mulvaney" is an inside joke in the confines of the Criterion office. His name is used to explain the unknown:

Someone pilfered the last copy of The Third Man on blu-ray from the closet? Mulvaney did it

Le Samourai is still not on the schedule for 2016? Mulvaney's fault

The uptick in leaflets included in releases? Mulvaney's doing

Someone left a deuce in the restroom and didn't flush? Mulvaney did it

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Regarding Tarkovsky, I think Ivan's Childhood is fantastic and really bears no similarities to the style he is more known for - the style that is making people snooze. So, I'd highly recommend seeing that and not ruling it out even if other Tarkovsky hasn't been your cup of tea.

Being a huge fan of german expressionism and the use of shadows and exaggerated camera movements/angles I personally like Ivan's Childhood the most out of all his films. It really feels like a completely different director compared to his later films that are a lot more subtle in their use of the various filming techniques.

I'm also not a fan of really slow movies, but there is this haunting eerie quality to Solaris that always keeps me interested. Something I just can't explain. Love the film.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by Marlow27

Hey guys, quick question for the more knowledgeable of folks, what are the chances of getting a bluray version of The Shop Around the Corner? (Criterion or not). It's one of my most-wanted upgrades; any rumours or news?

A Warner, or even a WAC, release of The Shop Around the Corner would be a surprise, seeing how they basically gave away the SD version of it as an extra on the blu ray release of You've Got Mail. A Criterion release isn't as unlikely, seeing as they seem to have a thing for Lubitsch.

[obscurelabel]

Originally Posted by CriterionBlues

I don't usually tweet, post, or whatever while watching films. But I'm watching Head and all I have to say is "wtf?" Has anyone else seen it?

I love this film. It has a lot of antecedents in surreal, anarchic, self-referential comedy, including:

Olsen and Johnson (Hellzapoppin' and Crazy House are two of my most wished for BDs)
W. C. Fields (especially Never Give a Sucker an Even Break)
Hope and Crosby's Road movies
Fred Allen on radio and especially the film It's in the Bag
The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
MAD Magazine
Ernie Kovacs's various shows
Green Acres
Frank Zappa (who appears here and on The Monkees TV show)
... and more

Head has more surreal, absurd, dark, and non- or anti-comic moments than most of these and the WTF? tone is definitely what they were going for (drugs were involved). Reminds me a lot of Buñuel's The Milky Way and The Phantom of Liberty from a few years later, I wonder if he was a fan?

[fdm]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

I'm having the most difficult time getting through Solaris. It is such a slow burn that it keeps putting me to sleep each night. I doze off and keep going back trying to rewatch scenes. I could have watched Berlin Alexanderplatz in the amount of time I have invested in this film.

I like the mood Tarkovsky creates with the movie. I'm interested...then I'm asleep.

Anybody else have specific movies that do this to you?

Ever since I first saw Apocalypse Now, the scenes with Brando just about always. Just one specific example, but it seems with a few other films, if I doze off during it (whether I finish it or not) and try to rewatch it I tend to doze off around the same place again. (Then sometimes it gets deleted from the dvr unfinished and sometimes it doesn't. )

You should check out Berlin Alexanderplatz. I didn't fall asleep once, although I ended up watching the prolog a few times before I was satisfied I'd gotten out of it as much as I was going to (at the time). Hope I can squeeze in another watch before too long.

[pro-bassoonist]

Hello guys,

Here are the packaging photos for Gilda. As always, there are more in the review (click on the cover). The final version arrived today.

I am also uploading photos in this post for a few more titles that came in the mail.









Additional photos in the review, linked above








More in the review, linked above








Here are the packaging photos for the new release. More in the review, linked above









Our review will be up this weekend











Pro-B