The Criterion Collection

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

The Oscars are a joke but they mean something to many people in the industry and movie fans. Some people view them as all knowing and some people use the nominations to determine which films to purchase on blu-ray.

To each their own. I disregard it altogether.

Last night was the first Oscar telecast I've missed since I was in my teens, and trust me, that was a long time ago. I was disgusted by the political controversy surrounding the nominations this year, and was dismayed by the way the Board of Governors responded to it. From my perspective, the Academy made a de facto admission that the system is rigged, has always been rigged, and will continue to be rigged, albeit according to a new set of guidelines and algorithms.

Reading the "Brutally Honest Oscar Voters" series in The Hollywood Reporter ... articles in which anonymous Academy members admitted that they voted for so-and-so because he seemed like a nice guy, or they didn't vote for this film because they didn't bother to go see it ... confirmed for me that the winners aren't representative of the industry's "Best". Artistic merit has little, if anything, to do with what wins. Really, nothing has changed since the first awards in 1927/28, when Louis B. Mayer discouraged the committee from giving the Best Picture Award to M-G-M's The Crowd, because he wanted the award to go to M-G-M's Broadway Melody the following year.

Apparently last year's telecast hit a seven-year low in terms of ratings. How sad, too bad. I'm happy to have been among those sending a message to the Academy and its sponsors. The problem is, there were mixed messages being sent. If the Academy is smart, they'll recognize that fact, and take thoughtful, meaningful steps to start cleaning up their act.

[Disturbed Blu 1]

Originally Posted by Inlayreverse

I placed two orders. Got the first one on Friday, but have yet to receive a tracking number on the second one...

I haven't received a tracking number at all.

[silverlakephil]

Still waiting for my tracking # for Zatoichi:The Blind Swordsman

[llj]

Originally Posted by jmclick

Apparently last year's telecast hit a seven-year low in terms of ratings. How sad, too bad. I'm happy to have been among those sending a message to the Academy and its sponsors. The problem is, there were mixed messages being sent. If the Academy is smart, they'll recognize that fact, and take thoughtful, meaningful steps to start cleaning up their act.

Unfortunately there will be many people who don't get it and blame it all on Rock being the host as the real reason.

[Vinyl]

Totally agree with jmclick. I love movies, but have never watched the Oscars for the reasons that were pointed out in his comment. it always felt like a game of "I scratch your back, you scratch mine".

Another film institution I have issue with is the MPAA and how films are given ratings, but that is a whole different can (I hope).

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by Disturbed Blu 1

I need some help. I ordered some Criterions during their flash sale, but they still haven't arrived. Does it normally take this long? It seems some people on here got theirs a couple days later, at most.

You know you can check their website for tracking and order info, right?

[Disturbed Blu 1]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

You know you can check their website for tracking and order info, right?

I'm aware, but my order status shows no tracking number.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by Disturbed Blu 1

I'm aware, but my order status shows no tracking number.

has it even shipped yet? the tracking comes with their e-mail notifying shipment, title is something like: Your http://www.criterion.com order

[ShellOilJunior]

Shipping w/Criterion seems to depend on how close you live to NY or KY. I'm in Cleveland and my turnaround time with CC orders is very fast. I've sent out for a replacement blu-ray on a Saturday and received the corrected blu-ray on Thursday.

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Shipping w/Criterion seems to depend on how close you live to NY or KY. I'm in Cleveland and my turnaround time with CC orders is very fast. I've sent out for a replacement blu-ray on a Saturday and received the corrected blu-ray on Thursday.

That's one of the best parts of living in Cincinnati: it's so close to the Kentucky warehouse

[Noetic Hatter]

USPS tracking says to expect my flash sale shipment today.

• Royal Tenenbaums
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Fanny & Alexander box

[Ausjdm]

Originally Posted by mja345

I rewatched "The Color of Money" recently and it's definitely a lot more middling than I remember it. It had been 4 or 5 years since I'd seen it. Solid film, but not one of Scorsese's finer efforts. Newman was infinitely better in "The Hustler", "Cool Hand Luke", "Hud" or many other films, but it was like the Academy said, "Well, we gotta give Newman the Oscar sometime." And Cruise's montage to "Werewolves of London" is just so Cruisey, if I may invent an adjective.

Dicaprio was fine in "The Revenant", but I thought he was much better in "The Wolf of Wall Street". But he didn't go through trauma in "The Wolf of Wall Street", so no Oscar. He was just an a-hole in that movie. The Oscars almost never reward actors for playing a-holes, perverts or psychos, no matter how well they do it. Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" is a rare exception.

Best part of Color of Money is the Forrest Whittaker scene-stealer cameo.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by WonderWeasel

No Abe Vigoda, either.

On a more positive note, glad to see Morricone finally win one, albeit for one of his weaker scores.

I'm glad Leonard Nimoy was honored in the obituaries part of the show. But I don't recall seeing his name come up on the Golden Globes or the BAFTAs?!

As for the Morricone win, which was a long time coming, I didn't see Quentin Tarantino sitting at the show... was he one of the guys boycotting the Oscars?

[jw007]

I'd like to announce that after nearly 2 months of watching LOST (the tv series), I finally concluded 2 nights ago and last night I watched my very first Criterion since 2015.

To kick things off, I watched The Graduate! Wow, it had been decades since I'd seen this film. I almost forgot how great that ending was too... I laughed out loud.

And now that the Oscars are over, I'm looking forward to getting to a bunch of other classic Criterion films, so jw007 is officially back!

[Gusto-Guus]

Originally Posted by jw007

I'm glad Leonard Nimoy was honored in the obituaries part of the show. But I don't recall seeing his name come up on the Golden Globes or the BAFTAs?!

As for the Morricone win, which was a long time coming, I didn't see Quentin Tarantino sitting at the show... was he one of the guys boycotting the Oscars?

Probably. Quentin does see himself as an honorary black man.

As for the Oscars, it wouldn't have bothered me if Mad Max won because maybe that would've sent a message to the industry about mixing it up a little with oscar bait and capeshit movies. Mad Max did have a throw back feeling to it, like it was made in the 80s or 90s due to the effects, plot, and execution.

As for Spotlight, I thought it was good, but seemed to have lacked something to push it over the edge. i know it gets compared a lot to All the President's men, but it's also like Fincher's Zodiac, which I think is a much better movie.

Personally, I thought Room was the best picture of the year.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Gusto-Guus

Probably. Quentin does see himself as an honorary black man.

As for the Oscars, it wouldn't have bothered me if Mad Max won because maybe that would've sent a message to the industry about mixing it up a little with oscar bait and capeshit movies. Mad Max did have a throw back feeling to it, like it was made in the 80s or 90s due to the effects, plot, and execution.

As for Spotlight, I thought it was good, but seemed to have lacked something to push it over the edge. i know it gets compared a lot to All the President's men, but it's also like Fincher's Zodiac, which I think is a much better movie.

Personally, I thought Room was the best picture of the year.

I didn't see Room, but between Spotlight and The Big Short, I would have been happier had The Big Short won for best picture. It was a very engaging film, but in the end I also appreciated Spotlight, for its amazing ensemble cast and mature, well-written story. And that story is what pulled it over the edge, because its something that hasn't really been put into the spotlight (pun intended), until now.

I'm not surprised one bit that Mad Max: Fury Road won 6 Oscars and for most of the technical awards, but it is a big surprise that Ex Machina won for Visual Effects as I was expecting the academy to just hand that one over to Mad Max too.

[Disturbed Blu 1]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

has it even shipped yet? the tracking comes with their e-mail notifying shipment, title is something like: Your http://www.criterion.com order

It doesn't look like it. I ordered on the 24th, and I'm still waiting for my shipping confirmation.

[The Great Owl]

Sad news. George Kennedy died yesterday at the age of 91.

All of you here in the Criterion thread recognize George Kennedy from his role in Charade, but he also had unforgettable roles in Cool Hand Luke, The Eiger Sanction, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Earthquake, Airport, The Dirty Dozen, The Sons of Katie Elder, Lonely Are the Brave, The Flight of the Phoenix, Just Before Dawn, The Delta Force, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, Death Ship, Creepshow 2, The Naked Gun series, and several others.

As a 1970s/1980s kid, I grew up seeing his face on afternoon television movies.

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Sad news. George Kennedy died yesterday at the age of 91.

All of you here in the Criterion thread recognize George Kennedy from his role in Charade, but he also had unforgettable roles in Cool Hand Luke, The Eiger Sanction, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Earthquake, Airport, The Dirty Dozen, The Sons of Katie Elder, Lonely Are the Brave, The Flight of the Phoenix, Just Before Dawn, The Delta Force, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, Death Ship, Creepshow 2, The Naked Gun series, and several others.

As a 1970s/1980s kid, I grew up seeing his face on afternoon television movies.

That's a real loss. He was one of the great character actors, and in interviews, he seemed to be a nice, grounded human being. CNN's obituary includes some quotes from Kennedy about him and Raymond Burr cracking each other up and giving each other the giggles (something I would never have suspected), and I've always admired the tribute to Jimmy Stewart that he recorded for TCM, which sounded truly sincere and heartfelt. RIP, Mr. Kennedy. Well done.

[scottpcusa]

Originally Posted by llj

I don't care about it since the movies I like never win nor would they even have a chance to in most cases. Oscar Best Picture winners are usually for Social Message or historical drama films anyway.

In the animation category, only big studio films like Pixar or Dreamworks usually ever win, whether they even deserve it or not. Independent and foreign animation pretty much have no chance. Spirited Away's win seems more and more like a complete fluke in retrospect.

In the actor/actresses category, overacting and performances about suffering
get rewarded more often than not.

I love Oscar season...but I agree. I bet many voters didn't see the Brazilian animated film, Boy and the world. it is a fantastic work of art and should have beat Inside Out, which I also enjoyed.

Of course, I think Song of the Sea should have won last year.

On a Criterion note, now that Oscar season is over, speaking of animation, I'm finally going to watch my new copy of Watership Down.