The Criterion Collection

[jw007]

Alright, new top 10 for everyone!

If you only could choose 10 Criterion films to take with you to a desert island (assuming you have electricity there and a TV/media player) or survive in a doomsday bunker, name your top 10 "Desert Island" Criterion films?

It can be BD or DVD, but no box sets/trilogies.

Also, these are movies that you've 1) watched and 2) are in your collection.

Here's my "Desert Island" list (I'm mostly into contemporary films):

1. The New World (2005)
2. The Double Life of Véronique (1991)
3. Wings of Desire (1987)
4. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
5. The Thin Red Line (1998)
6. Dazed and Confused (1993)
7. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
8. Down by Law (1986)
9. Mulholland Dr. (2001)
10. Black Narcissus (1947)

I have to admit, this is a REALLY tough list to put together, because there are at least another 15-20 movies I feel are essential as "Desert Island" discs, but in the end, the movies I chose are ones I see myself revisiting time and time again, whether its zany comedy, emotional drama or just plain re-watchable, at least for me.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by Firecrackker

Do you guys like this movie and does it have decent replay value?

Yes and yes. People on Sunday is a 1930 German silent film, directed primarily by Robert Siodmak and his brother Curt together with Fred Zinnemann, from a screenplay by Billy Wilder. All four men would later emigrate from Nazi Germany to Hollywood. I think it may be one of the best silents I have ever seen. It feels intimate, modern, and real. Taking place in Weimar-era Berlin, People on Sunday has an uplifting charm that I attribute to its use of non-professional actors, a somewhat carefree story about a double date (although parts are open to a darker interpretation), and the fact it is filmed in a semi-documentary style out among people going about their actual lives. As a time trip back to Weimar Berlin, it is a feast for the eyes. There is so much detail to the city it is as much a character as the ordinary people appearing in the film. I loved the way Berliners are shown enjoying their weekend, with the five main actors blending into the whole setting. It is a film that rewards each viewing with new discoveries and new perspectives.

Yet looking back from the vantage point of 80+ years at all the gaiety and life on display is as haunting and sad as it is wondrous. For all of its modern feel, People on Sunday is a window giving us a look at a lost world before it disappeared forever in the maelstrom of the Second World War. I have read multiple books about the Battle of Berlin in 1945, and have watched film footage of the US and British bombings that ravaged the city in the last years of the war, the Soviet advance into the city, the house to house fighting, the anti-tank guns rocking backwards as they fired down city streets, the blasted bricks and glass spilling across the pavement, the bombed out tenements, shops, factories, public buildings..... As I watched the movie, I could not help comparing in my mind's eye those searing images of a dead and skeletal Berlin with the beautiful living Berlin I was seeing in front of me. The movie is a celebration of life, but it is a melancholy and surreal viewing experience knowing what fate lay a dozen years in the future for all of those people we see preserved so brightly in a brief moment of time onscreen. Watching the playing happy children was especially touching.

I liked the modern music score best. It seemed to give the film a more immediate and contemporary feel to match the dynamic of the city and its people. This is a silent film that just demands to be seen and recognized as a marvel of time and place.

As for the Siodmak brothers, Fred Zinnemann, and Billy Wilder, People on Sunday is part of the legacy they left behind in Germany after the Nazis came to power. Robert Siodmak became best known for directing thrillers and stylish film noirs, Fred Zinnemann went on to direct many revered award winning films (including From Here to Eternity, High Noon, A Man for All Seasons, and The Day of the Jackal), Billy Wilder became one of the most celebrated directors in film history, and Curt Siodmak is known mostly as a screenwriter and novelist. Curt is particularly interesting to old-school sci-fi and horror fans because even if you have never heard his name you have seen his scripts brought to the screen in noted classics like The Wolfman (1941) starring Lon Chaney Jr, I Walked with a Zombie (1943), Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943), The Magnetic Monster (1953), and Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1953).

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by Firecrackker

Do you guys like this movie and does it have decent replay value?

It's an amazing film. I'd personally say it has replay value, as I've watched it more than once, but obviously not the same kind of replay value as Iron Man or something you can just throw on while half watching it.

[Fabs]

Originally Posted by jw007

Alright, new top 10 for everyone!

If you only could choose 10 Criterion films to take with you to a desert island (assuming you have electricity there and a TV/media player) or survive in a doomsday bunker, name your top 10 "Desert Island" Criterion films?

1. An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
2. Yi Yi (2000)
3. The Face of Another (1966)
4. In the Mood For Love (2000)
5. House (1977)
6. Pale Flower (1964)
7. Hiroshima mon Amour (1959)
8. M (1931)
9. Solaris (1972)
10. Ugetsu (1953)

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jw007

Alright, new top 10 for everyone!

If you only could choose 10 Criterion films to take with you to a desert island (assuming you have electricity there and a TV/media player) or survive in a doomsday bunker, name your top 10 "Desert Island" Criterion films?

1. The New World
2. The Double Life of Véronique
3. House
4. Antichrist
5. Koyaanisqatsi
6. Mulholland Dr
7. Beauty and the Beast
8. Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom
9. Picnic at Hanging Rock
10. Breaking the Waves

And I would smuggle Eraserhead, The Thin Red Line in and The Great Beauty :P

[The Great Owl]

Only faintly Criterion-related, because of the Kurosawa story, but this could be interesting...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rvY-IXJ5Gg

[tisdivine]

Originally Posted by jw007

Alright, new top 10 for everyone!

If you only could choose 10 Criterion films to take with you to a desert island (assuming you have electricity there and a TV/media player) or survive in a doomsday bunker, name your top 10 "Desert Island" Criterion films?

It can be BD or DVD, but no box sets/trilogies.

In no particular order & only using blus since thats all I have.

Royal Tenenbaums
Belle Du Jour
8 1/2
Pale Flower
Grey Gardens
Tokyo Drifter
Mulholland Dr.
Diabolique
Vengence Is Mine
Le Cercle Rouge

[Namuhana]

Yesterday morning, I decided to watch Carnival of Souls, just to see what everyone was talking about. I was floored. It's mesmerizingly creepy, and certainly does "look like a Bergman and feel like a Cocteau." Where has this been all my life? I'll definitely get it during the B&N sale in July.

Originally Posted by jw007

Alright, new top 10 for everyone!

If you only could choose 10 Criterion films to take with you to a desert island (assuming you have electricity there and a TV/media player) or survive in a doomsday bunker, name your top 10 "Desert Island" Criterion films?

It can be BD or DVD, but no box sets/trilogies.

Also, these are movies that you've 1) watched and 2) are in your collection.

1. A Special Day
2. City Lights
3. Frances Ha
4. Moonrise Kingdom
5. Persona
6. Rashomon
7. The Devil's Backbone
8. The Night of the Hunter
9. The Red Shoes
10. Vivre sa vie

[shadedpain4]

- Late Spring
- In The Mood For Love
- Rushmore
- A Brighter Summer Day
- The Great Beauty
- Breaking the Waves
- Hara-kiri
- Seven Samurai
- The Thin Red Line
- The Seventh Seal

[Purplenoon]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

It's an amazing film. I'd personally say it has replay value, as I've watched it more than once, but obviously not the same kind of replay value as Iron Man or something you can just throw on while half watching it.

I agree totally with both Bates_Motel & oildude: this is a great movie with lots of replay value. It is not to be missed, and belongs in everyone's collection.

[RobertLuketic]

Great lineup! Definitely in for New World, Muriel and Carnival of Souls The In Laws is an odd duck O_o

[TomN245]

Originally Posted by Fabs

Wow. Interview with Hsu Feng and Shih Chun? And a Documentary as well, on King Hu? Wow. It puts the MoC version to shame.

To shame? Are you kidding me? The MOC is a fantastic edition. I could say "Wow, a booklet, a better cover, a slip cover, a new video essay and it was released 6 months prior. It puts the Criterion to shame". But I wouldn't say that as I'd sound like a self-entitled prick. Both editions have their different positives, I don't think either will be significantly better.

[Vinyl]

Originally Posted by Namuhana

Yesterday morning, I decided to watch Carnival of Souls, just to see what everyone was talking about. I was floored. It's mesmerizingly creepy, and certainly does "look like a Bergman and feel like a Cocteau." Where has this been all my life? I'll definitely get it during the B&N sale in July.

Good to hear more people are getting exposed to this movie. I saw it nearly 10 years ago and the creepy imagery and sparse soundtrack has stuck with me. Definitely want to revisit this movie.

[The Bronx Bull]

Originally Posted by jw007

Alright, new top 10 for everyone!

If you only could choose 10 Criterion films to take with you to a desert island (assuming you have electricity there and a TV/media player) or survive in a doomsday bunker, name your top 10 "Desert Island" Criterion films?

1. The Thin Red Line
2. Seven Samurai
3. Army of Shadows
4. Dazed and Confused
5. Mulholland Drive
6. City Lights
7. Kiss Me Deadly
8. The Battle of Algiers
9. Fanny and Alexander
10. The Life and Death of Col Blimp

On a side note, the Criterion Collection really needs to pick up more Lynch. Maybe not his opus magnum, Blue Velvet, but some of his lesser known but surreal titles, like: Lost Highway, Wild at Heart, or Inland Empire. These would be a good fit, and the current DVD editions really aren't that great.

[ThisKid]

Originally Posted by The Bronx Bull

On a side note, the Criterion Collection really needs to pick up more Lynch. Maybe not his opus magnum, Blue Velvet, but some of his lesser known but surreal titles, like: Lost Highway, Wild at Heart, or Inland Empire. These would be a good fit, and the current DVD editions really aren't that great.

Totally agree with you, Criterion needs more Lynch. In fact, I think there is a rumour that Lynch himself is working with Criterion to release Wild at Heart again, but the film that really deserves the Criterion treatment is Lost Highway. If Criterion releases Inland Empire, it might be a DVD release, due to its SD source materials.

[whateverman42]

Originally Posted by The Bronx Bull

On a side note, the Criterion Collection really needs to pick up more Lynch. Maybe not his opus magnum, Blue Velvet, but some of his lesser known but surreal titles, like: Lost Highway, Wild at Heart, or Inland Empire. These would be a good fit, and the current DVD editions really aren't that great.

I've never been a big Lynch fan as I don't like dark twisted stuff, but I am hoping Criterion will release The Straight Story. I suppose it's less likely than Lost Highway or Inland Empire which seem to be more well known.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by ThisKid

If Criterion releases Inland Empire, it might be a DVD release, due to its SD source materials.

The video elements may be SD, but the sound is another story (and the reason I upgraded from the DVD to the UK Blu-ray).

[Ausjdm]

Originally Posted by jw007

Alright, new top 10 for everyone!

If you only could choose 10 Criterion films to take with you to a desert island (assuming you have electricity there and a TV/media player) or survive in a doomsday bunker, name your top 10 "Desert Island" Criterion films?

It can be BD or DVD, but no box sets/trilogies.

Also, these are movies that you've 1) watched and 2) are in your collection.

Here's my "Desert Island" list (I'm mostly into contemporary films):

1. The New World (2005)
2. The Double Life of Véronique (1991)
3. Wings of Desire (1987)
4. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
5. The Thin Red Line (1998)
6. Dazed and Confused (1993)
7. The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
8. Down by Law (1986)
9. Mulholland Dr. (2001)
10. Black Narcissus (1947)

I have to admit, this is a REALLY tough list to put together, because there are at least another 15-20 movies I feel are essential as "Desert Island" discs, but in the end, the movies I chose are ones I see myself revisiting time and time again, whether its zany comedy, emotional drama or just plain re-watchable, at least for me.

Only ten argh (no order to them but mostly rewatchable ones to me)

Mulholland Drive
The New World
Dr. Strangelove
Thin Red Line
8 1/2
The Royal Tenenbaums
Brazil
Three colors
Third Man
Robocop
Last Year at Marienbad (sneak it in maybe I'll finally understand it lol)

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by jw007

Alright, new top 10 for everyone!

If you only could choose 10 Criterion films to take with you to a desert island (assuming you have electricity there and a TV/media player) or survive in a doomsday bunker, name your top 10 "Desert Island" Criterion films?

It can be BD or DVD, but no box sets/trilogies.

Also, these are movies that you've 1) watched and 2) are in your collection.

Neat. I kinda started doing a top 100 favorite Criterion list, so I'd probably just skim the top 10 from that.

1. Qatsi Trilogy
2. Seven Samurai
3. The Third Man
4. Bicycle Thieves
5. M
6. Eraserhead
7. Harakiri
8. Wages of Fear
9. The Kid
10. Battle of Algiers

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by ThisKid

Totally agree with you, Criterion needs more Lynch. In fact, I think there is a rumour that Lynch himself is working with Criterion to release Wild at Heart again, but the film that really deserves the Criterion treatment is Lost Highway. If Criterion releases Inland Empire, it might be a DVD release, due to its SD source materials.

Between the fact that Criterion doesn't really release dvd only stuff anymore (aside from Eclipse sets) and the fact that Inland Empire has already had a blu release for almost 5 years now, no need to worry about a DVD only Inland Empire.