The Criterion Collection

[octagon]

Originally Posted by JJJ225

You watched a Hollywood film from the 80s are were upset that it was...very 80s and very Hollywood?

Sounds more like he was disappointed that it wasn't much more than a fairly typical 80s Hollywood offering. And I can kind of relate. I love Sydney Pollack and Dustin Hoffman and was hoping to love (or at least really like)Tootsie but just...didn't.

But that was after only one viewing so who knows what the future might bring.

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by JJJ225

You watched a Hollywood film from the 80s are were upset that it was...very 80s and very Hollywood?

Some movies are timeless...some seem dated. With most Criterions the themes, performances, cinematography, etc. carry the film and they tend to seem more timeless to me.

By "Hollywood" I mean films that focus on hitting the least common denominator and that wrap up all nice and tidy.

I like 80's films and I like the occasional Hollywood recipe. I was disappointed that Tootsie felt dated and was very light on substance. The little "C" on the cover spoils me sometimes and this was a rare case where I did not get all I expected.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by octagon

Sounds more like he was disappointed that it wasn't much more than a fairly typical 80s Hollywood offering. And I can kind of relate. I love Sydney Pollack and Dustin Hoffman and was hoping to love (or at least really like)Tootsie but just...didn't.

But that was after only one viewing so who knows what the future might bring.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film on a first viewing, but was incredibly disappointed during my second viewing.

The idea is good, but it just really doesn't work.

[adamhopelies]

I was impressed with Tootsie, which I had kind of written off as a typical Hollywood comedy (ala Mrs. Doubtfire), but it's so much more than that. It's treatment of gender is surprisingly complex, and even away from the thematic side of things it's a beautifully constructed and well-acted piece of work.

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

It's very good in my opinion. Nice rich colors, and detail. Since it's probably a little pricy though, you may want to opt for the StudioCanal/Lionsgate BD release. It's really not very good as far as BD quality goes, but it still shows some improvement over the DVD, and color and fleshtones are very good.

The new 4K-restored disc is far and away the most detailed release to date. It's just the colors which I feel are a little off. I don't think they are so bothersome that it would impact your enjoyment of the film, so if you have a region free player then that's certainly a viable option too.

It's a masterpiece, but it probably wasn't until my third viewing that I felt that way. My first viewing was when I was a lot younger, and I thought it moved a little too slow. With my second viewing I started to really appreciate the world Kurosawa created. Now I consider it among his best works.

Thank you. Very helpful. I'm not averse to picking up OOP Criterion releases, so I'll keep an eye out for a copy of the DVD for sensible money. I'm also region-free, so the 4K is an easy option.

I'm just getting to Kurosawa in my cinematic journey, and very interested to see this film.

[Doc Moonlight]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

And obviously both are light-years better than Life is Beautiful, Ilsa: She-Wolf of the SS, and Jakob the Liar. :P

JACOB THE LIAR is a remake of an East German film, which I understand is very good, but I have not seen.

[theater dreamer]

By all accounts, Ran is such a spectacular picture that I won't even be thinking about the color after getting a little into the movie.

I have to believe that this is going to get distributed in the states. That's a pretty big title in a much loved artist's oeuvre to not have access to it unless you import it (and can play region B).

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Doc Moonlight

JACOB THE LIAR is a remake of an East German film, which I understand is very good, but I have not seen.

I've seen the original (excellent) East German film -- have it on DVD, in fact -- but never got around to seeing the remake.

[Martin_31]

Has anyone seen The Lives of Others?

[octagon]

Watched it, loved it, watched it again and loved it even more.

[LuckyDragon]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

By all accounts, Ran is such a spectacular picture that I won't even be thinking about the color after getting a little into the movie.

I have to believe that this is going to get distributed in the states. That's a pretty big title in a much loved artist's oeuvre to not have access to it unless you import it (and can play region B).

It's the only one of Kurosawa's Shakespeare trilogy I've never seen. I've got the Criterions of Throne of Blood and The Bad Sleep Well, which are both excellent. I should probably see Ran before it gets to the point that it can't live up to the years of hype.

[pedromvu]

Just saw Haxan on Hulu, that movie needs an upgrade now

For some reason I was expecting something more like Vampyr, which I wasn't a big fan of, then I saw this was supposed to be a documentary, didn't feel like that probably because of the big narrative part in the middle, anyway I really enjoyed the imagery and the approach to the subject.

The Hulu version looks really good for a 1922 film, I see this was shown on theaters recently but doesn't appear to be the 104 minutes version that I saw.

[Scottie]

I finally finished updating and correcting all of the available Criterion films on Blu-ray. What a disaster.

I updated the OP accordingly by review publication from newest to oldest and also had to add borders to several of the titles because this database hates white space and it was destroying all of the white covered images.

If anyone would like to go through each film and add large quality images for what is not locked (I'm talking 1000+ pixels), it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone thinks the black borders I added to titles are not good enough because they do not match the colors of the case, please feel free to message me and add an appropriate border. Furthermore, if anyone thinks that borders around all of the titles would look good, please let me know and we can discuss the matter.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and no more of this "The Criterion Collection" thing in the titles.

[CriterionBlues]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

I was impressed with Tootsie, which I had kind of written off as a typical Hollywood comedy (ala Mrs. Doubtfire), but it's so much more than that. It's treatment of gender is surprisingly complex, and even away from the thematic side of things it's a beautifully constructed and well-acted piece of work.

I agree. It was way ahead of its time as far as gender politics within the trappings of the comedy formula. I agree with Anthony that it is dated a bit, but I don't always hold that against a film. Sometimes films are representative of their time, and Tootsie by satiring the women's liberation movement and being moderately progressive with gender identity, is almost a time capsule for 1980 and the changing viewpoints to come.

It is no Antonioni or Bergman, but I do not mind it being in the Collection.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I finally finished updating and correcting all of the available Criterion films on Blu-ray. What a disaster.

[Show spoiler]
I updated the OP accordingly by review publication from newest to oldest and also had to add borders to several of the titles because this database hates white space and it was destroying all of the white covered images.

If anyone would like to go through each film and add large quality images for what is not locked (I'm talking 1000+ pixels), it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone thinks the black borders I added to titles are not good enough because they do not match the colors of the case, please feel free to message me and add an appropriate border. Furthermore, if anyone thinks that borders around all of the titles would look good, please let me know and we can discuss the matter.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and no more of this "The Criterion Collection" thing in the titles.

The OP looks amazing. Thank you for all your hard work. I love how the borders look, BTW. Didn't even know you could add them.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

Has anyone seen The Lives of Others?

Yes. It's one of my top five movies of the 2000s.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

By all accounts, Ran is such a spectacular picture that I won't even be thinking about the color after getting a little into the movie.

I have to believe that this is going to get distributed in the states. That's a pretty big title in a much loved artist's oeuvre to not have access to it unless you import it (and can play region B).

If it didn't already have an in print blu-ray in North America I might agree with you, but Lionsgate has been so unwilling to release studio canal stuff here that it has the license for that don't have blu-ray releases, that's it hard to see them putting this out for a 2nd time just for a new restoration. They seem fine not releasing the new restoration of Third Man here, hard to imagine it would be different for Ran. Hope I'm wrong though.

[ShellOilJunior]

What's the deal with Studio Canal US? They snatched the rights from Criterion and were releasing blu-rays at first but then stopped. Did they read the reviews of their own product?

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

What's the deal with Studio Canal US? They snatched the rights from Criterion and were releasing blu-rays at first but then stopped. Did they read the reviews of their own product?

Lionsgate is like the guy who really wants to date the hot popular girl, but once they're going steady he gets bored and never calls her. Studio Canal US really needs to break up with him.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

The OP looks amazing. Thank you for all your hard work. I love how the borders look, BTW. Didn't even know you could add them.

I had to download the image and use my Macbook's "Preview" program to manually add them.