The Criterion Collection

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

I continued my Bergman kick last night and watched The Virgin Spring for the first time last night. This goes to #3 on my Bergman list behind Persona and Wild Strawberries.

On the surface it is a little fairy tale-ish, but I thought it brings moral dilemma and deeper topics (religion, good/evil, family) to light as well as anything of his I've seen. I wasn't appalled at the pivotal scene in the middle of the film, but I was shocked at how raw this seemed for 1960. I was completely absorbed into the action and thought the ending was terrific even if it did get a little melodramatic.

I'm a big fan of Korean revenge flicks because they make movies Hollywood wouldn't dare produce. Virgin Spring felt like a forerunner to I Saw the Devil - my favorite revenge flick.
9/10

Well,
1) It was a forerunner to Wes Craven's Last House on the Left, which is an unconfirmed remake but follows the plot very closely, and
2) It was based on a 13th century Swedish ballad, so that's where the "fairy tale" feeling comes from.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by Jobla

I meant THE NAKED ISLAND, which boasts one of my favorite film scores. It's a score that really hasn't been released on LP or CD (other than a suite on an obscure Japanese disc of some sort). Since the film has very little dialog, I'll play it occasionally just to enjoy the music.

In college back in the seventies, I booked the film for a screening on campus. While it played, I sat under the auditorium's ceiling speaker and actually recorded the soundtrack on a portable tape recorder. Of course the sound was terrible, and you could actually hear the running of the film projector throughout. I've long since discarded that audio cassette tape, and now look forward to having a legitimate recording of the wonderful score.

Don't know if you already know this, but the OOP UK DVD release by MoC actually had an old 7" French vinyl with four tracks from the score as an easter egg. I regret selling mine to a friend a couple of years ago.

[filmmusic]

I guess we're expecting announcements in one week on Tuesday the 17th?

The 16th would be the expected one of course but since it's a tradition these last months for the announcements to take place one day afterwards, I guess the 17th would be safer to assume.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by monorail91

Just saw Captain America: Civil War (awesome, btw) and there was a nice The Manchurian Candidate reference! I was only the one in my theater who laughed. Appreciated it too, since

[Show spoiler]Bucky's brainwashing trigger reminded me a lot of solitaire and the Queen of Diamonds

.

I caught it, too, and laughed my ass off.

[SkyAntoine]

Day 5 of 5 straight Bergman movies...
Last night was The Magician. Who knew Bergman could be funny and accessible? This is one film that was more of a leisurely view than a major brain drain. Sort of a cross between Seventh Seal, The Prestige and a period piece soap opera with hook-ups on every hand. An odd medley, but my first impression nonetheless.

Underneath Bergman's questions of faith and God (spirit/magic vs. man in this case) still surface if you look hard enough. It is not surprising this is sandwiched between the Seventh Seal and his Faith Trilogy.

While enjoyable I found myself comparing to his other films and never felt this completely had its own identity. 7/10

Any big fans of the film?

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

Day 5 of 5 straight Bergman movies...
Last night was The Magician. Who knew Bergman could be funny and accessible? This is one film that was more of a leisurely view than a major brain drain. Sort of a cross between Seventh Seal, The Prestige and a period piece soap opera with hook-ups on every hand. An odd medley, but my first impression nonetheless.

Underneath Bergman's questions of faith and God (spirit/magic vs. man in this case) still surface if you look hard enough. It is not surprising this is sandwiched between the Seventh Seal and his Faith Trilogy.

While enjoyable I found myself comparing to his other films and never felt this completely had its own identity. 7/10

Any big fans of the film?

Sadly, it's one of Bergman's films that I've never seen.

I'm curious now, though, after your description.

[ilovenola2]

Originally Posted by monorail91

Just saw Captain America: Civil War (awesome, btw) and there was a nice The Manchurian Candidate reference! I was only the one in my theater who laughed. Appreciated it too, since

[Show spoiler]Bucky's brainwashing trigger reminded me a lot of solitaire and the Queen of Diamonds

.

We were in an audience of 15 at the local NOLA AMC when the two of us cackled at the "Manchurian Candidate" crack. It IS nice to see that the filmmakers of these light-weight (dramatically) superhero films throw in an occasional "treat" for those of us who are enjoying the mayhem but wish for a little substance.

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Sadly, it's one of Bergman's films that I've never seen.

I'm curious now, though, after your description.

I'm sure the Bergman-philes on here would disagree so I would advise checking online for other reviews.

I may stay light with Smiles of a Summer Night for tonight's viewing if I have time. Or, Cries and Whispers if I want something deeper. I've been slacking on my goal 200 Criterion first-views in 2016, so these 90 minute Bergman films are working great to make up ground.

Fanny and Alexander and Scenes from a Marriage are two big blind spots for me, but those are two nighters.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

Day 5 of 5 straight Bergman movies...
Last night was The Magician. Who knew Bergman could be funny and accessible? This is one film that was more of a leisurely view than a major brain drain. Sort of a cross between Seventh Seal, The Prestige and a period piece soap opera with hook-ups on every hand. An odd medley, but my first impression nonetheless.

Underneath Bergman's questions of faith and God (spirit/magic vs. man in this case) still surface if you look hard enough. It is not surprising this is sandwiched between the Seventh Seal and his Faith Trilogy.

While enjoyable I found myself comparing to his other films and never felt this completely had its own identity. 7/10

Any big fans of the film?

It's not in my top Bergman, but I really liked it and thought was better than Summer Interlude and Summer with Monika for example.

I've heard some people disliking it because of the ending but I thought it works, and wasn't really expecting it for a Bergman movie.

[ccfixx]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

Day 5 of 5 straight Bergman movies...
Last night was The Magician. Who knew Bergman could be funny and accessible?

Any big fans of the film?

In the past, I've written a few things about my fondness for Bergman's films; I own 40 of his directed features on DVD and blu-ray. For most, I believe The Magician falls under the "minor" Bergman moniker, but I'm the person that believes there is no "minor" Bergman film. Sure, there are some films that I enjoy more than others, but I've found them all to be worthwhile. I think I've even suggested The Magician in the past as a good starting film for most people when it comes to the world of Ingmar Bergman.

For me, I've always seen a good bit of dark humor in the majority of his films, and I think a lot of people go into the films with a very serious approach... or, at least, expecting a very serious tone based on hearsay or things they've read previously about the films. There are definitely some tragic films (i.e. Cries And Whispers) in Bergman's career, and I think those are the films that most people consider a part of his "major" work and therefore defined his reputation as a filmmaker. One of my personal favorites and suggestions to watch is Sawdust And Tinsel (still waiting on the blu-ray upgrade), but also check out The Devil's Eye (stream on Hulu or DVD from the UK) and Smiles Of A Summer Night, if you haven't already.

[ccfixx]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

It's been a while since I've watched any good brain drain films, so I started Bergman's "Faith Trilogy" last night.
I watched Through a Glass Darkly last night and had to go back and watch the majority of it again at lunch today. Wow...occasionally a film will stay on my mind for several days, but Bergman is the only director that can do it every. single. time.

A few years back (2011, according to the review I'm posting), I was able to make a weekend trek down to NYC to catch a stage version of this starring Carey Mulligan and Chris Sarandon. Needless to say, it was pretty amazing and gut-wrenching to see Carey Mulligan's performance and to know that she had pull out those same kinds of emotions for days on end until the run was completed.

Here's a write-up about it.

[hogger129]

I love these Criterion Collection ones. I have three now: A Hard Day's Night, Thief and The Game.

It would just be cool to see some more popular movies that weren't done so well on the normal Blu-ray release. For example, "The Terminator" is one that never got a well-done Blu-ray release imo. Really needs some quality restoration and to include the original mono track in the disc. The one I have just has the main movie, a PCM 5.1 track and a DD 5.1 track. No extras or anything. Seems like kind of a waste.

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

Day 5 of 5 straight Bergman movies...
Last night was The Magician.

Any big fans of the film?

I really like The Magician. It's in my top favorite Bergman films, alongside Persona, Cries and Whispers, The Seventh Seal, and Autumn Sonata. I haven't seen all of his films--I've probably only seen 10 or 15, but The Magician is up there.

[Vinyl]

Originally Posted by hogger129

I love these Criterion Collection ones. I have three now: A Hard Day's Night, Thief and The Game.

It would just be cool to see some more popular movies that weren't done so well on the normal Blu-ray release. For example, "The Terminator" is one that never got a well-done Blu-ray release imo. Really needs some quality restoration and to include the original mono track in the disc. The one I have just has the main movie, a PCM 5.1 track and a DD 5.1 track. No extras or anything. Seems like kind of a waste.

this is a very good remastered version of the Terminator
No mono track, but it's really solid

[WonderWeasel]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

Day 5 of 5 straight Bergman movies...
Last night was The Magician. Who knew Bergman could be funny and accessible? This is one film that was more of a leisurely view than a major brain drain. Sort of a cross between Seventh Seal, The Prestige and a period piece soap opera with hook-ups on every hand. An odd medley, but my first impression nonetheless.

Underneath Bergman's questions of faith and God (spirit/magic vs. man in this case) still surface if you look hard enough. It is not surprising this is sandwiched between the Seventh Seal and his Faith Trilogy.

While enjoyable I found myself comparing to his other films and never felt this completely had its own identity. 7/10

Any big fans of the film?

I just watched The Magician for the first time this week as well, and was pleasantly surprised by Bergman's amalgam of comedy, drama, and even a little horror. I was also not expecting the self-effacing humor from a director that seems to take cinema so seriously. It felt like he was poking fun at the questions of existentialism that are major themes in many of his films.

[Jobla]

Mr. Thomsen, I didn't know about the easter egg on the MoC release of THE NAKED ISLAND. A friend of mine has a copy, so I'll have to check that out. Is the easter egg hard to locate?

Still looking forward to the Criterion release.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

Don't know if you already know this, but the OOP UK DVD release by MoC actually had an old 7" French vinyl with four tracks from the score as an easter egg. I regret selling mine to a friend a couple of years ago.

How does a dvd have a 7" as an Easter egg?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

How does a dvd have a 7" as an Easter egg?

That's what she sai..nevermind

[MifuneFan]

Here's info on the Easter egg. It's on the first pressing only

Easter Egg
This was a nice surprise. By pressing “right” after highlighting the commentary you will highlight a question mark. Clicking this takes you to the original 7” French vinyl release which features four tracks from the film. Here you can play them as “Side A” and “Side B”. Being straight recordings there’s a fair amount of crackle, which is no big deal. The music sounds great and if only Eureka threw in a CD as a bonus.

Read more: http://film.thedigitalfix.com/conten...#ixzz48OaSs0Te

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I know nothing of Val Lewton and I'm pretty sure I've never heard of any of his work outside of this site.

Is Cat People horror? What is it like comparatively speaking? Is it light, campy, serious, dark?

Originally Posted by CraigThom

I'd call it creepy. Psychological. It's not light, and it's not explicit. The horror is suggested.

In contrast, Curse of the Cat People has more explicit supernatural elements but is less about them.

And I find Curse of the Cat People to be ... well, I guess the word might be "poetic." Although it does have creepy elements, as noted, it's overall a beautiful and sensitive study of a child who exists in a fantasy world.

bwdowiak, you've really got a treat in store if you've never seen any of the Lewton films. His productions were low-budgeted, but he had a superb sense of cinematic style. Lewton's lack of money fueled his creativity, and so rather than show you a monster, he would merely suggest one with a slight movement in the shadows and an eerie noise. The result was usually electrifying. We usually speak of directors as being auteurs, but Lewton is a prime example of the producer serving as the unifying, guiding, and overriding creative force behind a body of work.

As I mentioned earlier, my favorite of Lewton's films is I Walked With a Zombie. You'd probably never guess it from the title, but it's actually a handsomely mounted, stylishly photographed, uncredited take on Jane Eyre, set in the West Indies. It's one of those rare films that I've seen over 30 or 40 times over the years, and will never tire of; you really owe it to yourself to see it at least once.