The Criterion Collection

[Sifox211]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Just picked up my 100th Criterion.

[Show spoiler]After picking up Blow Out and My Dinner With Andre on Saturday, and Cries & Whispers, Repulsion, and The New World today, I am officially done. I snagged the only Blu-ray copy they had of The New World. It was back behind the counter, just waiting for me. I asked on a whim, and Amy made my day.



That is one big stack of movies.

And, I just got a mint replacement box for the Cassavetes set today, so all is right in my world.

Congratulations

[mja345]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I haven't seen any of Jan Troell's work.

My biggest concern is the overall length of the two films (especially when viewed as one work) and the re-watchability factor. For a film that long, it's not enough to think it's just good imo. It has to be truly special for me to believe that I would ever watch it more than once or twice.

I recently saw The Human Condition, which is 9 1/2 hours over three films, and was blown away by it...I mean BLOWN AWAY. But honestly, how many times do I envision myself revisiting a film that long?

Probably not too many.

But it was worth the money, considering how much I loved it.

Would The Emigrants/New Land meet that standard?

...that's what I'm trying to decide.

I thought "The Emigrants" and "The New Land" were exceptional, but as with any long, serious film, the rewatch factor is very subjective. For me, with a film like "Heaven's Gate" or "Carlos" or the Troell films, if I feel like watching them every couple years, then it's sufficient for me to own. I think I've owned "Heaven's Gate" for 3 years and watched it 3 times, so that's good enough for me to own. I'll probably check out the Troell movies again in the next year plus. But they're definitely not the kind of movies you'll want to pop in after a long day at work.

[Polaroid]

Off to see Mirror on the big screen.

[Wooden Lens]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Hrm. So La Jetee/Sans Soleil comes in a blu-ray case? I ordered it off Amazon long ago and got it in a DVD case, which is annoying. It's actually the blu-ray disc, so it's not like they sent me the wrong product. I figured it was some weird intentional design thing. Guess not??

Yikes! Sorry to hear that...

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by slm

Congratulations! That's a nice haul! How did you get a mint replacement box? A couple of my box sets arrived in disappointing condition...

The box is sent flat in a media mailer cardboard flat (very rigid). It was slid into another white envelope to prevent any kind of scuffing.

$5 Paypal for each individual item; send it to store@criterion.com. I send g&s to make sure they get the full $5. Include what specifically you are needing, and include your full mailing address. They'll send an e-mail response that the payment has been received, and when it will be going out. Took me only a few days to get it.

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

[/SPOILER]

Have you seen Sans Soleil before?

I think it's one of the most amazing pieces of pure art ever put on film.

But it's also one of the most divisive.

...chances are very high that you'll either love it or loathe it.

Nope, I've never seen it. I'm usually pretty open minded, so if I don't love it at first, I would likely warm to it in subsequent viewings. And I plan on watching everything I buy multiple times.

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Hrm. So La Jetee/Sans Soleil comes in a blu-ray case? I ordered it off Amazon long ago and got it in a DVD case, which is annoying. It's actually the blu-ray disc, so it's not like they sent me the wrong product. I figured it was some weird intentional design thing. Guess not??

It came in the standard 14 mm Scanavo blu-ray case. If you got jipped, you have to option of purchasing a replacement from the Criterion store (see above), or you could order from Casetopia. It wouldn't be worth it to order just one, with the shipping, but having a few extras on hand is always a good thing. Occasionally, they get dinged up in transit.

You could also contact mulvaney@criterion.com, and have him send you a replacement for free, if you've never had any packaging replaced before. Though, I would save that one freebie for something more substantial. The first Criterion blu I bought, On the Waterfront, came with several dings to the digipack, etc. Jon sent a complete set of replacement packaging, in mint condition, for nothing. All I had to do was send him a copy of my purchase receipt.

[theater dreamer]

Oh, and by the way, I confirmed with FilmStruck that they are working with Roku to make the streaming service available on their boxes. They said they couldn't have it ready for the live beta, but it will be available in the not too distant future.

That's great to hear. No mention of Chromecast, which I did inquire about, but it seems to me if they're going to have every other major streaming source, Chromecast would be on their to do list, also.

[MifuneFan]

Hopefully some video game console compatibility too

[Purplenoon]

Originally Posted by xxnomad

great, great pair of movies. the type of finds that make you grateful for criterion. the entire experience is epic in scope and as a viewing experience. you feel like you've known this family for 50 years. i thought of it as a more engrossing and interesting 'heaven's gate'.

you already have an idea about how slow the movies are, and they are. what's that genre called? realism? think italian neo realism (but of course swedish) with flourishes of terrance malick's new world/days of heaven. and though this is a stretch, add the real naturalistic performances you see in the works of john cassavettes and the handheld camerawork he uses.

if you hate it when the action in a scene is broken up with a camera pan of birds in the sky then this won't be the film for you. there's a lot of stuff like that where the director kind of has a wandering eye. he says as much in the special features.

max von sydow and liv ullman give the performances of their lives. von sydow especially.

finally, these films did it for me because i'm a history buff (similar to how the new world makes me feel). i love that time period of the first 50 years of america. a lot of history occurs in this picture (there's a scene where von sydow tries to enlist in the union army during civil war for example). so there's a lot of that going on. the family evolves as our country evolves.

but again, these are long films mostly in Swedish.

Totally agree: a must see. I live in northern Wisconsin, so films always resonated with me (part filmed here). Extremely good cinematography. Give it a shot, Ray. Right up there with Apu only in color.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Hopefully some video game console compatibility too

Yep. If it's available for PS3 then I'll give it a try. Otherwise, I'll pass.

[bwdowiak]

The idea that long films might not get re-watched due to their length is interesting to me. I suppose if you are always committed to consuming them in one sitting, then it could be a challenge to watch them again. I haven’t re-watched a ton of films period… of any length. Two that come to mind, though, that I enjoyed tremendously on both watches are Once Upon a Time in America and Heaven’s Gate. I don’t think I’m generally averse to re-watching anything that has a long run time.

I’m not much of a reader, but my favorite book is A Confederacy of Dunces. I mean, I was blown away - enjoyed it tremendously. Now it sits on my shelf and the thought has passed my mind to read it again. I’ve now forgotten the story, actually. …and I just don’t think I ever will as THAT would be a huge time commitment.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

The idea that long films might not get re-watched due to their length is interesting to me. I suppose if you are always committed to consuming them in one sitting, then it could be a challenge to watch them again. I haven’t re-watched a ton of films period… of any length. Two that come to mind, though, that I enjoyed tremendously on both watches are Once Upon a Time in America and Heaven’s Gate. I don’t think I’m generally averse to re-watching anything that has a long run time.

I’m not much of a reader, but my favorite book is A Confederacy of Dunces. I mean, I was blown away - enjoyed it tremendously. Now it sits on my shelf and the thought has passed my mind to read it again. I’ve now forgotten the story, actually. …and I just don’t think I ever will as THAT would be a huge time commitment.

Well, I read the unabridged "Les Miserables" -- and as much as I love it, I am not sure that I'm up to a re-read. Granted, it was decades ago that I read it, and I probably should read it again. Of course, it's over 1,200 pages of very, very small print. So, it's a MAJOR investment.

But I don't read enough anymore, as it is. I need to change that.

When it comes to films, however, I don't have a problem with re-watching longer films at all. I mean, I suppose it depends on what "longer" means. But I've watched, for instance, Blue is the Warmest Color a few times, and it's 3 hours long.

OTOH, I still haven't finished Out 1 -- but it's 13 hours long.

[xxnomad]

just placed an order for used army of shadows OOP bluray on amazon for 18 dollars...'like new'...

...too tempting and i'm too curious to pass it up

[klauswhereareyou]

Just ordered the Complete Lady Snowblood, Gate of Hell, and a Touch of Zen from B & N sale.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by xxnomad

just placed an order for used army of shadows OOP bluray on amazon for 18 dollars...'like new'...

...too tempting and i'm too curious to pass it up

That's a great movie.

But $18 LIKE NEW?

I don't think I've ever seen it for less than $50 on Amazon.

...sounds like you got the deal of the century.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

[Show spoiler]The idea that long films might not get re-watched due to their length is interesting to me. I suppose if you are always committed to consuming them in one sitting, then it could be a challenge to watch them again. I haven’t re-watched a ton of films period… of any length. Two that come to mind, though, that I enjoyed tremendously on both watches are Once Upon a Time in America and Heaven’s Gate. I don’t think I’m generally averse to re-watching anything that has a long run time.

I’m not much of a reader, but my favorite book is A Confederacy of Dunces. I mean, I was blown away - enjoyed it tremendously. Now it sits on my shelf and the thought has passed my mind to read it again. I’ve now forgotten the story, actually. …and I just don’t think I ever will as THAT would be a huge time commitment.

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Well, I read the unabridged "Les Miserables" -- and as much as I love it, I am not sure that I'm up to a re-read. Granted, it was decades ago that I read it, and I probably should read it again. Of course, it's over 1,200 pages of very, very small print. So, it's a MAJOR investment.

But I don't read enough anymore, as it is. I need to change that.

When it comes to films, however, I don't have a problem with re-watching longer films at all. I mean, I suppose it depends on what "longer" means. But I've watched, for instance, Blue is the Warmest Color a few times, and it's 3 hours long.

OTOH, I still haven't finished Out 1 -- but it's 13 hours long.

It took me about six months to read War and Peace back in high school.

When I finally got to the end, I remember thinking it was an incredible book.

...but I knew I would never read it again.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Well, I read the unabridged "Les Miserables" -- and as much as I love it, I am not sure that I'm up to a re-read. Granted, it was decades ago that I read it, and I probably should read it again. Of course, it's over 1,200 pages of very, very small print. So, it's a MAJOR investment.

But I don't read enough anymore, as it is. I need to change that.

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

It took me about six months to read War and Peace back in high school.

When I finally got to the end, I remember thinking it was an incredible book.

...but I knew I would never read it again.

man, those books sound like some heavy lifting / heavy reading.

[BerryTheMusicMan]

Almost a 24 hour turnaround from the time I ordered this yesterday to showing up ay my front door 30 mins ago .
Gonna try to make this my last order from this sell .

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

man, those books sound like some heavy lifting / heavy reading.

I've never read "War and Peace" -- or any Tolstoy for that matter; though I've started "Anna Karenina" on a number of occasions -- but "Les Miserables" is a great read. Yeah, it is long and takes a while to finish. But it's worth it, IMO at least.

[ShellOilJunior]

For me the classic film I want most on blu-ray is William Wyler's Roman Holiday.

I post this here because Paramount apparently has no intention of releasing the film on blu-ray. The film's recent restoration and screening with Fathom was done to promote the availability of the film in HD on i-tunes.

Criterion has a relationship with Paramount and Warner Brothers (Paramount's distributor of some films). There's gotta be something done to get this on blu-ray from Criterion or from somebody.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

For me the classic film I want most on blu-ray is William Wyler's Roman Holiday.

I post this here because Paramount apparently has no intention of releasing the film on blu-ray. The film's recent restoration and screening with Fathom was done to promote the availability of the film in HD on i-tunes.

Criterion has a relationship with Paramount and Warner Brothers (Paramount's distributor of some films). There's gotta be something done to get this on blu-ray from Criterion or from somebody.

Great film. Yeah, there definitely should be something done here. It's simply too good not to be on Blu-ray.