The Criterion Collection

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

I don't understand the lack of love for James Cameron's Titanic. If nothing else, it's an incredible, technical achievement.

I never understood the love for him in general. Alright he is not an horrible director but his movies are very simple, the characters are pretty much one dimensional with very lack of depth and the stories are far from being amazing. In general for me he fall in the category of Micheal Bay

[mja345]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Fun fact: I'd rather watch Titanic every day for the rest of my life than suffer through Short Cuts once more.

...maybe that's a bit extreme considering how insufferable Titanic can be. Nevertheless, my dislike for Short Cuts still stands.

Wow, strong words. Just out of curiosity, why do you hate "Short Cuts" to such an extent?

[malakaheso]

Titanic merely confirmed what I suspected but couldn't really articulate at a young age: Cameron is bad with actors and simply got worse than age.

I like Short Cuts, but it is less cinematic than Altman's great films

[mja345]

I remember watching "Alien" and "Aliens" back to back when I was about 15. The first "Alien" was fantastic and I expected to be "Aliens" to be right on par. Then, I watched "Aliens" and was left with the feeling of, "Uh, there are people who think 'Aliens' is better than the original?" Couldn't believe it. Every time I watch the first two "Alien" movies, I'm always blown away that there are people who prefer Cameron's film to the original.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by mja345

I remember watching "Alien" and "Aliens" back to back when I was about 15. The first "Alien" was fantastic and I expected to be "Aliens" to be right on par. Then, I watched "Aliens" and was left with the feeling of, "Uh, there are people who think 'Aliens' is better than the original?" Couldn't believe it. Every time I watch the first two "Alien" movies, I'm always blown away that there are people who prefer Cameron's film to the original.

I think that Ridley Scott's Alien is miles above James Cameron's Aliens, and i've always felt that way.

I did love Cameron's Aliens when it was first released, and I actually still do, but it has not aged nearly as well as Alien has. Of course, Alien is one of my all-time top 25 films, so few films have aged as well as it has.

Here's my biggest problem with Cameron's Aliens...

In the Ridley Scott film, we have this mysterious and gruesome creature aboard the ship, and this mysterious creature is seemingly invincible, with acid for blood, silicone cell material, and such. This one alien stalks the crew on the ship for the entirety of the movie, and much of the fun of watching the movie lies in wondering if anyone has a chance from this creature that is basically an unstoppable entity.

Early in the Cameron film, however, we see hundreds of these aliens being effortlessly blown to pieces by pulse rifles.

*sigh*

This pulse rifle scene in Aliens is cool on its own terms, but its mere presence makes the first movie weaker in retrospect, because it negates the threatening vibe of that first movie. The more that I see it, the more that it irks me.

Every subsequent Alien film has made the series weaker. I appreciated David Fincher's symbolic concept for Alien³, but that movie was underwhelming. With Alien Resurrection, the wheels fell off of the bus entirely. The first Alien vs. Predator movie was good mindless fun, but the second one is one of the most vile and mean-spirited movies that I've ever seen. Prometheus was...well, Prometheus wasn't Alien.

James Cameron's Aliens is fun, of course, and, my God, it's such an endlessly quotable movie. Just a few weeks ago at work, I was meeting with some Federal EPA agents at a solid waste complaint inspection in one of my work counties. After looking at the violations, I said, "I say we take off now and nuke the entire site from orbit." One of the EPA guys looked at me and replied, "It's the only way to be sure." Hahaha.

That pulse rifle scene really chaps me, though.

[mja345]

Great analysis, Owl. I've always felt that "Aliens" plays more like an action film, while "Alien" is far more a psychological horror movie. "Aliens" is fine, but the original is so vastly superior.

[Ray Jackson]

Alien has been in my top 20 for a long time now.

I've never really understood the love for Aliens.

Most of the scenes involving the Marines are somewhat cringe-worthy in terms of acting and dialogue...which James Cameron has always sucked at writing imo.

The production design is no where near the level of aesthetic brilliance that it was on Alien. And aside from the final showdown between Ripley and the alien queen, I don't find the action sequences to be all that great.

Just an overrated movie all around imo.

I expect the Criterion announcement any day now.

...gotta pay for the release of Dekalog somehow.

[JJJ225]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Alien has been in my top 20 for a long time now.

I've never really understood the love for Aliens.

e all around imo.

I agree with this. I actually prefer Alien³ to Aliens!

Of course both are super inferior to Alien.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Just an overrated movie all around imo.

I expect the Criterion announcement any day now.

If Criterion decides to release a James Cameron film, then it should be Piranha Part Two: The Spawning. Make it happen, folks.

(I do think that the first Terminator film is perfect, but it already has a great Blu-ray release.)

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

If Criterion decides to release a James Cameron film, then it should be Piranha Part Two: The Spawning. Make it happen, folks.

(I do think that the first Terminator film is perfect, but it already has a great Blu-ray release.)

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by mja345

Wow, strong words. Just out of curiosity, why do you hate "Short Cuts" to such an extent?

I found it to be a tremendous chore, with most of my dislike coming from the characters and the story.

I'm not the biggest Altman fan, then again. Aside from 3 Women and McCabe and Mrs. Miller, I'd say the best thing Altman did was influenced PTA, who later went on to make some of the greatest films of all-time, in my opinion (Magnolia, The Master).

[obscurelabel]

I really like all of the first three Alien movies, in large part because they are so different and I enjoy comparing and contrasting them against each other. I think Aliens3 has the highest degree of difficulty if that makes sense; even if it isn't completely satisfying I appreciate the different approach that it takes. I also like the nod to The Passion of Joan of Arc.

I saw all three of these in theaters when they came out, and the best filmgoing experience was Aliens at the Columbia Theatre in Atlanta in a 70mm print. I first went to the Columbia as a small child in 1966 to see The Sound of Music which was still in its first-run engagement even though it had been playing there for over a year. (The same week I went to see the Dodgers play the Braves, a game that Sandy Koufax won, but I have to admit that I don't remember that at all). The Columbia had a huge screen and the experience was electric from start to finish, a roller coaster ride of action and horror. Even if the movie has some weak points, at the time I was so caught up in it that they flew right past as something new came up. Also, the slam-bang pace was so different from the original - it was like hearing two jazz musicians doing drastically divergent versions of the same song.

On reflection I find the first most accomplished, the second is very enjoyable but doesn't aim as high as the first, and the third is fascinating as an example of trying for a different and difficult result and not being wholly successful.

[jw007]

In an earlier post I was praising James Cameron for his innovation, but now that I think about it, I believe he is opposite everything that the Criterion Collection stands for. Every single one of his films are "blockbusters", devoid of any intelligent substance, dialogue and characters. He is innovative and his films are life-changing and world-changing, however his "big" films are not for intellectuals and arthouse film lovers.

Even if Criterion could afford to license his films (which they couldn't do when they lost the rights to Michael Bay's films of Armageddon and The Rock, two misfires in the collection), James Cameron is his own animal, beyond a director, beyond a producer and even possibly beyond human.

[theater dreamer]

Alien is a science fiction masterpiece. I also enjoy Aliens, but it's not nearly on the same level. Yes, it is infinitely quotable, but it also opens itself up to ridicule with that same dialogue:



And I could never get into Alien³.

[Show spoiler]Ripley spends all of Aliens trying to protect/save Newt, and then, at the start of Alien³, you learn that the ship crashed, and Newt was killed. That was a real dick punch.

[theater dreamer]

Another FYI. Fox Connect is holding a 50% off sale on selected titles through tomorrow. Some pretty good films can be had on blu-ray for $5-6, including 127 Hours, Black Swan, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Big, The Descendants, Life of Pi, Cast Away, My Cousin Vinny, and Slumdog Millionaire. No sales tax, and free shipping over $25. Be sure to use code HOTSALE50 at checkout.

[Ray Jackson]

The final shot of Alice In The Cities is so deeply moving to me that I can't express it in words.

It rivals the last shot of High and Low as my favorite ending to a movie, ever.

The perfect combination of image and music.

...so powerful.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Alien has been in my top 20 for a long time now.

I've never really understood the love for Aliens.

Most of the scenes involving the Marines are somewhat cringe-worthy in terms of acting and dialogue...which James Cameron has always sucked at writing imo.

The production design is no where near the level of aesthetic brilliance that it was on Alien. And aside from the final showdown between Ripley and the alien queen, I don't find the action sequences to be all that great.

I've always felt Cameron has a tin ear for dialogue. He's good at writing memorable one-liners, but when he has to go a little more dialogue-heavy, his writing becomes very stilted IMO.

The cast of the first "Alien" film is absolutely unbelievable as well. It's hard to beat. Sigourney, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto, John Hurt, and Veronica Cartwright. Cartwright, even though she was the least known in the cast, gave probably one of the best female performances of the 70s in a film called "Inserts". And Yaphet Kotto absolutely steals the show in "Alien". IMO Kotto is one of the most underappreciated actors of all-time.

[pro-bassoonist]

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum Blu-ray REVIEW



Considering the quality of the surviving elements, I think that Shochiku's restoration is about as good as it can be. All of the existing detail, nuances and depth that could be extracted are there to be seen. If you have seen the previous release from Curzon Artificial Eye, you will know what I mean once you get your disc.

Similar is the situation in the audio department. Yes, some limitations are also present here, but there are sizeable improvements everywhere. The elimination/attenuation of the background hiss is a big deal.

This is an essential film to own. Buy it

p.s.
I don't have the technical credits for the restoration yet, but as always I will provide them in the review when the final market version arrives.

[Knaldskalle]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

This is an essential film to own. Buy it

It is indeed! I've only seen it in a crappy version on Youtube (in 13 parts or something like that), but even those terrible conditions could not disguise that this is a masterpiece. It's just so wonderfully... delicate.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum Blu-ray REVIEW



Considering the quality of the surviving elements, I think that Shochiku's restoration is about as good as it can be. All of the existing detail, nuances and depth that could be extracted are there to be seen. If you have seen the previous release from Curzon Artificial Eye, you will know what I mean once you get your disc.

Similar is the situation in the audio department. Yes, some limitations are also present here, but there are sizeable improvements everywhere. The elimination/attenuation of the background hiss is a big deal.

This is an essential film to own. Buy it

p.s.
I don't have the technical credits for the restoration yet, but as always I will provide them in the review when the final market version arrives.

There was about 9 months between the JPN blu of the 4k restoration came out and this Criterion release. The Early Summer 4k restoration comes out in Japan at the beginning of September so fingers crossed for an upgrade 1st half of next year.