The Criterion Collection

[theater dreamer]

"Happy Birthday, me!"

LMAO. That's the spirit!

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Yeah it should look something like this

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

I certainly understand your frustration with these points. I've had them, too. But, after some reflection, I came to the conclusion that movies, much of the time, are mirrors of reality, or at least to a certain extent. And, in life, there are all kinds of people. You have great people who dedicate their lives to the science of saving lives--Jonas Salk is one example. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, you have people like Adolf Hitler. We don't need to go into his beliefs, and what those misguided beliefs wrought on humanity. But while he was the incarnation of evil, there are others, even today, that still subscribe to his writings, what he accomplished, and what more he attempted to do. Knowing that there are such sadistic people in the world, we also shouldn't be surprised that these kind of people will also appear in film. Certainly these characters you refer to didn't rise to the level of evil the Fuhrer did, but they seem to delight in causing others pain, be it physical, mental, or both. Well, there are people like that in real life, too.

I personally don't see it in Notorious. The title of the film comes from the idea that she is a notorious floozy, so Devlin has a hard time trusting her - even though he knows the set-up for the Claude Raines character to be what it is.

if you want to see (or maybe 'don't want to see') a better example Cary Grant being a complete jerk to a woman, watch Only Angels Have Wings. I liked the film overall, but the CG character really takes some warming up to.

[Scottie]

Brad --

I order all of my films online. I don't mind a little bend here and there on a DigiPack. The only thing that bothers me are cracks in the disc trays.

[The Great Owl]

Somehow, and, gee, I cannot imagine how, Facebook has caught on to the fact that I like movies. I'm now seeing a lot of movie clickbait stuff on the suggested site banners that appear on my news feed. Here's one that I saw just now...

15 Weirdest Movies Of All Time

As to spare y'all from having to scroll through this stuff, I'll list their 15 here and bold the Criterion selections...

15. Eraserhead
14. Gummo
13. Videodrome
12. Naked Lunch
11. Funky Forest: The First Contact
10. Cat Soup
9. Rubber
8. The Holy Mountain
7. Mulholland Drive
6. Society
5. Holy Motors
4. Black Moon
3. In My Skin
2. Dogtooth
1. Zardoz

Two Cronenberg films and two Lynch films. That figures. Yeah, they're quite weird.

I recently upgraded my old Criterion DVD of Louis Malle's Black Moon to Blu-ray, but I haven't quite had the balls to revisit it yet.

Videodrome is my favorite of the listed Criterions by a long mile.

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I personally don't see it in Notorious. The title of the film comes from the idea that she is a notorious floozy, so Devlin has a hard time trusting her - even though he knows the set-up for the Claude Raines character to be what it is.

if you want to see (or maybe 'don't want to see') a better example Cary Grant being a complete jerk to a woman, watch Only Angels Have Wings. I liked the film overall, but the CG character really takes some warming up to.

Face it men in love who feel scorned can be vicious. I don't see anything in Notorious that makes me doubt the character. I cringe more at the beginning when he basically punches out Ingrid Bergman. Still a great film with some great performances and a lesson plan in suspense.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Banned User

Face it men in love who feel scorned can be vicious. I don't see anything in Notorious that makes me doubt the character. I cringe more at the beginning when he basically punches out Ingrid Bergman. Still a great film with some great performances and a lesson plan in suspense.

oh gosh!! I can't recall that scene. Notorious is one film that I know pretty well, too. is there a youtube clip? I can remember them staying in at the hotel for chicken, but I don't remember this scene.

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

oh gosh!! I can't recall that scene. Notorious is one film that I know pretty well, too. is there a youtube clip? I can remember them staying in at the hotel for chicken, but I don't remember this scene.

Alfred Hitchcock - Notorious (1946) - Part 2 of 11 - YouTube

Its right at the beginning in this clip. It's at the :30-:31 mark. CG's back is turned to the camera , but you clearly see him hit her. You even hear the 'smack' sound. lol

I do not recommend this tactic for trying to control your drunk girlfriend. Then again if you're Cary Grant you could probably get away with it.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Banned User

Alfred Hitchcock - Notorious (1946) - Part 2 of 11 - YouTube

Its right at the beginning in this clip. at the :32 mark CG's back is turned to the camera , but you clearly see him hit her. You even hear the 'smack' sound. lol

I do not recommend this tactic for trying to control your drunk girlfriend.

yeah, it's like a karate jab. I don't know if I should give Hitch credit for tact, but it is almost unnoticeable.

[812crew]

Originally Posted by Banned User

Alfred Hitchcock - Notorious (1946) - Part 2 of 11 - YouTube

Its right at the beginning in this clip. at the :32 mark CG's back is turned to the camera , but you clearly see him hit her. You even hear the 'smack' sound. lol

I do not recommend this tactic for trying to control your drunk girlfriend.

Agreed. Pretty disturbing. A lot of the movie had that sense to me. Ingrid Bergman, at one point, is basically begging Cary Grant to relieve her of her duty, so she doesn't have to go through with the plan -- she knew she'd have to have sex with Claude Rains, a creepy Nazi who she doesn't like. And he pretty much just guilts her into it. Granted. she didn't HAVE to....but it's all these guys guilting her into "helping America".

[mande2013]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

a 'ship in a box' option would be awesome.

reading your first sentence actually made me feel a little better. if it was terrible, then I'd send it back, but it's not.. it just isn't perfect, I guess.

I've ordered a few UK box sets and just accept the fact that those are gonna be destroyed by the time they get here. ...and they have been. not a whole lot of recourse there. oh well.

Amazon shipped me my Persona Criterion trans-Atlantic in a bubble-wrapped manila envelope. Like really? It wasn't that bad though when it arrived. Slightly dinged but keepable.

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

yeah, it's like a karate jab. I don't know if I should give Hitch credit for tact, but it is almost unnoticeable.

You're welcome. Its like that scene near the end of North by Northwest where the kid covers his ears way before Cary Grant even pulls the gun and shoots. Once you see it you can never unsee it.

I had seen that movie, NBN, many many times and never noticed it and now its plain as day and cracks me up everytime I see it. Surely Hitchcock saw it in there.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by 812crew

Agreed. Pretty disturbing. A lot of the movie had that sense to me. Ingrid Bergman, at one point, is basically begging Cary Grant to relieve her of her duty, so she doesn't have to go through with the plan -- she knew she'd have to have sex with Claude Rains, a creepy Nazi who she doesn't like. And he pretty much just guilts her into it. Granted. she didn't HAVE to....but it's all these guys guilting her into "helping America".

even after seeing the clip, I just don't find it all that egregious. I, personally, am more annoyed with things that are said in older films as opposed to this scene for example. one man telling another something like, "don't be a woman!" or something similar is irksome, but whatever... those were different times.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Banned User

You're welcome. Its like that scene near the end of North by Northwest where the kid covers his ears way before Cary Grant even pulls the gun and shoots. Once you see it you can never unsee it.

I had seen that movie, NBN, many many times and never noticed it and now its plain as day and cracks me up everytime I see it. Surely Hitchcock saw it in there.

I had to watch it with the sound down, so I didn't hear the 'crack.' I'll keep in mind 812's critique as well the next time I see it.

I doubt it will change my feelings towards the film, though. It is probably my second fav Hitchcock and probably a top 30 or so all-time favorite.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by mande2013

Why is The Man Who fell to Earth so coveted, even compared to other high-profile OOP titles like Pierrot Le Fou and Last Year at Marienbad? You can get sealed copies of the latter two for $80-$100 whereas sealed copies of TMWFTE start at well over $400. It was one of the first blu-rays they released, so it was around for a while whereas Pierrot Le Fou was only in print for a matter of months.

TMWFTE was one of the first 2 Criterion blus to go out of print, so it's been our of print longer than the others you mention. Not me mention, as one of the first blus Criterion released, they were probably still selling a lot more dvd than blus back then, and the number of copies printed most likely reflects that.

So less copies made + oop longer = higher price.

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

even after seeing the clip, I just don't find it all that egregious. I, personally, am more annoyed with things that are said in older films as opposed to this scene for example. one man telling another something like, "don't be a woman!" or something similar is irksome, but whatever... those were different times.

Stay away from most late 60's 70's Japanese films. The way women are treated in a lot of those films make most westerners cringe. Lots of rape.

Most of the older Hollywood films and stuff don't bother me. Not to over generalize, but anything before post ww2 has a real 'it's a mans world' point of view with a few exceptions to the rule. There are a few films with strong women characters, but for the most part they were relegated to love interests, weak characters that need protecting or being devious characters that manipulate men into doing bad things which describes most noir films.

Like you said it was a different time.

[llj]

Originally Posted by Banned User

Stay away from most late 60's 70's Japanese films. The way women are treated in a lot of those films make most westerners cringe. Lots of rape.

Most of the older Hollywood films and stuff don't bother me. Not to over generalize, but anything before post ww2 has a real 'it's a mans world' point of view with a few exceptions to the rule. There are a few films with strong women characters, but for the most part they were relegated to love interests, weak characters that need protecting or being devious characters that manipulate men into doing bad things which describes most noir films.

Like you said it was a different time.

See, none of this bothers me if it's in character. I don't want a movie to push across an agenda at the expense of breaking character. If a character is a thug, then I expect him to act like a thug. When I watch an old movie I expect the character to act like a person would in his era. Nothing takes me out of a movie more when I see something set in a historical past where characters behave or spout a philosophy that would in NO WAY have existed in their era. Dated attitudes don't bother me in older films, it was a long time ago after all, why should I be bothered by it now? Everyone who made those films are either really old or dead now, there's no point in wasted righteous anger.

As a side note, I'm Asian and every time I watch an older Hollywood movie featuring dated or racist Asian stereotypes with a bunch of white friends, they always end up apologizing for the movie's portrayal of Asians. I'm like, "Why? It's an old movie, and you didn't make it. Why should it bother me now?" I look at older stuff like this from a more removed perspective. There are even some older movies with bad Asian stereotypes I'm actually a big fan of from a cinematic standpoint.

Too many people today are so wrapped up in a film's social messages when it comes to how they review a film when the important thing is that the characters behave in a way that is appropriate to how they are written.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Somehow, and, gee, I cannot imagine how, Facebook has caught on to the fact that I like movies. I'm now seeing a lot of movie clickbait stuff on the suggested site banners that appear on my news feed. Here's one that I saw just now...

15 Weirdest Movies Of All Time

As to spare y'all from having to scroll through this stuff, I'll list their 15 here and bold the Criterion selections...

15. Eraserhead
14. Gummo
13. Videodrome
12. Naked Lunch
11. Funky Forest: The First Contact
10. Cat Soup
9. Rubber
8. The Holy Mountain
7. Mulholland Drive
6. Society
5. Holy Motors
4. Black Moon
3. In My Skin
2. Dogtooth
1. Zardoz

Two Cronenberg films and two Lynch films. That figures. Yeah, they're quite weird.

I recently upgraded my old Criterion DVD of Louis Malle's Black Moon to Blu-ray, but I haven't quite had the balls to revisit it yet.

Videodrome is my favorite of the listed Criterions by a long mile.

I'm pretty surprised they didn't include Hausu (House) in that top 15 list. I personally think its the weirdest film in the Criterion Collection by far.

I love Black Moon. Damn, what a visionary film.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by Banned User

Stay away from most late 60's 70's Japanese films. The way women are treated in a lot of those films make most westerners cringe. Lots of rape.

No kidding. I watched a Lone Wolf and Cub film years ago with my mother and that did not go over well AT ALL. From what I can recall the film had an exploitation edge and did end up bothering me too.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

if you want to see (or maybe 'don't want to see') a better example Cary Grant being a complete jerk to a woman, watch Only Angels Have Wings. I liked the film overall, but the CG character really takes some warming up to.

Grant's character is a man of options. The women need him (esp Jean Arthur) but he doesn't need them. There's always going to be another woman stopping in.

It's refreshing to see because the trend now is for the man to appease the woman and if it doesn't end well it's the guy's fault.

[olivianewtonyawn]

Really excited to pickup Cat People later today or tomorrow. Anybody else hoping that this means we could someday see a Criterion release of The Seventh Victim (1943)? I love that film.