The Criterion Collection

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Breathless Review- Home Theater Forum

Certainly not "Chocolate sauce down your pants good" but they didn't bash it..... basically looks to be a solid release (according to them of course)

[Beta Man]

The New Hollywood set just showed up in my gold-box this morning..... what a way to start the day

[italy12]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

The New Hollywood set just showed up in my gold-box this morning..... what a way to start the day

Really? How much? I got the frickin' Jesse Stone Collection....

[ccfixx]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

The New Hollywood set just showed up in my gold-box this morning..... what a way to start the day

Did you not pre-order when the set was $87.49?

CC

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by italy12

Really? How much? I got the frickin' Jesse Stone Collection....

$89

Originally Posted by ccfixx

Did you not pre-order when the set was $87.49?

CC

no

[Arkadin]

still waiting on my bd of "Black Orpheus" from the DD sale.
over 17 business days at present.
(supposed to be received in 5 to 10)
I mean does DD ever consider that they have some severe shipping problems that they should investigate with the postal service?
I'm still not going to stop using them as long as amazon's prices remain as they are, but I'm going to pay the $3 now to get my stuff in a week instead of a month.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by stobbart

Thank you for showing us all here that a slick looking Transformers 2 movie is more deserving of a good PQ rating then a Carol Reed, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick, Jim Jarmusche, Nagisa Oshima film that is mastered to the complete perfection as the way they wanted their films to look....where do you live? Ill buy you a midnight screening ticket to Harry Potter 7.1 for your great insight

haha you completely missed the point of what I was saying, but good attempt at sarcasm.

[dag]

So, I saw the new Jean-Luc Godard movie, Film Socialisme, last night at TIFF. I had read the harsh reviews (most notably, Roger Ebert's) that appeared during Cannes, and so was well aware of what to expect when I bought my ticket. I had wanted to see it simply because I had never seen a Godard film at a theatre (in fact, I've only seen Breathless, Vivre Sa Vie, and Contempt, all of which I enjoyed).

Straight off, I'm afraid there must have been something amiss, because I had read that the film includes very rudimentary subtitles, but the screening had no subtitles at all. And given that I long ago lost what little French I learned back in school, it was impossible for me to follow any of the dialogue, except for a few words or simple phrases. (The dialogue is mostly French, with a bit of German, and a few words in English.)

Despite that caveat, from what we've all read, I think I can still say that the lack of subtitles made almost no difference to my reaction to the film: Film Socialisme is certainly one of the worst movies I have ever paid money to see.

The movie isn't so much a disaster as a contemptuous telling off of the audience by a director who, let's face it, really has no business being behind a camera. Ebert was totally correct: if this dreck were put forward without Godard's name attached to it, the movie would never see the light of day.

There is no plot whatsoever. The movie intersperses footage in beautifully clear HD video with clips that look like they were taken with a three year old cell phone. The situations depicted amount to nothing whatsoever - characters speak with little effect to anything that then transpires. Ominous chords of music overwhelm snippets of historical footage of the Second World War.

I have no idea what Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Greece, Naples, and Barcelona have to do with each other, and neither, I believe, does Godard. To be honest, any true cinephile should be outraged - I don't think that's too strong a word - after having watched this appalling excuse for a film. I couldn't handle a second viewing, even with the minimal subtitles that should have appeared.

In some respects, Film Socialisme stands as a devastating indictment of a once great and enormously influential artist who has been consumed by his own self-importance; it is an unintelligible mess of incoherent ideas.

I remember a review of a recent Godard biography in which the reviewer said of Godard that the famous director had not made a good movie since 1967. Certainly that can be debated, but Film Socialisme cannot be accepted as anything but a work of folly.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

still waiting on my bd of "Black Orpheus" from the DD sale.
over 17 business days at present.
(supposed to be received in 5 to 10)
I mean does DD ever consider that they have some severe shipping problems that they should investigate with the postal service?
I'm still not going to stop using them as long as amazon's prices remain as they are, but I'm going to pay the $3 now to get my stuff in a week instead of a month.

I ordered the same film from DD and waited 12 business days. The film then arrived in the cheapest shipping packaging possible.

[horseflesh]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

still waiting on my bd of "Black Orpheus" from the DD sale.
over 17 business days at present.
(supposed to be received in 5 to 10)
I mean does DD ever consider that they have some severe shipping problems that they should investigate with the postal service?
I'm still not going to stop using them as long as amazon's prices remain as they are, but I'm going to pay the $3 now to get my stuff in a week instead of a month.

Three of my July (yes, I said July) titles didn't arrive from B&N. They shipped on July 28th (like many people, The Red Shoes held the order up) which is SIX weeks ago*. I e-mailed them yesterday and they replied overnight saying they would refund me the total, which they did. I'd have preferred if they re-sent them (I ordered during the 50% off sale, so will have to wait until November for those prices again, hopefully) but at least I did get the refund.

* Bear in mind that I'm in Ireland, but even still packages usually get to me in 1-2 weeks

[neo78956]

Originally Posted by dag

So, I saw the new Jean-Luc Godard movie, Film Socialisme, last night at TIFF. I had read the harsh reviews (most notably, Roger Ebert's) that appeared during Cannes, and so was well aware of what to expect when I bought my ticket. I had wanted to see it simply because I had never seen a Godard film at a theatre (in fact, I've only seen Breathless, Vivre Sa Vie, and Contempt, all of which I enjoyed).

Straight off, I'm afraid there must have been something amiss, because I had read that the film includes very rudimentary subtitles, but the screening had no subtitles at all. And given that I long ago lost what little French I learned back in school, it was impossible for me to follow any of the dialogue, except for a few words or simple phrases. (The dialogue is mostly French, with a bit of German, and a few words in English.)

Despite that caveat, from what we've all read, I think I can still say that the lack of subtitles made almost no difference to my reaction to the film: Film Socialisme is certainly one of the worst movies I have ever paid money to see.

The movie isn't so much a disaster as a contemptuous telling off of the audience by a director who, let's face it, really has no business being behind a camera. Ebert was totally correct: if this dreck were put forward without Godard's name attached to it, the movie would never see the light of day.

There is no plot whatsoever. The movie intersperses footage in beautifully clear HD video with clips that look like they were taken with a three year old cell phone. The situations depicted amount to nothing whatsoever - characters speak with little effect to anything that then transpires. Ominous chords of music overwhelm snippets of historical footage of the Second World War.

I have no idea what Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Greece, Naples, and Barcelona have to do with each other, and neither, I believe, does Godard. To be honest, any true cinephile should be outraged - I don't think that's too strong a word - after having watched this appalling excuse for a film. I couldn't handle a second viewing, even with the minimal subtitles that should have appeared.

In some respects, Film Socialisme stands as a devastating indictment of a once great and enormously influential artist who has been consumed by his own self-importance; it is an unintelligible mess of incoherent ideas.

I remember a review of a recent Godard biography in which the reviewer said of Godard that the famous director had not made a good movie since 1967. Certainly that can be debated, but Film Socialisme cannot be accepted as anything but a work of folly.

Yikes. I knew it was going to suck, but holy hell. Breathless, Vivre Sa Vie, Contempt, and Pierrot Le Fou are all such brilliant works, but yeah, Godard has become really consumed with self-importance in the last several decades. It's a shame really, since he used to be such a brilliant filmmaker. But it doesn't surprise me in the least that Film Socialisme was awful. Part of the problem is that he's stuck in the French New Wave, where it was fresh, new, exciting, and bold to make films like he did. Now, it's just short of unacceptable because the cinematic climate has changed, for better or worse, and that style of filmmaking has no place anymore. Again, it's a shame, but not unexpected.

[Arkadin]

well I'm absolutely convinced that their emails informing you that something has "shipped" are meaningless.
I think they end up actually going out about 2 weeks AFTER they email you because there's no shipping in the world that would take over 18 business days to reach a US address.
I'm actually becoming obsessed with trying to understand what happens with DD's orders because so many people experience the exact same thing.
it's just crazy.

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

well I'm absolutely convinced that their emails informing you that something has "shipped" are meaningless.
I think they end up actually going out about 2 weeks AFTER they email you because there's no shipping in the world that would take over 18 business days to reach a US address.
I'm actually becoming obsessed with trying to understand what happens with DD's orders because so many people experience the exact same thing.
it's just crazy.

Usually they ship Media Mail instead of First Class, and I think they probably save 10 cents meanwhile you get your order 5 years later. Media Mail should be outlawed. I would never order from DD ever in my life. If the Blu-ray was free I'd still pass.

[ccfixx]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

well I'm absolutely convinced that their emails informing you that something has "shipped" are meaningless.
I think they end up actually going out about 2 weeks AFTER they email you because there's no shipping in the world that would take over 18 business days to reach a US address.

I agree. During DD's last most recent Criterion sale, I received an e-mail that one of my four items had shipped. One week later, I received another e-mail stating that my supposedly "shipped" order had been canceled. Does that even make sense? That makes it sound like DD canceled the order mid-shipment.

CC

[fdm]

Originally Posted by dag

...(review of Film Socialisme)...

I remember a review of a recent Godard biography in which the reviewer said of Godard that the famous director had not made a good movie since 1967. Certainly that can be debated, but Film Socialisme cannot be accepted as anything but a work of folly.

Perhaps I'm comparing apples to bananas, but this sounds kind of like what the first couple parts of his Histoire(s) Du Cinéma were like.

(Haven't had a chance to get back to it to finish it, but at this point I'd be watching it from the beginning again... Seemed to be a feel/flow/pattern (or something) to it that I was on the verge of latching onto somewhat (or probably not), but then the wife came along and completely pulled me out of it and at that point decided to put it aside for some other rainy (wife-less) day.)

[fdm]

Originally Posted by horseflesh

Three of my July (yes, I said July) titles didn't arrive from B&N. They shipped on July 28th (like many people, The Red Shoes held the order up) which is SIX weeks ago*. I e-mailed them yesterday and they replied overnight saying they would refund me the total, which they did. I'd have preferred if they re-sent them (I ordered during the 50% off sale, so will have to wait until November for those prices again, hopefully) but at least I did get the refund.

* Bear in mind that I'm in Ireland, but even still packages usually get to me in 1-2 weeks

I think per the criterion forum b&n thread (criterionforum.org), it's not unusual for them to take that long to get to your neck of the woods. You may be getting it any day now. And you may or may not be getting hit with a hefty import fee as well.

[horseflesh]

Originally Posted by fdm

I think per the criterion forum b&n thread (criterionforum.org), it's not unusual for them to take that long to get to your neck of the woods. You may be getting it any day now. And you may or may not be getting hit with a hefty import fee as well.

I've never had to wait this long.
Also, I've been importing DVDs and now BDs for 12 years and only been hit with import charges maybe 10 times, and that's only with stuff in larger sized amazon.com boxes. I'm guessing they basically only look out for amazon packaging that sticks out like a sore thumb, I've never been hit ordering from anyone else.
I do know though that UK people are hit practically every time a package goes over their limit, Irish customs must be more laid back

[alen_shime]

with the 15th being in a couple of days, what are your thoughts, speculations, and wishes for the December announcements?

[whbinder]

Originally Posted by alen_shime

with the 15th being in a couple of days, what are your thoughts, speculations, and wishes for the December announcements?

Videodrome I suppose. The rest of the rumored titles are all great films - no doubt, but none of them have me particularly excited unless there's a bit more Chaplin.

Actually, I take that back. I hope December's release includes every Wes Anderson film, every Goddard film and every Kurosawa film. That will cut down on the debate on the boards a little bit.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by whbinder

Actually, I take that back. I hope December's release includes every Wes Anderson film, every Goddard film and every Kurosawa film. That will cut down on the debate on the boards a little bit.

hehe