The Criterion Collection

[UNCMT9]

Can anyone recommend a good sci fi/horror, gangster/noir, and Japanese film? That's pretty broad, I know. For the record, I only own about 10 Criterions.

[Vendetta-akk]

Think The Last Picture Show will ever get an individual release?

[colbyw]

Originally Posted by Vendetta-akk

Think The Last Picture Show will ever get an individual release?

Just go for the box set. Unbelievable! Last Picture Show is in my top 20, and Five Easy Pieces may be ranked higher.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Can anyone recommend a good sci fi/horror, gangster/noir, and Japanese film? That's pretty broad, I know. For the record, I only own about 10 Criterions.

Dressed to Kill, Videodrome or Carnival of Souls for Sci fi/horror
The Asphalt Jungle, The Killing, In a Lonely Place, Night and the City or The Killers for gangster/noir
Godzilla for Japanese (lol that's the only one I know)

[Vendetta-akk]

Originally Posted by colbyw

Just go for the box set. Unbelievable! Last Picture Show is in my top 20, and Five Easy Pieces may be ranked higher.

Yeah, I'm considering it but not a fan of many of these films. I do like Five Easy Pieces though.

[colbyw]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Can anyone recommend a good sci fi/horror, gangster/noir, and Japanese film? That's pretty broad, I know. For the record, I only own about 10 Criterions.

Wages of Fear, Rififi, High and Low, Pickpocket, A Man Escaped, Kiss Me Deadly, Night of the Hunter, etc.

[colbyw]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Can anyone recommend a good sci fi/horror, gangster/noir, and Japanese film? That's pretty broad, I know. For the record, I only own about 10 Criterions.

Wages of Fear, Rififi, High and Low, Pickpocket, A Man Escaped, Kiss Me Deadly, Night of the Hunter, etc.

The Killing, Killers, Asphalt Jungle, In a Lonely Place (can't believe I forgot to list these initially).

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Can anyone recommend a good sci fi/horror, gangster/noir, and Japanese film? That's pretty broad, I know. For the record, I only own about 10 Criterions.

The Innocents (or Scanners if you meant Sci-fi and horror combined)
In a Lonely Place
Tokyo Story

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Can anyone recommend a good sci fi/horror, gangster/noir, and Japanese film? That's pretty broad, I know. For the record, I only own about 10 Criterions.

Japanese - High and Low, Pale Flower, Kuroneko
Noir or gangster - The Killing, Kiss Me Deadly, The Killers, Thief

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Can anyone recommend a good sci fi/horror, gangster/noir, and Japanese film? That's pretty broad, I know. For the record, I only own about 10 Criterions.

Japanese / Gangster-Noir - Pale Flower, High and Low
Gangster /Noir - The Asphalt Jungle, The Killers
Sci-Fi / Horror - Videodrome, Seconds, Solaris

[cgpublic]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Can anyone recommend a good sci fi/horror, gangster/noir, and Japanese film? That's pretty broad, I know. For the record, I only own about 10 Criterions.

Sticking to in-print Blu, here are a few distinct suggestions/seconds to recommendations from others:

Horror: Don't Look Now (Suspense) or The Devil's Backbone (Nightmarish)
Noir: Rififi (French) or The Friends of Eddie Coyle (US)
Japan: Tokyo Story (Humanity) or Seven Samurai (Thrilling)

Also suggest wandering around the Criterion site for lists and clips. I'm sure you'll find more than a few titles that interest you and stand out. Good luck!

[zoodermin]

Yesterday, I saw The Manchurian Candidate and it was amazing. The story, the suspense, the performances, everything is top-notch. Lansbury in particular, is spectacular.

Quick question: Do you recommend watching the 2004 remake? I know it's supposedly inferior but it might be nice to compare the two. Thanks!

[octagon]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

Yesterday, I saw The Manchurian Candidate and it was amazing. The story, the suspense, the performances, everything is top-notch. Lansbury in particular, is spectacular.

Quick question: Do you recommend watching the 2004 remake? I know it's supposedly inferior but it might be nice to compare the two. Thanks!

I saw the remake once and was very disappointed. I plan to give it another look at some point but my first reaction was that it was a complete waste of an amazing cast.

[Blu-Velvet]

I didn't have time to order from Criterion's flash sale today until after dinner tonight. There were a couple of titles I was looking at that were already out of stock, but it's just as well, since I still wound up ordering a dozen titles (including the box sets and double-features), a few more than I probably should have, even with my $50 gift certificate. I just have to keep telling myself how much money I saved, especially with no sales tax and free shipping.

Here's what I ordered, most of which are blind-buys...

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
Short Cuts
Mildred Pierce
His Girl Friday/The Front Page
Something Wild (1961)
Roma
The Asphalt Jungle
The Tree of Wooden Clogs
The Before Trilogy
One-Eyed Jacks
Dekalog

The only titles I've already seen are SHORT CUTS (though it's been so long I have only vague recollections of it), MILDRED PIERCE, HIS GIRL FRIDAY, THE FRONT PAGE (but not this alternate cut), THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, BEFORE SUNRISE, and possibly BEFORE SUNSET. Looking forward to some good movie and bonus-feature watching over the next few months, especially since my latest Twilight Time order just arrived yesterday and my Kino $12/title Oscar sale order should be arriving soon.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

Yesterday, I saw The Manchurian Candidate and it was amazing. The story, the suspense, the performances, everything is top-notch. Lansbury in particular, is spectacular.

Quick question: Do you recommend watching the 2004 remake? I know it's supposedly inferior but it might be nice to compare the two. Thanks!

It's worth seeing as a curiosity, but it doesn't hold a candle to the original.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by mja345

Another underrated one I never see anyone talk about is Jane Campion's "Sweetie". Very bizarre, but great film.

I am a huge fan of Sweetie. I wrote my thoughts on it over three years ago, which I will repost for anyone who is interested in checking it out.



Sweetie is another in my long list of Australian cinema discoveries that reinforces my love for Australian films and directors (a love affair that began when the New Wave films first hit the U.S. back in the 1980s on cable and the video stores). Released in 1989, Sweetie was New Zealand-born director Jane Campion's debut film. It is a strange and touching piece of filmmaking, part black comedy, part horror movie in a sort of house-of-mirrors, carnival creep-show kind of way. There is a growing sense of absurdity and dread that builds as the story plays out and the black comedy gets progressively darker. There is also a style to it that reminds me of a David Lynch film, a kind of hidden landscape set in plain sight that is peopled with disturbing and odd characters moving through a slightly off-kilter world the rest of us are unable to see or experience.

Campion never lets the horror elements take over, however. There is a pathos to the characters and events that makes Sweetie a profoundly moving film. The father, in particular, is a sad clown of a man who struggles to hold his family together as it spins apart under the cumulative weight of his mentally unstable daughter Sweetie's destructive influences. She is still his little girl, and he cannot bear to have her put away.

I was especially impressed with the ending. It was completely unexpected and I thought it was perfect. Sweetie is a gorgeously shot film, the cinematography is expansive and vibrant with glowing color. This was my first Jane Campion film and led me to seek out another amazing film of hers, The Piano, which is worth getting for those who have not seen it.


I really wish Criterion would get back to regular upgrades because Campion's An Angel at my Table is just begging for a blu-ray.

[*DrStrangelove*]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Can anyone recommend a good sci fi/horror, gangster/noir, and Japanese film? That's pretty broad, I know. For the record, I only own about 10 Criterions.

Eyes Without a Face, World on a Wire, High and Low, Sansho The Bailiff.

Horror/sci-fi/Noir/Japanese

[Knaldskalle]

Originally Posted by UNCMT9

Can anyone recommend a good sci fi/horror, gangster/noir, and Japanese film? That's pretty broad, I know. For the record, I only own about 10 Criterions.

Hausu.

[Scottie]

I'm pretty sure it's already been discussed, but Janus Films will be releasing the documentary David Lynch: The Art Life beginning on March 31.

This is almost indicative of the documentary being released as an extra on a future Blu-ray release of one of Lynch's film. If I was a betting person I would say Lost Highway or Inland Empire.

[mja345]

Great review above, oildude. "Sweetie" is definitely quality. It has to be one of the more off-the-radar titles in the collection, but it's a fantastic film.