The Criterion Collection

[kristoffer]

Has there been any rumors of a new version of Tokyo Olympiad?

[alien2010]

No Le Samourai, no Knife in the Water. And if there is a War Trilogy that needs to be upgraded its Wajda's War Trilogy.

[trentdiesel]

Originally Posted by kaykaysud

Watched Harakiri on Criterion Blu.



Masaki Kobayashi's unflinchingly scathing satire on the Samurai code of honor stars Tatsuya Nakadai as Hanshiro, a ronin (masterless warrior) who arrives at a Lord's palace in order to commit the titular act of ritual suicide. The Lord's counselor and the housekeepers have had way too many such cases, which were ultimately shams to extort money from the lord so that no blood would spill on his courtyard. So naturally, the counselor tries to warn the samurai by recounting the fate of the one who came before him. However, Hanshiro never budges and insists on having the ritual performed, though he has a few demands of his own in order to have it done. And it turns out that Hanshiro has come there with some ulterior motives which would slowly, but surely threaten to strip the whole concept of Samurai honor into what turns out to be nothing more than a web of hypocrisy, prejudice and naked lies. Also told in flashbacks is the tale of what leads Hanshiro to take such an extreme step.

The acting is fantastic throughout, headlined by Nakadai as Hanshiro - the ronin who stares at the face of death with defiance - and Rentarō Mikuni as Lord Saito, the counselor who appears stern, but reasonable

[Show spoiler] at first, only to be gradually reduced to a puerile PoS by the ronin's revelations

. Also, the film boasts of impeccable use of visual language all along the runtime, starting off in ultra-wide angles and with smooth dolly movements, and subtly constricting the field of view from there by means of close-ups and zooms which only gradually increase in number, culminating in utter chaos at the end. And yes, the storytelling is brutal and unforgiving when it comes to depicting poverty and hypocrisy.

Criterion hits a home run with the video transfer of the BD release, in that it does full justice to the intentions of the director and the cinematographer. This is an absolutely fantastic B&W presentation devoid of any artifacts and rich in grain. The LPCM Mono track is robust and clean - maybe the best mono track I've heard till date. The release is a bit light on extras by Criterion standards, but that's okay. There's also a booklet with essays on the film as well as the Blu-ray release credits.

Nice review, one of the best films I have seen. I recommend it to any film fan out there.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

What are you guys watching next?

Just finished of Wenders' Road trilogy for the first time. Prepping for my thesis on European perspective in America, with my main focus on Paris, Texas, which I'll be watching tonight.

Müller has joined the ranks of Mark Lee Ping Bin, Nykvist, and Doyle, where I'll watch anything they lens. Those night scenes are second to none.

EDIT: Curious what you'll think of In a Lonely Place. I think it's Bogie's greatest performance. A true gem of a film.

[ajburke]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

on that note, does anyone else here have a collection of Criterion odds and ends or misfit parts?

I've got a Criterion postcard for 8 1/2, the disc jacket for The Last Metro, and a mint booklet from the Children of Paradise DVD.

I know everyone has these, but titles like Taxi Driver and The Bogart set from a couple years ago came with postcard size pictures that are pretty cool. I just don't know what to do with them.

One of the more fun/interesting ones is the postcard I have of scientologist (is that what he'd be called?) Lancaster Dodd from The Master.

I don't know about misfit parts, but lately I have been keeping the Criterion stickers attached to the outer shrinkwrap, then just tucking them inside the packaging, as an alternative to either tossing them or sticking them to the case or booklet.

As for the postcards, I have those releases of The Master and Taxi Driver, as well as the new edition of Donnie Darko. I agree that they are nice inclusions, and also that I wish I knew what to do with them.

As for Lancaster Dodd, he's not technically a Scientologist. The Cause is a "loose" (but not really that loose) analog for Scientology. Anderson has tried to squash the similarities, but possibly just to avoid entanglements with the church, which has a reputation for getting litigious over such things.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

EDIT: Curious what you'll think of In a Lonely Place. I think it's Bogie's greatest performance. A true gem of a film.

It's easily his greatest performance, in my opinion, and it demonstrates just how versatile of an actor he was.

[bsend]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

Has there been any rumors of a new version of Tokyo Olympiad?

I rented this many years ago and wasn't overly impressed. Thinking back on it now, a new blu ray 4K restoration would make this a viewing experience to behold.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

Has there been any rumors of a new version of Tokyo Olympiad?

None that I've seen. Sorry.

[Scottie]

Stalker restoration trailer

http://theplaylist.net/exclusive-wat...ease-20170419/

[VONi]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Stalker restoration trailer

http://theplaylist.net/exclusive-wat...ease-20170419/

Wow. Simply WOW! It's truly a crime that AE ever released Stalker with the older master while this exists.

They shouldn't have shown those few seconds of the ending there, tho.

[moviebuffed]

Originally Posted by kaykaysud

Watched Harakiri on Criterion Blu.



Masaki Kobayashi's unflinchingly scathing satire on the Samurai code of honor stars Tatsuya Nakadai as Hanshiro, a ronin (masterless warrior) who arrives at a Lord's palace in order to commit the titular act of ritual suicide. The Lord's counselor and the housekeepers have had way too many such cases, which were ultimately shams to extort money from the lord so that no blood would spill on his courtyard. So naturally, the counselor tries to warn the samurai by recounting the fate of the one who came before him. However, Hanshiro never budges and insists on having the ritual performed, though he has a few demands of his own in order to have it done. And it turns out that Hanshiro has come there with some ulterior motives which would slowly, but surely threaten to strip the whole concept of Samurai honor into what turns out to be nothing more than a web of hypocrisy, prejudice and naked lies. Also told in flashbacks is the tale of what leads Hanshiro to take such an extreme step.

The acting is fantastic throughout, headlined by Nakadai as Hanshiro - the ronin who stares at the face of death with defiance - and Rentarō Mikuni as Lord Saito, the counselor who appears stern, but reasonable

[Show spoiler] at first, only to be gradually reduced to a puerile PoS by the ronin's revelations

. Also, the film boasts of impeccable use of visual language all along the runtime, starting off in ultra-wide angles and with smooth dolly movements, and subtly constricting the field of view from there by means of close-ups and zooms which only gradually increase in number, culminating in utter chaos at the end. And yes, the storytelling is brutal and unforgiving when it comes to depicting poverty and hypocrisy.

Criterion hits a home run with the video transfer of the BD release, in that it does full justice to the intentions of the director and the cinematographer. This is an absolutely fantastic B&W presentation devoid of any artifacts and rich in grain. The LPCM Mono track is robust and clean - maybe the best mono track I've heard till date. The release is a bit light on extras by Criterion standards, but that's okay. There's also a booklet with essays on the film as well as the Blu-ray release credits.

I absolutely love your review. Proud to say that of my 200+ Criterions, this film is the one I revisit the most. It was a blind-buy and probably my favorite in my entire collection. A close second would be either Solaris or Ikiru.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Stalker restoration trailer

http://theplaylist.net/exclusive-wat...ease-20170419/

This is amazing. By comparison, my old Kino DVD of Stalker looks as though it were mastered by the Flintstones.

I haven't watched this movie in years, so I cannot wait to dive in and check it out from a fresh perspective.

[Martin_31]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Stalker restoration trailer

http://theplaylist.net/exclusive-wat...ease-20170419/

Originally Posted by VONi

Wow. Simply WOW! It's truly a crime that AE ever released Stalker with the older master while this exists.

They shouldn't have shown those few seconds of the ending there, tho.

Really like it when they create new trailers to show the restoration. I've only seen Solaris, and I really liked it, a lot. This one looks just as good.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

Just finished of Wenders' Road trilogy for the first time. Prepping for my thesis on European perspective in America, with my main focus on Paris, Texas, which I'll be watching tonight.

Müller has joined the ranks of Mark Lee Ping Bin, Nykvist, and Doyle, where I'll watch anything they lens. Those night scenes are second to none.

EDIT: Curious what you'll think of In a Lonely Place. I think it's Bogie's greatest performance. A true gem of a film.

I'd say his best performance was Dobbs in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre or Captain Queeg in The Caine Mutiny but In a Lonely Place is up there too.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

Really like it when they create new trailers to show the restoration. I've only seen Solaris, and I really liked it, a lot. This one looks just as good.

I've never seen Stalker so I'm not going to spoil it for myself with the trailer. That being said, I'm ecstatic to check it out (and I'd love to see The Mirror, too).

[Hoke Moseley]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

This is amazing. By comparison, my old Kino DVD of Stalker looks as though it were mastered by the Flintstones.

That Stalker DVD really was atrocious. I think I spent close to $20 on it too.

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I've never seen Stalker so I'm not going to spoil it for myself with the trailer.

Good, because it shows the last scene in the movie.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

Good, because it shows the last scene in the movie.

thanks for mentioning that. I'll skip the trailer now, too.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

What are you guys watching next?

In a Lonely Place is on my 'soon to watch' list, too. A second watch of The Master is in my near future. ...and Shane may see my player soon, as well.

I don't know exactly why because it wasn't a raving endorsement of 4K televisions by any means, but Scottie's comments a month ago about On The Waterfront on a 4K television put me on the hunt for a new one for myself, so I got the LG OLED 65 inch. I've been kinda seeking out titles that have "reference quality" video, so that is why I'm looking forward to re-visiting The Master. I haven't seen anything in B&W on there yet, but looking fwd to that, too.

[CRM 114]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

Good, because it shows the last scene in the movie.

What's the point of a trailer if it ruins the ending?