The Criterion Collection

[Chabrolesque]

Certain Women was my favorite movie of last year. It's a deeply humane character study, with three quietly moving and resonant storylines that packed a surprising punch (the last story, in particular, really hit home for me.) It's also often gorgeous to look at (that Montana scenery!)

I liked Wendy and Lucy, but this was the first Reichardt film that really made an impact on me.

But yeah, it's also slow and understated, so if you don't connect with the characters like I did, it'll probably leave you shrugging your shoulders.

I'm glad to see it getting any kind of Blu-ray release.

-

As for the rest of the slate... It's better than last month, but still not terribly exciting.

I hadn't heard of Festival, but I'm a sucker for folk from that period and I love that lineup, so I'll definitely be checking it out.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Of course, I'd love to see Time of the Wolf and Caché released by Criterion.

Just want to say that Cache has an excellent region free UK release by Artificial Eye (the extras are in PAL, though).

[StarDestroyer52]

I was watching The Spy In Black last night as its another British gem that reminds you of Hitchcock's 1930s work and it showed the Criterion logo before the film began. I wish Criterion would make this available, though I see the French release is region-free:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-S...Blu-ray/90414/

Though I really don't nothing about Elephant Films.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

I really hope we get a Criterion for Cronenberg's The Dead Zone. If not by Criterion I really hope Paramount releases it with a 4K remaster after their absolutely stunning recent blu rays for Juice and Saturday Night Fever.

[Kyle15]

Y'all talkin about Time of The Wolf makes me think of Hour of The Wolf. It's Bergman and will probably come at some point but the sooner the better they always say!

[Al_The_Strange]

Kinda binge-watching the Criterions today.

Made it through the last of the World Cinema Project Vol. 2 box set. Taipei Story seemed to be the one title everybody talked about, and I gotta admit it's a nice-looking picture with good performances and everything. By nature, it's the kind of film I usually dislike--very slowly-paced and centered all around real-looking people coping with real-world issues. I find it a little long and dull, but I can see where Criterion fans would dig it.

Limite is a nice silent picture. Pretty interesting to see it built without any intertitles--only the images tell the story. This one also tries my patience--it's really long and a lot of shots seem to linger a lot. But I can see how it'd be considered visually impressive and inventive. Of all the films in the set, this one seemed the most beat-up--not even the films in the Herschell Gordon Lewis set had this much print damage. But at least it's sharp.

Law of the Border is more up my alley. Adventure! Excitement! Drama! Above all, it seemed to have the most structured narrative of the six films in the set (save for maybe Revenge). It's also pretty well-filmed. It is very rough around the edges, but the film still looks sharp.

On average, I grade most of these films a 3/5, more or less. Kind of the same for the first set, but I think the films in vol. 1 stood out slightly more to me.

Just for the heck of it, I decided to pop in Bicycle Thieves to see if it'll resonate as strong on the second viewing as it did on the first. This film exudes pure class--good photography, good performances, and above all a story worth telling. I find myself gravitating towards tales that highlight the plight of the poor, and this film paints a compelling drama in a simple and elegant way--by hinging all the conflict on a material object, but one that the man needs to make a living. What drives the story the most is how the bike weighs against the things the man truly loves--like family and love, and those things wind up becoming endangered all because he loses sight of what's important. It is a strong film and a strong story, and I will continue to call it one of the greats.

So, biggest lesson learned from Bicycle Thieves: always have a proper chain or cable with a lock. Wrap it around your front tire and frame. There, problem solved.

Not sure what I'll watch this afternoon...

[senseabove]

Originally Posted by StarDestroyer52

I was watching The Spy In Black last night as its another British gem that reminds you of Hitchcock's 1930s work and it showed the Criterion logo before the film began. I wish Criterion would make this available, though I see the French release is region-free:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-S...Blu-ray/90414/

Though I really don't nothing about Elephant Films.

Saw this a few months ago and it was delightful.

From what I've read about Elephant, they're at the mercy of their sources, but if their source is good, their release is usually good. They've got a few of Sirk's films out that I've been eyeing, and reports on those are mostly good—but I keep hoping Criterion will get around to their upgrades.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

I really hope we get a Criterion for Cronenberg's The Dead Zone. If not by Criterion I really hope Paramount releases it with a 4K remaster after their absolutely stunning recent blu rays for Juice and Saturday Night Fever.

I'm not sure what the deals are behind the licensing, but given recent releases I picture either Arrow (at least in the UK) or Shout Factory releasing The Dead Zone.

[senseabove]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Kinda binge-watching the Criterions today.

Made it through the last of the World Cinema Project Vol. 2 box set. Taipei Story seemed to be the one title everybody talked about, and I gotta admit it's a nice-looking picture with good performances and everything. By nature, it's the kind of film I usually dislike--very slowly-paced and centered all around real-looking people coping with real-world issues. I find it a little long and dull, but I can see where Criterion fans would dig it.

Limite is a nice silent picture. Pretty interesting to see it built without any intertitles--only the images tell the story. This one also tries my patience--it's really long and a lot of shots seem to linger a lot. But I can see how it'd be considered visually impressive and inventive. Of all the films in the set, this one seemed the most beat-up--not even the films in the Herschell Gordon Lewis set had this much print damage. But at least it's sharp.

Law of the Border is more up my alley. Adventure! Excitement! Drama! Above all, it seemed to have the most structured narrative of the six films in the set (save for maybe Revenge). It's also pretty well-filmed. It is very rough around the edges, but the film still looks sharp.

On average, I grade most of these films a 3/5, more or less. Kind of the same for the first set, but I think the films in vol. 1 stood out slightly more to me.

Just for the heck of it, I decided to pop in Bicycle Thieves to see if it'll resonate as strong on the second viewing as it did on the first. This film exudes pure class--good photography, good performances, and above all a story worth telling. I find myself gravitating towards tales that highlight the plight of the poor, and this film paints a compelling drama in a simple and elegant way--by hinging all the conflict on a material object, but one that the man needs to make a living. What drives the story the most is how the bike weighs against the things the man truly loves--like family and love, and those things wind up becoming endangered all because he loses sight of what's important. It is a strong film and a strong story, and I will continue to call it one of the greats.

So, biggest lesson learned from Bicycle Thieves: always have a proper chain or cable with a lock. Wrap it around your front tire and frame. There, problem solved.

Not sure what I'll watch this afternoon...

"...this afternoon..."! Geesus H. That was your morning? I feel chuffed when I pull off a triple feature in one day! I'm impressed!

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

I'm not sure what the deals are behind the licensing, but given recent releases I picture either Arrow (at least in the UK) or Shout Factory releasing The Dead Zone.

Yeah. There's a region free release but its really hard to find

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by senseabove

"...this afternoon..."! Geesus H. That was your morning? I feel chuffed when I pull off a triple feature in one day! I'm impressed!

lol, I have no life.

I didn't specify that I saw Taipei Story last night, so there's only been two today from the World Cinema Project set. Bicycle Thieves does make it three though.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by senseabove

Saw this a few months ago and it was delightful.

From what I've read about Elephant, they're at the mercy of their sources, but if their source is good, their release is usually good. They've got a few of Sirk's films out that I've been eyeing, and reports on those are mostly good—but I keep hoping Criterion will get around to their upgrades.

From what I read over at DVD Beaver, the source is from the BFI restoration.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

I just watched my Criterion for They Live by Night and it sounds like the score during the opening credits has distortion. Can anyone confirm if this is related to the source or if its an audio defect?

[Jobla]

Not day one, but I can certainly see myself picking up FESTIVAL and REBECCA in the November half-off sale at Barnes and Noble, assuming that sale is held as normal.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Just want to say that Cache has an excellent region free UK release by Artificial Eye (the extras are in PAL, though).

I own this Blu-ray, and it's quite amazing. I'd love for Criterion to release it with proper region A extras, though.

[joy-division]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

For sure - as long as you avoid customs you should be able to get titles for around £17 delivered (based on buying five titles in one order to split postage costs). No way to get US Criterions cheaper in the UK!

Also no way around customs, especially with the state of the £ at the moment & foreseeable future

Even if you get friends to buy them for you then they ship to you, shipping is unbelievable now

[dancerslegs]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

By nature, it's the kind of film I usually dislike--very slowly-paced and centered all around real-looking people coping with real-world issues.

Precisely the kind of film I dig most! Sounds like I need to check out Taipei Story.

[AaronJ]

Interesting month. Rebecca is a no-brainer. It's one of my favorite films, and it looks like a great package.

I've never seen anything by Reichardt, but Certain Women looks like something that I would appreciate. And I love the cast, so I'll be picking that up.

I'm definitely torn when it comes to The Piano Teacher. It's a very good film, and Haneke knows how to make these films. But yikes. Oh, who am I kidding? I'll be getting it.

Othello is a masterpiece, but I will probably wait for a sale to pick that one up.

[NolanvsNathan]

Hey fam so I've been a gigantic Edward Yang fang for the past couple years and was overjoyed to learn that Taipei Story (which I've never seen) would be coming to the collection, only to disappointed to learn that it was coming as part of the World Cinema Project Vol. 2 boxset.

I would love to own Yang's film on blu-ray but don't think I could justify the purchase when it's only available in a boxset with 5 other films that's priced around $100.

Could someone please give me a quick overview of the other titles in the set? How good are they and what kind of arthouse films they are? And in your opinion/s is the set worth the purchase, especially when I'm only really interested in the one title?

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by NolanvsNathan

Hey fam so I've been a gigantic Edward Yang fang for the past couple years and was overjoyed to learn that Taipei Story (which I've never seen) would be coming to the collection, only to disappointed to learn that it was coming as part of the World Cinema Project Vol. 2 boxset.

I would love to own Yang's film on blu-ray but don't think I could justify the purchase when it's only available in a boxset with 5 other films that's priced around $100.

Could someone please give me a quick overview of the other titles in the set? How good are they and what kind of arthouse films they are? And in your opinion/s is the set worth the purchase, especially when I'm only really interested in the one title?

My opinions have been scattered in the thread for the past few pages. So here's an overview:

Insiang (Philippines): A slow-burning revenge thriller set in the slums. Very grungy-looking, few sporadic bursts of thrills, but it is well-filmed and acted and I might grow to love it in time.

Mysterious Object at Noon (Thailand): Long, random experimental film in which different people relay stories to the camera as they go about their daily lives. Kind of a fictional documentary sort of thing. Was not a fan.

Revenge (Kazakhstan): An exquisite (albeit slow-burning) film about a child raised to avenge his father's death. Stretches across several chapters that seems to cross a few different eras. It's kinda like Kwaidan in terms of pacing and narrative style. Looks great. This is classified as "Kazakh New Wave" or something.

Limite (Brazil): Highly-celebrated silent film about three people lost as sea--the film flashes back to show their pasts. Nice photography, but once again, a bit of a slow-burner.

Law of the Border (Turkey): A man fights against smugglers to sneak sheep across the border to save his son. Pretty brisk, well-made, and thrilling film.

Taipei Story (Taiwan): Slow-burning drama about a couple that grows further and further apart. Solid photography and performances.

Are they good? In general, I can't fault any of these films, they are all interesting, well-made, and they bring something unique to the table. Most of them are slowly paced and will require attention, but if you're a Yang fan and frequent the Criterion Collection a lot, it might just be perfect for you. My personal preferences are for Insiang, Revenge, and Law of the Border. The only one I outright disliked was Mysterious Object at Noon, but even then it might just be a case of me not "getting it."

Is it worth the money? I paid around $64 for it new, without really knowing what I'd get (dangerous, I know, but it's an adventure!). Probably should have waited for a B&N sale, but I was eager to supplement my Vol. 1 set. Give it a month, it could be as low as $50 or $40 during the next B&N sale, in which case I'd say it's a solid deal.

It is a Blu-Ray/DVD combo set (9 discs in total). Few of the movies will look rough around the edges, but they are all pretty sharp. Insiang, Revenge, MOAN, and Taipei Story boast the best-looking pictures and are nice to watch. Limite has severe print damage at times, and LOTB has a lot of scratches and debris. Sound quality is fine across the board, didn't notice anything that made me wince. Few extras for select movies. It all comes in a cardboard box (not particularly thick), with three digipak-style cases housing three discs each. And there's a nice huge booklet in the box.