The Criterion Collection

[Mr.F]

Originally Posted by nitin

About Schmidt is New Line, TT do not have a deal with Warner/New Line. The previous blu was from New Line.

Oh right. I was thinking of As Good as it Gets

[mja345]

Originally Posted by Poya

Just my "crazy" opinion: Walk The Line was incredibly dull and conventional with the only great thing about it being Joaquin Phoenix. She only won because it was a weak year and she was the biggest actress of the time. Water for Elephants was an inferior Sophie's Choice clone with some nice shots. Wild was the best performance she gave since Election but the film itself wasn't anything to write about. Devil's Knot was bad and she gave a terrible performance. Before Legally Blonde, she used to challenge herself with roles like Freeway and Election. Now, it's Home Again and Hot Pursuit. I haven't seen an actor with so much promise taking the safe and lazy route since Johnny Depp.

And she was good in BLL, but everyone, especially Kidman, outdid her.

Her best performance, IMO, is in "Freeway". Goddamn she went all out in that role.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by Poya

Just my "crazy" opinion: Walk The Line was incredibly dull and conventional with the only great thing about it being Joaquin Phoenix. She only won because it was a weak year and she was the biggest actress of the time. Water for Elephants was an inferior Sophie's Choice clone with some nice shots. Wild was the best performance she gave since Election but the film itself wasn't anything to write about. Devil's Knot was bad and she gave a terrible performance. Before Legally Blonde, she used to challenge herself with roles like Freeway and Election. Now, it's Home Again and Hot Pursuit. I haven't seen an actor with so much promise taking the safe and lazy route since Johnny Depp.

And she was good in BLL, but everyone, especially Kidman, outdid her.

Yes, but that's hardly a career gone "into the toilet." I think that's an extreme characterization. Now, not living up to her promise? OK. I'm not sure I agree, but that's at least reasonable.

Also, being outdone by Nicole Kidman is hardly anything to be ashamed of.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Yes, but that's hardly a career gone "into the toilet." I think that's an extreme characterization. Now, not living up to her promise? OK. I'm not sure I agree, but that's at least reasonable.

Also, being outdone by Nicole Kidman is hardly anything to be ashamed of.

I tend to give overstatements in general but that's how I feel, personally. She has her success, sure, but what about her legacy? She's yet to star in a film that will go down in history, and I don't mean those nominated for Best Picture or included on the yearly AFI Top Ten. Plenty of actors in the present have films that will resonate for years to come and all Witherspoon has that the public will forever remember her by is Legally Blonde. That, to me, is disappointing.

Heck, not just Kidman, but Dern, Skarsgård, Woodley, etc. I can see Kidman and Dern coming out with the gold this Sunday (Kidman could get 2 if it wins Best Miniseries since she produced it).

[mja345]

Who the hell cares about "Legally Blonde"? It's a thoroughly average, generic comedy. Reese Witherspoon is an okay actress, nothing special, who made some interesting films early in her career and graduated to mainstream horse manure. She's practically the embodiment of an actress/actor you don't give a flying f**k about if she's in a movie. It's fine if she's there, but she doesn't make anything better or worse.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by 20th Century Boy

Eh? We've at least 2 major clues that suggest just the opposite, nevermind BC just had a 30th ann theatrical run and BR release. Time will tell I guess.

It's not that they were never working on it (hence the clue), but that it's no longer happening. Plans change. Just look at the Ran blu or the Blue Is The Warmest Color special edition.

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

It's not that they were never working on it (hence the clue), but that it's no longer happening. Plans change. Just look at the Ran blu or the Blue Is The Warmest Color special edition.

Yeah I guess so. But I still don't know where you're coming from with the BC being the word on the street.

Regardless I hope you're incorrect. We'll see.

(If something is cancelled, will they inform people?)

[bwdowiak]

I didn't realize that HDS was in Godfather II and Logan Lucky. I just saw the latter and didn't catch his appearance.

90+ is a good run. When I first got into a lot of these classics and didn't know about some of these actors and actresses, I'd look them up to see what else they did and if they were still alive. I really became fond of Jeanne Moreau and figured that she didn't have long and that day came a month or so ago.

Yeah, it's sad, but a legacy of great art left behind is pretty great for us, the admirers. I wasn't "gutted," but Roger Ebert passing was a bummer of a day.

Walter Payton dying at 45 tore me up, but maybe more so because on sports radio that night people were calling in and telling stories about playing catch with him and nice stuff he'd do for fans.

[Hoke Moseley]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I didn't realize that HDS was in Godfather II and Logan Lucky. I just saw the latter and didn't catch his appearance.

He is not in Logan Lucky, but he stars in a movie called just Lucky that is out in a few weeks and looks great.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

Agreed. I love character actors and was always happy when some of them got the right film and it led to them achieving stardom. Guys like Ward Bond, Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, etc. Bond and Oates didn't live long lives to enjoy theirs but Harry Dean did.

R.I.P

I would add to that list of unsung character actors who finally got their chance to shine, Richard Farnsworth (Comes a Horseman, The Straight Story and The Grey Fox).

I'm sure there are others, and it's always nice when it happens.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by mja345

Who the hell cares about "Legally Blonde"? It's a thoroughly average, generic comedy. Reese Witherspoon is an okay actress, nothing special, who made some interesting films early in her career and graduated to mainstream horse manure. She's practically the embodiment of an actress/actor you don't give a flying f**k about if she's in a movie. It's fine if she's there, but she doesn't make anything better or worse.

Your last statement may be true, but I thought she was the MVP of Big Little Lies, which is saying something. She can hold her own when she has the right material, which isn't often.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

Your last statement may be true, but I thought she was the MVP of Big Little Lies, which is saying something. She can hold her own when she has the right material, which isn't often.

Really? That's your opinion and all but you're the first I've encountered who's said that. The majority have proclaimed Kidman to be the MVP, and I agree with that. Witherspoon was OK but I thought she was the weakest of the cast because she was clearly channeling that Bette Davis-level of overacting, it felt like she belonged in a 30s picture, heavily contrasting the subtle and realistic performances everyone else was giving. I mean Dern went into histronics at some points but she made them believable. She's Dern, she can do anything and I want Citizen Ruth in the Collention pronto!

[shaysaysHAHA]

I seriously doubt at this point that Sixteen Candles is coming from Criterion, which is unfortunate as the current BD looks pretty rough. Why Criterion would tease it for 2017 and then never announce it I have no idea.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by shaysaysHAHA

I seriously doubt at this point that Sixteen Candles is coming from Criterion, which is unfortunate as the current BD looks pretty rough. Why Criterion would tease it for 2017 and then never announce it I have no idea.

Just because it's in the New Year's drawing doesn't automatically mean it'll come out that year. As a random example, Eraserhead was hinted in the 2013 NYD drawing, but wasn't released until Sept. 2014.

[Arawn]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I didn't realize that HDS was in Godfather II

I had forgotten.

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Just because it's in the New Year's drawing doesn't automatically mean it'll come out that year. As a random example, Eraserhead was hinted in the 2013 NYD drawing, but wasn't released until Sept. 2014.

Not to mention the numerous clues for Y Tu Mama Tambien.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I didn't realize that HDS was in Godfather II and Logan Lucky. I just saw the latter and didn't catch his appearance.

Stanton was in a lot of big movies you might not have noticed him in, including The Wrong Man and Cool Hand Luke, just to name two. Even Criterion seems not to have noticed that he was also in Ride the Whirlwind and Two Lane Blacktop.

https://www.criterion.com/people/342...y-dean-stanton

[Hoke Moseley]

Originally Posted by belcherman

Stanton was in a lot of big movies you might not have noticed him in, including The Wrong Man and Cool Hand Luke, just to name two. Even Criterion seems not to have noticed that he was also in Ride the Whirlwind and Two Lane Blacktop.

https://www.criterion.com/people/342...y-dean-stanton

The Rose doesn't show up on his page either.

[Mr.F]

Just popping in to say that Legally Blonde is a comedy masterpiece that has stood the test of time much better than other comedies from that decade and will continue to do so and I will not stand for the slander happening in this thread

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by Poya

Really? That's your opinion and all but you're the first I've encountered who's said that. The majority have proclaimed Kidman to be the MVP, and I agree with that. Witherspoon was OK but I thought she was the weakest of the cast because she was clearly channeling that Bette Davis-level of overacting, it felt like she belonged in a 30s picture, heavily contrasting the subtle and realistic performances everyone else was giving. I mean Dern went into histronics at some points but she made them believable. She's Dern, she can do anything and I want Citizen Ruth in the Collention pronto!

I went to head into the original thread to find thoughts that mirrored mine (recalled there were a couple) and found this. So there are a few others.

I realize it's not a common opinion, more-so due to the fact that the entire ensemble is uniformly excellent and less to do with Witherspoon herself. But I found her sensibilities, the ones she's being derided for in this thread, being put to perfect use. She's used more as a role of ironic sincerity than a punchline. Her character was the one I enjoyed most when on screen, especially when she was chilling with Woodley. Probably because her role wasn't as meaty and she was allowed to operate on a level that I don't often see from her. It was more engaging than, say, Kidman's therapy, which could sometimes border on the obvious with its scene-chewery. She was excellent, no doubt, and I won't be at all upset when she takes home that award tomorrow night.