The Criterion Collection

[Feiereisel]

Originally Posted by WrathOfHan

I think Personal Shopper is good but very uneven. It tries to tackle many different tones, but I feel it needed to stick with one.

To me the conscious shifting and purposeful inconsistency you mention works to the film's advantage. It never allows the film settle into a conventional rhythm, thus forcing the viewer to make sense of the film and keeping everything is unexpected in a very subtle way.

[Show spoiler]Also, count me among the big fans of the text-centered middle portion of the film.

[starman15317]

My flash sale package came in today!

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by starman15317

My flash sale package came in today!

[Show spoiler]

Nice!

I love Ghost World, and I have to yet to watch my new copy of David Lynch: The Art Life though I am going to change that tonight, and Barry Lyndon, of course, a classic. Sweet haul.

[Greymattersplat]

Originally Posted by The Sovereign

Does anyone have any constructive criticism/warning regarding The Lure?

I bought it on the flash sale (along with Vampyr and Hopscotch), but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet because I am oh so far behind. Everything I've seen about it makes me think I'm gonna dig it though.

[The Sovereign]

Originally Posted by Greymattersplat

I bought it on the flash sale (along with Vampyr and Hopscotch), but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet because I am oh so far behind. Everything I've seen about it makes me think I'm gonna dig it though.

I completely understand the getting behind in watching. Unless I see a few really dire warnings, I'm taking the plunge. It has an irresistible blend of surreal and 80s look about it. A siren's song maybe.

[koberulz]

How frequent are the B&N sales?

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by koberulz

How frequent are the B&N sales?

Twice a year, every July and November. Usually 3 weeks long, although have been extended.

[koberulz]

Cheers. Just started getting into Criterions a few weeks ago, so it's all new and I'm trying to figure out how much to binge next week. Especially with a 20% off at JB Hi-Fi expected during November as well.

My wallet is going to hate me by December.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Cheers. Just started getting into Criterions a few weeks ago, so it's all new and I'm trying to figure out how much to binge next week. Especially with a 20% off at JB Hi-Fi expected during November as well.

My wallet is going to hate me by December.

So you're new here? Well here's an idea: Go back and read the thread! There are only 8527 pages!



Welcome! Everyone around here is pretty cool.

Except for Ray Jackson. You want to avoid him at all costs!

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

[Show spoiler]So you're new here? Well here's an idea: Go back and read the thread! There are only 8527 pages!

Welcome! Everyone around here is pretty cool.

Except for Ray Jackson. You want to avoid him at all costs!

Jealousy and envy are very ugly qualities Aaron.

Me...I'm just living the dream.

[Show spoiler]

[theater dreamer]

Welcome aboard! Plan the first leg of your twelve-step program now, because the Criterion Collection is highly addictive.

What kinds of films do you like? Are you a contemporary movie guy, into the classics, or heavily into foreign films? How about favorite genres?

If you're just starting off with the collection, and want to broaden your horizons, there are some blu-rays that really should be in every collection, in my opinion. I've included the country each director hails from.

Akira Kurosawa's Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai in English; Japan)
Jean-Luc Godard's À bout de souffle (Breathless; France)
Ingmar Bergman's Det sjunde inseglet (The Seventh Seal; Sweden)
Federico Felini's 8½ (Italy)
Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (England)
François Truffaut's Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows; France)
Charlie Chaplin's City Lights (England)
Krzysztof Kieslowski's Trois couleurs trilogy (Three Colors trilogy; Poland)
Alexander Mackendrick's The Sweet Smell of Success (United States)
Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront (Turkey)
Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory (United States)
Yasujirô Ozu's Tôkyô monogatari (Tokyo Story; Japan)
David Lynch's Mulholland Drive (United States)
John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (United States)
Louis Malle's Au revoir les enfants (France)
Edward Yang's Yi Yi (China)

That's just scratching the surface. So many wonderful directors and films I haven't mentioned. It really depends on what kinds of films you go for. If you're looking to branch out, the Collection is a great place to explore.

You're going to have a lot of fun, especially if you have an open mind. Feel free to ask any questions you might have. Lots of knowledgeable and friendly people here to help you out.

Originally Posted by koberulz

Cheers. Just started getting into Criterions a few weeks ago, so it's all new and I'm trying to figure out how much to binge next week. Especially with a 20% off at JB Hi-Fi expected during November as well.

My wallet is going to hate me by December.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Cheers. Just started getting into Criterions a few weeks ago, so it's all new and I'm trying to figure out how much to binge next week. Especially with a 20% off at JB Hi-Fi expected during November as well.

My wallet is going to hate me by December.

Welcome to the brotherhood my man.

If you could just fill out our standard membership questionnaire and PM it to iscottie, that would be great.

1. Top Gun...Criterion worthy?

2. Digipaks...beautiful creatures of god or seeds of the Antichrist?

3. Lars Von Trier...genius or sick bastard?...and how do you feel about genital mutilation in cinema?

4. Free association...Jon Mulvaney...your thoughts?

5. Have you seen Salo?

[koberulz]

I'm not new to the forum, but have rarely left the Australia subforum to this point.

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Welcome aboard! Plan the first leg of your twelve-step program now, because the Criterion Collection is highly addictive.

I noticed, my Wishlist has 46 films on it already...

Was looking to upgrade 39 Steps and Lady Vanishes from my DVD copies, stumbled across the Classic Hitchcock set going for hundreds as an OOP Blu on eBay and Amazon, Googled (DDGed?) to try and find it elsewhere...turns out it was in print, fairly cheap (relative to secondhand listings at least), and available from a website that looked like it had some pretty neat films on it. Much browsing ensued.

Also picked up The Lodger, Benjamin Button, Godzilla, Pan's Labyrinth, Insomnia, The Game and Kiss Me Deadly from a couple of Aussie members in the Marketplace here, although KMD was faulty so in the process of swapping it out for Thin Red Line. Not before finding out that the ending is a big deal, so self-control will be vital until I can pick up another copy.

Akira Kurosawa's Shichinin no samurai (Seven Samurai in English; Japan)
Charlie Chaplin's City Lights (England)
Alexander Mackendrick's The Sweet Smell of Success (United States)
David Lynch's Mulholland Drive (United States)

Already on my list. I own Paths of Glory through Cinema Cult in Australia, and imported On the Waterfront from the UK. I also have Night of the Hunter as part of the United Artists 90-Film DVD collection, which I bought a year or two ago after a significant price drop and haven't even started yet.

Jean-Luc Godard's À bout de souffle (Breathless; France)
Ingmar Bergman's Det sjunde inseglet (The Seventh Seal; Sweden)
Federico Felini's 8½ (Italy)
François Truffaut's Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows; France)
Krzysztof Kieslowski's Trois couleurs trilogy (Three Colors trilogy; Poland)
Yasujirô Ozu's Tôkyô monogatari (Tokyo Story; Japan)
John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (United States)
Louis Malle's Au revoir les enfants (France)
Edward Yang's Yi Yi (China)

I hate you. I also don't believe that 'a bout de souffle' translates to 'breathless'...it sounds like someone doing a really bad accent.

I recall looking at Les Enfants, Three Colors and Seventh Seal before dismissing them for whatever reason, but the others don't even ring a bell. Mind you, I've gone through a lot of films, I browsed literally the entire Blu-Ray collection. If the small summary there was of interest, I clicked through. Generally checking reviews here plus having a glance at the TV Tropes page.

1. Top Gun...Criterion worthy?

I used to have a friend who insisted Top Gun was the greatest film of all time, although I've managed to avoid even looking it up, much less buying/watching it.

2. Digipaks...beautiful creatures of god or seeds of the Antichrist?

This is an excellent opportunity to again complain about Criterion putting the openings of their slips on the wrong side. I have to put Godzilla and Classic Hitchcock on the shelf back-to-front...

3. Lars Von Trier...genius or sick bastard?...and how do you feel about genital mutilation in cinema?

4. Free association...Jon Mulvaney...your thoughts?

5. Have you seen Salo?

I'm aware that all five of these questions are jokes, but I don't even understand these references....

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Jealousy and envy are very uglies qualities Aaron.

Me...I'm just living the dream.

You disturb me and entertain me at the same time.

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Welcome aboard! Plan the first leg of your twelve-step program now, because the Criterion Collection is highly addictive.

Addictive is putting it mildly.

And this is coming from some who did cocaine in the 80s.


ETA: I think Ray's 5 questions should be mandatory for every member of the forum!

1. Top Gun may be SO great that Criterion is not worthy of it! I mean, the volleyball scene alone.

2. Digipacks are OK. DigiBOOKS -- now we're talking!

3. Absolutely brilliant AND sick bastard. Though I'm not answering the second part -- but I do own Antichrist.

4. Preach!

5. No, but probably should someday just to say I have.

[ArnoldLayne56]

Originally Posted by The Sovereign

Just wanted to second all of this - especially regarding Hobson's Choice. I recently listed it among my top 50 favorite films and am embarrassed to say that I'm still holding out for a Criterion upgrade. Really is time to go region-free!

My region- free solution is RedFox' AnyDVD. Rip'em on my PC to MyCloud drive, watch with Oppo.

[theater dreamer]

Oh, I knew you weren't new to the forum, just our thread. But the Criterion thread is like a runaway train, careening towards impending doom, with only the occasional e-mail from Jon Mulvaney to assuage our fears.

Every single film you mentioned below, I have in my collection. Sounds like we have pretty similar tastes, or at least, the same mind for exploration. You might check the Criterion link in my signature for some other ideas.

Just prepare to have more films than you have time to watch them. I will watch every single film I buy, but I might be too old to remember them by the time I've cleared out my queue. Criterion keeps releasing films I really want, and their supplements are like walking through a mine field: I have to walk through them very slowly to take everything in, and it keeps me from going through my "to watch" list as quickly as I'd like. Plus, I have other films that need watching.

Originally Posted by koberulz

I'm not new to the forum, but have rarely left the Australia subforum to this point.

I noticed, my Wishlist has 46 films on it already...

Was looking to upgrade 39 Steps and Lady Vanishes from my DVD copies, stumbled across the Classic Hitchcock set going for hundreds as an OOP Blu on eBay and Amazon, Googled (DDGed?) to try and find it elsewhere...turns out it was in print, fairly cheap (relative to secondhand listings at least), and available from a website that looked like it had some pretty neat films on it. Much browsing ensued.

Also picked up The Lodger, Benjamin Button, Godzilla, Pan's Labyrinth, Insomnia, The Game and Kiss Me Deadly from a couple of Aussie members in the Marketplace here, although KMD was faulty so in the process of swapping it out for Thin Red Line. Not before finding out that the ending is a big deal, so self-control will be vital until I can pick up another copy.

[mja345]

Ray, don't forget your sixth question, which you constantly PM to board members.

Would you like to perform a scene by scene re-enactment of "In the Realm of the Senses" with me? I have a small office down in the San Fernando Valley that would be perfect.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by koberulz

I recall looking at Les Enfants, Three Colors and Seventh Seal before dismissing them for whatever reason, but the others don't even ring a bell.

Seems you not only “dismissed” some very classic and essential films (you know, for ‘whatever reason’), but you also should study up on film history.

[BaronVH]

I love suggesting Criterion movies, but it is damn near impossible to recommend since they so vastly range in style. Guillermo del Toro may be my favorite director, but I cannot stand Lars von Trier, although I acknowledge his talent. I enjoy physical comedy, so Jacques Tati and Harold Lloyd are way up there, but that would not be for many. There are some films that are so good, it may just not even matter like Diabloliques, Seven Samurai, Rebecca and a few others already recommended, but it depends on personal taste.

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by koberulz

I'm aware that all five of these questions are jokes, but I don't even understand these references....

3. Lars von Trier - one of the most polarizing directors working today. His controversial film Antichrist is in the Criterion Collection. Depending on your take (and stomach for the aforementioned "mutilation"), either a profound and harrowing psychodrama or an unnecessarily graphic and pretentious shocker masquerading as art.

4. Jon Mulvaney - legendary Criterion customer service rep who may or may not actually exist. He replies to my emails anyway...

5. Salo - one of the most controversial films of all time, and a staple of the Criterion Collection. Same deal as with 3 above, but worse: Either a brilliant allegorical assault on fascism, or revolting, depraved and wholly without redeeming features. Take your pick. Seen by some as a cinematic litmus test, or badge of honor.