The Criterion Collection

[castor]

Originally Posted by iScottie

[Show spoiler]

https://www.criterion.com/current/po...s-closet-picks

She loves Bad Timing! I just watched it again on BD yesterday. It's one of my all time favorites too.

[AaronJ]

Well, my copy of Le Samourai doesn't look like it will be arriving until Friday. Which, honestly, is fine with me. I have so much to watch.

[malakaheso]

Does anyone else here agree that Dressed To Kill is extremely overrated? I must confess that I prefer De Palma's crime films to his thrillers, but I've never got the fuss over Dressed To Kill. It's plodding, indifferently acted, and while there are some good visuals, I wouldn't say it's top shelf in that department either, although the museum and train station sequences are extremely well done.

I picked it up at the current B+N sale and wish I hadn't.

[theater dreamer]

I'm only slightly disturbed by this, Ray. I say slightly because we have come to expect the unexpected from you. It all started that time you managed to make your way onto Tony Scott's set, casually sauntering into the Top Gun volleyball scene whilst wearing only khaki shorts, aviator shades, dog tags and a smile. Since then, well, it's progressively gone downhill.

Next thing we know, you'll be holed up in a little one story house with your dog Precious, and a fat woman trapped in a basement well.


Ray prepares for a trip to Barnes and Noble, as a 45 of "Goodbye Horses" plays in the next room.

Thankfully, the more astute posters of the Criterion Collection discussion have learned how to avoid such uncomfortable run ins; we hide inside our houses when it will be dark soon, as you mostly like to go shopping at night...mostly.

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head.

Tomorrow I'm going to call in sick to work and make blueberry crepes and fresh croissants for breakfast.

Then spend the entire day in the nude.

Not one article of clothing will cover my body from dawn to dusk.

With the possible exception of the French beret I purchased at JC Penny back in college.

...this will be a day long remembered.

[Show spoiler]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FsrPEUt2Dg

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head.

Tomorrow I'm going to call in sick to work and make blueberry crepes and fresh croissants for breakfast.

Then spend the entire day in the nude.

Not one article of clothing will cover my body from dawn to dusk.

With the possible exception of the French beret I purchased at JC Penny back in college.

...this will be a day long remembered.

[Show spoiler]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FsrPEUt2Dg

No dinner and movie via Skype with JM? I've heard he covers his webcam...

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by Hoke Moseley

I'm really hoping Lost in America has been selling well enough for Criterion to release some of Brooks' other films. Real Life and Modern Romance especially would be great.

That would be a sweet box set.

[nitin]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

Does anyone else here agree that Dressed To Kill is extremely overrated? I must confess that I prefer De Palma's crime films to his thrillers, but I've never got the fuss over Dressed To Kill. It's plodding, indifferently acted, and while there are some good visuals, I wouldn't say it's top shelf in that department either, although the museum and train station sequences are extremely well done.

I picked it up at the current B+N sale and wish I hadn't.

I think it's a good film overall but I agree that the the sum is less than its parts. But I feel the same about Blow Out too (although there I find the overall film to be average only but with stronger parts/highlights like the entire end sequence). My favorite De Palma from his out and out Hitchcock phase is actually Obsession which is generally the least liked.

[theater dreamer]

I liked Blow Out much more than Dressed to Kill. But I've only seen Dressed once, so maybe I need a repeat viewing.

I like De Palma's films, generally speaking. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall back when he, Spielberg, Lucas, Ford Coppola and Scorsese were all starting out together. That had to have been a fascinating house!

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by nitin

I think it's a good film overall but I agree that the the sum is less than its parts. But I feel the same about Blow Out too (although there I find the overall film to be average only but with stronger parts/highlights like the entire end sequence). My favorite De Palma from his out and out Hitchcock phase is actually Obsession which is generally the least liked.

Obsession deserves a re-discovery. But I think Blow Out is his best movie. Dressed To Kill, I don't think much of except for the museum sequence... De Palma is always at his best when he doesn't have to worry about dialogue.

[javy]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

... De Palma is always at his best when he doesn't have to worry about dialogue.

So basically what you're saying is that if he had written Carlito's Way it would not have been the masterpiece film that it is.

I love Dressed to Kill.

[thatguamguy]

I think Carlito's Way is good, but it feels like "for-hire De Palma" to me. There's a great quote from Spielberg in the book about the making of "Bonfire of the Vanities" where he says that he's looking forward to the movie, but it (Bonfire) seems like something that Sidney Lumet or Alan Pakula could make, whereas in his prime, De Palma was making movies that only he could make.

[The Sovereign]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

Does anyone else here agree that Dressed To Kill is extremely overrated? I must confess that I prefer De Palma's crime films to his thrillers, but I've never got the fuss over Dressed To Kill. It's plodding, indifferently acted, and while there are some good visuals, I wouldn't say it's top shelf in that department either, although the museum and train station sequences are extremely well done.

Personally, I’ve always enjoyed De Palma films on an entertainment level far more than on any artistic or substantive level. I will say that I consider Blow Out to be a cut above any of his other work that I’ve seen, but I always considered him a shelf below that group of American directors such as Scorsese or Coppola, with whom he has been included.

As for Dressed to Kill, I knew exactly what it was by the time Criterion got it, but I understand your opinion on it. Like Body Double, it has a playfulness about it that I think you either get or don’t.

[Hoke Moseley]

Dressed to Kill is a masterpiece for me. It has everything you want in a De Palma movie, cranked up to 11.

[postmodel]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

I liked Blow Out much more than Dressed to Kill. But I've only seen Dressed once, so maybe I need a repeat viewing.

I like De Palma's films, generally speaking. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall back when he, Spielberg, Lucas, Ford Coppola and Scorsese were all starting out together. That had to have been a fascinating house!

Seeing some home movie footage in the Spielberg doc was borderline overwhelming haha. I just want to see it all. I want a documentary of just those home movies with some Spielberg, Lucas, Coppola, Scorsese, De Palma commentary over it.

There's something about Blow Out that gets me every time. I am a huge De Palma fan and while it's tough for me to pick a number one, BO is definitely up there.

I hope to see more De Palma via Criterion, especial a Blu of Sisters. I still can't believe that hasn't happened yet. I've been holding off on Arrow for this reason.

[theater dreamer]

I think that of all the movies I've seen him in, Travolta's best performance is in Blow Out. Pulp Fiction might be my favorite movie of his, but in Blow Out, he really brings it. The role doesn't call for a lot of dynamic emotion; it's much more subtle. When

[Show spoiler]Sally dies, I feel his pain. And then, when he's incorporating her death scream into the film at the end, and the director comments on the talent of the actress, the look on his face as he hears it is priceless. He's in pain, and yet numb at the same time.

The highest compliment I can give any actor is that, while watching them, I don't think they're playing a role. Travolta does that here. He really escapes into the part of Jack.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

Does anyone else here agree that Dressed To Kill is extremely overrated? I must confess that I prefer De Palma's crime films to his thrillers, but I've never got the fuss over Dressed To Kill. It's plodding, indifferently acted, and while there are some good visuals, I wouldn't say it's top shelf in that department either, although the museum and train station sequences are extremely well done.

I picked it up at the current B+N sale and wish I hadn't.

Sorry, I can't agree with this. I think Dressed To Kill is fantastic. Keep in mind De Palma has a wildly dark sense of humor and the whole thing is a lot more tongue-in-cheek than many people realize. De Palma denies it, but it also seems very much influenced by the 70s giallo cycle of films (as well as the obvious Hitchcock allusions). De Palma is at his best when he is at his most ostentatious, and I think Dressed To Kill finds him at the top of his game.

[diskspinner]

Went early to pick this up...

[Show spoiler]LS1.jpg

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[Todd Tomorrow]

Dressed to Kill is De Palma firing on all cylinders, it’s my favourite film of his. Over the years I’ve been back and forth between that, Blow Out and Carrie, but Dressed to Kill is the film I come back to most often. It’s pure movie joy.

[MJD64]

De Palma is a filmmaking genius and I love Dressed To Kill; that killer combination of suspense and black humor works beautifully, and Michael Caine, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon, Angie Dickinson and that scene-stealer Dennis Franz are all terrific (that scene between a hilariously uncouth Franz and Allen in the police station has always been a favorite). Count me among those who love Obsession, that Bernard Herrmann score working in tandem with De Palma's swirling and elegant camera moves make for a really memorable romantic thriller (De Palma's recollections on working with a frequently difficult Cliff Robertson on that film in the documentary De Palma are a riot). I have the region-free Arrow Blu and it's easily the best Obsession has looked on any video incarnation.

Still waiting on a domestic Blu release for Sisters, Criterion...

[waxHead]

Originally Posted by diskspinner

Went early to pick this up...

[Show spoiler]Attachment 186202

Attachment 186203

Just came back from buying mine at B&N! I've waited so long to watch this, I hope it lives up to my expectations. I loved Army of Shadows, Le Cercle Rouge and Le Doulos