The Criterion Collection

[whiteberry]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

I think that Warner Bros. considers Casablanca to be their flagship film and hold it in the highest regard as it was a film that they themselves actually produced and they use "As Time Goes By" as the "theme music" on their modern day shield intro.

2001 was an MGM film that they acquired through the Turner merger so while I'm sure they also hold it in high regard, I think there's a more "personal" affection towards Casablanca.

Warner Bros got Casablanca from the Turner merger too. Ted Turner owned the pre-1950 Warner Bros movies.

[StarDestroyer52]

I still want to get the Ben-Hur and Ten Commandments box sets because I doubt the silent versions will ever see a standalone release even though the 1925 Ben-Hur is in many ways IMO even better than the 59 version. The '25 Ben-Hur sounds like a film right up Criterion's alley and sounds like a movie WB would license to Criterion in a heartbeat.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by whiteberry

Warner Bros got Casablanca from the Turner merger too. Ted Turner owned the pre-1950 Warner Bros movies.

What I was getting at though was that Casablanca was an actual Warner Bros film; 2001 was an MGM film.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Also they just added the Mr Arkadin films too.

Don't tease me.

[Doctor Jack]

Just watched The Breakfast Club. I know there are people who believe it shouldn’t have gotten a release, but those people are wrong. Criterion releases “important classic and contemporary films”. The Breakfast Club is a hugely important film. It’s something that every teenager should have to view, especially in our current times where teenagers seem more lost than ever. Maybe, as in the film, kids sat down with one another and told one another how they felt and what their problems are instead of creating a false image of themselves on social media and not coming to terms with their issues, they would be better off. I love The Breakfast Club. It is one of the most honest movies out there, and easily the best film about teens ever made. It has earned it right to be in this collection that those of us on this forum so love. Am going to dive into the extras tomorrow. Can’t wait.

[812crew]

Hey there,
To me, the internet is your best friend if you want to learn nuts and bolts about things quickly.
A fast google search ("difference between tracking and dolly shot") will give you a website like this (http://fatcatfilmclub.com/episode-5/5) that will have loads of useful info.
And instead of trying to find a book that will encapsulate everything, google will help you gain insight on a topic and quickly move onto another so that you can soak up A LOT. I've always found film books to be fairly unfocused.

My other recommendation is to just go intern on a local movie. I'm not sure where you live, but usually every big city has people making movies of some caliber. Spending a couple days on set will really help you learn the lingo of what a film set is like. And if you can find a movie operating under SAG or DGA guidelines, a 100k movie is not THAT different than a 100 million dollar movie (in fact, you'll probably learn MORE on the small movie, since the big movies are so segregated by departments).

And also, my final piece of personal advice: don't take the art / theory stuff TOO seriously. For every example you can find where a low angle shot suggests a character's dominance over someone else, you can also find an example where it makes a character claustrophobic and paranoid, like the ceiling's bearing down on them (the opposite of domineering). There are no REAL rules to this stuff (aside from maybe something like, the 180 degree rule, which just LOOKS odd if you break it -- but then again, people break it). For every actor who compliments a director that fawns all over them with talks of motivation, you'll find another actor who says "the director was great. He left me alone which forced me to find the character myself". There are just really few hard and fast rules. To me, a movie works when there's a magic combination of things coming together. The cinematography might be shit, but the acting's so good it doesn't matter. The acting might suck, but the atmosphere is haunting enough to override it. If the rules worked, a director like Scorsese or Spielberg would never have a bad movie. But they do. Something just didn't click that time around. As I get older, I gravitate toward movies that get the emotions right, that feel "real". I can't watch stilted stuff anymore. I can hardly even watch Hitchcock movies anymore, because they're so stage-y. Yeah, the technical stuff might be on point, but that's only a small piece of the puzzle.

If your goal is to write about movies, take a look at how Ebert did it. He always came from the heart and talked about why a movie worked for him. He doesn't bog a reader down with technical stuff, even though he knew it forward and backward. He'd isolate a scene or a line, he'd talk about why something struck him in ways that no other movie did. At the end of the day, that's the stuff that resonates with people. Very rarely does someone say "that's my favorite movie because it has the best usage of prime lenses I've ever seen." I don't really care that Orson Welles did a great tracking shot in "Touch of Evil". There's more to a movie than that. That stuff stands the test of time in only very small circles.

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Changing direction momentarily, quick question going back to the subject of books on film, as a prerequisite for critical assessment and writing. I've tracked down several books that I'm going to read based on the recommendations you've all made. Thank you guys again! The ones that are available to put on my Kindle will be downloaded, and I'll just order the rest in paperback or hard cover as I near completion on whatever I'm reading at a given time. Most of these will deal with prior works of critical assessment from the likes of Manny Farber, Andrew Sarris, Pauline Kael, etc. I'll also delve into the history of film, including the studio system. I've got some wonderful documentaries on the individual studios included with Gone With the Wind, and the Casablanca box set, to get me started on MGM and Warner Bros; these will whet my appetite.

What I'd really like to start out with, however, is a singular book about the technical aspects of how films are shot. I'm not referring to script writing, film production and editing, etc, but the actual bread-and-butter of how the camera is used to shoot movies. Something that will explain to a neophyte like me the difference between a tracking shot and a dolly shot, various techniques used in lighting, even delving into the minutia of how cameras capture picture and sound, both the old behemoths and the digital cameras. I'd also like to learn about film preservation and restoration.

If I'm ever going to write about the films I see, I feel that, in order to do so intelligently, I need a firm base of knowledge about how movies are made. It's one thing to appreciate a movie purely as a work of art. But it's something different, altogether, to see what is appearing on the screen, and understand how a scene was shot. Critics like Roger Ebert would spend hours breaking down a single scene in a classic film. I want the vocabulary necessary to speak about the medium. Does that make sense?

[WeeBey]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Changing direction momentarily, quick question going back to the subject of books on film, as a prerequisite for critical assessment and writing. I've tracked down several books that I'm going to read based on the recommendations you've all made. Thank you guys again! The ones that are available to put on my Kindle will be downloaded, and I'll just order the rest in paperback or hard cover as I near completion on whatever I'm reading at a given time. Most of these will deal with prior works of critical assessment from the likes of Manny Farber, Andrew Sarris, Pauline Kael, etc. I'll also delve into the history of film, including the studio system. I've got some wonderful documentaries on the individual studios included with Gone With the Wind, and the Casablanca box set, to get me started on MGM and Warner Bros; these will whet my appetite.

What I'd really like to start out with, however, is a singular book about the technical aspects of how films are shot. I'm not referring to script writing, film production and editing, etc, but the actual bread-and-butter of how the camera is used to shoot movies. Something that will explain to a neophyte like me the difference between a tracking shot and a dolly shot, various techniques used in lighting, even delving into the minutia of how cameras capture picture and sound, both the old behemoths and the digital cameras. I'd also like to learn about film preservation and restoration.

If I'm ever going to write about the films I see, I feel that, in order to do so intelligently, I need a firm base of knowledge about how movies are made. It's one thing to appreciate a movie purely as a work of art. But it's something different, altogether, to see what is appearing on the screen, and understand how a scene was shot. Critics like Roger Ebert would spend hours breaking down a single scene in a classic film. I want the vocabulary necessary to speak about the medium. Does that make sense?

This was probably recommended to you but just in case not, The Filmmaker's Handbook is a must have. It covers cameras, lenses, lighting, colour, sound, and a lot more. It's very technical but that sounds like what you're looking for.


Cinematography is another good techical book covering some of the same stuff.

[mrjohnnyb]

Indicator/Powerhouse Films is releasing Michelangelo Antonioni's 1975 classic The Passenger for Region-B. Perhaps, an American release will be coming soon.



https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=22704&page=

[mja345]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

Indicator/Powerhouse Films is releasing Michelangelo Antonioni's 1975 classic The Passenger for Region-B. Perhaps, an American release will be coming soon.



https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=22704&page=

It's going to be region free. I think all of the Sony titles they've released are region free. Looks like it's going to be a great edition.

[IronFingaz]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

How many sub fifty year old films have gotten deluxe editions like that? Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Lawrence of Arabia, Singin' in the Rain, Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, Gone With the Wind off the top of my head are all at least fifty years old. 2001: A Space Odyssey's 50th Anniversary isn't until May 12th of this year.

JFK is the one exception I can think of to receive a big box set like the aforementioned films, but it was released to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of John F. Kennedy's death. It went on sale November 12, 2013. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

There's also The Nutty Professor, Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory, The Sound Of Music, The Iron Giant and the James Dean box-set.

[theater dreamer]

Thanks, 812. I gather information from a myriad of sources. I do a lot of searching on Google about film; I found an article which went into great detail about how Kubrick shot Barry London; the cameras and lenses used, how he came up with the ambient lighting. Very helpful. I also read a great number of film reviews online. I've read one of Ebert's books, and I'm about one-quarter of the way through another. What I'm looking for, really, is a book to serve as a reference guide, first to read, and then to go back to in the future, should the need arise. I can and do bookmark sites on my laptop, but I like to have a book on a shelf I can always pour through on a moment's notice. I can also make notes in the book.

I'd love to work on a movie set, but my back pretty much precludes my doing that. The whole reason I'm doing this is to create a new career for myself. I'm on disability for my back after hurting it ten years ago; the last five years, or so, I've been unable to work as a stockbroker because of the surgeries I've needed, and the pain medication I have to take. Writing is something I could do from home. It would incorporate one of my loves while allowing me to work at my own pace. Since I want to move to London eventually, it would also give me the flexibility to live wherever I wanted. I'd just need my laptop and an internet connection.

I appreciate your response.

Originally Posted by 812crew

Hey there,
To me, the internet is your best friend if you want to learn nuts and bolts about things quickly.
A fast google search ("difference between tracking and dolly shot") will give you a website like this (http://fatcatfilmclub.com/episode-5/5) that will have loads of useful info.
And instead of trying to find a book that will encapsulate everything, google will help you gain insight on a topic and quickly move onto another so that you can soak up A LOT. I've always found film books to be fairly unfocused.

My other recommendation is to just go intern on a local movie. I'm not sure where you live, but usually every big city has people making movies of some caliber. Spending a couple days on set will really help you learn the lingo of what a film set is like. And if you can find a movie operating under SAG or DGA guidelines, a 100k movie is not THAT different than a 100 million dollar movie (in fact, you'll probably learn MORE on the small movie, since the big movies are so segregated by departments).

And also, my final piece of personal advice: don't take the art / theory stuff TOO seriously. For every example you can find where a low angle shot suggests a character's dominance over someone else, you can also find an example where it makes a character claustrophobic and paranoid, like the ceiling's bearing down on them (the opposite of domineering). There are no REAL rules to this stuff (aside from maybe something like, the 180 degree rule, which just LOOKS odd if you break it -- but then again, people break it). For every actor who compliments a director that fawns all over them with talks of motivation, you'll find another actor who says "the director was great. He left me alone which forced me to find the character myself". There are just really few hard and fast rules. To me, a movie works when there's a magic combination of things coming together. The cinematography might be shit, but the acting's so good it doesn't matter. The acting might suck, but the atmosphere is haunting enough to override it. If the rules worked, a director like Scorsese or Spielberg would never have a bad movie. But they do. Something just didn't click that time around. As I get older, I gravitate toward movies that get the emotions right, that feel "real". I can't watch stilted stuff anymore. I can hardly even watch Hitchcock movies anymore, because they're so stage-y. Yeah, the technical stuff might be on point, but that's only a small piece of the puzzle.

If your goal is to write about movies, take a look at how Ebert did it. He always came from the heart and talked about why a movie worked for him. He doesn't bog a reader down with technical stuff, even though he knew it forward and backward. He'd isolate a scene or a line, he'd talk about why something struck him in ways that no other movie did. At the end of the day, that's the stuff that resonates with people. Very rarely does someone say "that's my favorite movie because it has the best usage of prime lenses I've ever seen." I don't really care that Orson Welles did a great tracking shot in "Touch of Evil". There's more to a movie than that. That stuff stands the test of time in only very small circles.

Perfect, WeeBey. That's what I'm looking for. I'll read the reviews on both, and see which one is a better fit for my needs. Maybe I'll just get both.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by WeeBey

This was probably recommended to you but just in case not, The Filmmaker's Handbook is a must have. It covers cameras, lenses, lighting, colour, sound, and a lot more. It's very technical but that sounds like what you're looking for.


Cinematography is another good techical book covering some of the same stuff.

[LegacyCosts]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

Just watched The Breakfast Club. I know there are people who believe it shouldn’t have gotten a release, but those people are wrong. Criterion releases “important classic and contemporary films”. The Breakfast Club is a hugely important film. It’s something that every teenager should have to view, especially in our current times where teenagers seem more lost than ever. Maybe, as in the film, kids sat down with one another and told one another how they felt and what their problems are instead of creating a false image of themselves on social media and not coming to terms with their issues, they would be better off. I love The Breakfast Club. It is one of the most honest movies out there, and easily the best film about teens ever made. It has earned it right to be in this collection that those of us on this forum so love. Am going to dive into the extras tomorrow. Can’t wait.

Great post for a great movie. It deserved a Criterion release

[mja345]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

Just watched The Breakfast Club. I know there are people who believe it shouldn’t have gotten a release, but those people are wrong. Criterion releases “important classic and contemporary films”. The Breakfast Club is a hugely important film. It’s something that every teenager should have to view, especially in our current times where teenagers seem more lost than ever. Maybe, as in the film, kids sat down with one another and told one another how they felt and what their problems are instead of creating a false image of themselves on social media and not coming to terms with their issues, they would be better off. I love The Breakfast Club. It is one of the most honest movies out there, and easily the best film about teens ever made. It has earned it right to be in this collection that those of us on this forum so love. Am going to dive into the extras tomorrow. Can’t wait.

Teens are really beholden to what adults expose them to IMO. If they're exposed to interesting shit, then, if they're smart, they'll enjoy challenging films, books, music, etc.

I have a 17 year old nephew who's almost like my younger brother (I'm 13 years older than him). He stays with me and my girlfriend 4-5 nights per month and I always emphasize putting on great films for him to watch and he really loves them. I tell him to put his phone away for a couple hours and we watch something that I know will make him think. The kid is becoming so well-versed in so many areas that it makes me very proud and he loves spending time with open-minded people like me and my girlfriend. The problem is that a lot of kids are around complete dipshits at school and don't have parents who encourage them to expand their horizons. I, fortunately, have two of the greatest parents I could ever hope for who really exposed me to a lot of interesting things, but not everyone has that luxury. Teenagers are so susceptible to simply falling into the current zeitgeist, so influences around them are crucial.

[ThisKid]

Originally Posted by mja345

Teens are really beholden to what adults expose them to IMO. If they're exposed to interesting shit, then, if they're smart, they'll enjoy challenging films, books, music, etc.

I have a 17 year old nephew who's almost like my younger brother (I'm 13 years older than him). He stays with me and my girlfriend 4-5 nights per month and I always emphasize putting on great films for him to watch and he really loves them. I tell him to put his phone away for a couple hours and we watch something that I know will make him think. The kid is becoming so well-versed in so many areas that it makes me very proud and he loves spending time with open-minded people like me and my girlfriend. The problem is that a lot of kids are around complete dipshits at school and don't have parents who encourage them to expand their horizons. I, fortunately, have two of the greatest parents I could ever hope for who really exposed me to a lot of interesting things, but not everyone has that luxury. Teenagers are so susceptible to simply falling into the current zeitgeist, so influences around them are crucial.

I agree. If you look at my collection, one would understandably be shocked of how a 15 year old owns these films. Yes, I have my crazy, stupid films, but I do still LOVE my Criterions. (As well as Woody Allen!) I only really influenced myself, ever since finding out about Army Of Darkness through the internet at the age of 10. Things led to another, with my first Criterion being It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World at just 12. My English teacher has also helped me broaden my interests, having now been introduced to Shakespeare a year ago. The rest of my year is a mix. Some are cool/ok, but others are in need of help. One of the people in my year thinks Norbit is a comedic masterpiece. And if I hear girls talk about Johnny Depp one more time, I'll send them Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as a "gift".

[mja345]

Originally Posted by ThisKid

I agree. If you look at my collection, one would understandably be shocked of how a 15 year old owns these films. Yes, I have my crazy, stupid films, but I do still LOVE my Criterions. (As well as Woody Allen!) I only really influenced myself, ever since finding out about Army Of Darkness through the internet at the age of 10. Things led to another, with my first Criterion being It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World at just 12. My English teacher has also helped me broaden my interests, having now been introduced to Shakespeare a year ago. The rest of my year is a mix. Some are cool/ok, but others are in need of help. One of the people in my year thinks Norbit is a comedic masterpiece. And if I hear girls talk about Johnny Depp one more time, I'll send them Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as a "gift".

Keep it going boss. You're probably the smartest 15 year old I've ever seen, posting really well with all of us grizzled old guys.

[renegadeviking]

Originally Posted by mja345

Keep it going boss. You're probably the smartest 15 year old I've ever seen, posting really well with all of us grizzled old guys.

At 15, I was playing around with Netscape Composer and made a webpage about N64 and Dreamcast games. Then I used a FTP program to upload it after directions.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

It's debatable. When I think of Warner Brothers I think of Casablanca first. The film is also a product of the studio system and what many consider the golden age.

Sorry.. late on this.

I don't think it's debatable. I was in LA this year and took the Warner Studio tour. When you walk in to buy your tickets, there's a huge (like floor to ceiling) picture of Bergman and Bogart from the film. The guide for the tour spoke mostly about where modern shows like Gilmore Girls and Friends were filmed, but the tour also included Casablanca filming locations on the backlot. In the prop room, we were told that the studio's "prize possession" was a lamp that was used in the film. (It is hands off for any current productions to use.)

[demonknight]

Originally Posted by ThisKid

And if I hear girls talk about Johnny Depp one more time, I'll send them Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as a "gift".

Wait a few months and send them Dead Man. It’ll be worse for them.

And I relate. I’ve been aware of Criterion since I was in the 8th grade, after first seeing Chasing Amy & Life of Brian. Currently 20, and I’ve only become even more obsessed. Now have 42 Criterions (including 3 box sets). You’re gonna go far, kid.

[theater dreamer]

Studio tour attractions and displays change with some regularity.

What would they put out from 2001? HAL? The Discovery might be a tad big.

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

Sorry.. late on this.

I don't think it's debatable. I was in LA this year and took the Warner Studio tour. When you walk in to buy your tickets, there's a huge (like floor to ceiling) picture of Bergman and Bogart from the film. The guide for the tour spoke mostly about where modern shows like Gilmore Girls and Friends were filmed, but the tour also included Casablanca filming locations on the backlot. In the prop room, we were told that the studio's "prize possession" was a lamp that was used in the film. (It is hands off for any current productions to use.)

[dkelly26666]

Damn, I got all excited earlier thinking tomorrow would be announcements and then I remembered that tomorrow is MLK Day and that means the announcements won't be until at least Tuesday if not Wednesday.

Damn it, LOL.