The Criterion Collection

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by octagon

Between WAC stepping up their game and Criterion cracking the Warner libraries we gotta be getting close though.

Right?

It and Bringing Up Baby. Crosses fingers.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by StarDestroyer52

It and Bringing Up Baby. Crosses fingers.

I'm not a huge fan but I absolutely get why other people love it.

And to be fair, the bit where you-know-who unknowingly drags the wrong you-know-what into the police station is absolutely freaking perfect.

A great gag, perfect timing, perfect editing, perfect performances...that scene is as good as scenes get.

[Richard--W]

Originally Posted by jshaide

Janus tweeted that WANDA is coming back to theaters this summer.

This is excellent news, and the disc could be terrific if they do it right. The production of WANDA as well as Loden’s story is fascinating.

The You Must Remember This podcast on Loden is a great place to start if you want your curiosity stroked. I luckily got to see the film on 35mm about two years ago and was a massive discovery for me.

Janus and Criterion doing WANDA? That's great news.

I saw Barbara Loden's WANDA in a repertory theater in the late 1970s and loved it. It's an earnest and truthful independent film. That scene where she walks into the bar and asks for a drink not realizing it's being robbed is just ... well, the film has pathos. Genuine pathos. When Ryko Distribution came out with a limited edition DVD I grabbed it. It's been out of print for years. It could look much better. I hope Criterion will restore and release the film on bluray.



When you get to know Barbara Loden's story, and see what a fine filmmaker she was, it's really sad that she never got to direct another.

[dressedtokill]

Originally Posted by octagon

Between WAC stepping up their game and Criterion cracking the Warner libraries we gotta be getting close though.

Right?

I'm almost certain that Criterion will end up releasing Arsenic and Old Lace and Bringing Up Baby. Honestly, it's more of a question of when exactly....

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by dressedtokill

I'm almost certain that Criterion will end up releasing Arsenic and Old Lace and Bringing Up Baby. Honestly, it's more of a question of when exactly....

It would be a great Christmas present, Criterion. *hint* *hint*

[Scottie]

TCM will be having a Dietrich/von Sternberg marathon in another week or two.

I've set my DVR to record the films, even if I haven't been in a movie watching mood all year really.

[Burt Lancaster]

I seriously thought Come and See was going to be announced already, due to that post about the new restoration.

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

I watched Meantimethe other night, first Mike Leigh film I've seen. I enjoyed it and thought the characters were flawed but likeable, and I could certainly relate to some of them. It really didn't seem it's age, maybe because the themes were still relevant. Almost wish it would've been longer. And the music was simple and effective.

And other of his films recommended if I liked Meantime? Seems some of his later films were a little more mainstream, would like to see more of his "smaller" films.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by SuperFlyHighGuy

I watched Meantimethe other night, first Mike Leigh film I've seen. I enjoyed it and thought the characters were flawed but likeable, and I could certainly relate to some of them. It really didn't seem it's age, maybe because the themes were still relevant. Almost wish it would've been longer. And the music was simple and effective.

And other of his films recommended if I liked Meantime? Seems some of his later films were a little more mainstream, would like to see more of his "smaller" films.

"Naked" is his best film by far and probably one of the best films of the 90s. Check out "Life is Sweet", "High Hopes", and "Secrets and Lies" as well.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by SuperFlyHighGuy

I watched Meantimethe other night, first Mike Leigh film I've seen. I enjoyed it and thought the characters were flawed but likeable, and I could certainly relate to some of them. It really didn't seem it's age, maybe because the themes were still relevant. Almost wish it would've been longer. And the music was simple and effective.

And other of his films recommended if I liked Meantime? Seems some of his later films were a little more mainstream, would like to see more of his "smaller" films.

I think All or Nothing can be considered more mainstream because of the cast, but it’s my favorite Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville!

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by Scottie

TCM will be having a Dietrich/von Sternberg marathon in another week or two.

I've set my DVR to record the films, even if I haven't been in a movie watching mood all year really.

Yup. I posted the dates and times a few pages back. Four of the six in the upcoming box set.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by octagon

I'm not a huge fan but I absolutely get why other people love it.

And to be fair, the bit where you-know-who unknowingly drags the wrong you-know-what into the police station is absolutely freaking perfect.

A great gag, perfect timing, perfect editing, perfect performances...that scene is as good as scenes get.

And to think that Hepburn wasn't sure she could do comedy!

[theater dreamer]

I’m been watching Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator tonight. His first true talkie rises to the heights of his best silent films, in my opinion. The humor and poignancy I’ve grown accustomed to are still there, but the potency of his political satire is revelatory.

One of my favorite scenes involves Hynkel (Adolf Hitler) and Napaloni (Benito Mussolini) getting shaves. It’s the kind of sight gag you’d expect from Chaplin’s slapstick, while serving as a biting commentary on the puerile nature of the two dictators.

75D38FD1-C43A-4C4C-B908-FE72D32334D1.jpg

I find it interesting that Chaplin later expressed a sort of regret about making the film after learning the true extent of Hitler’s atrocities, stating that he would have never made it had he known (he began shooting shortly before the outbreak of World War II). I don’t see the film as being insensitive towards the millions that suffered at the hands of the Nazis.

Thoughts, everybody?

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

I find it interesting that Chaplin later expressed a sort of regret about making the film after learning the true extent of Hitler’s atrocities, stating that he would have never made it had he known (he began shooting shortly before the outbreak of World War II). I don’t see the film as being insensitive towards the millions that suffered at the hands of the Nazis.

Thoughts, everybody?

What he probably meant was that he felt doing a comedy presenting Hitler as a blowhard buffoon to some level undermines the true extent of the sordid atrocities that were committed in his reign. One may or may not agree with him, but I assume that was his viewpoint when he made the statement.

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by ravenus

What he probably meant was that he felt doing a comedy presenting Hitler as a blowhard buffoon to some level undermines the true extent of the sordid atrocities that were committed in his reign. One may or may not agree with him, but I assume that was his viewpoint when he made the statement.

I can see that point of view, but Chaplin made the film based on the knowledge he had at the time. Yes, he painted Hitler as a bit of a buffoon, but a lot of people misread what was going on in 1940. He also made an impassioned plea for the people being persecuted in it to be left alone, and supposedly personally sent this film to Hitler. It speaks volumes about Chaplin that he should be sensitive to how the work he created might make survivors and their families feel. I, myself, am Polish on my father's side, and my family comes from Warsaw. I don't know of any family members who lost their lives, but if they had, my feelings about the film would not change. If satire were relegated to people we deemed as having some redeeming value, it would lose much of its bite.

I'm about to finish, so I've not yet heard the speech he makes at the end, clearly expressed as his personal point of view, not by the barber character he's portraying. I already know this is a film I'll have to revisit, especially after reading more about it.

[ShellOilJunior]

[koberulz]

Was it Chaplin who said that? I had it in my head that that anecdote related to To Be or Not To Be, not The Great Dictator.

[magnetiques]

surely there's no way criterion commissioned the art for the first iteration for SLV, only to change it to what looks like a placeholder image--at best

[The Sovereign]

Criterion site is currently shut down - reads "Something Wonderful Is Happening." Not sure if this is something routine or significant.

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Was it Chaplin who said that? I had it in my head that that anecdote related to To Be or Not To Be, not The Great Dictator.

Nah, Lubitsch had some idea of what was going on (though likely not the full extent), he was from Europe, he still had people over there. To Be Or Not To Be builds arguably its greatest punchline off of concentration camps.

Chaplin, on the other hand: "Had I known of the actual horrors of the German concentration camps, I could not have made The Great Dictator; I could not have made fun of the homicidal insanity of the Nazis."