The Criterion Collection

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by belcherman

It's a pity more of the classic Ealing comedies haven't made it to this side of the pond.

Agreed. For those of us region-free, the UK releases have been a blessing.

Originally Posted by Banned User

As a result Studiocanals vintage classic series has become one of my favorite labels. And not just because of Alec Guinness even though that's a large part of it. I could watch The Belles of St Trinians, Dead of Night and stuff like School for Scoundrels and An Inspector calls over and over. All great movies. Not to mention Brighton Rock, Hobsons Choice and many others. The Ealing movies are just icing on the cake.

Have to hand it to StudioCanal. Some great titles released under in the Vintage Classics series. If I may add to those you mentioned, I've recently picked up Dunkirk (1958), Went the Day Well?, It Always Rains on Sundays (considered a forerunner of the "Kitchen Sink" school), Payroll, and The Captive Heart - among others.

[joy-division]

Originally Posted by Reddington

Enjoy your haul. (I have the Hammer set on the way from the UK right now).

Volume 3 is available for pre-order now

Hammer Vol. 2: Criminal Intent Unboxing - YouTube

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

I am trying to buy a copy of Videodrome as a gift for someone but it is out of stock everywhere. Any idea why?

From the Videodrome topic:

Originally Posted by dwk

Most likely it is in-between pressings. Seems to happen occasionally with Criterion titles, stock runs out and scalpers try to sell them for outrageous amounts.

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by joy-division

Volume 3 is available for pre-order now

Hammer Vol. 2: Criminal Intent Unboxing - YouTube

Thanks. Truth be told, I'm not a Hammer fan or collector in as much as I don't like the horror genre for which the studio is most famous. The Volume 2 set features four less well-known thrillers, which sound quite interesting. Plus, two were shot in black and white and CinemaScope (I do collect B&W 'Scope films; we have a dedicated thread here on this site, expertly overseen by noirjunkie ).

[ravenus]

Yeah, Hammer Vol2 seemed different, and more consistent with the theme and quality of films. In most cases, I would prefer to get selected individual releases when they come out.

[ravenus]

So I saw the new blu of Silence of the Lambs. While at the outset the drab and sometimes soft palette of the film may not be the poster-child for a brand new 4k restoration (of course, close-ups immediately look great and that's a good part of the film) but comparison with the MGM images shows significant improvement. You can see the sketches on Dr. Lecter's wall much more clearly, and the colors are more balanced (the MGM disc seemed to lean towards pink). Clothing textures are clearer too, especially Starling's green coat. And unlike the MGM's smoothed out look, grain is much more apparent.

Apart from the commentary, disc 1 houses a video essay by Maitland McDounagh, which is by the numbers in most part and never very interesting, on account of being mostly a generalized superficial account of serial killers (and their distinction from spree murderers). There's about 40 min of deleted/extended scenes, which are mostly mechanical supports justifiably pruned from the lean final product. The biggest scene here is the footage of the evangelist preaching on Lecter's cell TV set, the actor seems to give a really long single take and at the end of it he is applauded by the crew.

The extras of disc 2 seem to be taken entirely from the MGM release, do please let me know if there are any new on-disc extras here. The booklet includes reprints of 2 forewords from Thomas Harris - one of them talks about his meeting with the character that inspired Hannibal Lecter - pretty creepy, if true. There's also an excellent 1991 interview with Jonathan Demme who comes across as a very socially conscious film-maker at a time when it was not particularly fashionable.

[SammyJankis]

Speaking of Maborosi, Koreeda just won the Palm for his latest, Shoplifters. This entire festival seems to be a winner; felt like every day brought a new likely candidate.

[UncleBuckWild]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

Speaking of Maborosi, Koreeda just won the Palm for his latest, Shoplifters. This entire festival seems to be a winner; felt like every day brought a new likely candidate.

It sounds interesting, I'd love to see it in cinemas, however I doubt if this would play anywhere near me.

I guess I'll end up watching it online or perhaps wait for the Blu-ray release.

Magnolia has acquired the North American rights, so at least it would get the adequate exposure around major cities.

[sawdustandtinsel]

Did some digging around Amazon Prime last night and found some notable Criterion titles for those interested; Gomorrah, The Naked Kiss, Thief, Early Summer, and Carnival of Souls. Some possible future releases: Terrorizers (Yang), Morvern Callar (Ramsay), After The Storm (Kore-eda). Also, three Hou Hsiao-Hsien titles; Dust in the Wind, The Sandwich Man, and A Time to Live, A Time to Die.

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

I am trying to buy a copy of Videodrome as a gift for someone but it is out of stock everywhere. Any idea why?

According to Criterion's website:

On backorder, available Jun 11, 2018

[SeanJoyce]

The Naked Kiss has been mentioned a couple times in this thread lately, and I'd just like to say that it's one of the most bizarre films I've ever seen.

[DenOfEarth]

Who'd love to see Peter Jackson's cult 1989 adult muppet classic on BD from Criterion with new 4K restoration and some extras?

[deepbreathsanddeath]

Coming up on 2 years since Chimes at Midnight was released and no review yet. Seems weird. This is one of the biggest releases for Orson Welles fans.

[Dragon Ranger]

Originally Posted by DenOfEarth

Who'd love to see Peter Jackson's cult 1989 adult muppet classic on BD from Criterion with new 4K restoration and some extras?

I'd rather see Bad Taste given the Criterion treatment

[dwk]

Originally Posted by Dragon Ranger

I'd rather see Bad Taste given the Criterion treatment

It has almost been 10 years since Peter Jackson announced he was going to remaster his early films, and the last word was he hasn't even started work on them.

[thatguamguy]

The last I heard, the company has confirmed multiple times that they are working on them, so I'm not sure when you heard that he hadn't started yet.

[dwk]

I can't remember, but I think I saw it mentioned by someone in the business on twitter, but it may have been they, or the person they were mentioning as a source, were talking about the extras and not the restorations. (I usually like post like that so I can find them when I reference them, but unfortunately I didn't in this case.)

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

Speaking of Maborosi, Koreeda just won the Palm for his latest, Shoplifters. This entire festival seems to be a winner; felt like every day brought a new likely candidate.

Kore-eda is following it up with The Truth About Catherine.

About a stormy reunion between a daughter (Binoche) and her actress mother, Catherine (Deneuve), against the backdrop of Catherine's latest role in a sci-fi picture as a mother who never grows old.

Let's hope Kore-eda's win gets the ball rolling for some more blu-ray releases.

[MifuneFan]

A Face in the Crowd added to Criterion's Filmstruck Channel. Also Network.

[exzachary]

I hope they get Zabriskie Point + Visconti's Death in Venice and The Damned