The Criterion Collection

[thebratpackwrangler]

Today I grabbed 3 titles. I’m going back maybe later in the week.

In The Mood For Love
The Virgin Suicides
The Piano Teacher

[4kUltraBD]

This may be an odd question in this thread, but has anybody heard any news of Criterion releasing 4K UHD discs?

I used to have a large collection of Criterion discs, but sold them off due to financial issues.

I would love to start rebuilding my Criterion collection again, but I have told myself that I must wait until they get into the 4k game.

Any news would be greatly appreciated.

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by 4kUltraBD

This may be an odd question in this thread, but has anybody heard any news of Criterion releasing 4K UHD discs?

I used to have a large collection of Criterion discs, but sold them off due to financial issues.

I would love to start rebuilding my Criterion collection again, but I have told myself that I must wait until they get into the 4k game.

Any news would be greatly appreciated.

nothing concrete yet from what I've heard. It's almost like all the specialty labels are either holding off or waiting for the first one to jump on board--

Criterion, Shout/Scream, Twilight Time, Kino Lorber, Severin, Warner Archive, Code Red, etc etc etc..............

nothin!

[jw007]

For all the David Fincher enthusiasts out there, I was just an extra for 2 days on the Netflix TV series Mindhunter and the first episode of season 2 was being directed by Fincher himself. I have to confess, I knew that he was a very visually-oriented and detail-obsessed filmmaker but had no idea what I was getting myself into these last 2 days on the set! David Fincher is a director that actors either love or hate (Robert Downey Jr. left jars of urine on the set of Zodiac because he couldn't stand having to deal with an excessive amount of the same takes of the same scene... while Ben Affleck was deeply inspired by Fincher's meticulous work and waited until he directed his first film in part because he wanted to learn more from him).

Anyway, I showed up to the sound stages with my friend John (our call time was 8:30 am yesterday after a more tolerable 8 hour day on Monday) and a few hours later, I found myself on the sound stage and was one of the "bar townies" in a scene shot in a "smoky bar" full of marines and townspeople set in the late 1970s. I saw David Fincher standing behind an array of many ADs, camera operators and RED cameras. At times I watched him walk to the bar to direct this modelesque actress playing the bartender. But my god... he shot over 100 takes of the same scene for those 2 days and the dialogue was the same, with just 3 or 4 different camera angles! I was basically directly in the background in the path of the A cam lens too, so I'll be in the scene (one of the AD's stuck some tape on the floor and told me to "hit my mark" cause I'll be visible in the shot). I was standing with a vintage bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon talking to two other guys in the shot (my friend John and this older fella named "Rik" who I discovered was an actor in a bunch of B films for the last few decades). We had to pantomime most of the time as the main actors were being filmed in the foreground. The smoke was fake aside from one extra lighting a real cigarette and smoking it at the bar for each of the 100+ takes (I'd imagine her lungs weren't feeling too great after yesterday!). I knew the set decorator and she did an INCREDIBLE job helping recreate a bar set in 1977. The props were authentic for the most part and even the liquid in the bottles was drinkable (they poured a non-alcoholic beer in my bottle before I walked into the set itself).

Being an extra (or background actor) can be boring however. You're sitting around a lot for hours upon hours waiting until you're called into the soundstage. They put you in a gigantic holding room. I felt like both a student back in elementary school as well as a prisoner at times, rounded up and told to stand in line and wait until we get "looked at". One of the makeup people smudged some hypoallergenic powder on my tanktop to simulate dirt. My 1970s period clothing the wardrobe gave me was hideous, as my super tight-fitting brown/beige shirt was worn out and my ugly blue pants had holes and stains in them, not to mention the decrepit black boots were almost falling apart. I showed up to the sound stages with a little beard and they said it was okay to keep it which was great, because back in the late 1970s a lot of men had beards too. One of the funniest things I did while standing in line for an hour or so was give lead actor Holt McCallany (Bill Tench) a handshake when I saw him walking out of the soundstage towards the catering section and bathrooms. I said "Hey Holt!". He immediately gave me a handshake saying "Hello! How are you doing?" like he knew me. I wasn't expecting that and froze and said "Oh, I'm good!". It's amazing how these actors are able to get out of character (or maybe stay in it) and treat strangers like people they know in real life.

I gotta say, its an honor having a chance to be in a scene directed by David Fincher, even if I'm a background actor with no dialogue! But, man, that guy is a damn perfectionist if I ever saw one. After 5 hours on the set yesterday, a lot of extras (about 60 or 70 in all) were exhausted and some were a bit upset over how many times Fincher reshot the same take over and over and over AND OVER again. I feel like an idiot that I didn't realize that he averages 50 takes a scene on his films and productions as opposed to a typical director shooting 5-10 takes of a scene (I spent hours after being on the set yesterday reading articles about Fincher's directing methods). There is no doubt that David Fincher is a perfectionist much like Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock were, or how Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese are these days. Fincher's films are cold and clinical and have a dark, visual palette all their own (Fincher makes "dank and dirty" walls seem glamorous in my opinion). I still admire his films ranging from Se7en to Fight Club to The Game to The Social Network. But let me tell you, if you ever want to work on a David Fincher film or TV series like Mindhunter (and its being shot here in my city), be prepared for a massive amount of repetition on his set (ie. hearing the same dialogue from the actors being one factor). To be honest, Fincher heavily prioritizes style over substance. Maybe he's a Virgo (earth sign) and they tend to be all about the aesthetic elements, as well as details, structure, rigidity, perfectionism, neuroticism, and form. Fincher though is able to marry technology and visual art to being an actor's director too (something Kubrick wasn't known for - being an "actor's director").

A lot of extras agreed with me that the dialogue in that particular bar scene we were in the last 2 days was rather obtuse and brainless. Some asked "Why would he reshoot over 75 or 80 takes of that same scene with such stupid dialogue?" (ie. "I'm a red blooded American patriot" and "Eyes forward, Maggots!"). As for the scene Fincher shot over 100 takes of the last 2 days, it was about 90 seconds long I'd say. In any case, the whole experience of being an extra (the first time I've been one in about 20 years when I was an extra on an NBC miniseries called "The Temptations") was exhausting and also exciting. The pay for being an extra on Mindhunter was $10 an hour for 8 hours and $15 an hour for overtime work. We spent 12 hours in the sound stages yesterday so I got paid $140 that day and $80 the previous day (not to mention $40 for wardrobe fitting). It's not about the money that made me interested in participating in this though, but the fact that I'd be in an episode directed by the legendary David Fincher and I wanted to see him work and experience what its like being on set with him. Suffice to say, I did... and then some!

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by belcherman

They’re really trying to go out of business, aren’t they?

Actually, it's probably because they are trying to stay IN business. Taking one less thing to check and do out of a probably understaffed store reduces the issue of mistakes happening. If 50 people reserve something online, then employees have to make sure they continually check for things to reserve. By calling, maybe only 10 people call, and the employee can do it immediately instead of potentially missing the website reservation.

[Gacivory]

Ben Affleck postponed directing his fourth full length (Live By Night), to work with Fincher and Malick.

[Aragorn the Elfstone]

Originally Posted by 4kUltraBD

This may be an odd question in this thread, but has anybody heard any news of Criterion releasing 4K UHD discs?

I used to have a large collection of Criterion discs, but sold them off due to financial issues.

I would love to start rebuilding my Criterion collection again, but I have told myself that I must wait until they get into the 4k game.

Any news would be greatly appreciated.

They've said they have no plans at present.

[dressedtokill]

Terrific news! Criterion updated the specs for My Man Godfrey on their website and the description has now changed to a 4k restoration! I thought at the time it was disappointing and weird that Criterion wasn't using it considering Universal had completed a new 4K restoration along other titles some time ago as seen here:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/comm...for-hd.341921/

[Jr7936]

I started watching the Olympic set some more and I would say its worth the price for the greenspan films and the trippy south Korean film from 88

[latehong]

Originally Posted by dressedtokill

Terrific news! Criterion updated the specs for My Man Godfrey on their website and the description has now changed to a 4k restoration! I thought at the time it was disappointing and weird that Criterion wasn't using it considering Universal had completed a new 4K restoration along other titles some time ago as seen here:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/comm...for-hd.341921/

Hopefully Monkey Business is next!

Monkey Business (1931) is already released as Universal's own The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection Blu-ray back in 2016.

If you meant Howard Hawks' Monkey Business (1952), I'm afraid it's a 20th Century Fox movie, so it has nothing to do with your link above.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Actually, it's probably because they are trying to stay IN business. Taking one less thing to check and do out of a probably understaffed store reduces the issue of mistakes happening. If 50 people reserve something online, then employees have to make sure they continually check for things to reserve. By calling, maybe only 10 people call, and the employee can do it immediately instead of potentially missing the website reservation.

Calling just seems less efficient. I call, talk to someone, then get transferred to the right employee (maybe), that person has to stop what they’re doing and take my request. Do they call or text me when the pickup is ready? Either way, less efficient.

The old way worked. When I reserved my discs, they were ready in 2-3 hours. When I went to pick up my order, there were never a ton of pickups in the pickup pile. Not working there, my guess is the old way put less burden on the staff than the new way.

The only thing I can figure is that they are trying to further separate the online business and the b&m business, perhaps with the idea of selling one and shuttering the other. Of course, this is just me trying to make sense of something that doesn’t need to make sense.

[Kakihara]

I must be crazy. I'm not a rich man and my rent just went up...and yet I just placed an order for 14 Criterions in the BN sale.

I couldn't help myself. I need help!

I'll feel a little better once I get these in my hands. Lucky I'm single these days lol.

Here's what I ordered:

Branded to Kill
House
On The Waterfront
Rififi
Le Samourai
The Innocents
Ugetsu
Tokyo Story
Rashomon
The Killers
Night and the City
Kiss me Deadly
Thief
Rules of the Game

Worth it, guys? Or am I insane?! Luckily, I just did get a $225 bonus.

[jdw89]

I was considering the Phantom Carriage as a blind buy, worth it?

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Kakihara

I must be crazy. I'm not a rich man and my rent just went up...and yet I just placed an order for 14 Criterions in the BN sale.

I couldn't help myself. I need help!

I'll feel a little better once I get these in my hands. Lucky I'm single these days lol.

Here's what I ordered:

Branded to Kill
House
On The Waterfront
Rififi
Le Samourai
The Innocents
Ugetsu
Tokyo Story
Rashomon
The Killers
Night and the City
Kiss me Deadly
Thief
Rules of the Game

Worth it, guys? Or am I insane?! Luckily, I just did get a $225 bonus.

Yep.

I've got 17 ordered so I'm probably not the best guy to ask!

[mja345]

That's a great story, jw. My uncle has a great story about being an extra on film called "Suspect Zero". Aaron Eckhart was having trouble doing a scene and required about 20 takes. Ben Kingsley was standing off to the side, smoking, waiting to do a scene, and just being nonchalant as can be. Then, finally, Kingsley does his scene, nails it, several people ask him if he wants to do it again, and he goes, "If I do it again, it will just give me another chance to f**k it up."

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by jdw89

I was considering the Phantom Carriage as a blind buy, worth it?

Yes.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by mja345

That's a great story, jw. My uncle has a great story about being an extra on film called "Suspect Zero". Aaron Eckhart was having trouble doing a scene and required about 20 takes. Ben Kingsley was standing off to the side, smoking, waiting to do a scene, and just being nonchalant as can be. Then, finally, Kingsley does his scene, nails it, several people ask him if he wants to do it again, and he goes, "If I do it again, it will just give me another chance to f**k it up."

Thanks!

Your Uncle's story is pretty damn funny I gotta say. Every actor is different and some are on levels meteorically high. I wish there were more well known actors in the TV series I was an extra in but I'll take whatever I can get.

[yasinator360]

two movies I think Criterion should release are Bringing Out the Dead and Pink Floyd: The Wall. 2 Great films. Also I'm considering buying either Blow Out or Quadrophenia.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by jdw89

I was considering the Phantom Carriage as a blind buy, worth it?

It's notable for its look, but I found it rather heavy-handed in sentiment and it became a one-time watch. YMMV, Ingmar Bergman considers Viktor Sjolstrom a landmark influence on his film-making.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by yasinator360

Also I'm considering buying either Blow Out or Quadrophenia.

Blowout is a De Palma classic. The only thing to consider here is if you want to buy the Criterion or (B-locked) Arrow release.