The Criterion Collection

[StarDestroyer52]

There's a select amount of Criterion titles that are available as part of Deep Discount's Buy 2 get 10% off and Buy 3, get 15% off:

https://www.deepdiscount.com/deep-bl..._id=2427731452

[StarDestroyer52]

Was just watching the recording of And God Created Woman that was on TCM yesterday or today I believe and it has the Janus Films logo at the beginning. The film for the most part to my opinion looked good. I would love to see Criterion release this, they previously released the DVD. This was the film that shot Bardot into the public spotlight.

[jjhunsecker]

What are the chances that Criterion has the rights to West Side Story, In the Heat of the Night, and The Defiant Ones ?

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by jjhunsecker

What are the chances that Criterion has the rights to West Side Story, In the Heat of the Night, and The Defiant Ones ?

Based on what was posted in the KL thread, I would think its safe to say they least have In The Heat of the Night. I deeply would love to see The Defiant Ones to be released.

[willtopower]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

1. Yes.
2. The theatrical is possibly a better film in the traditional sense of focusing on all the most dramatic "plot" elements. The TV cut is a better Bergman film because a lot of his signature humor is in there.
3. I think so. The tone is more consistent in theatrical but the TV has something for everyone I think.
4. Yes, it's broken up in episodes. The breaks are separated on the disc.

I strongly recommend the TV cut first and then the theatrical.

Perfect answers. Thanks very much!

Originally Posted by Cremildo

On the Criterion DVD, the Fanny & Alexander miniseries was presented in episodes. I see no reason why they'd change that on the Blu-ray.

As to whether one should watch both versions, well, it depends on whether how much you like the first one you watch!

I recommend starting with the complete miniseries, because, well, it's the complete, fleshed-out thing, and then the theatrical version, for curiosity sake (I myself did precisely the contrary, btw, but I had no access to the miniseries when I first watched the theatrical cut). If you watch the theatrical first, the miniseries - which is what F&A is - might become a little anticlimactic, for obvious reasons.

Fair point about "spoiling" the plot if I watched the theatrical version first.

Thanks to both. I'm hoping to undertake these very soon!

[MifuneFan]

For anyone in the NYC area, BAM will be showing two rarely seen late Ingmar Bergman films on Sept. 17th in honor of his centennial: The Last Cry (aka The Last Gasp) (1995) and In the Presence of a Clown (1997). I may go, as I don't know if there will be another opportunity to see them.

https://www.bam.org/film/2018/in-the...n-the-last-cry

In celebration of the Ingmar Bergman centennial, BAMcinématek honors the director’s legacy with a pair of rarely screened, late-career chamber works that reflect his lifelong infatuation with the theater.

The Last Cry
With Ingvar Kjellson, Björn Granath, Anna von Rosen
1995, 60min


Bergman’s staging of his own one-act play imagines a charged encounter between a silent-era movie mogul and a drunken, washed-up filmmaker desperate to direct again.


In the Presence of a Clown
With Börje Ahlstedt, Erland Josephson, Marie Richardson
1997, 119min


Made for Swedish television when the director was nearly 80, this piercing chamber work explores the tensions between cinema and live theater. The story concerns a 1920s psychiatric patient who sets out to create a new medium fusing the two art forms. Some of Bergman’s key themes—spirituality, mortality, creativity, madness, performance—are illuminated with the sure hand of a master in his twilight years.

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by Arawn

Nine thousand pages. That's really something.

Yeah, but like 4,000 of those pages were posts calling for Le Samouraï to get a blu-ray release, Ned Brainard's lamenting a lack of recent Chaplin and/or Lloyd features, and Ray Jackson gifs. So it's not as impressive as it seems at first glance.

It's kinda like people making a big deal about being married for 25 years. While technically correct, when you subtract the 8 hours a night you spend asleep, you're really only looking at 16 years of marital bliss, 17 tops.

Perspective, people!

[sawdustandtinsel]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Yeah, but like 4,000 of those pages were posts calling for Le Samouraï to get a blu-ray release, Ned Brainard's lamenting a lack of recent Chaplin and/or Lloyd features, and Ray Jackson gifs. So it's not as impressive as it seems at first glance.

It's kinda like people making a big deal about being married for 25 years. While technically correct, when you subtract the 8 hours a night you spend asleep, you're really only looking at 16 years of marital bliss, 17 tops.

Perspective, people!

I was going to say something similar. I bet there are hundreds of pages of nothing but posts about The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Tree of Life, After Hours, and that guy who can't get past The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.

Anyway, finally got around to watching Jack Garfein's Something Wild. I really liked the first half, the second not so much. Anybody like the Meeker side of this story?

[llj]

Originally Posted by sawdustandtinsel

Anyway, finally got around to watching Jack Garfein's Something Wild. I really liked the first half, the second not so much. Anybody like the Meeker side of this story?

It's a good nuanced portrait of two damaged people who both need each other and at the same time probably shouldn't. I think it presents both characters in a fairly non judgemental light.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by jjhunsecker

What are the chances that Criterion has the rights to West Side Story, In the Heat of the Night, and The Defiant Ones ?

They've already talked about In the Heat of the Night. It is 100%. The negatives are lost, but they should be fixing the registration issues that plague the current release.

[sawdustandtinsel]

Originally Posted by llj

It's a good nuanced portrait of two damaged people who both need each other and at the same time probably shouldn't. I think it presents both characters in a fairly non judgemental light.

I agree with it being non-judgemental. I think the problem I was having with it as the viewer was the fact that it wasn't quite balanced enough. We know everything there is to know about Mary Ann, we understand her motives given her home life and what happens to her. I would've picked up Meeker on the day of the rescue before he meets her. Garfein is good with visuals so it wouldn't take much to put him in context. I'll revisit it at some point down the road.

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

They've already talked about In the Heat of the Night. It is 100%. The negatives are lost, but they should be fixing the registration issues that plague the current release.

Excellent.

While I'm not a huge re-release enthusiast per se, I do feel that there are several great films that have not received an issue commensurate with their historical significance.

When I look at the history of film, there are two periods of transition that stand out, in my humble opinion, as the most interesting. The first is the gradual change from silent films to "talkies". The second is the revolution that took place from the early-to-mid 60s, through the mid-to-late 70s, when the studio system gave way to the era of the independent director. And I commend Criterion for providing cinephiles with releases like Easy Rider, The Last Picture Show, Midnight Cowboy, Faces, Barry Lyndon, and now In The Heat of the Night.

Here's another film I'd love to see get the Criterion treatment:

[theater dreamer]

And in other news, I see that the "My Criterion" page on Criterion's site is still under construction.


"Yee gods, what yousa thinking hiring disa web designer?"

We need to light a fire under somebody's arse. This is getting stupid now. Perhaps we should hire Jessica Chastain to go into Criterion HQ, and "keep them abreast" of just how many days it's been down.


"21 days. It's been 21 days since I told you the 'My Criterion' page was still down."

Criterion should hire me. I could re-write the HTML in a few days, for God's sake. And, I'd happily disappear into the Criterion closet with Jessica. You know, so she could pick out a couple movies to watch.

[jjhunsecker]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

They've already talked about In the Heat of the Night. It is 100%. The negatives are lost, but they should be fixing the registration issues that plague the current release.

Great to know ! I was wondering about The Defiant Ones, since TT and Kino Lorber have released the other Stanley Kramer films of that era, and not this one , so I assumed that some other company had the rights

[peschi]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

Here's another film I'd love to see get the Criterion treatment:

In UK Deer Hunter just got an excellent UHD release.

[mrjohnnyb]

Burt Reynolds has died.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...-was-82-831093

My favorite performances:

1. Boogie Nights
2. Deliverance
3. Smokey and the Bandit
4. The Longest Yard
5. Starting Over

I also love his cameos in The Player and Silent Movie.

R.I.P.

[zoodermin]

What's your opinion on Black Orpheus? I was browsing Criterion's catalogue and it caught my eye. The story looks intriguing.

[Jexes23]

For those more in the know. What are the odds Criterion has or will obtain Eyes Wide Shut?

[See Rad]

Originally Posted by Jexes23

For those more in the know. What are the odds Criterion has or will obtain Eyes Wide Shut?

Give up your inquiries which are completely useless, and consider these words a final warning. We hope, for your own good, that this will be sufficient.

-Jon Mulvaney

[sawdustandtinsel]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

What's your opinion on Black Orpheus? I was browsing Criterion's catalogue and it caught my eye. The story looks intriguing.

It has an amazing soundtrack and good direction. Unfortunately, it felt pretty dated to me when I re-watched it a couple of years ago. So I would cautiously recommend it, maybe try your library or something before blind buying it.

Originally Posted by Jexes23

For those more in the know. What are the odds Criterion has or will obtain Eyes Wide Shut?

Well, it is a Warner title so anything's possible. I would think there's actually a decent chance given that Warner has already given up more popular titles. Plus if I'm not mistaken, there are two cuts of the film that haven't been released together yet.