The Criterion Collection

[yoloswegmaster420]

Guys, sorry for bringing up this dead topic again but I was just wondering if there was a post on here saying that a WKW boxset is not coming?

[Jexes23]

I would argue Criterion’s definitive Noir is The Killing, followed by The Asphalt Jungle.

While I actually do thinks it is the best, I am aware I’ll almost always pick Kubrick no matter the question though.

[jcs913]

Wow, Detour is a gem!! Very glad to see that and finally another Lloyd!! How about dusting off one of those Chaplins you have been sitting on for years CC.....

[malakaheso]

Japon? I would have preferred Honor of The Knights or Los Muertos. Oh well.

The Kid Brother is a great announcement.

Don't care for Wanda at all.

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by javy

Gotcha.

What would you say is your favorite Criterion noir release? For me it's probably a tie between In a Lonely Place and Kiss Me Deadly.

Detour will be a blind buy for me, but I've heard so mamy great things that I know it's a safe first day buy.

Damn you for that question lol; so many fantastic releases. If I try not to think too hard about it I'd probably say Sweet Smell of Success (some of the lettering on the spine got torn off in a move years ago and it bothers me to no end.)

Detour is just a triumph of shoestring, poverty-row filmmaking, and a fatalistic gem. Like Ace in the Hole it's also never had an official release, though what's available has only been degraded, barely-watchable dross. Criterion performing a ground-up restoration ensures this will be a milestone release. Buy with confidence!

[SeanJoyce]

By the way, on the subject of Ace in the Hole, here's what I wrote about Kirk's performance on another board to commemorate his 102nd birthday:

Arguably his best performance; he was just ideal for Wilder's bleak, unsparing look at the journalistic circus and its sadistic public. Wilder needed an actor who would unabashedly embrace the dark, unflinching nature of that role and he certainly found it in Douglas.

As an amoral and opportunistic reporter who manipulates a human tragedy to get back to the "big time", Douglas is right in his wheelhouse. Chuck Tatum is the perfect middle link between Midge Kelly in Champion and Johnathan Shields in The Bad and the Beautiful, unscrupulous anti-heroes who use and abuse others in furious, self-aggrandizing pursuits...only to destroy their own souls in the process.

In a review commemorating the important 2007 Criterion release, Ebert noted how chillingly modern Douglas' work here is: "His focus and energy as Chuck Tatum is almost scary. There is nothing dated about Douglas' performance. It's as right-now as a sharpened knife." It's an absolutely staggering piece of screen acting, and the only reason I hesitate to give him the win for that year is because of how strong his competition is.

Wilder and Douglas were really a maverick match, and I'm so happy they came together for what has over time come to be recognized as perhaps the crowning achievement for either of them.

[theEXORCIST]

The best noirs on criterion are Night of the hunter , Sweet smell of success and Mildred Pierce

[mrjohnnyb]

I can't tell you how thrilled I am that Detour is being given a Criterion release. Not only for the reason that it is one of the truest film noir gems (along with Double Indemnity, Gun Crazy, Out of the Past, and Ace in the Hole, in my opinion,) but because Criterion has produced best discs bar none (sorry Arrow, Kino-Lorber, or Flicker-Alley fans.) Just look at what they have done with Sweet Smell of Success, Breaking Point, Ministry of Fear, Ride the Pink Horse, Gilda, or the aforementioned Ace in the Hole.

[SpiderBaby]

Top noir from Criterion are Mildred Pierce and The Night of the Hunter.

[javy]

Originally Posted by theEXORCIST

The best noirs on criterion are Night of the hunter , Sweet smell of success and Mildred Pierce

Originally Posted by SpiderBaby

Top noir from Criterion are Mildred Pierce and The Night of the Hunter.

Mildred Pierce is exquisite. At the end there, when Mildred

[Show spoiler]catches the two

, the way Scott's character moves out of the shadow into the light is absolutely sublime.

And that Ann Blythe was a magnificent femme fatale, and gorgeous to boot.

Mitchum in Night of the Hunter is my kind of holy man, all about the fxxxxx dollas.

[mrjohnnyb]

I consider The Night of the Hunter a thriller, with film noir elements. I do not consider it a true noir. Just my opinion.

[octagon]

Put me down for Mildred Pierce and The Third Man.

[javy]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

I consider The Night of the Hunter a thriller, with film noir elements. I do not consider it a true noir. Just my opinion.

I understand that opinion. I like how the back of the box puts it, "A horror movie with qualities of a Grimm fairy tale".

[hoytereden]

My favorite BD Noir release, Criterion or otherwise, is The Breaking Point. I do like Detour very much. I'm pretty sure its the best film that came out of PRC, a studio pretty much considered to be the bottom rung of a actor or director's career.

[malakaheso]

What are the chances of Criterion releasing any Jerry Lewis films like The Bellboy?

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Will definitely be picking up Detour. Great film noir. I've been extremely pleased with Criterion's noir releases.

On a side note. The 2016 Detour is a great noir that I highly recommend. Very under the radar film that deserves a bigger audience. Pays nice homage to the 1945 version too.

[Cremildo]

Criterion noir: my top picks would be The Asphalt Jungle and Gilda.

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

Originally Posted by Jexes23

I would argue Criterion’s definitive Noir is The Killing, followed by The Asphalt Jungle.

While I actually do thinks it is the best, I am aware I’ll almost always pick Kubrick no matter the question though.

Complete agree, The Killing is my favorite noir and CC release. Asphalt Jungle is great too, with excellent extras - especially the documentary with Sterling Hayden on his house boat, one of the greatest supplementals ever.

Can't wait for Detour, one of the first noirs I saw and just a great movie, will be strange not watching the beat-to-hell transfer I've always seen.

[nitin]

Lots of great noir titles mentioned but people re forgetting The Killers!

[The Great Owl]

Ohhhh... We're discussing favorite Criterion films noir now.

In a Lonely Place, which is pretty much the darkest noir of them all, is my absolute favorite film noir title available from Criterion.

The Sweet Smell of Success is probably second place. “I love this dirty town.”

Detour... One of my favs in the genre, and I haven't even seen a decent picture quality presentation of it yet. Oh yeah...I cannot wait.

They Live by Night is wondrous, and it's a perfect lovers on the run movie.

Kiss Me Deadly has what is perhaps my favorite opening credits sequence of all time, and it's a terrific “WTF did I just watch?” selection.

The Night of the Hunter... Is it true noir or is it not? There are persuasive arguments in either direction, but it has a place here nonetheless as one of the most splendid Criterion titles of any genre.

Ministry of Fear does not get a lot of love here, and this is a problem that needs to be remedied now. Fritz Lang's visuals are on point here.

The Breaking Point is one of the best discoveries bestowed upon me by Criterion in all my years as a collector. The heartbreaking closing shot...wow.

The Asphalt Jungle... I love it when a plan comes together. When it comes to noir, I love it even more when a plan doesn't.

Ace in the Hole is sunlit noir cynicism at its best. Jan Sterling was a force of nature. Oh yeah, and that Kirk Douglas guy is good, too.

The Third Man, obviously, although the Studiocanal region free 4K release is my viewing medium of choice for this fine film. (...and the Criterion disc is close to perfect in its own right.)

The Killers... “Don't ask a dying man to lie his soul into Hell.” This is a beautiful, beautiful noir.

The Killing/Killer's Kiss... Come for Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, and Coleen Gray in The Killing. Stay for the showdown scene in the room full of mannequins in Killer's Kiss.

Gilda is the sexiest, most sultry, and most urgently smoldering movie ever made. Even more so than Lifeforce, in fact.

Night and the City is criminally criminally underrated, and it is one of the darkest trips into dark city to date.

Odd Man Out this British noir is one of the great “It sucks to be you.” movies in the genre.

Elevator to the Gallows is the best French noir, it's the best Malle, it's the best Jeanne Moreau, and it's the best Miles Davis.

Rififi... Wait. Did I just say that another movie is the best French film noir? Yeah, maybe so, but this one as well.

Moonrise... Certain narrative developments steer this one somewhat astray of noir by strict definition, but a film noir it is, and a wonderful-looking one in Criterion high definition at that.

Pale Flower is a Japanese noir that was a bit out of the timeline parameters for the classic era of the genre, but who cares. It's a noir, and it's a darn fine one.

I know that I've missed a few. I can get lost in dark city.