The Criterion Collection

[senseabove]

Originally Posted by The Grey Wolf

Thank you,

All of Garbo's film are really good some are great. Her last film was the only one that was not so good. Camille and Queen Christina along with Grand Hotel and Ninotchka are my favorites. The Flesh and the Devil, The Temptress, The Kiss are really great silent movies. It is a crime that there is only one Jean Harlow blu (Public Enemy). Would love to see Dinner at Eight released on blu.

I adore her last film, Two-Faced Woman. It's no masterpiece, but I thought it was a laugh riot, and the rest of the audience I saw it with seemed to think so to. The plot gets nonsensical in the end once the Hays office steps in to sanitize things, but until that point, after which everyone involved seems to just give up a bit, I think it's great. I definitely need to see both again, just to make sure I'm not dealing with low expectations vs high expectations affecting my experience, but as far as Garbo in comedy goes, based on my first viewing, I would take Two-Faced Woman over Ninotchka.

[theater dreamer]

I just wanted to take a moment to wish Mr. Sidney Poitier a very happy belated birthday! He turned 92 years young yesterday. I'm hoping that the Flash Sale is this upcoming Tuesday, because I cannot wait to get Criterion's release of In the Heat of the Night. I'll watch it as soon as it gets delivered to my door. Like, as soon as the postman hands it to me, I'll be running up to my bedroom to pop it in.

Sidney Poitier is the actor I most greatly admire. His abilities on screen have been well discussed, but it is the strength of his convictions, and his very humanity that makes him a cut above. If any of you are looking for a book, I highly recommend The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography. I began reading it at a point where my life seemed to be at a crossroads. I was at a job where I made very good money, but I was unhappy. I didn't like how I had to treat people, on occasion. His words of wisdom gave me some much needed perspective.

[LexInHD]

I've seen the transfers for the two Police Story films (not the alternate cut) and they are both quite good, though the first is significantly better than the second. There are some rough shots in both that seem to be the result of improperly set-up B-C cameras that gave blurry/unfocused footage. The audio was crisp and sharp with no issues. Chan's dialogue in the second film was 99.9% dubbed by another actor that sounds nothing like him and does not have his accent and you can only hear his real voice a few times, mostly in incidental sounds that they didn't bother to dub, but his recorded dialogue in the first film seems to be 100% intact.

I also saw In The Heat Of The Night and it looks stunning. No audio or visual issues to report there and no rough spots to speak of.

[Geoff D]

I thought that those two Police Story films, like most HK productions of the time, didn't shoot with sync sound at all? So there'd be nothing of Chan's voice to "dub" over.

[jrcasey1960]

Criterion's IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT is a beautiful transfer!

[MifuneFan]

For anyone in the NYC area, BAM will be having a retrospective on Claire Denis, the largest ever done in the US apparently, from March 29th to April 9th. There's a great trailer for it on the site.

https://www.bam.org/film/2019/strang...f-claire-denis

Beau Travail - Mar 29
Trouble Every Day - Mar 29 & Apr 6
35 Shots of Rum - Mar 31 & Apr 6
White Material - Mar 31 & Apr 7
Chocolat - Mar 31 & Apr 5
Jacques Rivette, le veilleur - Apr 1
Nenette and Boni - Apr 2
Shorts Program - Apr 2
High Life - Apr 3
Bastards - Apr 4
Towards Mathilde + Vers Nancy - Apr 6
US Go Home + Claire Denis, The Vagabond - Apr 6
I Can't Sleep - Apr 7
Let the Sunshine In - Apr 7
No Fear, No Die + For Ushari Ahmed Mahmoud -Apr 8
The Intruder - Apr 9

[Scottie]

Stalker is the newest addition to The Criterion Channel.

[Dailyan]

RIP Peter Tork of The Monkees

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.705eaac0b5c0

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by latehong

I'd like to add Bette Davis. Sure, 15 films of her have been released on Blu-ray in the US according to this site (I excluded Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid for the obvious reason), but most of them are from her later years (post-50s).

And since this is The Criterion Collection thread, I must confess I often chuckle to myself imagining Ms. Davis being pissed off in heaven (or hell) about Joan Crawford (whose Golden Age Hollywood stuff also underappreciated on Blu-ray, by the way) made her entry in the collection first with Mildred Pierce. Perhaps a small box set of her 3 films with William Wyler a la 3 Films by Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman would compensate for that: Jezebel, The Letter and The Little Foxes.

The Wyler/Davis box set is the best thing I've read in a while

[senseabove]

The very idea of a Davis/Wyler box set... *swoon*

[ShellOilJunior]

Criterion could widen the scope of a Davis box. I believe they do have rights to a few more WB offerings like The Corn is Green (Streamed on Filmstruck).

[senseabove]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Criterion could widen the scope of a Davis box. I believe they do have rights to a few more WB offerings like The Corn is Green (Streamed on Filmstruck).

have can't even get

[yoloswegmaster420]

Bergman boxset back in stock.

[thebratpackwrangler]

I really want a criterion edition of What Ever Happened To Baby Jane. I recently checked it out on TCM and even though it already has a Blu-ray release I would like to see what Criterion would do with it.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by thebratpackwrangler

I really want a criterion edition of What Ever Happened To Baby Jane. I recently checked it out on TCM and even though it already has a Blu-ray release I would like to see what Criterion would do with it.

I wouldn't. If any Aldrich film is going to be in the collection, I would much prefer "The Longest Yard" to get the Criterion treatment.

[senseabove]

Originally Posted by thebratpackwrangler

I really want a criterion edition of What Ever Happened To Baby Jane. I recently checked it out on TCM and even though it already has a Blu-ray release I would like to see what Criterion would do with it.

Unless it included the entirety of Feud in HD to compensate for the show's DVD-only release, I doubt there's much to add to the current BD. It has a commentary plus several archival pieces on Davis, Crawford, and their relationship:

[jonsax201]

Originally Posted by yoloswegmaster420

Bergman boxset back in stock.

Please give us a sale on Tuesday!

[BluProofie]

Originally Posted by senseabove

Unless it included the entirety of Feud in HD to compensate for the show's DVD-only release, I doubt there's much to add to the current BD. It has a commentary plus several archival pieces on Davis, Crawford, and their relationship:

Yeah, the current blu is fantastic. And Feud didn’t even get a DVD release! Such a crime that there wasn’t a blu.

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by The Grey Wolf

Fantastic scene from Mata Hari.

Top actress with minimum Blu Ray releases
1. Garbo
2. Jean Harlow
3. Greer Garson
4. Irene Dunne
5. Hedy Lamarr
6. Jean Arthur
7. Lana Turner
8. Olivia de Havilland except two are coming out soon.

While I agree with everybody on your list, at least a few of them have several of their major works on blu-ray. Jean Arthur comes to mind, thanks to the Sony Frank Capra digibook collection. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and You Can't Take it With You all received top flight releases. Then, there's the Criterion of Only Angels Have Wings, and Shane, most recently re-issued under the Paramount label. That's a good start.

I would add the names of three ladies to your list:

1. Myrna Loy. The earliest film she has on blu-ray is The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). That movie came out 20 years after her career began. The entire Thin Man collection needs to be released as a box set tout de suite. Bill Powell and Myrna Loy are arguably the most relatable and endearing on screen couple in motion picture history. All six movies are strong, and the first few are true classics. Plus, the series contains early appearances from a handful of future stars-Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Dean Stockwell and Gloria Grahame. William and Myrna did fourteen films together, notably including Manhattan Melodrama with Clarke Gable, Libeled Lady with the aforementioned Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy (this is a personal favorite!), and The Great Ziegfeld about the life of Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Interestingly, three years before The Wizard of Oz, Myrna Loy portrayed Billie Burke, who played the part of Glinda the Good Witch in Oz; the film also included Frank Morgan (the wizard) and Ray Bolger (the Scarecrow). Hollywood was a small place during the studio system era.


Mention that The Thin Man is not available on blu-ray. See Myrna wrinkle up her nose.

2. Luise Rainer. Perhaps not as well known as some of her peers, Rainer, who won Best Actress for The Great Ziegfeld, does not have a single film on blu-ray. She is the first actor to win back-to-back Academy Awards in a lead category, and the second film she won for, The Good Earth, deserves a blu-ray release.

3. Ginger Rogers. It's criminal how underrepresented her career is on blu-ray. Her Best Actress turn in Kitty Foyle is not available, and, more egregious still is the lack of a single film she did with Fred Astaire. No Top Hat. No Swing Time. The Gay Divorcee is also MIA. Criterion would be wise to release a comprehensive boxed set of Fred and Ginger.

And while we're on the subject of Ginger Rogers films, one really fun one that would fit in beautifully with a Cary Grant boxed set, or a Howard Hawks set (I know, I know, I have box sets on the brain!) is Monkey Business. Cary and Ginger, Charles Coburn and Marilyn Monroe.


Marilyn puting her best foot forward in support of a Monkey Business release.

[ShellOilJunior]

Sometimes I try to picture the reactions of Mulvaney and company whenever we suggest more box sets.

"We gave them a 30 disc Bergman set a few months ago and they're still asking for more box sets!"

"Re-release the Laughton box with different packaging. That will tide them over."