The Criterion Collection

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by 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."

I imagine it's something like this, ShellOilJunior. Just replace the beer steins with Criterions.



--Mulvaney runs to the top bar, successfully fulfills one Lars von Trier boxed set to Ray Jackson.
--Mulvaney runs down to the bottom bar, successfully fulfills one Harold Lloyd boxed set to Ned Brainard.
--Ray Jackson sends back his copy of Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom for refund.
--Mulvaney runs back to the top bar, successfully issues a refund to Ray Jackson.
--Mulvaney sends a complimentary "Slider, You Stink!" limited edition Criterion release of Top Gun to Ray Jackson.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by The Grey Wolf

She's in my favorite movie - Shane.

BTW, The Shop Around the Corner, while not on Blu-Ray, looks pretty good on the DVD that came packaged with the Blu-Ray of You've Got Mail.

[Eagle1487]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

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

A Fred and Ginger box set would be fantastic. That would be a definite day one purchase for me.

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by regeyer

She's in my favorite movie - Shane.

BTW, The Shop Around the Corner, while not on Blu-Ray, looks pretty good on the DVD that came packaged with the Blu-Ray of You've Got Mail.

I just saw that for the first time over Christmas. TCM showed it twice, to my knowledge. That one will now go into my Christmas rotation, right alongside The Bishop's Wife, George C. Scott's A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Holiday Inn and Miracle on 34th Street.

The Shop Around the Corner and The Mortal Storm would make a heck of a 1-2 punch on blu-ray. Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan were really good together. Come to think of it, so was Frank Morgan.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

I just saw that for the first time over Christmas. TCM showed it twice, to my knowledge. That one will now go into my Christmas rotation, right alongside The Bishop's Wife, George C. Scott's A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, White Christmas, Holiday Inn and Miracle on 34th Street.

The Shop Around the Corner and The Mortal Storm would make a heck of a 1-2 punch on blu-ray. Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan were really good together. Come to think of it, so was Frank Morgan.

I like many of those. Here's my list that I watch ever Christmas season. The only thing I would add to that list is The Shop Around The Corner.

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by regeyer

I like many of those. Here's my list that I watch ever Christmas season. The only thing I would add to that list is The Shop Around The Corner.

It was The Shop Around the Corner I was referring to as being added to my Christmas watch list.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

It was The Shop Around the Corner I was referring to as being added to my Christmas watch list.

Yes, I meant that it would be added to my list that I provided a link to. At the time I made that I list I didn't include it.

I really like that film.

[theater dreamer]

The boxed set I'd give my left foot for Criterion to release.

Barbara Stanwyck


Start it off with a mother's love in Stella Dallas.


Henry Fonda has met his match with The Lady Eve


Next, Missy is "Sugarpuss O'Shea" in Ball of Fire. "Bom bom bom bom."


Barbara uses her sex appeal to wrap men around her finger in the pre-code drama Baby Face.


Barbara doesn't put up with crap in the pre-code release Night Nurse.

[theater dreamer]

You know, I have Christmas in Connecticut, and was going to watch it this Christmas...and I forgot. What kind of Barbara Stanwyck fan am I?

I'm slowly working my way through her entire filmography. My DVR is loaded like an Irishman on St. Patty's Day with her movies.

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by regeyer

Yes, I meant that it would be added to my list that I provided a link to. At the time I made that I list I didn't include it.

I really like that film.

My apologies. I'm sick as a dog, and a little slow on the uptake. My head feels three sizes too small right now. Either a sinus or ear infection, or some flu variant that wasn't covered by the shot. Ugh.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

My apologies. I'm sick as a dog, and a little slow on the uptake. My head feels three sizes too small right now. Either a sinus or ear infection, or some flu variant that wasn't covered by the shot. Ugh.

No biggie. Hope you feel better.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

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.

Wasn't Swing Time hinted at? An Astaire-Rogers box would be awesome and Criterion couldn't take my money quick enough. We really need a Thin Man series with extras and Libeled Lady was one of my favorite screwball comedies.

[lilboyblu]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

You know, I have Christmas in Connecticut, and was going to watch it this Christmas...and I forgot. What kind of Barbara Stanwyck fan am I?

Make sure you check out this one then, too.

[yoloswegmaster420]

I know that it was released in Europe a couple of years ago, but will 'Napoleon' (1927) ever be released in North America?

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by yoloswegmaster420

I know that it was released in Europe a couple of years ago, but will 'Napoleon' (1927) ever be released in North America?

I wouldn't count on it anytime soon. It would be a sweet spine 1,000. Now that I went region free I plan on picking it up the BFI version in the next few months. Kevin Brownlow had this say back in 2004:

In 2004, at the National Film Theater in London, Mr. Brownlow said Francis Ford Coppola had “suppressed the full version for the last 23 years.” Mr. Brownlow suggested that the problem was the score by Carmine Coppola (father of Francis) fit the four-hour cut shown in 1981 and not Mr. Brownlow’s restoration, which by 2000 had grown to its present 5 hours 31 minutes. At the time he said he hoped it could be sorted out, and clearly something has been agreed upon, although the details remain murky.

[malakaheso]

The Kid Brother:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-r...er_blu-ray.htm

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by lilboyblu

Make sure you check out this one then, too.

That one I did see. Great to see Missy and Fred teamed again.

[mja345]

Watched "King of the Hill" the other night for the first time in probably 5 or 6 years. This is a tremendous film that tells a story that could easily slip into cliches and sentimentality, but never does. I think one of the hallmarks of great films is how much minor characters stand out and this film is no exception. Spalding Gray, Lisa Eichhorn, Adrien Brody, Elizabeth McGovern, Jereon Krabbe and Karen Allen all probably have less than 10 minutes of screen time, but all elevate the film with incredibly rich performances in relatively minor roles. I can't say I'm a huge fan of Jesse Bradford as an adult actor, but he's great in a performance that demands a ton from a kid. It's amazing how the skill of many child actors seems to go into steep decline as they become adults.

As I said, I greatly admire this film for how it just rolls along without sentimentality and cliches. I find Steven Soderbergh's interview on this disc to be alternately fascinating and baffling. He discusses how he finds "King of the Hill" to be too beautifully shot. However, if he had shot this film in an obviously "gritty" style, then I believe it would have come off as forced and pretentious. He doesn't hate on the film, but you can tell he's fairly ambivalent about it. IMO it's one of his better films. I think Soderbergh is at his best when he sticks to his instincts as a filmmaker as opposed to trying to pander to a more mainstream audience and he's far too harsh on his efforts on this film IMO.

Of course, this disc also contains one of Soderbergh's lesser-known films, "The Underneath". "The Underneath" is a decent neo-noir that kind of loses steam as it goes on. Soderbergh takes a giant shit on it in his interview, which I think is a reflection of what was going on his personal life at the time. The film certainly isn't a disaster, although it underwhelms at times. You'd think he made "Manos: The Hands of Fate" by the tone of his interview. "The Underneath", while no masterpiece, is worth a watch, both for the film and what it represented in Soderbergh's career. A top-notch disc by Criterion overall.

[Abdrewes]

The 2018 Hal Ashby documentary, Hal, is now streaming on Prime.

[spanky87]

Can I expect Criterion to sell a Wanda poster? The 4K restoration had a theatrical run last year which seems to be the requirement for the artwork they offer in their online store. Is there a usual time frame for this?