The Criterion Collection

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

You had to be one of the first ones to sign up as a charter member of the Criterion Channel. They sent out a lot of emails about it and even said it was our last and final opportunity to get the card. Took a while but looks like everyone is getting them before the end of the month.

IMO, the biggest benefit to being a charter member has nothing to do with this card. It's the fact that we have a discounted membership price that will never increase.

[SammyJankis]

Saw A Hidden Life a couple days ago and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. For those that gravitated more towards the narrative backbone of The Thin Red Line and The New World, I feel that this film would be more for you. It has the aesthetics of his recent work, and the way he handles his actors is still in that improvisational mold, but there's a clear narrative at play, with a structure that I think won't distance as many viewers. It's just a staggeringly devastating experience through and through, with an ending that stands near the top of Malick's most effective sequences.

[AaronJ]

It looks as if it's one of those few films where when you leave you simply aren't the same person you were when entering. Malick has that sort of effect on me often, to one degree or another.

I'm very jealous.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

It looks as if it's one of those few films where when you leave you simply aren't the same person you were when entering. Malick has that sort of effect on me often, to one degree or another.

I'm very jealous.

It's transcendent in the way only Malick can achieve. There were people that certainly weren't on board, such as the two guys I was sandwiched between, but I do feel it landed more often than not. (The woman in front of me wiped her face often during the final fifteen minutes.) Looking forward to seeing it again on the big screen once it officially opens.

EDIT: One more note: the two actors in the roles, August Diehl and Valerie Pachner, are sublime. I know it's kind of a running joke these days to assess actors in a Malick film, but they really do incredible work. Diehl in particular is so in sync with Malick's camera; his widened, piercing eyes seem destined for it.

[silverlakephil]

I really enjoyed The Joseph von Sternberg silent trilogy recently. Each film was better then the one before it. It's a shame several of his other silents are deemed "lost". I love his mise-en-scene in all three. I highly recommend purchasing this box set during the upcoming B&N sale.

[critterdvd]

Originally Posted by regeyer

IMO, the biggest benefit to being a charter member has nothing to do with this card. It's the fact that we have a discounted membership price that will never increase.

This is very true, and they are finally building up a nice library of titles (The summer was rather hit or miss for me)! I'm wasn't sure what I was going to do with the Card, however I ended up hanging it from the Shelving unit that holds my Criterion discs and it actually looks pretty cool.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by critterdvd

This is very true, and they are finally building up a nice library of titles (The summer was rather hit or miss for me)! I'm wasn't sure what I was going to do with the Card, however I ended up hanging it from the Shelving unit that holds my Criterion discs and it actually looks pretty cool.

I'm thinking it will make a nice Christmas ornament. Not sure if the wife will agree, though.

[critterdvd]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I'm thinking it will make a nice Christmas ornament. Not sure if the wife will agree, though.

Oooo, I like that idea too! I might steal it

[maytropolees]

Regarding replacement packaging for damaged items, I got an email from Criterion this morning that may be of interest to fellow forum members:

Looks like we misspoke and no longer have any replacement slipcase stock for the CLASSIC HITCHCOCK set.

Since we cannot provide the slipcase, I can add a credit to your Criterion.com account or, if the set is too destroyed, we can send you a return label instead.
This set is essentially discontinued now, even though all the titles in it will continue to be sold individually with the same inserts and litho cover art.

[MattQuack]

Getting my list together for what I hope to snag during the sale...This is what I hope to get my first in-store visit on Friday.

All That Jazz
The Big Chill
Bowling for Columbine
Charade
Do the Right Thing
Gilda
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It Happened One Night

And of course the Godzilla collection

[jw007]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

Saw A Hidden Life a couple days ago and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. For those that gravitated more towards the narrative backbone of The Thin Red Line and The New World, I feel that this film would be more for you. It has the aesthetics of his recent work, and the way he handles his actors is still in that improvisational mold, but there's a clear narrative at play, with a structure that I think won't distance as many viewers. It's just a staggeringly devastating experience through and through, with an ending that stands near the top of Malick's most effective sequences.

I'm seriously looking forward to seeing Malick's new film. I've been eagerly awaiting this one, after I saw the trailer in the theater for the first time before a screening of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I was literally blown away by the trailer and I repeatedly said "wow, wow" with tears in my eyes after it was over while sitting in a crowded theater. I think my friend next to me heard me before I told him "Oh man, this is going to be so amazing, wow". I didn't care if the rest of the audience heard me. Terrence Malick is a living legend and any film he is still able to direct is a gift from the cinema gods. I feel this one might rank in my top 3 (after The Thin Red Line and The New World).

[MifuneFan]

A Hidden Life definitely looks great. I haven't seen a Malick film in several years, and I never enjoyed any of them aside from their beautiful cinematography. I do feel my tastes have changed/evolved enough for me to try again.

[thebratpackwrangler]

My list for the sale now is

Magnificent Obsession
Cold War
All About Eve
Now, Voyager

Idk if I will be picking up a lot this sale because I went a little crazy during the summer sale and I just got a few during the flash sale.

[DVD Josh]

Just had to deal with a customer service issue with Criterion, and man, they could not have been more professional and courteous. A++. Makes me very happy to support their company.

[AaronJ]

YAY! I got my card yesterday. Forgot to check the mail, but checked it this morning and there it was. I was beginning to think that maybe I was dreaming that I signed up as a charter subscriber.

It wouldn't be the first time something like that had happened.

[nitin]

Originally Posted by silverlakephil

I really enjoyed The Joseph von Sternberg silent trilogy recently. Each film was better then the one before it. It's a shame several of his other silents are deemed "lost". I love his mise-en-scene in all three. I highly recommend purchasing this box set during the upcoming B&N sale.

The Docks Of New York is a flat out masterpiece. I haven’t seen The Last Command yet though.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by jw007

I'm seriously looking forward to seeing Malick's new film. I've been eagerly awaiting this one, after I saw the trailer in the theater for the first time before a screening of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I was literally blown away by the trailer and I repeatedly said "wow, wow" with tears in my eyes after it was over while sitting in a crowded theater. I think my friend next to me heard me before I told him "Oh man, this is going to be so amazing, wow". I didn't care if the rest of the audience heard me. Terrence Malick is a living legend and any film he is still able to direct is a gift from the cinema gods. I feel this one might rank in my top 3 (after The Thin Red Line and The New World).

I've watched the trailer since seeing the film. It sells the film well, better than what Broad Green Pictures did with Malick's modern trilogy. (Though I don't know how you sell those films beyond the presence of his actors.) Found myself welling up just watching the trailer again. It's as direct of a line with his narrative as anything he's done, and I'm someone that has preferred his later works over his earlier (I rank Badlands at the bottom, for example.) But this feels like such a precise blending of everything he's done that it was difficult for me not to be overwhelmed.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

I've watched the trailer since seeing the film. It sells the film well, better than what Broad Green Pictures did with Malick's modern trilogy. (Though I don't know how you sell those films beyond the presence of his actors.) Found myself welling up just watching the trailer again. It's as direct of a line with his narrative as anything he's done, and I'm someone that has preferred his later works over his earlier (I rank Badlands at the bottom, for example.) But this feels like such a precise blending of everything he's done that it was difficult for me not to be overwhelmed.

Wow. I'm intensely excited to see this. I think I prefer Malick's later work as well. Though, don't get me wrong, I still have great respect for works like Badlands and Days of Heaven. But from The Thin Red Line on, I'm not even sure what to make of his works. It's beyond brilliant.

[Doc Moonlight]

Liked the Criterion shout out in the series finale of THE DEUCE.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

I've watched the trailer since seeing the film. It sells the film well, better than what Broad Green Pictures did with Malick's modern trilogy. (Though I don't know how you sell those films beyond the presence of his actors.) Found myself welling up just watching the trailer again. It's as direct of a line with his narrative as anything he's done, and I'm someone that has preferred his later works over his earlier (I rank Badlands at the bottom, for example.) But this feels like such a precise blending of everything he's done that it was difficult for me not to be overwhelmed.

I feel like this might be his finest film, but I'll wait and see before I say anything further. It's a classic story about good vs. evil and though I loved The Thin Red Line for its "grey" area of what war can do to a man's soul, the story in this film seems unequivocally emotional, about the evil Nazi's vs. those who wish to remain tolerant and humane in their moral code. I also prefer his later works a lot more, because they're morality tales, and this may be his biggest and best one yet. I am so psyched I might just have to rent a theater out just for friends and myself so I don't have any young idiotic moviegoers distracting me during this life-changing screening.