The Criterion Collection

[Rzzzz]

Favorite blind buys:

House (Hausu)
Eyes Without a Face
Lady Snowblood

Worst:

My Darling Clementine

[Show spoiler] (What a disappointment this was. I love westerns and I love John Ford but this was stupid. The miscasting (Victor Mature), the made up characters (Clementine), etc. It is beautifully shot and that is all I have to say about that)

If (I absolutely hated it)
Straw Dogs (

[Show spoiler]That little cottage was not a fortress. I would have been in in 2 minutes.

)

[Toxoplasmic]

Most Criterion titles I purchase are blind buys. I do a fair amount of study on particular titles (decade, director, region, genre) and act intuitively on which films spark interest and curiosity. Because of this, I cant say I've ever been let down when I pull the trigger on a Criterion title. That being said, I'll say these 6 titles have been revelations!

Kiss Me Deadly
Seconds
Night of the Hunter
Blow Out
Dreams
Barry Lyndon

Also I have a few un-watched current titles that I'm HIGHLY anticipating watching, but I'm waiting for the right moment.

Haxan, Andrei Rublev, Paths of Glory, Carnival of Souls, Down by Law, Swords of Doom, and Inside Llewyn David.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by jw007

[Show spoiler]This is interesting as I just did a poll like this just a couple of weeks ago (asking people to list their most regretful blind-buy purchase).

For me its:

Best blind-buys:
1. My Own Private Idaho
2. Before the Rain
3. The Black Stallion / All That Jazz (tie)

Worst blind-buys:
1. Eating Raoul
2. World on a Wire
3. La Jetée/Sans Soleil

[Show spoiler]

[AaronJ]

I have ~140 Criterion titles. I'd say there's probably a number which approaches maybe 35% (honestly, I'm not sure) or in that area are blind titles. Often, as do many others here, go by the director. The blinds which come to mind right away are:

Close Up (Assayas)

4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (Mungiu)

La Vérité (Clouzot)

Two Days, One Night (Dardenne)

Carlos (Assayas) -- And I had seen some of this before, but it was for the most part a blind buy.


Then of course, there are all titles in things such as the Bergman box which I haven't yet seen. And there are those titles which, as earlier mentioned, I haven't yet viewed.

Also, with so many unseen, I don't feel comfortable choosing a "Worst" list at this point in time.

[Ray Jackson]

Blind buys have given me so much joy and misery over the years.

Criterion is capable of such beautiful dreams.

...and such horrible nightmares.


Best:

The Apu Trilogy
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Alice In the Cities
World On a Wire
Hiroshima Mon Amour
Sans Soleil
Harakiri
The Human Condition

Worst:

Berlin Alexanderplatz
A Brighter Summer Day
Andrei Rublev


I’m blind buying Fantastic Planet today..

...I’m scared.

[anonymous_024]

I don’t usually blind buy, when it comes to Criterion. These titles are so expensive, that I have to be sure before I buy that it’s really worth owning. Which is why I try to watch a specific Criterion title in any format (i.e. through Netflix, TCM, or on DVD borrowed from a library) before I decide whether I want to own a title or not.

Having said that, the one Criterion title I blind bought so far (because it was on sale), was The Heiress, and it was pretty good.

EDIT: I did, however, forget that I bought the Godzilla Showa Era set, sorry. And most of those titles are blind buys.

[AaronJ]

I gave Ray a "Thanks" for his post, even though he put Andrei Rublev on his worst list.

We watched that in film class when I was going to community college, in fact! That was, more or less, my introduction to Russian cinema.

[bonehica]

Best/Favorite Blind Buys:

High and Low
The Wages of Fear
Kiss Me Deadly
Stalker
Au hasard Balthazar

Don't have any worst.

[Al3xanderdelag]

My best blindbuys are:
Dressed to Kill
Straw Dogs
Crumb
Rififi
Lone Wolf and Cub
My worst though has to be both stalker and solaris. I don't like Tarkovsky

[jw007]

Originally Posted by gregmtl92

I'm pretty sure this has not yet been released by Criterion...

There's no such movie as "Hotel Budapest" anyway. "The Grand Budapest Hotel" on the other hand was directed by Wes Anderson.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

[Show spoiler]

Sorry, different strokes for different folks. I actually couldn't think of any other bad blind-buys aside from Eating Raoul (that I absolutely hated), so I picked those other 2 titles since I don't recall having really connected with the films. Hope you still love me!

[Pinot Grigio]

Originally Posted by Al3xanderdelag

My worst though has to be both stalker and solaris. I don't like Tarkovsky

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Worst:

Andrei Rublev
.

My soul has left the body.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by jw007

Sorry, different strokes for different folks. I actually couldn't think of any other bad blind-buys aside from Eating Raoul (that I absolutely hated), so I picked those other 2 titles since I don't recall having really connected with the films. Hope you still love me!

I’ll forgive you if you can provide me with a compelling case as to why I should blind buy All That Jazz, which I’ve been thinking about doing.

I’m not a fan of musicals or dance or Broadway shows.

...does that matter?

[steel_breeze]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I’ll forgive you if you can provide me with a compelling case as to why I should blind buy All That Jazz, which I’ve been thinking about doing.

I’m not a fan of musicals or dance or Broadway shows.

...does that matter?

ALL THAT JAZZ is a musical only in the sense that it follows a guy who directs Broadway musicals. It's a drop-dead (pun intended) brilliant movie about obsession and mortality and regrets and the things that are important in the end. It's introspective but exhibitionist, personal yet universal. It's also the best movie I've ever seen about the creative process, heavily inspired by Fellini's 8 1/2. Amazing sound design (check out the "table read" scene!) and one of the best final reels of any film ever made -- with an ending that'll stay with you for the rest of your life. An absolute masterpiece, even though that word is thrown around too casually.

[AaronJ]

I used to listen to the vinyl soundtrack to All That Jazz daily, repeatedly, I never gave it up. Of course, I was 10-11. And it meant a great deal to me.

[Al3xanderdelag]

Originally Posted by Pinot Grigio

My soul has left the body.

Make sure to make that a long take

[145gtw]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

Worst:

Berlin Alexanderplatz
A Brighter Summer Day
Andrei Rublev

[trentdiesel]

With all this talk of blind buys, I have yet to be let down by criterion. I am looking to blind buy all that heaven allows, sullivans travels and heaven can wait, any opinions on those?

[Pinot Grigio]

Originally Posted by Al3xanderdelag

Make sure to make that a long take

When necessary, always.

[captainron_howdy]

Best Bind Buys:
The Vanishing
House
Z

Worst:
Francis Ha
Anything Godard
Muriel, or the Time of Return