The Criterion Collection

[Sommerswerd]

Originally Posted by Dining Dead

Yeah, I've wondered the same thing about the music rights in Smoke. I absolutely love that movie. That last segment set to Tom Waits' Innocent When You Dream is perfection.

On a related note, I would love for them to release Wayne Wang's first two films, Chan is Missing and Dim Sum: A Little Bit of China especially with the former being one of the early iconic Asian American films.

[Will G]

Originally Posted by Sommerswerd

Chan is Missing and Dim Sum: A Little Bit of China

Yeah, these have been on my watch list for years but I haven't due to lack of availability. It would be wonderful if Criterion could save these films.

[jayembee]

Or Wang's Eat a Bowl of Tea.

[HipsterTrash]

Originally Posted by L.J.

Wonder if criterion has plans to release A Hidden Life? Also would like to see them do Seargent Rutledge and This Property is Condemmed.

Hope so. It's a great return to old school Malick. And it'd be nice to see less titles out from under the grasp of the mouse.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by belcherman

While Rope is basically a closed-room murder mystery, and like a Columbo episode, the mystery is not so much whodunit as how are they going to trip themselves up, I think campy is the wrong word to describe it. It's a well-made, daring film and the actors are playing it straight (pun not intended). It may not be Hitchcock's best, but it's definitely worth a watch and I'd be glad if someone gave it a new scan.

I don't know if it's one of his best but it's absolutely one of my favorites. My top two are Rope or Shadow of a Doubt depending on my mood that day. And Rope is definitely the one I watch most frequently.

And maybe campy isn't the right word but it's not far off either. It's definitely on the lighter side. It's not a comedy or a farce but it's not a thriller or some dark character study either.

Take the Jimmy Stewart character. He plays the supermen stuff for laughs. And there's never a sense that he's just playing it for laughs on the surface but really believes or ever really believed it. Daring would have been some version of Rupert that could have reasonably been responsible - if only indirectly - for his student's actions.

And that's not a knock. It's a very entertaining film and John Dall in particular is fantastic.

[AreaFive]

I dream of Criterion doing a release of The Fall. It's one of my favorite films and has been out of print for some time.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

It’s amazing when actors are given a polar opposite role from the ones they’ve been typecast as and it really clicks.

My two favorite examples of this are Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity and John Lithgow doing it in the opposite direction by moving from big screen villainy to an absolutely hilarious TV sitcom.

And Lithgow gets bonus points for doing it again when he switched back to play one of TVs all-time great villains on Dexter.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by octagon

My two favorite examples of this are Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity and John Lithgow doing it in the opposite direction by moving from big screen villainy to an absolutely hilarious TV sitcom.

And Lithgow gets bonus points for doing it again when he switched back to play one of TVs all-time great villains on Dexter.

Lithgow moves back and forth between the two with ease. His performance in Buckaroo Banzai is completely bat-shit (but then, so is practically everyone else's).

My favorite switcheroo is George C. Scott's comedic turn in Dr. Strangelove. He's funnier than all three Peter Sellers roles combined.

[L.J.]

Originally Posted by HipsterTrash

Hope so. It's a great return to old school Malick. And it'd be nice to see less titles out from under the grasp of the mouse.

Haven't picked up Disney's release, in hopes of a Criterion one. Criterion has done a great job on their Malick releases.

[Cremildo]

One of the most effective against-type performances, in my opinion, was Robin Williams in Insomnia. So creepy.

[bonehica]

I gotta say my favorite against type performance was Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast. I remember reading one of the reviews describing Don Logan as the "Anti-Gandhi". He truly frightened me in that film. Just pure evil.

[Mozenator]

do id B&N doing their 50% off thing this July or what?

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by octagon

John Lithgow doing it in the opposite direction by moving from big screen villainy to an absolutely hilarious TV sitcom.

Another great example of this:

[Show spoiler]

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by bonehica

I gotta say my favorite against type performance was Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast. I remember reading one of the reviews describing Don Logan as the "Anti-Gandhi". He truly frightened me in that film. Just pure evil.

The thing about Sexy Beast is that it wasn't the first time Ben Kingsley had played a villain on screen. But in films like Sneakers, he just comes across as Ben Kingsley playing a typical Hollywood movie bad guy role. In Sexy Beast, he completely inhabits the role to the point that you don't even see that it's Ben Kingsley, it's just a completely obnoxious ar$ehole named Don Logan.

[TAC]

Originally Posted by mjk-94

Speaking of Hitchcock the Set is back in stock on the Criterion site
https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/11...ssic-hitchcock

Thank you for pointing this out the other day. I blind bought this. Just starting to build my Hitchcock collection. Ordered directly from Criterion for the first time ever. Odd little tidbit, I could be wrong about this. According to usps.com it looks like they are shipping it from the same warehouse where I get most of my Bestbuy orders from. Warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky.

[UnionJackMix]

A while back someone pointed out that Criterion's mission was not to present movies in the highest definition possible. So I looked at their site to read their whole mission.
"Since 1984, the Criterion Collection has been dedicated to publishing important classic and contemporary films from around the world in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements. No matter the medium—from laserdisc to DVD and Blu-ray to streaming—Criterion has maintained its pioneering commitment to presenting each film as its maker would want it seen, in state-of-the-art restorations with special features designed to encourage repeated watching and deepen the viewer’s appreciation of the art of film."

Not sure if in the meantime this has been disproven as a statement that Criterion will not publish 4K movies or similar, at the moment.
Although one could take that for granted, if that is not the case, then I wonder why Criterion would choose to issue All About Eve when it has been reissued in multiple editions around the world. I can't really pinpoint specific extras that would make it worth their while.
I do think that some of the Bette Davis tv show appearances are new here, but I have lost my catalog of such things so I can't say for sure. But my point would be, under that mission statement, would the inclusion of one or very few extras warrant such an edition? I'm only using this as an example because it's one of the few titles I can relate to as owning a couple of versions.

[mjk-94]

Originally Posted by TAC

Thank you for pointing this out the other day. I blind bought this. Just starting to build my Hitchcock collection. Ordered directly from Criterion for the first time ever. Odd little tidbit, I could be wrong about this. According to usps.com it looks like they are shipping it from the same warehouse where I get most of my Bestbuy orders from. Warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky.

No problem mine shipped yesterday and it is already in my city they use priority mail thankfully. Enjoy your set and I hope it arrives safely

[TAC]

Originally Posted by mjk-94

No problem mine shipped yesterday and it is already in my city they use priority mail thankfully. Enjoy your set and I hope it arrives safely

Thank you! You as well and I hope the same for you!

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by octagon

My two favorite examples of this are Fred MacMurray in Double Indemnity and John Lithgow doing it in the opposite direction by moving from big screen villainy to an absolutely hilarious TV sitcom.

And Lithgow gets bonus points for doing it again when he switched back to play one of TVs all-time great villains on Dexter.

I seem to remember Fred MacMurray's daughter mentioning a story where a parent got angry with MacMurray for playing his role in The Apartment because it conflicted with his family friendly portrayal in Disney films and the TV show My Three Sons. Not sure if this is completely true but I've could swore I heard the story many times. I agree MacMurray's performances in Double Indemnity and The Apartment both directed by Wilder are the two best against type performances for me.

[FragnitoM]

I was surprised about Exotica Having a Janus logo, because it was a Mirimax title. I hope this means Janus can get rights/release even more from the Mirimax library