The Criterion Collection

[BluLobsta]

Originally Posted by NeoNical

I'm surprised you can find a 4K scan of Late Spring. I don't have a projector or anything so I can't buy the prints or scans anyways but you're really lucky to get that. It's one my mother's favorite films and the Criterion Blu-ray for it looks damaged. I'm surprised a 4K scan of it already existed without me knowing!

Glad that someone also enjoys Ozu as much as I do!

Yes, I do! I had to go to the source...in Japan All of his later films are 4K scans! Some are only available on DVD at Criterion such as Late Ozu and Early Summer. Just do a search in the search bar at the top of the Blu-ray.com page with the country set to Japan. The link for the movie will take you to Amazon 日本. やったー！

Late Spring

Early Summer

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by BluLobsta

Yes, I do! I had to go to the source...in Japan All of his later films are 4K scans! Some are only available on DVD at Criterion such as Late Ozu and Early Summer. Just do a search in the search bar at the top of the Blu-ray.com page with the country set to Japan. The link for the movie will take you to Amazon 日本. やったー！

Late Spring

Early Summer

Beautiful! I just watched Early Summer about a month ago and I loved it also. But, Criterion hasn't upgraded that title to Blu-ray yet so it may get a Blu-ray with the 4K restoration so I'm hoping Criterion doesn't waste a perfectly good restoration!

[BluLobsta]

Originally Posted by NeoNical

Beautiful! I just watched Early Summer about a month ago and I loved it also. But, Criterion hasn't upgraded that title to Blu-ray yet so it may get a Blu-ray with the 4K restoration so I'm hoping Criterion doesn't waste a perfectly good restoration!

Yes, I'm not sure if I want to wait for Criterion so I'm going to go with the Japanese 4K version of Early Summer on Amazon Japan for my next Ozu purchase, probably in a month. They come with English subtitles straight from Shochiku. Obviously they are marketed toward native Japanese so English is very limited but still present since it was remastered by an American company. The booklets are beautiful but they are read from back to front, the pictures are nice but you have to be fluent in Japanese to read them. I'm getting there slowly but surely そうですよ

[PowellPressburger]

I own the UK second Sight BLU for The Cremator but had to pick up the Criterion for the new transfer. (keeping the UK BLU for the commentary and other bonus features. Also a great Projection Booth podcast episode.

Really great new transfer on the Criterion BLU. The film gets better each time I watch it.

Darkly comic film that is striking in its relevancy today. Multiple viewings are a must!

33377B36-4271-4975-B96F-32889B89722A.jpg

[asianxcore]

Originally Posted by Scholer

I wish I could share the exact video link where he brought these up, but I don’t remember in which of many videos he had promoting the film that he had these comments, maybe some other member may recall?

Not the video link in question but this article I read a while back brings up a few of your points.

"I think it may be vanity on my part, but when I think of the classics, they're all in black and white," he said at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where he dropped in during a chaotic awards season schedule to give a master class and present the world premiere of the new Parasite edit. "So I had this idea that if I turned my films into black and white then they'd become classics."

"You can't just put it in a computer and turn it into black and white," he said, adding that he faced extra difficulties because he hadn't considered black and white when working on the film's production design or art direction, making particular scenes — such as the flooding, with mud water floating around — require extra consideration.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...te-cut-1274862

[Scholer]

Originally Posted by asianxcore

Not the video link in question but this article I read a while back brings up a few of your points.

"I think it may be vanity on my part, but when I think of the classics, they're all in black and white," he said at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, where he dropped in during a chaotic awards season schedule to give a master class and present the world premiere of the new Parasite edit. "So I had this idea that if I turned my films into black and white then they'd become classics."

"You can't just put it in a computer and turn it into black and white," he said, adding that he faced extra difficulties because he hadn't considered black and white when working on the film's production design or art direction, making particular scenes — such as the flooding, with mud water floating around — require extra consideration.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...te-cut-1274862

I found the video now:

Masterclass: Bong Joon Ho | IFFR 2020 - YouTube

[Scholer]

Originally Posted by biglou114

Now that you've watched the remake, find Make Way for Tomorrow and get depressed all over again.

That’s like calling Sweet Smell of Success an americanised remake of Night and the City.

[malakaheso]

Late Spring smokes Tokyo Story. Even Ozu apparently wasn't crazy about it. Felt it was too 'on the nose'. It is for him. Too much camera movement as well. Ozu was a master of the static camera.

[jshaide]

Perusing the Channel and knowing how many they have, I think a dream release for me would be a big box set of Czech New Wave titles. There are a bunch that could use some upgrading and even more that haven’t even been put to disc yet. It would be quite the set given the volume of what they have.

[Bn43]

I watched Late Spring after An Autumn Afternoon. Was really impressed by the latter, but found the former too similar to love. If An Autumn Afternoon was a 5/5 in my first viewing, Late Spring was a 4. Honestly, I think AAA is LS made better.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by regeyer

I've always refused to buy "Beauty and the Beast" because I hate the ending. The ending ruined it for me. I won't go further as I don't want to spoil it for others.

However, at $5 I couldn't say no. Thanks.

This arrived yesterday and I watched it with my son last night. It's just as I remembered. There are parts I like, but I really hate the ending. I hate it. But for $5 new I couldn't pass it up.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Bn43

I watched Late Spring after An Autumn Afternoon. Was really impressed by the latter, but found the former too similar to love. If An Autumn Afternoon was a 5/5 in my first viewing, Late Spring was a 4. Honestly, I think AAA is LS made better.

You'll find many, if not most of Ozu's films have strong overlaps in themes, and just the look, and feel of them. Some are outright remakes of previous ones, and others are sort of re-worked versions of the core story. I have a hard time recollecting which film is which from the Late Ozu Eclipse set, as they all tend to blend together in my head. I think as such, there should probably be some space between the viewing of his films.

[SeanJoyce]

Upgraded my DVD of The Naked Prey to Blu-ray last night and gave it a spin.

This is still one the most visceral, effective and well-made survival movies ever made. All of the wildlife footage, particularly the sequences of nature at war with itself that lend context to the story, is as impressive as what Wilde and his team were able to create on location in the South African outback.

A truly fantastic release of a real gem that predates the work of Malick and stuff like Apocalypto.

[ilenewoodsfan99]

Picked these up at Barnes and Noble a few days ago. Absolutely love these titles.



I also saw the Olympic collection there, but I spent a lot on other things already this month.... And it's on the Criterion Channel now, so I might just get a subscription instead.

[BluLobsta]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

Late Spring smokes Tokyo Story. Even Ozu apparently wasn't crazy about it. Felt it was too 'on the nose'. It is for him. Too much camera movement as well. Ozu was a master of the static camera.

Yeah, I watched the Japanese 4K release of Late Spring last night. Exceptional remaster of an exceptional film. Such sadness created out of such love for his daughter. Quite touching.

Master of the static camera and the tatami shot

[BluLobsta]

Originally Posted by Bn43

I watched Late Spring after An Autumn Afternoon. Was really impressed by the latter, but found the former too similar to love. If An Autumn Afternoon was a 5/5 in my first viewing, Late Spring was a 4. Honestly, I think AAA is LS made better.

Haven't seen An Autumn Afternoon yet. I will be buying the Criterion which is already a 4K scan and has bonuses that I can actually read Ozu's last film

[SlickDamian]

Just watched Moonrise for the first time. Eerie and gorgeous. A real gem.

[Gorgon]

I didn't see it mentioned scrolling through last few pages.
You folk see that Amz.com has "The Hit" coming out in Blu?
I have the dvd and love the show, so I'm interested to discover how much of an upgrade we get.
Release is in October so a bit of a wait yet.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by Gorgon

I didn't see it mentioned scrolling through last few pages.
You folk see that Amz.com has "The Hit" coming out in Blu?
I have the dvd and love the show, so I'm interested to discover how much of an upgrade we get.
Release is in October so a bit of a wait yet.

The Hit was my second most wanted upgrade to Blu-ray. I'm sure it will look great. My most wanted at this point is the Human Condition trilogy.

I'm thinking for the next few months, due to the difficulty to produce special features, that we might see more upgrades than new titles. I'm just hoping it doesn't push the Irishman into next year. I was pretty sure we would also get After Hours this year, but who knows anymore.

[Surge92]

I just finished watching Come and See. What a film. Visually stunning and anchored by a powerhouse, unforgettable performance by young (at the time) Aleksei Kravchenko, who conveys more visceral shock and horror through his facial expressions than spoken lines ever could, the film depicts his metaphorical descent into hell, courtesy of the brutal Nazi occupation of Belarus. At times, it felt like I was watching a '70s Herzog film, very atmospheric, yet also poetic in its use of close-ups and nature shots, even though a lot of what we see on the screen is gruesome. The film's music can also be described as ominous and haunting (the strings that play over the main menu actually reminded me of Riz Ortolani's work on Cannibal Holocaust). The same goes for the creative use of sound, like the droning buzzing of flies to announce death. Criterion has done an excellent job with the transfer, which is very organic and filmic-looking (some occasional subtle edge enhancement on wide shots was the only flaw I noticed). Overall, this is a highly recommended release. Now, if someone would only release Klimov's Agony on blu-ray.