The Criterion Collection

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Haven't seen much talk about King of the Hill and La Vie Boheme. What are people's thoughts? I really like almost all of Soderbergh's films, but heard KotH is a very minor work and ignored period details and concerns. I'm also interested in La Vie Boheme, as I loved Le Havre.

I thought King of the Hill was wonderful, much better than I anticipated. But I also maintain that Soderbergh has done most of his best work within the studio system (Contagion, Side Effects, Out of Sight).

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

I thought King of the Hill was wonderful, much better than I anticipated. But I also maintain that Soderbergh has done most of his best work within the studio system (Contagion, Side Effects, Out of Sight).

Thanks! I tend to agree.

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by Clare2904

I was so lucky last year to go to the world premiere of Visitors. It was screened with a live score by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. It was STUNNING!

Even more stunning was meeting Godfrey Reggio & Steven Soderbergh afterwards and have them autograph the booklet we was given. I had picked up a spare for my friend in London as he is a Qatsi fanatic and they signed this one too. They both took time to speak to me which was just

I really need to pull the trigger on the Trilogy.

That is very cool! That sounds like a rare opportunity. And yeah, I haven't watched the sequels yet but the pq and aq for Koyaanisqatsi are great and there's a good interview with Reggio that may not tell you much you already don't know (some of it was taken and posted on the IMDb trivia page), but it gave me more appreciation for the film and revealed some things I didn't quite catch or understand while watching. It's looking like a nice little set.

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Pruit Igoe and Prophecies are some of my favorite musical compositions by Glass. It has appeared in countless films. He has also made a tribute symphony based on David Bowie and Brian Eno's Low album using some of the electronic parts in the album. It is also really great.

Another of his works I always return to is his Concerto for Saxophone (quartet version). It is also great to revisit Cocteau's La Belle et Bête with Glass' alternate soundtrack/score (on the criterion blu ray) giving the movie an operatic perspective.

Thanks for the recommendations. Yeah, besides the aforementioned Watchmen excerpt, I've heard "Spaceship" (an excerpt from Einstein on the Beach) in my music class, and that's really it. This was my first true dive into Glass' work, and what an introduction. I've been considering getting Beauty and the Beast in the upcoming B&N sale, so that's awesome to know that there's a Glass composition on there. I wonder what the story is behind that, being that it is an older film. So that score is preferable to the original composition?

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by jlk5844

Thanks for the recommendations. Yeah, besides the aforementioned Watchmen excerpt, I've heard "Spaceship" (an excerpt from Einstein on the Beach) in my music class, and that's really it.

Apart from the folks who said "The Truman Show has the best score!" unaware that it was just borrowing existing pieces from Glass's Powaqqatsi and Mishima: a Life in Four Chapters.
Mishima would be Glass's third-best movie score, as in between there's The Thin Blue Line, which helped make Errol Morris a legend.

[Show spoiler]

Philip Glass - Houston Skyline (The Thin Blue Line Soundtrack) - YouTube

(Powaqqatsi's....okay, and has some nice Baraka-like third-world images, but it's no followup to KQ like Ron Fricke/Ron Stearns' Chronos was.
Naqoyqatsi, however, is an embarrassment , but the music's unmemorably okay.)

This was my first true dive into Glass' work, and what an introduction. I've been considering getting Beauty and the Beast in the upcoming B&N sale, so that's awesome to know that there's a Glass composition on there. I wonder what the story is behind that, being that it is an older film. So that score is preferable to the original composition?

Glass had done a good score to the otherwise music-free '36-talkie Dracula on Universal's first DVD, so he thought he'd be into film re-scores for a while. Doesn't quite work when the movie already has a good sound score, though.
I remember seeing KQ in college, and it wasn't my first dive into Glass, as I'd already heard some of his early pieces used on animated sequences in Sesame Street...Yes. Knew it sounded familiar.

[Clare2904]

Originally Posted by Thebunk

I live in New Brunswick and had used Hulu Plus for almost 2 years via Unblock Us.

I was able to get around the credit card issue by following the instructions in Option 1 and it worked:

http://support.unblock-us.com/custom...for-hulu-plus-

EDIT - I see a few others noted this on this page as well. It is definitely worth, especially to be able to select different regions for Netflix as well.

Option 1 is what I used in the past and did not work for me.

As for Netflix, I use the Add-on Hola.org, free and no download.

[Clare2904]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

Ok, so I've been debating which films I'm getting in the upcoming B&N sale and here they are (although some may change).

Persona
Certified Copy
Throne of Blood
The Hidden Fortress
Red River
Jules & Jim
Tess
Kiss Me Deadly
All that Heaven Allows
Ace in the Hole

All of them are blind-buys with the exception of Persona and Certified Copy.

What exactly do people mean why they say "blind buy"?

You know nothing about the film?
You have only read the little write-up on Criterion.com?

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by Clare2904

What exactly do people mean why they say "blind buy"?

You know nothing about the film?
You have only read the little write-up on Criterion.com?

Normally it means they've never seen it. The Blind Buys I've made, I've read up on the film some, the descriptions online etc.

[Polaroid]

So watched Tess last night, thought it would be a great film to chill out to in bed... Not knowing it was 3 hours!

It's is incredibly beautiful, such gorgeous cinematography -from exteriors to interiors.

I need to rematch as I did fall asleep and then wake up at different times, I'm not big on period films, I find the stories a tad boring, no idea why - but I adore the cinematography, music, costumes, sets etc.

I do to egret blind buying this as it was a beautiful film, but needs a rewatch - it was incredibly made though, such stunning imagery stuck in my head now!

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Clare2904

What exactly do people mean why they say "blind buy"?

You know nothing about the film?
You have only read the little write-up on Criterion.com?

I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Buying a film you have not seen. It's no different than going to see a film at the theater, except for a similar price you now own the film. I've had great success with it because I'm very selective and have a good idea what I'll like. Still Walking and The Killing are probably the only two I've regretted.

[dtyner92]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

I think it's pretty self-explanatory. Buying a film you have not seen. It's no different than going to see a film at the theater, except for a similar price you now own the film. I've had great success with it because I'm very selective and have a good idea what I'll like. Still Walking and The Killing are probably the only two I've regretted.

No love for The Killing? It's one of my favorite heist/Kubrick films.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

So watched Tess last night, thought it would be a great film to chill out to in bed... Not knowing it was 3 hours!

It's is incredibly beautiful, such gorgeous cinematography -from exteriors to interiors.

I need to rematch as I did fall asleep and then wake up at different times, I'm not big on period films, I find the stories a tad boring, no idea why - but I adore the cinematography, music, costumes, sets etc.

I do to egret blind buying this as it was a beautiful film, but needs a rewatch - it was incredibly made though, such stunning imagery stuck in my head now!

The cinematography is incredible. However, I didn't care too much for the story.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by dtyner92

No love for The Killing? It's one of my favorite heist/Kubrick films.

Trust me, I was very surprised that I didn't care for it. I like most Kubrick films, but it just didn't do it for me. I wish I could clarify why, but I'd have to go look at my review from a couple years back.

[maely]

Originally Posted by dtyner92

No love for The Killing? It's one of my favorite heist/Kubrick films.

Additionally, I love that Criterion set which includes the underrated Killer's Kiss as a superb bonus feature. I expect I will grab it when B&N does their Criterion sale next month.

[jlk5844]

Originally Posted by EricJ

Apart from the folks who said "The Truman Show has the best score!" unaware that it was just borrowing existing pieces from Glass's Powaqqatsi and Mishima: a Life in Four Chapters.
Mishima would be Glass's third-best movie score, as in between there's The Thin Blue Line, which helped make Errol Morris a legend.

[Show spoiler]Philip Glass - Houston Skyline (The Thin Blue Line Soundtrack) - YouTube

(Powaqqatsi's....okay, and has some nice Baraka-like third-world images, but it's no followup to KQ like Ron Fricke/Ron Stearns' Chronos was.
Naqoyqatsi, however, is an embarrassment , but the music's unmemorably okay.)


Glass had done a good score to the otherwise music-free '36-talkie Dracula on Universal's first DVD, so he thought he'd be into film re-scores for a while. Doesn't quite work when the movie already has a good sound score, though.
I remember seeing KQ in college, and it wasn't my first dive into Glass, as I'd already heard some of his early pieces used on animated sequences in Sesame Street...Yes. Knew it sounded familiar.

Oh I've seen The Thin Blue Line! I didn't know Glass scored that. And of course, The Truman Show. Dang, he seems more popular than I imagined. It's not hard to believe, his music is incredible.

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by jlk5844

Oh I've seen The Thin Blue Line! I didn't know Glass scored that. And of course, The Truman Show. Dang, he seems more popular than I imagined. It's not hard to believe, his music is incredible.

He's a great composer. I was fortunate enough to see him perform with and orchestra prior to the Dalai Lama speaking at a the University of Buffalo football stadium.

[Polaroid]

Philip glass did an incredible score for Notes On A Scandal as well :-)

Oh and his piano piece for Stoker is so beautiful, shame he wasn't able to do entire score...


He never wanted to do film scores, it was KOYAANIQATSI that made him start :-)

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Haven't seen much talk about King of the Hill and La Vie Boheme. What are people's thoughts? I really like almost all of Soderbergh's films, but heard KotH is a very minor work and ignored period details and concerns. I'm also interested in La Vie Boheme, as I loved Le Havre.

Soderbergh's King of the Hill is a minor masterpiece; I saw this several times over the years, but didn't really appreciate this until I saw the Criterion Blu version this year (which was also packaged with another great '90's Soderbergh feature, The Underneath). KOTH is a great coming of age story, and I found all of the performances stellar. Look for a young K. Heigl (Gray's Anatomy) & Adrien Brody (The Pianist).

Also liked La Vie Boheme - very interesting depiction of a laid-back/artistic lifestyle in Paris. What I found fascinating about this film was that it was filmed & released in the '90's, and seemed to take place during that time period as well. But, it brought to mind a much earlier era - it could almost have been a film from the 1950's/early 1960's - the b&w cinematography added to this feeling.

I also enjoyed Kaurismaki's Le Havre; very uplifting film that took place in the modern era (21st century), but brought to mind an older, more nostalgic time period.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

Ok, so I've been debating which films I'm getting in the upcoming B&N sale and here they are (although some may change).

Persona
Certified Copy
Throne of Blood
The Hidden Fortress
Red River
Jules & Jim
Tess
Kiss Me Deadly
All that Heaven Allows
Ace in the Hole

All of them are blind-buys with the exception of Persona and Certified Copy.

Certified Copy and Persona should be definite buys, in my opinion.

I'd say if you could get another three, you should make it All That Heaven Allows, The Hidden Fortress, and Red River.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Haven't seen much talk about King of the Hill and La Vie Boheme. What are people's thoughts? I really like almost all of Soderbergh's films, but heard KotH is a very minor work and ignored period details and concerns. I'm also interested in La Vie Boheme, as I loved Le Havre.

I thought King of the Hill was a pretty enjoyable film overall. Sure, it definitely downplays the hardships of The Great Depression, but I thought all of the characters were, for the most part, charming and interesting.

I can usually take or leave Soderbergh's films, but this one seemed to be on the more positive end of the spectrum. My favorite film of his will forever be Traffic, although there are quite a few films I have not seen from his catalogue.

Regarding La Vie De Boheme, I still have to watch it. I liked Le Havre, but I'm not sure how I will like this one.

[The Bronx Bull]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Haven't seen much talk about King of the Hill and La Vie Boheme. What are people's thoughts? I really like almost all of Soderbergh's films, but heard KotH is a very minor work and ignored period details and concerns. I'm also interested in La Vie Boheme, as I loved Le Havre.

King of the Hill was a blind buy for me, and I enjoyed it. For some reason, it didn't exactly feel like it took place in the 1930's. Good film though.

The Great Owl - I have a request for you, if you would be so obliged to appease. I know a while back you started going through almost all of the film noir in existence; can you list your top ten favorite film noir with a one sentence description expounding on your thoughts of the film?