The Criterion Collection

[oildude]

Originally Posted by jrsl76

About 10 days - Feb. 16 (since the normal 15th of the month falls on a Sunday).

Feb 16th is a holiday in the U.S. Unless they are going to announce anyway (have they ever on a holiday?), either it will be Tuesday, Feb 17, or they could really surprise with a Friday the 13th announcement.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by oildude

Feb 16th is a holiday in the U.S. Unless they are going to announce anyway (have they ever on a holiday?), either it will be Tuesday, Feb 17, or they could really surprise with a Friday the 13th announcement.

We'll be lucky to get them by the 18th.

I mean, we're talking about Presidents Day here. One doesn't simply walk into work after Presidents Day weekend and resume business as usual.

[StLouisRibs]

Of course we'll be recieving the much-anticipated announcement of the following...


Man of the Year
The Glorious Hussy
Dave
Jefferson in Paris
Wilson

[GenPion]

Originally Posted by joie

In an interview, Godard expressed a dislike of "restorations." He said something like, "They destroy the character of film." It may have been said in a supplement to "Contempt" or "Breathless," maybe on a European release. It may have been an old interview, and he may have changed his mind, but I am inclined to agree. Nobody watches a negative, so when transferring film to video why not scan a print instead of a negative?

Seriously? Negatives are usually the best source material they have to work with. They don't use a print because it tends to be faded and no longer in the same quality the print was in when it was brand new. When a film print is new it looks stunning but over time it starts to disintegrate and the quality lessens. If Godard really thinks film restoration and/or using film negatives is a bad idea, I strongly disagree with him.

On a semi-related note, Godard has also stated how he dismisses his earlier films (you know, the ones which made him famous) but that won't stop me from thinking those are amongst his best work.

[Andrew13]

Starting to assemble my purchase list for the anticipated upcoming flash sale. Anyone have some thoughts to share on Olivier's Richard III? How do you find it in terms of rewatchability?

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by octagon

We'll be lucky to get them by the 18th.

I mean, we're talking about Presidents Day here. One doesn't simply walk into work after Presidents Day weekend and resume business as usual.

Lmfao bad.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Andrew13

Starting to assemble my purchase list for the anticipated upcoming flash sale. Anyone have some thoughts to share on Olivier's Richard III? How do you find it in terms of rewatchability?

Originally Posted by parklife

I think it depends on your attitude towards Shakespearean language. Maybe I'm an idiot, but because of the dialogue, I personally find Richard III a bit of "heavy" experience - in fact, I have to watch it with subtitles to catch every word that is said - and I could see its "heaviness" deterring someone from revisiting it. However, it's the rich dialogue that makes me revisit it so often! I catch something new every time I watch it (especially if I've done a little reading since the last time). Also, the transfer is tremendous and the supplements are solid. Great interview with Olivier and commentary track. I have about 40 Criterion discs and this would be in my top five most-watched. I've probably watched Thief (quite a different picture) the most. Can't recommend Richard III highly enough.

I agree. I've watched it quite a few times, courtesy of a TCM recording, and each time is more rewarding. I'm not usually a fan of Shakespeare but occasionally a film based on his work will pull me in and this is one of them. I always seem to put this on my "next 50% off sale" list but something else always seems to bump it off. One day I'll get for sure.

[Tom Monahan]

Is there a guess as to when this Amazon 50% sale will take place? Does it include all Criterion releases? I don't know if I should keep my pre-order for Don't Look Now that releases on Tuesday.

Thanks,
Tom

[joie]

Originally Posted by GenPion

Seriously? Negatives are usually the best source material they have to work with. They don't use a print because it tends to be faded and no longer in the same quality the print was in when it was brand new. When a film print is new it looks stunning but over time it starts to disintegrate and the quality lessens. If Godard really thinks film restoration and/or using film negatives is a bad idea, I strongly disagree with him.

On a semi-related note, Godard has also stated how he dismisses his earlier films (you know, the ones which made him famous) but that won't stop me from thinking those are amongst his best work.

There has been a misunderstanding. Godard didn't criticise "restoration" from a negative. That is my criticism -- possibly valid in the sense that you can find yourself looking at something that never existed. For example, Martin Scorsese mentions, concerning "The Red Shoes," that it looked "better" than it ever did because the separation layers had never been better aligned than they were with digital tools during restoration. Godard's remark about losing the "character" of films may have been concerned with the removal of scratches, nicks and dirt which no film is immune to -- they are a part of film's "character."

[The Great Owl]

Not directly Criterion-related, but a few people here might be interested in this news story that surfaced tonight...

Lizabeth Scott, one of my personal favorite actresses of the classic film noir era, passed away on January 31 due to heart failure. Scott had perhaps the sexiest voice in cinema history, and she was a stunning femme fatale in movies like The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (with Kirk Douglas and Barbara Stanwyck), Dead Reckoning (with Humphrey Bogart), Pitfall, Dark City (with Charlton Heston), Two of a Kind, and The Racket (with Robert Mitchum).

RIP to a true star from my favorite movie genre.

[sjconstable]

Originally Posted by GenPion

If Godard really thinks film restoration and/or using film negatives is a bad idea, I strongly disagree with him.

On a semi-related note, Godard has also stated how he dismisses his earlier films (you know, the ones which made him famous) but that won't stop me from thinking those are amongst his best work.

He also wanted English people to watch Film Socialisme with those God-awful 'Navajo' subtitles, nuff said.

[kuro_sawa]

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Not directly Criterion-related, but a few people here might be interested in this news story that surfaced tonight...

Lizabeth Scott, one of my personal favorite actresses of the classic film noir era, passed away on January 31 due to heart failure. Scott had perhaps the sexiest voice in cinema history, and she was a stunning femme fatale in movies like The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (with Kirk Douglas and Barbara Stanwyck), Dead Reckoning (with Humphrey Bogart), Pitfall, Dark City (with Charlton Heston), Two of a Kind, and The Racket (with Robert Mitchum).

RIP to a true star from my favorite movie genre.

It's awful to thank you for this unfortunate news, but I had not read about it and so I do thank you for bringing it to attention here. At least, at 92, she had lived quite a life. She's a film noir icon, but at the same time she is very underrated, and her name should come up much more often!

RIP Lizabeth Scott

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Not directly Criterion-related, but a few people here might be interested in this news story that surfaced tonight...

Lizabeth Scott, one of my personal favorite actresses of the classic film noir era, passed away on January 31 due to heart failure. Scott had perhaps the sexiest voice in cinema history, and she was a stunning femme fatale in movies like The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (with Kirk Douglas and Barbara Stanwyck), Dead Reckoning (with Humphrey Bogart), Pitfall, Dark City (with Charlton Heston), Two of a Kind, and The Racket (with Robert Mitchum).

RIP to a true star from my favorite movie genre.

[Show spoiler]

Sad news indeed.

[ravenus]

Saw Thief last night on the Arrow blu, whose main feature is based on Criterion's restored master. Manhunter is my favorite Mann, but this riff on Rififi is pretty darn good as an old-skool yarn with a stylish neon edge, and a nice showcase for the charismatic James Caan. Fans of Tangerine Dream would like to check this out too.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Saw Thief last night on the Arrow blu, whose main feature is based on Criterion's restored master. Manhunter is my favorite Mann, but this riff on Rififi is pretty darn good as an old-skool yarn with a stylish neon edge, and a nice showcase for the charismatic James Caan. Fans of Tangerine Dream would like to check this out too.

Great Tangerine Dream soundtrack. Edgar Froese who passed away last month will be greatly missed. Thief really blew me away the first time I saw it on my Criterion blu-ray... I wish Mann could get back to making great movies again, as the last few haven't been as strong as his 90's output. I haven't seen Blackhat yet, but I want to.

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

Me too. Lots of great silents on the old wishlist, The Crowd, Big Parade, Greed, Napolean, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, etc, etc.

I'd love to see more silents on Blu-ray. Actually THE BIG PARADE is already on a very impressive Blu-ray from Warner.



Warner also owns THE CROWD and GREED, so it's unlikely Criterion would be able to release them.

NAPOLEON is undergoing yet another restoration by the Cinematheque Francaise with Francis Ford Coppola (claiming that Kevin Brownlow's restoration is all wrong), so there's a chance that newest version will show up on Blu-ray.

My favorite from your list is FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE, which I've seen in 35mm and really hope can get a good Blu-ray release soon.

[jshaide]

The fact that Greed hasn't been released on Blu ray nor DVD is an absolute travesty.

[dwk]

Criterion has added two extras to Le silence de la mer:

Code Name Melville (2008), a seventy-six-minute documentary on Melville’s time in the French Resistance and his films about it

Melville Steps Out of the Shadows (2010), a forty-one-minute documentary about Le silence de la mer featuring interviews with actor Nicole Stéphane and filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff, among others

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by jshaide

The fact that Greed hasn't been released on Blu ray nor DVD is an absolute travesty.

I'd hope that when it's released that it'll have the 4 hr reconstructed cut that TCM used to show in addition to the studio released 2 hr version.

[Yami]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

I'd hope that when it's released that it'll have the 4 hr reconstructed cut that TCM used to show in addition to the studio released 2 hr version.

I'd be surprised if they didn't include the TCM version if they ever released it. But, personally, I found the TCM version to be a tough watch. 2 hours worth of still frames interfered with any flow.