The Criterion Collection

[tenia]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

This is why I sometimes want to throat-punch people on this site who complain repeatedly about compression artifacts or edge enhancement on Blu-ray releases of insanely obscure 1970s drive-in flicks that we're lucky to see on home video in the first place.

While there certainly is a need for some complaints to be restrained because of their very low significance, we are in an age where these obscure flicks can be restored in 4k from the OCN but what's the point if it's to end with a debatably perfectible end result ?

It's not because some movies have a history of being poorly handled that we should be content with perfectible releases.

Especially when it's now well known that some of the issues visible on some labels (like compression) are a given for other labels for years now.

It's not as if we're talking of doing things nobody else has done before.

As for half assed restorations or using decade old masters, I dont see how anyone could defend BD releases using them. But hey, if people are happy with a small upgrade instead of a proper HD job, cool for them. But there are so many great restorations around, I cant put my money on these.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

I don't know I think The Hateful Eight is probably the best film I've seen in quite a few years. I think it's an absolute masterpiece and it's 70mm Roadshow was probably the best experience I've ever had at the cinema. His dialogue to me is the best part about his films. He literally makes films of people just conversating and it is thrilling to watch. For me anyways.

Pulp Fiction is his masterpiece for me but Inglorious Basterds comes very close to being tied with it. That film is mindblowing to me and I can't believe it lost to The Hurt Locker (which I hated) for best picture.

Tarantino's a talented dude, but he's come of age in a time when there haven't been many other singular filmmakers to really foster a sense of competition. So, I think Tarantino has really fallen in love with his own work and hasn't attempted to stretch his boundaries the way many filmmakers of the past have as their careers progress. "The Hateful Eight" was the first film where I palpably detected a sense of Tarantino falling in love with his own dialogue because there was nothing to distract from the Tarantino-ness of the film. It's essentially structured like a play, so the dialogue is much more at the forefront. Most people I know love "The Hateful Eight", so I'm very much in the minority. It just didn't work for me.

[jayembee]

All this talk about writers whose characters all sound the same, and no one brought up David Mamet. Back in my Usenet newsgroup days, someone once said, "In HEIST, it was that horrendous forced tough guy dialogue sounding like David Mamet's idea of what movie tough guys would sound like if David Mamet wrote their dialogue."

[IronWaffle]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

One of my favorite posts ever on this forum. Tip of the cap, Great Owl. I am ashamed to admit that I have yet to watch The Sweet Smell of Success. I know, I know. What's wrong with me? I shall remedy that this weekend. I've had it, just haven't gotten to it yet.

I was born in September of 1971, so I recall exactly the same things you do. I remember the television in the family room with the Atari 2600, and the gargantuan top-loading VHS player (complete with wood paneling) with a remote control. The remote had about a ten foot cord, and the sofa was nine feet from the tv at its closest. So, if I wanted to re-watch a movie on VHS (one of the five we owned that we paid like $100 each for), I had to press the big rewind button, and wait until my next birthday for the movie to get back to the beginning. At least there were no trailers you had to then fast forward through. People didn't know what "director commentaries", or "extra features" were. There were no trailers. Nothing. It was bare bones. Just the movie you bought. What a concept! And, damn if rewinding the tape didn't wake up everybody in the house. The TV was on the ground floor, and the bedrooms were all on the second floor. Yet that thing was so damned loud! Somebody had the brilliant idea of creating a "VHS rewinder", because you could rewind like twenty movies before the VHS player blew a spring, or something. And then you had to take it in for repairs. You had to unplug everything ("are these the wires for the VHS, or the rabbit ears sitting on top of the tv?"), and then take it in to the repair shop. The damned VHS player weighed like 100 pounds, so not only did you have a repair bill, you now had to pay the ER for the hernia you suffered carrying that behemoth out to the car.

And the VHS players were hardly user friendly by today's standards. Careful ejecting the tape from the player. That thing pops up, and if you're not careful, it might take out an eye, or you could lose a finger pushing the tape in. The remote had a stop button, a play button, fast forward and rewind. And a big "pause" button that you had to push up or down. Nothing to turn the TV or VCR on or off. Nothing to adjust the volume. And certainly, nothing to flip through the four channels on TV. There was ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS. That was it. No FOX. No TBS. And if you caught a film halfway through, tough noogies. You couldn't hit the rewind button to start the movie over. There was no "CBS West" that would be showing the film again two hours later. And there was certainly no on demand. Sounds terrible, right? Oh yeah? We had the original Star Wars on VHS, back when it was still only Star Wars. None of this A New Hope BS. And, Han shot first, damn it!

If you stayed up too late, after Elvira was done playing her two hour-long B horror flick that lasted four hours with commercials, they played the National Anthem. When you saw the jet fighters flying over the Grand Canyon, that was NBC's way of saying, "you have to get up for school in three hours, stupid, go to bed!"

You didn't fall asleep watching TV back then. Heaven forbid you try to recline on said couch to relax. I mean, what if you wanted to lie on one side, and rest your head on the end of the sofa? The damned cord was only ten feet long, and it wouldn't reach that end of the sofa. So you had to drop the remote, and invariably the cord snapped the remote back about two feet. If you wanted to rewind, you had to get your butt off the sofa, and go retrieve the thing, being careful not to trip over the Defender or Space Invaders cartridge that your younger cousin left out in the middle of the floor. The Atari had wood paneling, too. Everything had wood paneling. The stereo? The giant Magnavox stereo was a giant wood panel! It took up like half the damned family room. It was this giant box: the front was a speaker. You slid a door open on the top, and there was a record player. If you were lucky, an 8-track player. And lots of records. I think the records had wood paneling, too. No? Opportunity missed.

You've got a year in me, sir, and I can practically smell the leftovers '70s decor that co-existed with my mother's '80s shoulder pads.

Two minor corrections:

At least the copy of Star Wars we rented had the "a boy, a girl and a universe" teaser was after the movie. I know because we laughed at it while lying in the den eating Steak-Umms, Spaghetti-Os or some other typically latchkey kid staple cuisine.

As to records, that's a bridge too far! Everyone knows they've ALWAYS been wood-free. Our late '60s stereo receiver and turntable, on the other hand...

[mja345]

Originally Posted by jayembee

All this talk about writers whose characters all sound the same, and no one brought up David Mamet. Back in my Usenet newsgroup days, someone once said, "In HEIST, it was that horrendous forced tough guy dialogue sounding like David Mamet's idea of what movie tough guys would sound like if David Mamet wrote their dialogue."

Mamet has definitely devolved into that in his later years. I think "Spartan" is his worst example of this. His early stuff manages to be distinctive, but not repetitive. There's the contrast between the stilted Lindsay Crouse and the rapid-fire confidence of Joe Mantegna in "House of Games". In "Glengarry Glen Ross", there's the confident machismo of Al Pacino and Alec Baldwin, the meek resignation of Alan Arkin, the middle-manager smarminess of Kevin Spacey, the last-gasp anger of Jack Lemmon and Ed Harris. They're all written pretty differently.

But, you're right, when Mamet is off, he definitely falls into that trap.

[Hoke Moseley]

Originally Posted by jayembee

All this talk about writers whose characters all sound the same, and no one brought up David Mamet. Back in my Usenet newsgroup days, someone once said, "In HEIST, it was that horrendous forced tough guy dialogue sounding like David Mamet's idea of what movie tough guys would sound like if David Mamet wrote their dialogue."

Oh come on! I love Heist and it has one of the best quotes ever:

"My motherf**ker is so cool, when he goes to bed, sheep count him."

[MassiveMovieBuff]

I just bought Bigger than Life. Can't wait to watch this. The review on this site called it arguably Nicholas Ray's best film. I'm expecting a lot here.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

I just bought Bigger than Life. Can't wait to watch this. The review on this site called it arguably Nicholas Ray's best film. I'm expecting a lot here.

I wouldn't consider myself a huge Nicholas Ray fan, but I'd say it's my least favorite of the films I've seen.

1. In a Lonely Place
2. Rebel Without a Cause
3. Bigger Than Life

I've been meaning to watch Johnny Guitar, On Dangerous Ground, and They Live by Night.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I wouldn't consider myself a huge Nicholas Ray fan, but I'd say it's my least favorite of the films I've seen.

1. In a Lonely Place
2. Rebel Without a Cause
3. Bigger Than Life

I've been meaning to watch Johnny Guitar, On Dangerous Ground, and They Live by Night.

Yeah I haven't seen a lot of his films either. I love In a Lonely Place and I pre ordered They Live by Night which I'm sure I'll love due to it being a film noir and have heard nothing but great things about it. I'm pretty confident I'll like Bigger than Life though.

[llj]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I wouldn't consider myself a huge Nicholas Ray fan, but I'd say it's my least favorite of the films I've seen.

1. In a Lonely Place
2. Rebel Without a Cause
3. Bigger Than Life

I've been meaning to watch Johnny Guitar, On Dangerous Ground, and They Live by Night.

I agree about In a Lonely Place being number 1.

Rebel Without a Cause is iconic, but it's not among my favorites of his.

I really like Bigger Than Life, and it's in the top 7, but I don't think it's Ray's best. Maybe if you don't know much of his work it would "seem" the best.


I have Johnny Guitar in my top 5 Ray. I also kinda dig Party Girl.

[Hoke Moseley]

The Lusty Men is Ray's best for me.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by mja345

What? You don't love hearing arguments about compression artifacts or edge enhancement for pages and pages and pages to the point where the actual film the participants are arguing about becomes completely irrelevant?

Some of those arguments become so anal retentive and esocteric that even Vilmos Zsigmond and Roger Deakins would probably go, "Enough already. Just watch the f**king movie."

Truer words could not be found

[senseabove]

Of the Ray I've seen, Bigger than Life wasn't one of my favorites–it's entirely carried by James Mason and the plot makes some awkward moves to get to the inciting problem, but once it gets going it's very good. I'd put In a Lonely Place, Rebel, and Johnny Guitar above it, and probably They Live by Night and Party Girl. But if you like Ray, it's definitely worthwhile.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

I thought the first half was pretty good but the second half ruined it for me.

I agree with this.

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I wouldn't consider myself a huge Nicholas Ray fan, but I'd say it's my least favorite of the films I've seen.

1. In a Lonely Place
2. Rebel Without a Cause
3. Bigger Than Life

I've been meaning to watch Johnny Guitar, On Dangerous Ground, and They Live by Night.

Johnny Guitar and High Noon are sister movies. Two of my absolute favorite films.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I wouldn't consider myself a huge Nicholas Ray fan, but I'd say it's my least favorite of the films I've seen.

Seek out Wind Across the Everglades. I guarantee you that film will take the bottom spot and give you an appreciation for his other films.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I wouldn't consider myself a huge Nicholas Ray fan, but I'd say it's my least favorite of the films I've seen.

1. In a Lonely Place
2. Rebel Without a Cause
3. Bigger Than Life

I've been meaning to watch Johnny Guitar, On Dangerous Ground, and They Live by Night.

On Dangerous Ground is excellent, one of my top 10 film noirs. Ida Lupino and Robert Ryan....it doesn't get much better than that.

Add in a great supporting role from Ward Bond (one of my favorite character actors and a regular player in many John Ford films), a shared writing credit and top shelf direction from Nicholas Ray, and music by Bernard Herrmann. All gathered round to give us a compelling story that separates it from most other noirs. Love this movie.

[yhzmr]

Originally Posted by senseabove

Of the Ray I've seen, Bigger than Life wasn't one of my favorites–it's entirely carried by James Mason and the plot makes some awkward moves to get to the inciting problem, but once it gets going it's very good. I'd put In a Lonely Place, Rebel, and Johnny Guitar above it, and probably They Live by Night and Party Girl. But if you like Ray, it's definitely worthwhile.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bigger Than Life was pretty edgy stuff for its day. The customary Hollywood ending nearly ruined it for me though.

[Scottie]

Criterion and Janus are sure promoting the hell out of Taipei Story...even though the release is only available in a box set...

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by mja345

Tarantino's writing became a problem for me in "The Hateful Eight". I've seen the film twice and thought the dialogue was unbelievably obtrusive and repetitive. Tarantino has always teetered on that, but that film really rubbed me the wrong way. I think it's an awful film to be honest.

His nonsensical gratuitous use of the "N" word in that film is down right parody at this point. I was at the roadshow and no one was really amused at it anymore. It's impact has been played out since Jackie Brown at least.

...I really hated the Hateful Eight. It felt like a parody of a Tarantino movie. All of his usual hallmarks (non linear editing, voice over, anachronistic music choices, "homages" to other films, the "N" word, Sam Jackson, etc.) were so unnecessary and sloppily (almost desperately) used this time around. The recipe is stale.

Worst of all I thought he was going all murder mystery until he decided not to go there and stuck with his usual schtick of guns blazing *yawn*

I loved Goggins in the film though.

...back on topic...

They Live By Night