The Criterion Collection

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by belcherman

Hans Gruber?

I'm going to count to three.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by ThisKid

Well...

BLU-RAY EDITION OF THE BEASTIE BOYS VIDEO ANTHOLOGY!!!

[Show spoiler]

I didn't realize The Beastie Boys were so big down under.

...I dig it mate.

[KillDaWabbit]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

On the other hand, what else is there to look forward to in this godforsaken world full of Michael Bay and Justin Bieber?

There is plenty to look forward to. Criterion consistently delivers us new and interesting cinema to explore, and classics to rediscover. You might not have anything left to obsess over, but you have quite a bit to look forward to.

[Purplenoon]

Originally Posted by KillDaWabbit

There is plenty to look forward to. Criterion consistently delivers us new and interesting cinema to explore, and classics to rediscover. You might not have anything left to obsess over, but you have quite a bit to look forward to.

"....what else is there to look forward to in this godforsaken world full of Michael Bay and Justin Bieber?..."

LIQUID SKY!

Word!

[UncleBuckWild]

Originally Posted by KillDaWabbit

There is plenty to look forward to. Criterion consistently delivers us new and interesting cinema to explore, and classics to rediscover. You might not have anything left to obsess over, but you have quite a bit to look forward to.

I think it would be fair enough to say that Good Burger deserves some Criterion TLC.

Apart from the magnificent restoration that it's gonnabe...

I also look forward to those interviews with Kel Mitchell & Kenan Thompson talking this absolute classic.

[slask]

is there a chance Sixteen Candles and Night of the living dead could be announced by the end of the year?

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I did! I ended up stuck in NYC for a day with nothing to do, so I figured the best use of my extra time was this film. It was a good choice.

What city are you doing the Q&A in?

Apologies for the late response. It's at the Austin Film Society.

Glad to hear! I saw the trailer for the first time today before Claire's Knee and now I'm more stoked than ever.

[javy]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

On one hand, it's the greatest thing that's happened in my life since Axl Rose gave me the finger at a Guns N Roses concert in 1993. I mean he actually looked right at me and acknowledged who I was...if only to express his complete disdain for my existence. For the first time in my life I felt like I was somebody.

I seen GNR in concert a couple of weeks ago in Little Rock. Axl didn't give me the finger but Slash grinned at me.

[Show spoiler]20170806_142610.jpg

Ok, he really grinned at my wife while she was taking his picture, but I was the one yelling his name.

We're going to see them again in November in Louisville for our ten year wedding anniversary. It would have been cool to have seen them in 93 but I was only 11. Either way they still fxcking rock.

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by ThisKid

Well...

BLU-RAY EDITION OF THE BEASTIE BOYS VIDEO ANTHOLOGY!!!

Not entirely sure how much of the works are from HD sources, but I could definitely go for an expanded version to include the vids for the last three records.

[UncleBuckWild]

Originally Posted by slask

is there a chance Sixteen Candles and Night of the living dead could be announced by the end of the year?

You know ppl have asking that question for quite a while now...

Ever since Molly saw those wacky drawings it was certain that Criterion would've to light up those 16 Candles...

Regardless of whether this was a tasteless joke or not.

Cause when Molly Ringo gets involved you pretty much know that s*** just got real.

... As for Night of the Living Dead:

It's in public domain so yes there's a possibility as the upcoming Mill Creek release will likely be a complete POS.

[CRM 114]

I thought the candles clue was for Barry Lyndon.

[jedidarrick]

Well there were SIXTEEN Candles.

[tisdivine]

What is everyone's thoughts on La Poison? Still up in the air about blind buying it. Seems there is no middle ground people either LOVE or HATE it.

[ravenus]

During the weekend I watched Tampopo TWICE. Juzo Itami's film is a sweet, funny, romantic sometimes bizarre but always delectable ode to the multi-layered and multi-flavored relationship between man (or woman) and food.

The film's title (which means Dandelion) comes from the name of the protagonist, a middle-aged widow with a bullied kid, struggling to run the Ramen restaurant left by her husband. When cowboy trucker Goro (and his buddy Gun) enter her life after having saved the kid from a beating and fended off her coercive suitor, she finds in their honest criticism of her cooking a chance to improve her skill and make a better life for herself. Goro (and a host of other people, including a band of gourmet hobos) come together to aid Tampopo in honing her craft and and push her to achieve her own holy grail of Ramen.

Intersecting this main artery are several vignettes with other characters, all of which explore the almost spiritual importance of food in our lives: In a delicious jab at the culture of subservience and lack of individuality, a junior executive embarrasses his protocol-slave bosses by ordering a stand-out lavishly flavorful meal at a company lunch after all of them have opted for identical bland fare. Another episode shows a sick woman cooking a final family dinner before she drops dead. In some we see people going to desperate, even life-threatening extents to satisfy their food indulgences. Weirdness comes in the thread where a gangster and his moll indulge in kinky food-meets-sex games, including repeatedly passing a raw egg yolk between their lips till it breaks.

With this wonderful smorgasbord, Itami, himself a gourmet, expresses his philosophy of food with an almost reverent air. The technical aspects of the film, its visuals and sounds, are dedicated to the service of this meditation. Tampopo was one of the early films to have a dedicated food stylist. Assuming you're not a vegan/vegetarian that gets offended by the very sight of animal food (and in one scene a young turtle is killed on camera), I dare you to watch it on an empty stomach without drooling. Like warm soup on a rainy day the film is very cheering, and the plot thread of the gangster with its kinky sex and weird metaphors for virginity is about the only thing that keeps it from being recommended as wholesome family fare.

Coming off a fresh 4K restoration, the film looks and sounds mouth-watering on Criterion's blu-ray (I got the region B-locked UK release). Apart from the main feature, there's a vintage 90 min making of, hosted by director Itami himself. There are also new interviews with the lead actress (his wife), the food stylist and featurettes about the legacy of the film (including one that talks to a bunch of Ramen noodle restauranters). The cover unfolds as a full-size poster on the back of which is a single decent though not very essential essay.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by tisdivine

What is everyone's thoughts on La Poison? Still up in the air about blind buying it. Seems there is no middle ground people either LOVE or HATE it.

Quoting myself:

The film has some killer humor (heh) and the protagonist does an excellent job as the good-humored murderer husband. The main flaw is that it is all too talky and very play-like. The sequences where the director attempts to juxtapose different sequences to make it look more cinematic are only clumsy and distracting. The film is quite decent and worth watching on the whole but I think a Hitchcock would have been able to make something more entertaining out of the premise.

[ShellOilJunior]

Any chance Criterion does a flash sale to coincide with the eclipse at 2:50 PM?

50% off Secret Sunshine, The Before Trilogy, L'Eclisse and the entire Eclipse line?

or maybe a surprise announcement. The Eclipse line goes blu-ray with long-awaited The Essential Henry Jaglom.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

The Essential Henry Jaglom.

So his entire filmography?

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by mja345

So his entire filmography?

The term "masterpiece" is never used with Jaglom. It's assumed.

[The Sovereign]

Originally Posted by ravenus

During the weekend I watched Tampopo TWICE. Juzo Itami's film is a sweet, funny, romantic sometimes bizarre but always delectable ode to the multi-layered and multi-flavored relationship between man (or woman) and food.

Thank you for the review. This was a recent blind-buy for me after having it on one of my many lists for years. The combination of a Criterion edition and sale pricing was all I needed to take the plunge. Now I'm just waiting for the right night and accompanying meal to watch it with my girlfriend.

[belcherman]

Henry Jaglom comes in for a lot of bashing in this thread, but he has actually made some pretty interesting films. If he had only made A Safe Place, the bashing might be deserved, but over the years he has made a series of ensemble films that have a loose, unscripted feel (even if they're not). He's kind of an Indie Woody Allen, although not nearly as funny as Allen's best, or as pretentious as Allen's worst. It's a shame that the only film of his in the collection might be his worst (I haven't seen them all). Henry Jaglom is not a one-turd wonder.

An Eclipse set of his work would not be a bad idea.