The Criterion Collection

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by tisdivine

Received my flash sale order today so of course tonight I watched Polyester first. I know CC & John Waters have a pretty great relationship but whats the luck of getting a lot more Waters? Ive heard rumors about Desperate Living but does CC have Pink Flamingos, Pecker or Cecil B. Demented? Has anyone heard anything?

Warner Archive allegedly has Pink Flamingos.

[AaronJ]

Missed the sale, but I was pretty sick and frankly I rarely left the couch. Not to mention, I have so many unwatched discs that I'm not really missing out. So, not a big deal.

[traths]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Missed the sale, but I was pretty sick and frankly I rarely left the couch. Not to mention, I have so many unwatched discs that I'm not really missing out. So, not a big deal.

I'm in the same boat, I have a huge stack of movies I haven't watched yet and some of them I've had for over a month.

[dbhl3000]

I wish we could get confirmation that there will be a Nov. B&N sale so we can better plan for it (e.g. purchase B&N discounted cards, divert funds from other sources, steal my nephews' lunch money).

[Random Ace]

Empire of Passion needs a BD

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by dbhl3000

I wish we could get confirmation that there will be a Nov. B&N sale so we can better plan for it (e.g. purchase B&N discount cards, divert funds from other sources, steal my nephews' lunch money).

You sound like a Spider-Man villain.

[Eddiedane]

Not official but I talked to a B&N employee yesterday who told me November 1 for the sale. I don't remember if they start on Thursdays, but that's what the man said...

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by Eddiedane

Not official but I talked to a B&N employee yesterday who told me November 1 for the sale. I don't remember if they start on Thursdays, but that's what the man said...

A few sales ago they started changing the std Tuesday start and moved toward Friday starts to gain that extra weekend I guess.

Nov Sale
2016 Tues
2017 Wed
2018 Friday

The Summer sale also moved to Friday start in 2017 and 2018

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by Eddiedane

Not official but I talked to a B&N employee yesterday who told me November 1 for the sale. I don't remember if they start on Thursdays, but that's what the man said...

Probably doesn't leave the chances open very highly for the sale to extend into December then. Looks like I will be going crazy during next February's flash sale since I have a lot of pre-orders for next month and still a lot of films I need to get to in my backload.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

My personal favorite is the Ernst Lubitsch silent, THE STUDENT PRINCE IN HEIDELBERG from 1927. She is absolutely luminous in it and adorable, truly commanding your attention and affection in every scene. Unfortunately, it's not on Blu and I don't believe it even made it to DVD or the Warner Archive, but keep checking TCM which is where I saw it.

Nope no home release even via DVD from WAC though a print does exist according to SilentEra. I didn't think Warner Archive ever get around to releasing A Woman of Affairs so maybe there is still hope that they will release The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg at least on DVD.

[The Great Owl]

Thank you, flash sale...



Häxan, a 1922 Swedish-Danish silent film written and directed by Benjamin Christensen, effectively blends documentary and fictional horror imagery to outline how superstitions and misconceptions about mental illness contributed to the tragic witch hunts and witchcraft accusations of centuries past. The filmmaker's arguments are not always conveyed in a coherent manner during the seven chapters that make up this feature, but his combination of scholarly slideshow-style presentations and often-lurid reenactment vignettes mixes history lessons with entertainment in a way that serves as an early example of how screen depictions can erase the boundaries between reality and untruth.

Because of its controversial inclusions of torture, perversion, nudity, and perceived anti-religious displays, Häxan, translated as “The Witch”, was censored in several countries and even banned in the United States. In 1968, however, it was released on these shores in an abbreviated form under the title, Witchcraft Through the Ages, complete with a jazz score and a narration by William S. Burroughs.

I first saw this movie several years ago when a local friend let me borrow her DVD. My initial reaction of patient wakefulness during the early examinations of historical artwork, particularly woodcut illustrations, quickly turned into fascination once the presentation segued into a recreation of a witchcraft court case that spans over three of the movie's chapters. Viewers are shown, with no sparing of detail, how accused women were coerced through imprisonment and torture to reveal supposed witchcraft accomplices, often with the use of “good cop/bad cop” interrogation techniques. Since the captive accused were customarily pressured into revealing 20 accomplices, who were each pushed in turn to reveal their own accomplices, it is no mystery as to how the witch hunts spread like wildfire across the Europe of the Middle Ages. One particular intertitle is chilling in its assertion that, while elderly and disfigured women often fell under suspicion, young and pretty women were frequent targets of arrest as well. I can envision a dreary world where females survived by calling as little attention to themselves as possible.

Häxan features some of the most unnerving images of supernatural phenomena that I have ever seen in cinema. Christensen himself stars as The Devil during a handful of recollection sequences, and his costume is the stuff of nightmares. At one point, the film dramatizes the confessions of an accused woman, who describes Satanic orgies and gruesome celebrations. A scene where a woman gives birth to disfigured demon-like creatures is one that I never forgot after my first viewing.

During today's revisit, this movie has a similar effect of repulsed awe from me, although my “No way they're actually showing that in a 1920s silent movie.” reaction the first time around is no longer a factor in my experience. What is left is an appreciation of the effort that must have gone into the construction of medieval cityscapes, the monster costumes, and the creative lighting effects necessary for the wondrously cinematographed interpretations of folklore.

I prefer straight fictional narratives to faux-documentary setups, but the sheer visual power of this endeavor cannot be denied. This strange project would make a fine double feature with more recent witchcraft-themed fare, like Witchfinder General (1968), Mark of the Devil (1970), or even The Witch (2015).

This Criterion Blu-ray sports a visual presentation that is considerably more detailed and stunning than its DVD predecessor. The Czech Film Orchestra interpretation of the original Danish premiere music ushers us through the proceedings in style. The commentary, with historian Casper Tybjerg, is exhaustively thorough, but also constantly engaging. The avant-garde 1968 version is a welcome addition. I also appreciate the supplemental tour through the artwork used in the film.

[softunderbelly]

^
This will be the first disc I throw on when my Criterion shipment arrives (hopefully before Halloween)

Thanks Owl!

[traths]

I'm thinking about getting the Olympic boxed set during the next B&N sale. Is there anybody here who has it think it's worth it.

[FragnitoM]

Does B&N hold things for you in store In person? Like if I went a couple days before the sale and picked out a few things or do you have to place holds online?

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by traths

I'm thinking about getting the Olympic boxed set during the next B&N sale. Is there anybody here who has it think it's worth it.

Absolutely incredible set, containing some fantastic and essential filmmaking (e.g., Riefenstahl's Berlin 1936; Ichikawa's Tokyo 1964; Isaac's Mexico 1968; and Visions of Eight covering the Munich Games in 1972 - featuring short films by the likes of Milso Forman, Arthur Penn, and John Schlesinger amongst others).

If you are only interested in the sport, there is plenty to be gained from watching the included films. But the set really works for me as a social, cultural, and geo-political document of the respective Games.

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

Does B&N hold things for you in store In person? Like if I went a couple days before the sale and picked out a few things or do you have to place holds online?

Never tried online, but all three stores near me will hold items for 48 hours (books, films, etc.). I've done it with Criterion titles just before the start of a sale. No harm in asking.

[traths]

Originally Posted by Reddington

Absolutely incredible set, containing some fantastic and essential filmmaking (e.g., Riefenstahl's Berlin 1936; Ichikawa's Tokyo 1964; Isaac's Mexico 1968; and Visions of Eight covering the Munich Games in 1972 - featuring short films by the likes of Milso Forman, Arthur Penn, and John Schlesinger amongst others).

If you are only interested in the sport, there is plenty to be gained from watching the included films. But the set really works for me as a social, cultural, and geo-political document of the respective Games.

Sweet! Thanks for letting me know.

[dbhl3000]

Originally Posted by Reddington

Absolutely incredible set, containing some fantastic and essential filmmaking (e.g., Riefenstahl's Berlin 1936; Ichikawa's Tokyo 1964; Isaac's Mexico 1968; and Visions of Eight covering the Munich Games in 1972 - featuring short films by the likes of Milso Forman, Arthur Penn, and John Schlesinger amongst others).

If you are only interested in the sport, there is plenty to be gained from watching the included films. But the set really works for me as a social, cultural, and geo-political document of the respective Games.

I absolutely agree despite the fact I haven't watched one second of it.

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

Does B&N hold things for you in store In person? Like if I went a couple days before the sale and picked out a few things or do you have to place holds online?

Many time I've called ahead and had them pull things for me when I knew I was going soon. I've never pulled them and gave it to them directly, but I don't see why they wouldn't

My stores now have a 72 hr hold for such things (used to be 5 days during non-holiday time), but you can usually call and extend the hold.

You can't actually do a hold online anymore -- they used to have a Reserve Item for pickup, that's now been replaced by a Online Purchase for instore pickup. One of the differences is the ISPU is an online purchase with no 10% member discount, but your price is set. A reserve is not a purchase until you pick it up -- that always caught people who would reserve an item on the last day of a sale and pick it up several days later and would get ticked off when the price was no longer the sale price.

That also is an issue if the online and store price are different.

[theater dreamer]

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

Dreamer, if you really want to see Shearer at her finest, try to focus on her early films as they are the best. She seemed to get a bit affected in the later years as MGM got more and more glossed up in phoniness. My personal favorite is the Ernst Lubitsch silent, THE STUDENT PRINCE IN HEIDELBERG from 1927. She is absolutely luminous in it and adorable, truly commanding your attention and affection in every scene. Unfortunately, it's not on Blu and I don't believe it even made it to DVD or the Warner Archive, but keep checking TCM which is where I saw it.

Thank you for the input, Professor. Much appreciated.

I have both The Divorcee and The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg on my DVR.



About a week ago, I set my DVR to auto-record any of her films. So, I'm hoping to catch some more of her early films. I'm just so far behind on everything right now. Ugh.