The Criterion Channel

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Unfortunately, a small handful of movies on The Criterion Channel still don't have subtitles - I ran into the same issue with What's Up, Doc? the other night. I think it happens occasionally with these movies the Channel only gets for a month or two.

But to answer your question:

https://www.criterionchannel.com/contact/support

Unfortunately, with Shaft expiring soon, they may not get back to you in time.

I really wish subtitles were supported on The Criterion Channel 100% across the board. Not that it's much comfort, but the situation is at least far better now than it was in the first few months.

Thanks, but I tried that address a week ago and haven't heard back and the movie still doesn't have subtitles.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by regeyer

Thanks, but I tried that address a week ago and haven't heard back and the movie still doesn't have subtitles.

I tried Shaft on the Criterion Channel Roku app just to rule out that it wasn't an isolated incident on your end, and there are no subtitles for me, either.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

I tried Shaft on the Criterion Channel Roku app just to rule out that it wasn't an isolated incident on your end, and there are no subtitles for me, either.

Thanks. Not sure what the problem is. Criterion is not the best when it comes to subtitles of English films, but the feature titles usually have them.

[DaBargainHunta]

I watched the 1972 Jamaican movie The Harder They Come on The Criterion Channel last night and found it quite fascinating. If I decide to watch the director's other movie tonight, I'll post about both of them tomorrow. If not, I'll post my thoughts about this one separately.

Thankfully, there are subtitles - which you will need anyway IMO even if you are somewhat familiar with the Jamaican accent and slang, as I am.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

I watched the 1972 Jamaican movie The Harder They Come on The Criterion Channel last night and found it quite fascinating. If I decide to watch the director's other movie tonight, I'll post about both of them tomorrow. If not, I'll post my thoughts about this one separately.

Thankfully, there are subtitles - which you will need anyway IMO even if you are somewhat familiar with the Jamaican accent and slang, as I am.

I might give this a watch tonight. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

[Tin Drum]

The subtitle issue is annoying. I had to give up on Long Good Friday as it doesn't have subtitles. The accents were too thick for me to even continue for more than ten minutes.

I watched The Grifters a few nights ago and it was excellent. I believe it is expiring at the end of the month.

[dwk]

The Channel is now available on Xbox One

[fdm]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

I watched the 1972 Jamaican movie The Harder They Come on The Criterion Channel last night and found it quite fascinating. If I decide to watch the director's other movie tonight, I'll post about both of them tomorrow. If not, I'll post my thoughts about this one separately.

Thankfully, there are subtitles - which you will need anyway IMO even if you are somewhat familiar with the Jamaican accent and slang, as I am.

I watched that other one early this morning, it's called No Place Like Home. Worth a watch if you have time, though it seems a bit meandering (and the subs are a bit weak and/or fly by a bit too quickly).

A few days ago I did get around to I Don't Want To Sleep Alone.

That may be it for this month's disappearing today films, though I might try again with a Greenaway film tonight. Haven't really been in the right frame of mind the couple times I did try.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by regeyer

Does anyone know how to reach Customer Service at The Criterion Channel? I'm having a problem with one movie - Shaft. The English subtitles are not displaying at all. As a deaf person I rely on the subtitles. I'm sure it's an easy fix, as everything else on the channel - at least the movies - has subtitles/captioning. Thanks.

Sorry to hear they aren't working for Shaft. Maybe that's a sign for you to just go ahead and buy the blu-ray!

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

I watched the 1972 Jamaican movie The Harder They Come on The Criterion Channel last night and found it quite fascinating. If I decide to watch the director's other movie tonight, I'll post about both of them tomorrow. If not, I'll post my thoughts about this one separately.

Thankfully, there are subtitles - which you will need anyway IMO even if you are somewhat familiar with the Jamaican accent and slang, as I am.

The subtitles on this one wouldn't work for me on my Airplay so I watched the whole thing without them. It was a challenge at first but I was able to get the gist of most of it, but I'd definitely recommend using them for most folks.

It's not leaving this month, but last night I finally got around to watching Fail Safe. It's one of those films I've always been interested in but something I really have to be in the mood to watch, and I was in the right frame of mind last night. I didn't realize how similar to Dr. Strangelove it was going to be, other than being a serious take on the subject matter. Sidney Lumet is one of those directors who always did great work, particularly at that point of his career, so it was a good watch. Because of the similarities to Dr. Strangelove, much of the plot was kind of predictable up to the point where

[Show spoiler]the President promised to bomb NYC as contrition for the destruction of Moscow. I did NOT expect that and I can just imagine the absolute political shitstorm if something like that ever happened in real life.

[DaBargainHunta]

I watched two Jamaican films written and directed by the same person - Perry Henzell.

The Harder They Come

This is an absolutely fascinating look at Jamaica in the early 1970s. It focuses on the hardscrabble life of a local - Ivan, who dreams about becoming the next big reggae star - and the roadblocks he encounters along the way (some self-imposed). According to The Criterion Channel, this movie "brought the catchy and subversive rhythms of the Rastas to the U.S. in the early 1970s."

It becomes a completely different movie in the second half, as Ivan goes from musician to outlaw. While the first half is a realistic look at life in Jamaica, it turns into a more cinematic and over-the-top Jamaican version of a Western after that, which I think is by design. (The characters are shown earlier on at a movie theater watching a Western.)

What an awesome hidden gem! I will definitely be getting the Blu-ray at some point.

No Place Like Home

According to the Channel, this "was shot in the midseventies but not completed until three decades later." That probably explains why it's so dull and disjointed. It's a bonus extra on the Blu-ray for The Harder They Come, and when viewed in that light, it's at least barely tolerable. If I had to describe the premise in a few words: "Bemused America white woman is exposed to the non-tourist parts of Jamaica." I have a feeling the backstory of losing, finding, and restoring the movie is better than the movie itself. (I wish the plethora of extras from the Blu-ray were on the Channel!)

No Place Like Home is notable for the screen debuts of P.J. Soles (Halloween) and Grace Jones in small roles. A young Soles shows some skin, so there's that. If I were the director, I would've called an audible and made the movie all about Grace Jones. Even back then, she had an undeniably electric charisma and screen presence.

DaBargainHunta's Decree: I love watching movies that transport the viewer into another world. The Harder They Come does that magnificently. No Place Like Home, on the other hand, is only worth seeing as a companion curiosity piece. I'm glad it was found, but I wish it had been completed in the '70s as originally intended. I wonder what could have been... Perry Henzell never wrote or directed again after these movies, which is a real shame considering just how damn good The Harder They Come is.

Originally Posted by fdm

I watched that other one early this morning, it's called No Place Like Home. Worth a watch if you have time, though it seems a bit meandering (and the subs are a bit weak and/or fly by a bit too quickly).

As you can see, you liked it a lot more than I did. I was completely disappointed after how great The Harder They Come was.

BTW, yeah, the subtitles for No Place Like Home were really weird.

That may be it for this month's disappearing today films, though I might try again with a Greenaway film tonight. Haven't really been in the right frame of mind the couple times I did try.

This might be it for me, too. I'll try to fit in one more tonight, but I doubt it. I hate "racing against the clock" on the final day.

Originally Posted by RCRochester

The subtitles on this one wouldn't work for me on my Airplay so I watched the whole thing without them. It was a challenge at first but I was able to get the gist of most of it, but I'd definitely recommend using them for most folks.

You must have super sonic hearing. I'm somewhat familiar with the Jamaican accent and slang, and even I desperately needed subtitles. I'm very impressed that you managed to do without them and were still able to understand and follow the movie!

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

You must have super sonic hearing. I'm somewhat familiar with the Jamaican accent and slang, and even I desperately needed subtitles. I'm very impressed that you managed to do without them and were still able to understand and follow the movie!

In a former life many years ago, I was a professional transcriptionist and I learned to understand and decipher a wide variety of difficult to understand accents. It's a skill that comes in handy from time to time.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

Sorry to hear they aren't working for Shaft. Maybe that's a sign for you to just go ahead and buy the blu-ray!

Perhaps you're right. I just checked Amazon and it's about $15. I'll think about it, but I really hate to blind buy movies.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by regeyer

Perhaps you're right. I just checked Amazon and it's about $15. I'll think about it, but I really hate to blind buy movies.

That's not a bad price for a Warner Archive title outside the 4 for $44 sales.

There's also this for $10 more (and it's not eligible for the 4 for $44, if I'm not mistaken - but someone can correct me if I'm wrong).



It's temporarily out of stock right now though.

I've only seen the first Shaft - many years ago on DVD - and while I enjoyed it, I was somewhat underwhelmed compared to its massive reputation. I'll have to watch it again one of these days. Maybe I'd appreciate it more now?

[fdm]

I was a bit more in the mood to watch Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract last night. But ended up getting tuckered out after a half hour so decided to watch something else. While I was watching this time though, I decide to turn the subtitles off as it was pretty easy to understand and I think the subtitles were what was getting in the way previously. So perhaps it will return to the channel some day and I will give it another go for sure if that does happen.

Partly I was also last night seeing how well CC was working on my Apple 4K TV (Roku has been my device of choice for CC and was also FilmStruck). I had been avoiding Apple because in the past with my system the CC movies would just about always stutter video-wise (a dropped frame pretty regularly every minute or two). But lo and behold at least this once, there were no dropped frames (with Draughtsman's Contract). So I may stick with the Apple for a while for CC if it keeps working correctly, if nothing else just because otherwise it mostly sits unused.

Re: No Place Like Home, dunno about a lot more, but yeah it was okay enough for me to reach the end. Unlike a few others I tried out in the last day or three...

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

I've only seen the first Shaft - many years ago on DVD - and while I enjoyed it, I was somewhat underwhelmed compared to its massive reputation. I'll have to watch it again one of these days. Maybe I'd appreciate it more now?

That's my fear. Let's face it, there are a lot of movies that just don't age well. They may age well for those who saw it originally upon its release. But almost 50 years later and the film is mediocre at best for a first time viewer. That's why I try to only purchase movies that I know I'll enjoy.

It looks like I can rent this from Prime for $1.99. Maybe that's the way to go.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

That's not a bad price for a Warner Archive title outside the 4 for $44 sales.

There's also this for $10 more (and it's not eligible for the 4 for $44, if I'm not mistaken - but someone can correct me if I'm wrong).

It's temporarily out of stock right now though.

I've only seen the first Shaft - many years ago on DVD - and while I enjoyed it, I was somewhat underwhelmed compared to its massive reputation. I'll have to watch it again one of these days. Maybe I'd appreciate it more now?

I'm a huge fan of blaxploitation movies as well as 70s crime movies, so Shaft is a favourite of mine.

However, I would advise anyone who is a little doubtful to definitely give it a watch before buying because it comes with a lot of expectations that might not get met. For example, for a blaxploitation movie it's not as action packed as some people might think or expect, whereas for a private detective movie the plot isn't as intriguing or mysterious as one might expect. A lot of the enjoyment simply comes from the brilliant music from Isaac Hayes, as well as the film's attitude, and of course a lot of its reputation is built on the impact it had on the pop culture of the day.

The first sequel ups the action ante a bit, while Shaft in Africa basically turns John Shaft into an African-American James Bond.

Last night was the final day on the Channel for Love In The Afternoon (which is available on blu-ray for Warner Archive). I love Billy Wilder's films, particularly the movies he made with IAL Diamond so expectations were high for this one. Unfortunately, I was really disappointed. It's a charming enough romance but for me it lacked the spark of devlish wit that is a hallmark of the other Wilder-Diamond collaborations. Funnily, a lot of people have criticized the casting of Gary Cooper because of the age difference with Audrey Hepburn, but that didn't bother me and I thought he was fine. It's not like Audrey wasn't used to co-starring with much older men. Audrey was her usual cute and charming self and Maurice Chevalier, who I normally find really annoying, was decent too. Apart from one small (and inevitable) twist near the end, the plot was just too straightforward, so the 130 minute running time felt like a drag.

[Animatic33]

Enjoying Jackie Chan’s earlier works on the Channel. They need to get collections together at the beginning of the month rather than later, bit of a hassle searching...

[Tin Drum]

Watched Cassavetes' Gloria last night. Wonderful film with an excellent performance from Gena Rowlands and wonderful photography of New York in the late 70s.
The score is magnificent and my favorite aspect from the film.

I'd love for Criterion to tackle this for a disc release but I am contemplating the Twilight Time release as a backup...

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Animatic33

Enjoying Jackie Chan’s earlier works on the Channel. They need to get collections together at the beginning of the month rather than later, bit of a hassle searching...

You can always just scroll through the list of titles that have been newly added to the month and add them to your watchlist, then you can just scroll your watchlist for those titles instead of waiting for Criterion to add the collection.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

You can always just scroll through the list of titles that have been newly added to the month and add them to your watchlist, then you can just scroll your watchlist for those titles instead of waiting for Criterion to add the collection.

I assume he means he likes the convenience of having everything in one collection. I feel the same way. That's why I purposely skipped adding any of the Jackie Chans for now.