The Criterion Channel - Page 52 - Blu-ray Forum

nathan_h · 08-07-2023, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WorldForgot

This iz an annoying fix, I know, but if you have a tablet or android apk virtual/emul you can hdmi up, you could download the movie for offline viewing using the CC mobile app

Unfortunately, this doesn't work with the CC app.

I do this with Netflix, MUBI, HBO, Prime, and Hulu when traveling places where I don't have wifi (such as an airplane, but also some rural places). Criterion is the only app that, when there is no wifi, refuses to play via the HDMI output (like my iPad or iPhone using an HDMI dongle).

I have talked with their support team, and this is not an error but a deliberate choice on their part, using the Vimeo software engine. At one point I escalated the issue and they said it was due to "rights" so I had to ask what region do they fail to have rights to (for example) the Seventh Seal. TLDR, it's not about rights.

nathan_h · 08-07-2023, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cpt. Feeney

Fdm, are you in a nice place out in the country somewhere? With your spotty internet and ability to avoid headphones at all hours, I guess there's pros and cons. I do wonder if I'll get fed up with the city, and head for the quiet myself.

There's a lot to be said for getting out of the city but there's also the age factor. At some point, having the ability to get take out delivered, order up an uber, or drive less than an hour to consult with a medical specialist begins to make rural living super challenging for older folks....

Cpt. Feeney · 08-10-2023, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cpt. Feeney

Yikes, CC. The only interaction I have with CC is when it's on by default, and it makes me rage-curse while I fumble for the controls.
I'd at least try headphones first, before giving in.

Well, I went to see Oppenheimer today and sure coulda used those Closed Captions.
The film's look wasn't so precious that covering up the image would've bothered me either. 70mm well spent? Not at all sure.

DaBargainHunta · 08-10-2023, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cpt. Feeney

Well, I went to see Oppenheimer today and sure coulda used those Closed Captions.
The film's look wasn't so precious that covering up the image would've bothered me either. 70mm well spent? Not at all sure.

Thanks for confirming that I'm better off waiting to see Oppenheimer at home because Nolan remains a pretentious ableist dipshit.

nathan_h · 08-14-2023, 03:13 PM

It was actually one of the first times in a while I didn't have trouble with the dialog, but that's probably because IMAX is so darn hot anyway.

Cpt. Feeney · 08-26-2023, 07:59 AM

I watched 2 pre-codes from Rowland Brown that landed this month, one about street kids called The Devil is a Sissy, with Freddy Bartholomew as an innocent English boy, who, encouraged by his father, runs with tough New York youths Jackie Cooper and Mickey Rooney, as a way of gaining valuable life experience. Entertainment is the name of the game, it even segues into an odd singalong number in the middle, but the kids are really good, the dialogue is nice, and it does have some weight to it. Recommended.

The other, Hell's Highway, doesn't come together nearly as well. Although interesting in that it's about chain gangs, it has too many misfire scenes and threads that don't gain sufficient momentum.

2 I've caught that are leaving the channel...

A Place in the Sun is George Stevens on good form, holding firm focus on characters and situations to create an intense atmosphere.

Bus Stop, with Marylin Monroe, is one I could not appreciate. Although it looks great in well-used cinemascope, it's basically the Pretty Woman of its day, with a young loudmouth cowboy who will not take no for an answer, trying to bag a wife, Monroe as a performer with a chequered past. He bullies her along, throws her over his shoulder, smacks her behind, BUT stops short of forcing himself on her, in the name of good taste of course. She shies away, letting us know constantly how chequered her past is, YET she never actually flirts with another man in the film, in the name of not antagonizing the audience I presume. The film has no intention of rising to the challenge here, and examining these character types and the trouble they most commonly bring with them. Instead it paints a rosey version of each, and gives them an out, a clear road to the American dream. I don't mind an escapist fantasy but when you choose characters that come with significant baggage, and then ignore that baggage, you've piqued my interest only to squander the opportunity.

Others I'm keen to catch that I haven't seen before...

Splendor in the Grass, Clash By Night, Don't Bother to Knock and The Haunting (although I've a feeling I may have seen this one years ago).

DaBargainHunta · 08-26-2023, 08:09 AM

These are the expiring movies I've already seen:

12 Angry Men
Adam's Rib
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
Clash by Night
Desperately Seeking Susan
On the Waterfront
Police Story 3: Super Cop
Safe
Six Degrees of Separation

Of that list, 12 Angry Men is essential.

Safe is also interesting.

I really enjoyed Police Story 3: Super Cop and don't think you need to be familiar with the others in the series to watch it, but I'd still recommend them anyway.

I am a huge Barbara Stanwyck fan, but Clash by Night is definitely lower-tier Babs. Amazing cast, but a bit of a sour lemon of a movie.

What I want to watch:

I have about 20 movies on my list, but I'll be lucky if I get around to 5 of them.

The Haunting probably tops my list. I'll double-feature it with the apparently terrible Liam Neeson remake out of morbid curiosity.

Easy Living and Monkey Business both sound like light fun too.

Why are Once Upon a Time in China IV and V expiring but not the previous three? Because of this, I probably won't get around to any of them.

The Pawnbroker looks fantastic - and I'm definitely in the mood for more Sidney Lumet after 12 Angry Men - but it's also on Kanopy, so I probably won't prioritize it.

fdm · 08-26-2023, 11:20 PM

I watched a couple expiring short films this morning: Woman In Deep, fairly interesting, and Tungrus, cute and a worthwhile watch. The short part helped them both along.

TCM had a day of Geraldine Chaplin films during its Summer Under The Stars month (this month), and since a number of them are among the Saura films on the channel, figured I'd get to them sooner rather than later that way (and with potentially better sound). I did watch Honeycomb which was fairly good but a bit odd. Still worth a watch. The others I recorded were Anna and the Wolves, Elisa, My Life, Stress-en-tres-tres, none of which I've seen before; and Peppermint Frappe which I watched when Criterion was streaming via Hulu if I am not mistaken, but don't really remember much about it. I'll get to them soon. (I'm kind of wondering whether some of the other Saura films might have gone away from the channel while I've been neglecting them…) These aren't expiring just yet, but it remains to be seen how long that will remain true.

This expiring month I noticed Paid In Full, and started to stream it and quickly remembered that I'd tried to watch it on my dvr not all that long ago and it just didn't click with me, so probably won't get back to it. I am a Mekhi Phifer fan so who knows…

The ones I am looking to get to are: The Goddess, The Murder Of Mr. Devil, The Intruder and Spring Blossom as most likelies. Good chance I'll get to Monkey Business too. (The rest of the obvious candidates I've seen or have on disc, lots of good stuff there.)

Also considering Abuse Of Weakness, but Breillat doesn't do much for me, and I may have tried to watch it when a bunch of her films were on the channel a long while ago and it got lost in the mix. But it does star Isabelle Huppert, so gotta at least try again if I have time.

Oh, and if somehow I have even more time, I'll try and get to some of those Fatty Arbuckle shorts.

I'd suggest Summer Hours to anyone, it's quite an interesting film. Hunger is also particularly good.

Cpt. Feeney · 08-27-2023, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fdm

Hunger is also particularly good.

Yeah I'm a big fan of Hunger.
I struggled with McQueen's subsequent efforts - Shame, which seemed unworthy to me, and Seven Years a Slave, which I found to be a bit of a dry husk, but Hunger is exceptional.

fdm · 08-27-2023, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cpt. Feeney

Yeah I'm a big fan of Hunger.
I struggled with McQueen's subsequent efforts - Shame, which seemed unworthy to me, and Seven Years a Slave, which I found to be a bit of a dry husk, but Hunger is exceptional.

I was alright with Shame, I suppose it was a bit awkward (though it's been awhile since I watched it); haven't made it to Slave yet though.

I did just try and watch The Goddess, decided to give it another go tomorrow when I'm a bit more awake; seemed like an interesting enough story but I know I nodded off in one too many places during the hour or so I spent on it, so should go back and catch the rest of it before finishing it up. I did find what I watched to be pretty good.

DaBargainHunta · 08-27-2023, 06:49 PM

Honestly? I'm fine if I miss everything that's expiring this month.

There are some major films, but I've either already seen most of them and/or own them.

I ended up watching You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah on Netflix last night instead of a Channel expiring pick.

My top three - The Haunting, Easy Living, and Monkey Business - feel like they'll pop up elsewhere soon enough.

A couple of others - like Paid in Full and Thief - already are streaming in other places (and I've never, ever warmed up to Michael Mann, so the latter is not a priority for me).

I don't know why I typed all this up.

Not sure what I'm looking for here.

P.S. Does anyone here have MUBI? I barely use it, and now that they've moved away from their unique Film of the Day concept, I feel like cancelling it.

Vesper33 · 08-27-2023, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

P.S. Does anyone here have MUBI? I barely use it, and now that they've moved away from their unique Film of the Day concept, I feel like cancelling it.

Yes, I've had MUBI now for a couple of months. They still do have a new movie every day, but they've moved it to the section called New on MUBI. I like the movies I've watched there so far, especially the classic Mexican movies they added. I blind bought the Indicator box of Mexican Macabre and am loving it. One of the films, The Witch's Mirror, is also on MUBI.

I'm keeping this service and cancelling Peacock this month and Max next month. Peacock's Universal premieres end up on Prime in a few months and Max is, uh, no longer HBO.

As for Criterion, I'm gonna watch Safe, Mean Streets, and The Goddess before they leave. I'll try to get to The Strange One. Wanted to rewatch Humoresque, not sure if I'll have time, I saw it during the John Garfield collection and I love Joan in it. Hopefully it'll come back. I am enjoying the campy Corman movies even though they're not expiring.

fdm · 08-30-2023, 12:41 AM

So anyway, I did finish The Goddess early this morning. Much easier to follow when I'm not nodding off. That said, I dunno if anyone else would like it, but it seemed pretty well done for it being from the late '50s… I'll leave it at that.

More tonight if I'm not too tired.

Cpt. Feeney · 08-30-2023, 06:49 AM

I watched The Goddess when it arrived, I liked it quite a bit but I'd say it didn't stick with me.

Splendor in the Grass, on the other hand, has made a big impression, a very relatable story, and such chemistry between all the cast. Elia Kazan does it again.

I'm halfway through The Haunting, on the fence about it at the moment, I like a lot of elements but some of the dialogue is very pointed, and a bit much.

fdm · 08-30-2023, 09:05 AM

Splendor in the Grass is a good flick. Not sure I've ever seen The Haunting though it's alway possible I did (have it on blu-ray).

I do know that I just watched Claire Denis's L'Intrus (The Intruder) from 2004 however, and not sure what to say/think about it. Plusses and minuses, offhand nothing I've seen before comes to mind that was quite like it. Great photography, slow paced, cut and paste sort of thing, the story gels as the pieces go together, but there seemed to be a lot of stray pieces mixed in as well, though at least one of these was a dream sequence so maybe others were too? (At least I saw it…

)

The Murder Of Mr. Devil is likely next up on the channel for me.

DaBargainHunta · 08-30-2023, 06:15 PM

Finally got around to watching expiring picks on the Channel with two classic comedies: Easy Living and Monkey Business. Both are fun.

Tonight: Probably The Haunting (on the Channel) + the remake (not on the Channel), and that'll likely be it for me this month.

It helps that I've already seen a good chunk of the heavy hitters and/or own a good chunk more.

fdm · 08-31-2023, 09:28 AM

So The Murder Of Mr. Devil turned out to be pretty entertaining. One of the several Czech New Wave films on the channel (but seems to be the only one expiring). It's buried inside the Ester Krumbachová: Phantom of the Czech New Wave collection. The one film she directed. Worth a watch. Makes me want to get around to watching and/or finishing the other films in that collection too.

DaBargainHunta · 08-31-2023, 06:08 PM

I watched The Haunting on the Channel (which I highly recommend) and the remake not on the Channel (which I liked more than most people seem to, but I'd probably only recommend it as a double feature with the original).

fdm · 09-01-2023, 09:02 AM

I finished up the month with Breillat's Abuse Of Weakness. Pretty much fit my mood, and about what you'd expect given the synopsis. A pretty good watch too.

JupiterMission · 09-01-2023, 08:50 PM

I didn't get to a single one of the three movies I wanted to watch before they left in August. There's a ton leaving in September I want to see though, so I'm hoping to hit the CC more regularly this month.

My checklist...
- Breathless.
- Cutter’s Way.
- Flaming Star.
- Fleshtone.
- It Always Rains on Sunday.
- Making Mr. Right.
- She-Devil.
- Showgirls.
- White Lightning.
- Yield to the Night.
- Zardoz.

08-26-2023, 07:59 AM	#1026
Cpt. Feeney Active Member Member since:Apr 2023	I watched 2 pre-codes from Rowland Brown that landed this month, one about street kids called The Devil is a Sissy, with Freddy Bartholomew as an innocent English boy, who, encouraged by his father, runs with tough New York youths Jackie Cooper and Mickey Rooney, as a way of gaining valuable life experience. Entertainment is the name of the game, it even segues into an odd singalong number in the middle, but the kids are really good, the dialogue is nice, and it does have some weight to it. Recommended. The other, Hell's Highway, doesn't come together nearly as well. Although interesting in that it's about chain gangs, it has too many misfire scenes and threads that don't gain sufficient momentum. 2 I've caught that are leaving the channel... A Place in the Sun is George Stevens on good form, holding firm focus on characters and situations to create an intense atmosphere. Bus Stop, with Marylin Monroe, is one I could not appreciate. Although it looks great in well-used cinemascope, it's basically the Pretty Woman of its day, with a young loudmouth cowboy who will not take no for an answer, trying to bag a wife, Monroe as a performer with a chequered past. He bullies her along, throws her over his shoulder, smacks her behind, BUT stops short of forcing himself on her, in the name of good taste of course. She shies away, letting us know constantly how chequered her past is, YET she never actually flirts with another man in the film, in the name of not antagonizing the audience I presume. The film has no intention of rising to the challenge here, and examining these character types and the trouble they most commonly bring with them. Instead it paints a rosey version of each, and gives them an out, a clear road to the American dream. I don't mind an escapist fantasy but when you choose characters that come with significant baggage, and then ignore that baggage, you've piqued my interest only to squander the opportunity. Others I'm keen to catch that I haven't seen before... Splendor in the Grass, Clash By Night, Don't Bother to Knock and The Haunting (although I've a feeling I may have seen this one years ago). Last edited by Cpt. Feeney; 08-26-2023 at 08:31 AM.

08-26-2023, 08:09 AM	#1027
DaBargainHunta Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:May 2011 Location:Parts Unknown - because I blabbed about Mars! Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Trading Score:30	These are the expiring movies I've already seen: 12 Angry Men Adam's Rib A.I. Artificial Intelligence Clash by Night Desperately Seeking Susan On the Waterfront Police Story 3: Super Cop Safe Six Degrees of Separation Of that list, 12 Angry Men is essential. Safe is also interesting. I really enjoyed Police Story 3: Super Cop and don't think you need to be familiar with the others in the series to watch it, but I'd still recommend them anyway. I am a huge Barbara Stanwyck fan, but Clash by Night is definitely lower-tier Babs. Amazing cast, but a bit of a sour lemon of a movie. What I want to watch: I have about 20 movies on my list, but I'll be lucky if I get around to 5 of them. The Haunting probably tops my list. I'll double-feature it with the apparently terrible Liam Neeson remake out of morbid curiosity. Easy Living and Monkey Business both sound like light fun too. Why are Once Upon a Time in China IV and V expiring but not the previous three? Because of this, I probably won't get around to any of them. The Pawnbroker looks fantastic - and I'm definitely in the mood for more Sidney Lumet after 12 Angry Men - but it's also on Kanopy, so I probably won't prioritize it. Last edited by DaBargainHunta; 08-27-2023 at 12:12 AM.

08-30-2023, 09:05 AM	#1035
fdm Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Location:Way Out West 4K collection:- Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Digital collection:- iTunes collection:- Prime collection:- Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:3	Splendor in the Grass is a good flick. Not sure I've ever seen The Haunting though it's alway possible I did (have it on blu-ray). I do know that I just watched Claire Denis's L'Intrus (The Intruder) from 2004 however, and not sure what to say/think about it. Plusses and minuses, offhand nothing I've seen before comes to mind that was quite like it. Great photography, slow paced, cut and paste sort of thing, the story gels as the pieces go together, but there seemed to be a lot of stray pieces mixed in as well, though at least one of these was a dream sequence so maybe others were too? (At least I saw it… ) The Murder Of Mr. Devil is likely next up on the channel for me. Last edited by fdm; 08-31-2023 at 01:35 AM.

08-31-2023, 09:28 AM	#1037
fdm Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Location:Way Out West 4K collection:- Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Digital collection:- iTunes collection:- Prime collection:- Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:3	So The Murder Of Mr. Devil turned out to be pretty entertaining. One of the several Czech New Wave films on the channel (but seems to be the only one expiring). It's buried inside the Ester Krumbachová: Phantom of the Czech New Wave collection. The one film she directed. Worth a watch. Makes me want to get around to watching and/or finishing the other films in that collection too. Last edited by fdm; 08-31-2023 at 09:33 AM.

08-14-2023, 03:13 PM	#1025
nathan_h Member Member since:Apr 2008	It was actually one of the first times in a while I didn't have trouble with the dialog, but that's probably because IMAX is so darn hot anyway.

08-26-2023, 11:20 PM	#1028
fdm Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Location:Way Out West 4K collection:- Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Digital collection:- iTunes collection:- Prime collection:- Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:3	I watched a couple expiring short films this morning: Woman In Deep, fairly interesting, and Tungrus, cute and a worthwhile watch. The short part helped them both along. TCM had a day of Geraldine Chaplin films during its Summer Under The Stars month (this month), and since a number of them are among the Saura films on the channel, figured I'd get to them sooner rather than later that way (and with potentially better sound). I did watch Honeycomb which was fairly good but a bit odd. Still worth a watch. The others I recorded were Anna and the Wolves, Elisa, My Life, Stress-en-tres-tres, none of which I've seen before; and Peppermint Frappe which I watched when Criterion was streaming via Hulu if I am not mistaken, but don't really remember much about it. I'll get to them soon. (I'm kind of wondering whether some of the other Saura films might have gone away from the channel while I've been neglecting them…) These aren't expiring just yet, but it remains to be seen how long that will remain true. This expiring month I noticed Paid In Full, and started to stream it and quickly remembered that I'd tried to watch it on my dvr not all that long ago and it just didn't click with me, so probably won't get back to it. I am a Mekhi Phifer fan so who knows… The ones I am looking to get to are: The Goddess, The Murder Of Mr. Devil, The Intruder and Spring Blossom as most likelies. Good chance I'll get to Monkey Business too. (The rest of the obvious candidates I've seen or have on disc, lots of good stuff there.) Also considering Abuse Of Weakness, but Breillat doesn't do much for me, and I may have tried to watch it when a bunch of her films were on the channel a long while ago and it got lost in the mix. But it does star Isabelle Huppert, so gotta at least try again if I have time. Oh, and if somehow I have even more time, I'll try and get to some of those Fatty Arbuckle shorts. I'd suggest Summer Hours to anyone, it's quite an interesting film. Hunger is also particularly good.

08-27-2023, 06:49 PM	#1031
DaBargainHunta Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:May 2011 Location:Parts Unknown - because I blabbed about Mars! Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Trading Score:30	Honestly? I'm fine if I miss everything that's expiring this month. There are some major films, but I've either already seen most of them and/or own them. I ended up watching You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah on Netflix last night instead of a Channel expiring pick. My top three - The Haunting, Easy Living, and Monkey Business - feel like they'll pop up elsewhere soon enough. A couple of others - like Paid in Full and Thief - already are streaming in other places (and I've never, ever warmed up to Michael Mann, so the latter is not a priority for me). I don't know why I typed all this up. Not sure what I'm looking for here. P.S. Does anyone here have MUBI? I barely use it, and now that they've moved away from their unique Film of the Day concept, I feel like cancelling it.

08-30-2023, 12:41 AM	#1033
fdm Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Location:Way Out West 4K collection:- Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Digital collection:- iTunes collection:- Prime collection:- Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:3	So anyway, I did finish The Goddess early this morning. Much easier to follow when I'm not nodding off. That said, I dunno if anyone else would like it, but it seemed pretty well done for it being from the late '50s… I'll leave it at that. More tonight if I'm not too tired.

08-30-2023, 06:49 AM	#1034
Cpt. Feeney Active Member Member since:Apr 2023	I watched The Goddess when it arrived, I liked it quite a bit but I'd say it didn't stick with me. Splendor in the Grass, on the other hand, has made a big impression, a very relatable story, and such chemistry between all the cast. Elia Kazan does it again. I'm halfway through The Haunting, on the fence about it at the moment, I like a lot of elements but some of the dialogue is very pointed, and a bit much.

08-30-2023, 06:15 PM	#1036
DaBargainHunta Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:May 2011 Location:Parts Unknown - because I blabbed about Mars! Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Trading Score:30	Finally got around to watching expiring picks on the Channel with two classic comedies: Easy Living and Monkey Business. Both are fun. Tonight: Probably The Haunting (on the Channel) + the remake (not on the Channel), and that'll likely be it for me this month. It helps that I've already seen a good chunk of the heavy hitters and/or own a good chunk more.

08-31-2023, 06:08 PM	#1038
DaBargainHunta Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:May 2011 Location:Parts Unknown - because I blabbed about Mars! Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Trading Score:30	I watched The Haunting on the Channel (which I highly recommend) and the remake not on the Channel (which I liked more than most people seem to, but I'd probably only recommend it as a double feature with the original).

09-01-2023, 09:02 AM	#1039
fdm Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Nov 2007 Location:Way Out West 4K collection:- Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Digital collection:- iTunes collection:- Prime collection:- Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:3	I finished up the month with Breillat's Abuse Of Weakness. Pretty much fit my mood, and about what you'd expect given the synopsis. A pretty good watch too.

09-01-2023, 08:50 PM	#1040
JupiterMission Power Member Member since:Sep 2016 Trading Score:2	I didn't get to a single one of the three movies I wanted to watch before they left in August. There's a ton leaving in September I want to see though, so I'm hoping to hit the CC more regularly this month. My checklist... - Breathless. - Cutter’s Way. - Flaming Star. - Fleshtone. - It Always Rains on Sunday. - Making Mr. Right. - She-Devil. - Showgirls. - White Lightning. - Yield to the Night. - Zardoz.

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