The Criterion Collection

[CMG]

Originally Posted by amputd

I’m a turtle lover. I have this but haven’t watched it. Should I risk it?

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST uncut = Turtle Soup. It ain't pretty. Better watch an edited version or not at all.

The movie does, however, make a good point about "Who are the real savages?"

-----------------

ALSO: There were a spate of Italian Cannibal movies from the late '70s through the mid-1980s as best as I can remember . . . however in none of them did you hear Barbra Streisand sing "People who eat people...are the happiest people". What a loss for humanity.

Do peepul (sic) taste like chicken? → Ask the Cannibals with modern vans! MEALS ON WHEELS!

[amputd]

My request for a 4k release of Zabriskie Point has been ignored! For the four members that liked my previous post, you and your loved ones will be spared.

I will recalculate…



I have decided to give the remaining hu-mans a second chance. Like this post and you and your families will be spared. For the rest- your deaths will be indescribable!

[trobrianders]

Will the Universal 4k of Moonage Daydream also have the commentary track?

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by trobrianders

Will the Universal 4k of Moonage Daydream also have the commentary track?

If we're talking about the UK 4K coming out, doesn't look like it will have it. Please refer to this link's description if you're curious about the special features.

Originally Posted by amputd

My request for a 4k release of Zabriskie Point has been ignored! For the four members that liked my previous post, you and your loved ones will be spared.

I will recalculate…



I have decided to give the remaining hu-mans a second chance. Like this post and you and your families will be spared. For the rest- your deaths will be indescribable!

[Show spoiler]

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by ravenus

But but but, you have King Kong and Jaws in which animals get brutally killed for no reason other than that they're big and they need to eat.

*most*

At least King Kong wasn't a real gorilla and Jaws wasn't a real shark being killed on camera because "audiences will think this is cool". There's some films - and some filmmakers - that just pile on the torture and killing of animals. It gets to the point where I see their name and avoid their product.

Originally Posted by Smegma

Hope you're a vegetarian.

Slowly getting there. It's literally like quitting smoking. It's hard as hell, and once it's done you do feel better. Even aside from the part that it's animals, I actually do feel physically better. I'm sure there's some scientific explanation why, but I have no clue what it is.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by EinCB128

"fgp"?

Originally Posted by koberulz

Fine grain prints, I would assume.

Close, fine grain positives. Films where they're definitely the best known element to exist are most notably Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, and Casablanca (although according to WB they're still holding out hope the negative exists).

With Toho, it's harder to tell, since Criterion will get a 2K transfer from a fine grain positive, with words in the book noting that nothing better exists. Godzilla 54 definitely has it, unsure if that tidbit got carried over to the Showa set, and I think it's in Seven Samurai too. Then a few years later a 4K transfer from the negative will show up somewhere else, usually but not exclusively in Japan, and we're stuck with inferior products (Tokyo Story).

Why they do it this way is beyond me. I would love a fully restored UHD of many Japanese movies, including Godzilla, films by Kurosawa, films by Ozu, and many more. Whatever Toho's strategy is, it sucks.

[TheBluRayBandito]

Watched Mean Streets earlier. Second time and I appreciate it now. I watched it over a decade ago and didn't like it nor dislike it; maybe I thought it was slow? The soundtrack is amazing and it's such a damn good film.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

At least King Kong wasn't a real gorilla and Jaws wasn't a real shark being killed on camera because "audiences will think this is cool". There's some films - and some filmmakers - that just pile on the torture and killing of animals. It gets to the point where I see their name and avoid their product.

Slowly getting there. It's literally like quitting smoking. It's hard as hell, and once it's done you do feel better. Even aside from the part that it's animals, I actually do feel physically better. I'm sure there's some scientific explanation why, but I have no clue what it is.

Oh yeah, it is why I avoid all the "Cannibal..." movies from Italy. Even apart from the animal torture, they feel quite sordid. If I may try to justify the turtle killing in Tampopo, it is a quick kill, and the animal is shown to be consumed as food. You could consider forwarding the less than 2 minutes it occupies in a nearly 2 hr movie that's otherwise delightful

[Show spoiler](even the BBFC which is strict about depictions of needless animal torture on screen passed this movie uncensored in the UK release, unlike what happened with Andrei Rublev)

. I was more irked by the kinky sex and explicit violence seen in the segment with the gangster and his moll

[Show spoiler](there's a scene where they keep passing a raw egg into each other's mouths that makes me gag)

which is at odds with the otherwise family-friendly nature of the film.

While it would be really hard for me to go vegan, I try to limit meat consumption to 1-2 times a week, and supplement with dairy/eggs (which I procure from brands advertising themselves as free-range, ethical businesses). Of course, some will argue that the treatment of animals in these industries is also reprehensible, but I don't have the perseverance to do it in a more hardcore manner.

[amputd]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

*most*

At least King Kong wasn't a real gorilla and Jaws wasn't a real shark being killed on camera because "audiences will think this is cool". There's some films - and some filmmakers - that just pile on the torture and killing of animals. It gets to the point where I see their name and avoid their product.



Slowly getting there. It's literally like quitting smoking. It's hard as hell, and once it's done you do feel better. Even aside from the part that it's animals, I actually do feel physically better. I'm sure there's some scientific explanation why, but I have no clue what it is.

I’m on the same journey. It’s been slow but I am making progress. I think the environmental crisis is much worse than people realize. It’s not just fossil fuel use and climate change. It’s topsoil depletion, plastics in the food chain, deforestation, overfishing, overpopulation, etc. I view most wildlife as refugees at this point. There isn’t a single ecosystem that will left alone if it can’t be exploited for profit or recreational use.

I think a lot of my film watching is actually a form of escape from the reality of what is happening in the natural world.

Robot Monster is a comparatively benign threat to the planet compared to unconscious human beings.

[eightslicesofpie]

Got a Criterion Channel subscription yesterday with the black friday deal and immediately added like 50 flicks to my watchlist...and then shortly discovered like 10 of them leave at the end of the month, so I've got my work cut out for me

Already watched Duel, Sneakers, and Battle Royale today and will hopefully squeeze in one more...

[dwk]

Originally Posted by eightslicesofpie

Got a Criterion Channel subscription yesterday with the black friday deal and immediately added like 50 flicks to my watchlist...and then shortly discovered like 10 of them leave at the end of the month, so I've got my work cut out for me

Already watched Duel, Sneakers, and Battle Royale today and will hopefully squeeze in one more...

Here is a little tidbit about expiring titles, you can use the watch offline feature and download them to a tablet or cell phone and they will stay available on your device for sometime (I think maybe a month) after they leave the channel

[eightslicesofpie]

Originally Posted by dwk

Here is a little tidbit about expiring titles, you can use the watch offline feature and download them to a tablet or cell phone and they will stay available on your device for sometime (I think maybe a month) after they leave the channel

Oh wow great tip!

[dex14]

I don't think it's been mentioned in this thread... at least that I could see... so apologies if old info... but the Edward Yang retrospective at Lincoln Center has the restorations of A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong listed as Janus releases.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by dex14

I don't think it's been mentioned in this thread... at least that I could see... so apologies if old info... but the Edward Yang retrospective at Lincoln Center has the restorations of A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong listed as Janus releases.

Yes!!!!!! Thanks for mentioning it!

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by eightslicesofpie

Got a Criterion Channel subscription yesterday with the black friday deal and immediately added like 50 flicks to my watchlist...and then shortly discovered like 10 of them leave at the end of the month, so I've got my work cut out for me

Already watched Duel, Sneakers, and Battle Royale today and will hopefully squeeze in one more...

I have about 390 on my watchlist at present, and usually end up with 10-15 on the expiry list I want to watch each month. Most of them newly-added by looking at said expiry list rather than things that were already on my watchlist, which means my watchlist stays around 390 pretty much permanently...

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by eightslicesofpie

Got a Criterion Channel subscription yesterday...

So what's the cost of the membership now? I'm a charter member, so I'm not looking to sign up. I'm just wondering what the current rate is.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by regeyer

So what's the cost of the membership now? I'm a charter member, so I'm not looking to sign up. I'm just wondering what the current rate is.

They just had a 25% off promo for Black Friday / Cyber Monday which dropped it to down to $74.99. Otherwise it's $99.99.

[eightslicesofpie]

Originally Posted by regeyer

So what's the cost of the membership now? I'm a charter member, so I'm not looking to sign up. I'm just wondering what the current rate is.

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

They just had a 25% off promo for Black Friday / Cyber Monday which dropped it to down to $74.99. Otherwise it's $99.99.

Yeah this is correct. Although I didn't know that there's no compatible Samsung TV or Playstation app so now I kinda regret getting it and might cancel since I'm within the 7-day trial...if I have to buy some extra device just to watch comfortably on the television then it just negates the deal lol

[MifuneFan]

Christian Petzold's Afire coming February 20th through Janus Contemporaries

https://www.criterion.com/films/33797-afire

INCLUDES
Meet the Filmmakers, a new interview with director Christian Petzold
Trailer

While vacationing by the Baltic Sea, writer Leon (Thomas Schubert) and photographer Felix (Langston Uibel) are surprised to encounter Nadja (Paula Beer), a mysterious young woman staying as a guest at the holiday home of Felix’s family. Nadja soon distracts Leon from finishing his latest novel, not only because of her passionate liaison with lifeguard Devid (Enno Trebs) but also because her brutal honesty forces Leon to confront his artistic inadequacies. As Nadja and Leon grow closer, an encroaching forest fire threatens the group and pushes the writer to discover whether he can truly care for anything beyond himself. Christian Petzold’s acclaimed latest film was the winner of the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival.

AFIRE - Official US Trailer - YouTube

[amputd]

People of Earth:

I have reconsidered my intention to annihilate humankind. While I still believe a 4k release of Zabriskie Point to be an epochal event in the history of humanity, I have reassessed Antonioni’s vision of apocalyptic images at the end of the film. I have rejected my previous nihilistic interpretation, and now see the ending of the film as an affirmation of love. I deeply regret my threats of annihilation. Your families and loved ones are safe.

I wish only the best for mankind. I have adopted a cat and have entered therapy. I intend to devote the rest of my time on Earth to watching films in my cave and perfecting my bubble machine.

Signing off,

Robot Monster