The Criterion Collection

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Great movie! I will gladly upgrade my Criterion DVD of Elevator to the Gallows. That Miles Davis score is ace. I would also like to see The Fire Within and The Lovers upgraded.

I have a number of Louis Malle Criterion DVDs that I have not upgraded yet.

Au Revoir Les Enfants is one of the saddest movies ever made.

Black Moon is one of the... is one of the.... Hmmmm. I don't know. I really don't. I've watched my DVD of Black Moon a couple of times and I still have no clue exactly what that movie is.

I think someone said it was about menstruation and a girl going from girlhood into womanhood in an Alice in wonderland-esque fantasy.

It's not a film I enjoyed and I'm glad I didn't blind buy it. I like weird stuff but thus was too weird for me.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

I think someone said it was about menstruation and a girl going from girlhood into womanhood in an Alice in wonderland-esque fantasy.

It's not a film I enjoyed and I'm glad I didn't blind buy it. I like weird stuff but thus was too weird for me.

That seems about right. I was taken aback by Black Moon, but not enough that I was not compelled to watch it again. It's oddly disturbing, but it's also fascinating in an incredibly offbeat way. I may upgrade my DVD to Blu-ray at some point, but I'm not exactly sprinting full-speed to the store to do so.

It's probably a good movie to play if you've got a few party guests still standing around at your place in the extreme late hours, and you want a subtle way to get them to leave out so that you can get some sleep.*


*The Great Owl refuses to admit that most of the movies in his collection would probably fit this purpose just as well.

[Kevin Holly]

Originally Posted by drbikeshorts

Yes, of course! Really liked If...

Originally Posted by rkish

Myself as well!

Me to! In fact, I go so far as to consider in my favorite film of all time.

[Whirlygig]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

That seems about right. I was taken aback by Black Moon, but not enough that I was not compelled to watch it again. It's oddly disturbing, but it's also fascinating in an incredibly offbeat way.

I loved the beginning and liked it less and less as it went on. The extremely poor overdubbing did not help at all. But I must cling onto it to inflate my collection of films with titles that begin with "Black", perhaps second only in size to my collection of films starting with "American".

[oildude]

Originally Posted by Whirlygig

But I must cling onto it to inflate my collection of films with titles that begin with "Black", perhaps second only in size to my collection of films starting with "American".

ha ha..."black" as the first word in the title has a large presence in my collection, along with "last" and especially "man".

I found Black Moon to be a bizarre but compelling film that surprised me by how much I enjoyed it, even if I did not fully understand it. There was something about the surreal metaphor-filled narrative that held my interest. Even before I read similar comparisons, it made me think of Alice-in-Wonderland (although it was like Wonderland undergoing civil war). I need to rewatch it, because when I viewed it a year ago, I came away actually feeling I understood most of it, but have since forgotten what that was.

[*PREACHER*]

Black Moon was a trip, and I purchased it after reading that it had an Alice in Wonderland feel to it. House is another weird, tripped out film that I love.

If I had to order them as fav's

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Black Moon
House

My a-list of tripped out/bizarre Criterion titles that are my fav's!!!
Would love some other recomendations for weird....
..and don't say Salo...I know all to well about that film.

[Banned User]

Black Moon also has some gorgeous cinematography. Though it is a truly bizarre film.

[ElliesDad]

Originally Posted by octagon

[Show spoiler]Well, going in with too many expectations would likely defeat at least part of the purpose. And over the years enough otherwise sane voices have come out in support so if nothing else I'm somewhat curious.

And to be perferctly honest, my time isn't really all that important. You would think the older I get the more jealously I would guard each moment but no, not so much.

So even if it sucks again, eh, I've lost a few hours I would have otherwise devoted to a lockout-shortened NHL season. I can live with that. Actually, I'd probably watch Starship Troopers and hockey. Eh, I can live with that too.

PS: Cache is pretty amazing. It's difficult to discuss why even in general terms without coloring if not outright spoiling things best left to your own perceptions but bump it up on whatever priority list you keep - you won't regret it.

I'm on it!

Originally Posted by drbikeshorts

Unfortunately, we also didn't get around to seeing The Well-Diggers Daughter. I might have to pick it up sometime. Auteuil's sad face is one of cinema's greatest treasures.
I would love to see Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources again. I just found out they were both released on French blu-rays in 2008, but there aren't reviews or even user reviews. Anyone know if they're English-friendly or have good A/V packages?
Confession time: I've never seen Unbearable Lightness of Being

Jean and Manon are region B, showing French subs only, go figure. Unbearable Lightness of Being is a great film with Juliette Binoche and Daniel Day-Lewis at the height of their powers. There's a scene near the beginning where they see each other in a cafe for the first time (she is a barista) that is the epitome of subtly understated acting elegance.

[GoldMotel]

Just wanted to thank those who convinced me to continue on with Fanny and Alexander.

Just finished episode 2, and loved it! So much more involved and interesting than Episode 1.

The story is definitely shaping up to be interesting, so can't wait to tackle episode 3.

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by GoldMotel

Just wanted to thank those who convinced me to continue on with Fanny and Alexander.

Just finished episode 2, and loved it! So much more involved and interesting than Episode 1.

The story is definitely shaping up to be interesting, so can't wait to tackle episode 3.

Just wait it gets even better.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by Hendershot737

Jumped on Chungking Express...thorougly enjoyed that one. Also threw A Better World in there for $10...great flick for those of you willing to venture past the Criterion label

Jumping on a Blu-ray is a very bad idea, they can break

I really like Chungking Express, it's a sort of strange movie as it give's you this thing where you almost believe there is no story and that nothing is going on and yet it's the total opposite

I recommend next In The Mood For Love if you haven't seen it yet

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

I recommend next In The Mood For Love if you haven't seen it yet

I second this statement. Emphatically.

[lemonski]

I just finished watching a film that doesn't seem to be talked about much - Clouzot's Quai des Orfevres. The Criterion site says it's OOP, does this mean they have lost the rights and a Blu-Ray will not be forthcoming some time in the future?

Great little film, BTW. It's so refreshing to see a 1940's crime drama unshackled from the constraints of the Production Code.

[Lutz]

Originally Posted by *PREACHER*

Would love some other recomendations for weird....
..and don't say Salo...I know all to well about that film.

For over the top imagery and story telling go with THE SCARLET EMPRESS.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by lemonski

The Criterion site says it's OOP, does this mean they have lost the rights and a Blu-Ray will not be forthcoming some time in the future?

Yeah, along with Le Corbeau.

Studio Canal could issue...

Alphaville
Carlos Saura’s Flamenco Trilogy (Eclipse Series 6)
Le corbeau
Coup de torchon
Diary of a Country Priest
The Fallen Idol
Forbidden Games (Criterion and Essential Art House editions)
Gervaise (Essential Art House edition)
Grand Illusion (Criterion and Essential Art House editions)
Le jour se lève (Essential Art House edition)
Last Holiday (Essential Art House edition)
Mayerling (Essential Art House edition)
The Orphic Trilogy
Peeping Tom
Pierrot le fou (DVD and Blu-ray editions)
Port of Shadows
Quai des Orfèvres
The Small Back Room
The Tales of Hoffmann (Criterion and Essential Art House editions)
Trafic
Le trou
Variety Lights (Essential Art House edition)
The White Sheik

[*PREACHER*]

Originally Posted by Lutz

For over the top imagery and story telling go with THE SCARLET EMPRESS.

That looks like one I could see Kino or MOC do an upgrade to...I'll keep my eyes peeled for that one...looks good! Thanks!

[NoirFan]

From that list, Studio Canal have already released Peeping Tom and Port of Shadows.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

Studio Canal could issue...

Forbidden Games left a scar in my psyche. That poor, poor little girl.

In fact, my vote for the saddest movie ever made is a tie between Forbidden Games and Bicyle Thieves.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by NoirFan

From that list, Studio Canal have already released Peeping Tom and Port of Shadows.

And the Big Dog, Grand Illusion. I was mainly pointing out SC properties that used to be CC properties.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by rock, stone

Weeeellllll, if you really want to look at it, those uniforms don't make an appearance until the end of the movie. The first 3/4s or so are filled with pro military jingoisms that are typically associated with the American right, complete with its own Pearl Harbor moment.

None of which were even remotely subtle let alone sly. The news items and recruiting commercials were absurdly over the top. That kind of thing isn't satire, it's barely sarcasm. It was just so dumb.

That's not to say it completely lacked any subtlety. The subtle moments (a very racially diverse selection of actors representing a largely lily-white service in a recruiting commercial, for instance) were just lost in a sea of dumb.

Originally Posted by rock, stone

It's only towards the end that it becomes plainly obvious (though still missed by many) that the blandly attractive war heroes are fighting for a facist state who started the war in the first place.

Yeah, you really had to squint to see the nazi references early on...

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by rock, stone

I don't typically rate Verhoven very high, but I get a kick out this movie. It has to be one of the most subversive films to slip through the studio system.

Subversive? Starship Troopers was released in 1997, not 1957. Cynically lashing out at and/or mocking institutions wasn't simply acceptable in the 90s, it was de rigueur . Hell, Oliver Stone made something of a cottage industry out of being similarly 'subversive'. Though to be fair, Stone's sledgehammer approach was almost surgical in comparison.

And Verhoeven didn't miss any of the usual suspects - government, corporations, the military, a compliant media, a guillible public...he might as well have been working off a script (shut up, you know what I mean). All that was missing was a shot or two at consumerism (and it's been over ten years, maybe I'm just forgetting the Ikea references).

All of which is fine, btw. But subversive?