The Criterion Collection

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by andsoitgoes

The movie isn't perfect, it's a bit milquetoast BUT it still has enough merit to be a good film. The comment about not watching it for 3 hours due to your reasoning really, really makes you seem terrifically narrow minded, which I truly hope you are not. There are many movies that contain characters who exhibit various quirks and oddities through the whole film, and those things don't take away from their stature.

It's like saying you don't want a movie because of someone's accent. It's a good movie. Not brilliant, but good. And Firth is excellent in the role.

I liked The King's Speech and loved Firth in it.
I for one hate the backlash this film received, particularly from "Fincher was robbed!" crowd.
Sure, it might not be getting talked about in 10 years time, but then again that's true of a good many Best Picture winners.
I never felt like owning it, but I'm sure I'll enjoy re-visiting it in the future.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

And one final comment: I think that a lot of the younger enthusiasts that are getting into this hobby now do not fully realize how incredibly lucky they are to have Criterion around with their roster. My generation went through a different cycle. We did not have the internet and a community such as this one where we could discuss the films we wanted to see. Many, many films we simply could not see. Perhaps this is why my appreciation is slightly different.

True that. I'm 41, and I remember the days of early childhood in the 1970s before Blu-ray, DVD, VHS, or even HBO and the other cable movie channels. Back then, if someone missed a movie while it was playing at the local theater, then that movie was gone forever. If we were lucky, we might have been able to see a severely-edited pan-and-scan fullscreen version of a movie on network television years later, but that was all.

I was fortunate that VHS movie rental businesses came into fruition during my teenage years, and those were some good old days while I discovered Hitchcock films, gritty 1970s horror flicks, and such.

Checking out favorite movies has never been easier than it is now, though.

With all the cynical things that we can say about our current times and about society in general, I have to say that it's pretty darn wonderful that I can own a high definition transfer of Skyfall on a disc just three months after its theatrical release.

[Abdrewes]

Owl, yes indeed. There has never been a better time to be a cinephile than the present.

[drbikeshorts]

A couple thank you notes:
A while back, someone pointed me to Casetopia for replacement Criterion cases. Great advice. I only needed 5, but I got 10 just in case. They arrived not long after, well packaged in a box.
Someone else pointed me to ImportCds.com for a good price on titles such as The Thief of Bagdad. I also bought Letter From An Unknown Woman (lovely melodrama), Body & Soul, Laura, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Les Vampires. The price was good and they arrived (over two deliveries) promptly and packed securely in boxes with no damage.
Speaking of Les Vampires, I finished it tonight. Really good fun. With the exception of one, most episodes were 30 to 60 minutes long, full of intrigue and action and over the top silent acting. Considering the age, I think the quality of the source materials were great. It's a real shame that Kino didn't put together some worthy extras.
Now, if only someone would release Olivier Assayas' Irma Vep!

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by drbikeshorts

A couple thank you notes:
A while back, someone pointed me to Casetopia for replacement Criterion cases. Great advice. I only needed 5, but I got 10 just in case. They arrived not long after, well packaged in a box.
Someone else pointed me to ImportCds.com for a good price on titles such as The Thief of Bagdad. I also bought Letter From An Unknown Woman (lovely melodrama), Body & Soul, Laura, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Les Vampires. The price was good and they arrived (over two deliveries) promptly and packed securely in boxes with no damage.
Speaking of Les Vampires, I finished it tonight. Really good fun. With the exception of one, most episodes were 30 to 60 minutes long, full of intrigue and action and over the top silent acting. Considering the age, I think the quality of the source materials were great. It's a real shame that Kino didn't put together some worthy extras.
Now, if only someone would release Olivier Assayas' Irma Vep!

Glad to hear they came through. Occasionally some slipboxes might come scuffed but nothing major. You really can't get Olive and Cohen Media releases any cheaper.

By the way, is Les Vampires best consumed all at once or savored one by one ala The Decalogue?

[The Great Owl]

These are the "good old days" to be a movie enthusiast, indeed.

I was actually thinking along these lines last night, when I watched Spielberg's Jaws and E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial back-to-back.

I missed the original theatrical release of Jaws, because I was only three years old in 1975, but I did see the first television premiere of the movie in November, 1979.

I clearly remember this, because Jaws premiered as an ABC Sunday Night Movie. I was in second grade at the time, and these were the days when everybody watched the Sunday night movies on the big network channels, and everybody was talking about them the next day. This television premiere of Jaws was really an event. Everybody in town was looking forward to seeing this edited, fullscreen presentation of Jaws, and it was a really big deal to all of us at my elementary school. My brother and I had to beg our parents to let us stay up two hours past our normal bedtime to watch this showing of this movie, but the truth was that they were looking forward to it as much as we were.

Many years later, when I was a teenager, I rented a VHS copy of Jaws and my mind was blown at seeing the actual unedited version of the movie for the first time, albeit a fullscreen VHS transfer.

When I sat down to watch Jaws last night, that old magical nostalgia resurfaced, but I also realized how lucky I am to have a Blu-ray transfer of the film that effectively duplicates, if not exceeds, the original experience of seeing the movie at a theater back in the day.

The same with the fact that I am (finally, at long last) able to watch the original 1982 theatrical edition of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial without the absymal computer touch-ups of the version that people have been watching over the past decade. With all my talk of Jean-Pierre Melville Criterions, Akira Kurosawa films, French New Wave, film noir, and such, it's funny to say that one of the reasons I wanted a Blu-ray player was to be able to see watch a high definition transfer of the original E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and relive my youth, but this is the truth.

Still, it's great to live in a time where I can discover priceless foreign films that I would have never otherwise discovered decades ago.

I do not think that repeated four-star or five-star reviews of Criterion offerings on this site are indicative of "brand loyalty" or elitism. The simple truth is that the Criterion Collection movies, aside from a few missteps, truly are pivotal moments in the scope of cinema history that are lovingly restored with generous supplements to demonstrate their significance. I may not fall head-over-heels in love with a film like Akira Kurosawa's The Lower Depths, for instance, but I would give it a favorable review on a site like this simply because the Criterion presentation makes a good argument for why this movie begs not to be forgotten in the grand scheme of things.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by sc1957

Les Vampires is 6 hours and 57 minutes long. I wouldn't recommend viewing it in a single sitting. Maybe two episodes at a time if youre really into it. But remember, it's a serial. Think of going to the movie theater every Saturday for ten weeks.

I could see myself going through this on weeknights over three or four days. I've been wanting to check it out for a while now. I have bigger fish to fry right now, but I'll get around to seeing Les Vampires someday.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by sc1957

Les Vampires is 6 hours and 57 minutes long. I wouldn't recommend viewing it in a single sitting. Maybe two episodes at a time if youre really into it. But remember, it's a serial. Think of going to the movie theater every Saturday for ten weeks.

Exactly. Les Vampires is a serial with distinct chapters in the story.
A couple of the chapters flow on directly, but some pick up the story days, weeks or months later.
I went through it pretty fast, but only watched an episode a night and finished it in about two weeks.
Obviously, if someone has the time and they're keen, then maybe watching it in a shorter time will work.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by blkhrt

Seriously? Wow. Of the four universities that I have either attended or taught at, 80% is no where close to an A-. All that really matters, however, is consistency and that people know what the grades mean.

Here's my source:

http://central.acadiau.ca/registrar/...grading_system

80 is the lowest A- grade. At UWO, they don't use minus grades and 80 is a low A. At least for masters level grades.

It could be a Canadian thing.

Also autocorrect hates me.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

Here's my source:

http://central.acadiau.ca/registrar/...grading_system

80 is the lowest A- grade. At UWO, they don't use minus grades and 80 is a low A. At least for masters level grades.

It could be a Canadian thing.

Also autocorrect hates me.

I'm pretty sure it is a Canadian thing. I've spoken to other people about 80-90% being included in the range of an A grade and they were pretty astonished.

[ShellOilJunior]

I've had professors that treated 90+ as 'A'. 80+ as A? Wow.

[SammyJankis]

It's a snow day. Which Criterion to watch..

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

I'm pretty sure it is a Canadian thing. I've spoken to other people about 80-90% being included in the range of an A grade and they were pretty astonished.

agreed. It's that way in high school too, and not just university. Nor is it strictly a provincial thing, as my friend in Ontario said the sane thing . The only real differences I see are program dependent, and that's if a 50 or a 60 is the minimum pass mark. At UWO, 60 was the pass mark for my MLIS, and even then I was only allowed one mark between 60-70 if I wanted to graduate. I didn't have any.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I've had professors that treated 90+ as 'A'. 80+ as A? Wow.

Different grading regulations in different countries. The UWO graduate grading is a weird one, as most treat 80-85 as A-

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

It's a snow day. Which Criterion to watch..

Cul-de-sac or Naked

[Scottie]

Jubal is $19.99

http://www.amazon.com/Jubal-Criterio...85272&sr=1-121

[madmojo]

When I went to college in North Carolina, 90+ was an A. 80+ was a B. 70+ was a C, etc.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Cul-de-sac or Naked

I've been meaning to watch the former just because I'm such a Polanski fan. Naked might be too nihilistic for a day like this.

Still leaning towards Close-Up, especially since I recently watched Like Someone In Love.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

I've been meaning to watch the former just because I'm such a Polanski fan. Naked might be too nihilistic for a day like this.

Still leaning towards Close-Up, especially since I recently watched Like Someone In Love.

I don't know what to watch today either. I still have a lot to watch.

[Show spoiler]1. The 400 Blows
2. ¡Alambrista!
3. Amarcord
4. America Lost And Found: The BBS Story (All)
5. And Everything Is Going Fine
6. The Ballad Of Narayama
7. The Battle Of Algiers
8. Le Beau Serge
9. Beauty And The Beast
10. Black Orpheus
11. Branded To Kill
12. Breathless
13. Broadcast News
14. By Brakhage: An Anthology (Both)
15. Carlos
16. Le Cercle Rouge
17. Certified Copy
18. Che
19. Children Of Paradise
20. A Christmas Tale
21. Chronicle Of A Summer
22. Chungking Express
23. Close-Up
24. The Complete Jean Vigo (All)
25. The Complete Monterey Pop Festival (Both)
26. Les Cousins
27. Cronos
28. Crumb
29. Cul-de-sac
30. David Lean Directs Noel Coward (All)
31. Everlasting Moments
32. Fanny And Alexander
33. For All Mankind
34. The Forgiveness Of Blood
35. The Four Feathers
36. Gimme Shelter
37. Godzilla
38. Gomorrah
39. Gray's Anatomy
40. Harakiri
41. Harold And Maude
42. Le Havre
43. Heaven's Gate
44. High And Low
45. A Hollis Frampton Odyssey (All)
46. House
47. Howards End
48. Hunger
49. Identification Of A Woman
50. If…
51. In The Mood For Love
52. In The Realm Of The Senses
53. Insignificance
54. Island Of Lost Souls
55. La Jetee / Sans Soleil (Both)
56. Kagemusha
57. Kes
58. Kuroneko
59. The Last Emperor
60. The Last Metro
61. Late Spring
62. Leon Morin, Priest
63. The Leopard
64. Letter Never Sent
65. Life During Wartime
66. Lola Montes
67. The Magician
68. The Makioka Sisters
69. The Man Who Fell To Earth
70. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
71. Metropolitan
72. The Mikado
73. The Moment Of Truth
74. Monsoon Wedding
75. The Music Room
76. My Life As A Dog
77. Mystery Train
78. Naked
79. A Night To Remember
80. El Norte
81. The Organizer
82. Orpheus
83. Pale Flower
84. People On Sunday
85. The Phantom Carriage
86. Pierrot Le Fou
87. Pina
88. Playtime
89. Purple Noon
90. The Qatsi Trilogy (All)
91. Quadrophenia
92. Red Desert
93. The Red Shoes
94. Ride With The Devil
95. Robinson Crusoe On Mars
96. The Rules Of The Game
97. Salo, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom
98. The Samurai Trilogy (All)
99. Sansho The Bailiff
100. The Secret Of The Grain
101. Secret Sunshine
102. Senso
103. Seven Samurai
104. Shallow Grave
105. Smiles Of A Summer Night
106. Solaris
107. Stagecoach
108. Still Walking
109. Summer Hours
110. Summer Interlude
111. Summer With Monika
112. Sunday Bloody Sunday
113. Sweetie
114. Three Outlaw Samurai
115. The Times Of Harvey Milk
116. The Tin Drum
117. Tiny Furniture
118. Tokyo Drifter
119. Topsy-Turvy
120. Trilogy Of Life (All)
121. Two-Lane Blacktop
122. Umberto D.
123. Vanya On 42nd Street
124. Les Visiteurs Du Soir
125. The Wages Of Fear
126. Walkabout
127. The War Room
128. Week End
129. Weekend
130. White Material
131. Wings Of Desire
132. World On A Wire
133. Yi Yi
134. Yojimbo / Sanjuro Box Set (Both)
135. Zazie Dans Le Metro

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I don't know what to watch today either. I still have a lot to watch.

[Show spoiler]1. The 400 Blows
2. ¡Alambrista!
3. Amarcord
4. America Lost And Found: The BBS Story (All)
5. And Everything Is Going Fine
6. The Ballad Of Narayama
7. The Battle Of Algiers
8. Le Beau Serge
9. Beauty And The Beast
10. Black Orpheus
11. Branded To Kill
12. Breathless
13. Broadcast News
14. By Brakhage: An Anthology (Both)
15. Carlos
16. Le Cercle Rouge
17. Certified Copy
18. Che
19. Children Of Paradise
20. A Christmas Tale
21. Chronicle Of A Summer
22. Chungking Express
23. Close-Up
24. The Complete Jean Vigo (All)
25. The Complete Monterey Pop Festival (Both)
26. Les Cousins
27. Cronos
28. Crumb
29. Cul-de-sac
30. David Lean Directs Noel Coward (All)
31. Everlasting Moments
32. Fanny And Alexander
33. For All Mankind
34. The Forgiveness Of Blood
35. The Four Feathers
36. Gimme Shelter
37. Godzilla
38. Gomorrah
39. Gray's Anatomy
40. Harakiri
41. Harold And Maude
42. Le Havre
43. Heaven's Gate
44. High And Low
45. A Hollis Frampton Odyssey (All)
46. House
47. Howards End
48. Hunger
49. Identification Of A Woman
50. If…
51. In The Mood For Love
52. In The Realm Of The Senses
53. Insignificance
54. Island Of Lost Souls
55. La Jetee / Sans Soleil (Both)
56. Kagemusha
57. Kes
58. Kuroneko
59. The Last Emperor
60. The Last Metro
61. Late Spring
62. Leon Morin, Priest
63. The Leopard
64. Letter Never Sent
65. Life During Wartime
66. Lola Montes
67. The Magician
68. The Makioka Sisters
69. The Man Who Fell To Earth
70. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
71. Metropolitan
72. The Mikado
73. The Moment Of Truth
74. Monsoon Wedding
75. The Music Room
76. My Life As A Dog
77. Mystery Train
78. Naked
79. A Night To Remember
80. El Norte
81. The Organizer
82. Orpheus
83. Pale Flower
84. People On Sunday
85. The Phantom Carriage
86. Pierrot Le Fou
87. Pina
88. Playtime
89. Purple Noon
90. The Qatsi Trilogy (All)
91. Quadrophenia
92. Red Desert
93. The Red Shoes
94. Ride With The Devil
95. Robinson Crusoe On Mars
96. The Rules Of The Game
97. Salo, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom
98. The Samurai Trilogy (All)
99. Sansho The Bailiff
100. The Secret Of The Grain
101. Secret Sunshine
102. Senso
103. Seven Samurai
104. Shallow Grave
105. Smiles Of A Summer Night
106. Solaris
107. Stagecoach
108. Still Walking
109. Summer Hours
110. Summer Interlude
111. Summer With Monika
112. Sunday Bloody Sunday
113. Sweetie
114. Three Outlaw Samurai
115. The Times Of Harvey Milk
116. The Tin Drum
117. Tiny Furniture
118. Tokyo Drifter
119. Topsy-Turvy
120. Trilogy Of Life (All)
121. Two-Lane Blacktop
122. Umberto D.
123. Vanya On 42nd Street
124. Les Visiteurs Du Soir
125. The Wages Of Fear
126. Walkabout
127. The War Room
128. Week End
129. Weekend
130. White Material
131. Wings Of Desire
132. World On A Wire
133. Yi Yi
134. Yojimbo / Sanjuro Box Set (Both)
135. Zazie Dans Le Metro

Got it narrowed down to anything?