The Criterion Collection

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by ultlife2013

Adding to my Criterion Collection:



I now have 4 CC titles.

Uhh...how do you have those a week early?

[shortmartin]

Originally Posted by DjMethod

Gainsbourg was fantastic. Better than any of the nominees that year. Here's my review.

It's conflicting when a film is both ugly and beautiful. I'm a fan of the film, but I doubt I would ever watch it again due to its depiction of both mental and physical agony.

Thanks for the review, nice one. Yeah, Gainsbourg just blew me away. In this very subtle way, the movie had me really falling for her and

[Show spoiler]sympathizing with her character in spite of all the very disturbing and creepy stuff that happens around her and the violence she perpetrates and experiences. I came away feeling as though she had a lot to do with the beautiful aspects of the film, even though she is also symbolically and directly associated with its ugliest aspects. It's a great movie on so many levels, and easily one of the best recent horror movies.

.

[RiFiFi1955]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Risky blind buys, eh?

I am going to go out on a limb and name David Cronenberg's Videodrome as a risky blind buy, but not necessarily because of the movie itself.

The Criterion Main Menu screen for Videodrome, though... Oh, man...

I had seen Videodrome several times over throughout my life before Criterion got hold of it, so it was never a Criterion blind buy for me, but the menu screen surprised me. I thought to myself, "WTF?" I then started laughing. Finally, I thought, "WTF?", again.

For the people out there who did blind buy the Criterion release of Videodrome, what did you think that you were in for when you saw that main menu screen?

Oh my, what happens on the main menu? I have seen the movie so many times and it is not one of my favorites so I don't own it but don't make me go out and buy it just for the menu Spoiler it up for me PLEASE!

Edit**** Now if a hand comes out of the screen I am going to have to buy it!!!!!

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by RiFiFi1955

Oh my, what happens on the main menu? I have seen the movie so many times and it is not one of my favorites so I don't own it but don't make me go out and buy it just for the menu Spoiler it up for me PLEASE!

Edit**** Now if a hand comes out of the screen I am going to have to buy it!!!!!

Huh...I just remember it being various clips from the 'programming' in the film.

[shortmartin]

Originally Posted by metaridley

Hmmm... my Nic Cage conversation didn't end up going anywhere... oh, well. I enjoyed making the posts.

I got what you were saying Nicolas Cage's style warrants appreciation and much love. I can agree with that. I'd put Leaving Las Vegas in my top couple dozen movies of all time. And then there are lots of others. Like I mentioned, Rumble Fish is a personal favorite. Here's a question: I don't know anything about Cage's biography - where did the whole fifties 'peggy sue' shtick come from?, with bits of elvis, the sheepish elvis hipster and the hairdo, you even see it in Moonstruck - you know what I mean . . . I'm not denigrating that particular style in which Cage has played/been cast in particular roles. I actually uphold it's value as part of what's most appealing about Cage to me as an actor - where he, on the one hand, has a retro feel, is wild at heart and over the top, and yet, on the other hand, is also honest, vulnerable, innocent, and ordinary. Or maybe that's not accurate at all. I've seen most of his movies and love a handful of them. Just my two cents.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by RiFiFi1955

Oh my, what happens on the main menu? I have seen the movie so many times and it is not one of my favorites so I don't own it but don't make me go out and buy it just for the menu Spoiler it up for me PLEASE!

Yeah, as someone who'd seen the film but doesn't own the disk, I'm a bit curious myself:
If someone had COMPLETELY blind-bought 70's-80's Cronenberg, they deserved to be confused
But what menu could possibly "WTF" confuse someone who had already seen the film several times? My obvious guess would be

[Show spoiler]satellite Videodrome footage

, but, nah, that's too easy.

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by EricJ

My obvious guess would be

[Show spoiler]satellite Videodrome footage

, but, nah, that's too easy.

I'm pretty sure that's what it is. I haven't viewed it in a long time, but that's what I remember it being.

[tonylopez]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Do you guys think that Criterion will ever release a Walter Hill film?

I just finished watching The Warriors and all I can say is wow. I wasn't sure how I was going to like it, but I absolutely loved it. I can definitely see how it is a cult classic. Also, I can't believe how young James Remar was in that film. I'm so used to how he looks on Dexter that I couldn't believe that it was him in this film!

I'm really looking forward to picking up The Driver and Hard Times via Twilight Time this summer.

The Warriors holds up extremely well as far as cult films go. The transfer is truly impressive. Just curious, what Walter Hill film would you pick of all his films to be added to the Criterion Collection?

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

That is a very good set as well. When I got it I did not know much about Koreyoshi Kurahara except for the 1995 movie Hiroshima. I really enjoyed watching the movies in that set

Yeah, I didn't know much about Koreyoshi Kurahara (except from the one film in the Nikkatsu Noir box-set), but the Warped World box-set is one my favourite blind-buys

[shortmartin]

Originally Posted by tonylopez

The Warriors holds up extremely well as far as cult films go. The transfer is truly impressive. Just curious, what Walter Hill film would you pick of all his films to be added to the Criterion Collection?

I dig Hard Times, and I like his writing work on two action classics, the Getaway, and some decades later, the Fugitive.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

My dad died quite suddenly on Sunday morning was a bit of a shock. He was talking to me and then I just turn around to get something and first thing I know he is on the ground Doctor confirm to us his heart just stop, firemen and paramedics where at the house quickly but he never came back.

Oh, man, Pat...I am so sorry for your loss. My heart and prayers go out to you and your family. God bless.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by tonylopez

The Warriors holds up extremely well as far as cult films go. The transfer is truly impressive. Just curious, what Walter Hill film would you pick of all his films to be added to the Criterion Collection?

I was going to say "The Long Riders", but I just realized that it's already out.

The later films he released some to be just bland films, so scratch that idea haha.

[jayputter]

Pat, I just wanted to add my condolences for your loss. A couple of years ago I lost both my parents seven months apart. I know there's nothing anyone can really say at a time like this, but I just wanted to let you know how much I always enjoy your posts. You've always come across as a true gentlemen and I hope in this painful time you're able to find some comfort.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

My dad died quite suddenly on Sunday morning was a bit of a shock. He was talking to me and then I just turn around to get something and first thing I know he is on the ground Doctor confirm to us his heart just stop, firemen and paramedics where at the house quickly but he never came back.

Sorry for your loss. Thoughts to you and your family.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

How risky of a blind buy is In The Realm of Senses if I enjoyed Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence? It's the only other Oshima I've seen to compare.

Personally, I would recommend Eclipse 21: Oshima's Outlaw Sixties ahead of ITROTS if you are looking for more Oshima in the Criterion Collection. It is an excellent set. While I liked ITROTS, it isn't something I feel compelled to revisit anytime soon, unlike the Eclipse set.

One thing I find striking about Oshima is that in many of his films he questions and raises awareness about the darker side of the Japanese psyche. He often acknowledges the postwar implications of the formerly death-obsessed nature of society during the militaristic period before and during WWII, including its cultural impacts and carryover into a rebuilt and thriving Japan. He was doing this at a time when few others dared such a thing. The films in this set were all made barely 20 years after Japan's surrender, and only 10 years after the signing of a final peace treaty with the US.

Each film in the Eclipse set is unique, not just in plot, but also in overall look and "feel", even while re-using some of the same actors (who are invariably great in each role they play). In a way, Oshima's Outlaw Sixties is like a Japanese BBS set, all directed by Oshima. Pleasures of the Flesh and Japanese Summer: Double Suicide are probably my favorites.

The most complex and memorable film in the set by far, in my opinion, is Sing a Song of Sex. At its core, Sing a Song of Sex chronicles the actions of four disillusioned and frequently callous Japanese youths who seem only interested in pursuing a good time while remaining unaffected by and disinterested in the social activism swirling around them. Parts of the film are laugh-out-loud funny in the antics of the four students, making it both the most humorous and the most darkly serious film in the Eclipse set. It has multiple layers and subtexts involving, among other things, getting laid, sex fantasies, the poor treatment of Koreans in Japanese society, the clash of traditions vs 1960s modernism in post-war Japan, alienation and self-doubt in the face of peer pressure, and even the deeper social and political meanings in bawdy pub songs sung by working class Japanese (hence, the title of the film). Ironically, the bawdy nature of these songs is why the young men enjoy them; singing these songs becomes their only real connection to the social activism surrounding them.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

That is a very good set as well. When I got it I did not know much about Koreyoshi Kurahara except for the 1995 movie Hiroshima. I really enjoyed watching the movies in that set

Kurahara also directed the classic 1983 Japanese film Antarctica, with its haunting Vangelis score. This film later became the basis for Disney's Eight Below.

[A Sith Lord?]

Watched Letter Never Sent today.

Awesome movie. Kind of upset no extras or anything but awesome restoration and excellent cinematography.

At one point I was wondering if the Soviet government was neglecting them on purpose.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I just hate the whole rewind/ shoving it in your face angle. There's no doubt he's trying to say something and its infinitely smarter than your average slasher flick. But that doesn't make it any less sour tasting.

Agreed. I may check out the remake anyway, but I find it strange that he directed it too. Probably for the money is my guess.

A bit off-topic, but I came across Haneke's Top Ten, where he lists L'Eclisse as one of his picks, which is my favorite Antonioni as well. I thought I was the only one!

[vader4]

As far as blind buys go I'd say don't because although I like 90% of what I watch from them, they have such a diverse catalogue that you never really know what you're getting into until you watch it. That's just my two cents and just for reference there are 4 movies in the collection that I actually dislike and I've seen ~50.

[Spicoli]

That other thread about Criterion got me thinking. I need to follow the sales of these better.

Has anyone considered "The Spanish Prisoner" as a possible CC release?

I love Mamet