The Criterion Collection

[jrsl76]

Originally Posted by ElliesDad

It was an epic odyssey, filled with suspense and high-drama, but my copy of Léon arrived an hour ago,

Reminds me of my journey to receive Mafioso. In a way, I hate that they announced it, because everyone became sharks.

I ordered it 1 hr. after the announcement, cancelled that order immediately to re-order with an Amazon marketplace seller I believed to be more reputable based upon what I knew of them. They ended up putting it on back order and it lingered and lingered in which time I tried ordering it from 2 other places. Eventually right as it said coming in soon through Amazon, I ordered it from an Amazon seller and they said they shipped it that day. I cancelled all other outstanding orders. Two weeks later and I still don't have it. Even if it was Media mail, how the hell does any package in the US taken over 2 weeks to arrive? Of course, they didn't add tracking so I can't even see where the hell it is and every day it doesn't arrive I get more anxious about where it is.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by COLD_COBRA_

Came today, yes it sticks out a little bit unless pushed in. But oh well. I just place it next to the other box set Criterion's. Now I'm done until July. This time I mean it.

Mine sticks out too and everybody thought I was crazy.

Originally Posted by Visco.

Have you seen The Runaways or Revolutionary Road? His 2 best performances IMO. He's one of my top 3 favorite actors.

The Runaways doesn't interest me, but I have Revolutionary Road to still watch.

[rkish]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Mine sticks out too and everybody thought I was crazy.

I didn't say you were crazy...I said you were anal retentive.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

Upstream and The Iceman are also two I am very much looking forward to. I tried to catch the latter at TIFF, but I was unsuccessful in securing a ticket for a screening time that worked for me.

I won't be surprised to see Carruth having a bigger budget for his next film.

That is pretty cool that you went to the Toronto International Film Festival. What films did you view? Do you have any recommendations for upcoming films?

[The Great Owl]

Repo Man is awesome on Blu-ray. I just finished watching it, and am going through the special features. Review of sorts tomorrow.

I'm feeling a bit drowsy, but I'm going to start my Blu-ray of Vivre Sa Vie.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

I won't be surprised to see Carruth having a bigger budget for his next film.

That is pretty cool that you went to the Toronto International Film Festival. What films did you view? Do you have any recommendations for upcoming films?

I caught 11 films at the festival, 6 of which have already come out. My favorite had to be Frances Ha. I saw Laurent Cantet's latest, Foxfire, which was a huge disappointment compared to The Class. Doesn't even feel like the same filmmaker. Much Ado About Nothing was pleasant, but nothing outstanding. If I'm able to go again this year, I'll definitely look at seeing some more world cinema.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

I found out about the release when I was looking for a copy of Primer, it is a pleasant surprise.

Michael Shannon does a great acting job with character driven films. Part of the success of Take Shelter is due to Shannon's superb acting.

I know this is not criterion related, but how did everybody feel about the ending?

If Nichols could have left the last 15 mins on the editing floor, it would of been a classic. The whole movie was a roller coaster, the ending seem to "cheapen" the film a bit, in my opinion.

Some SPOILERS FOR TAKE SHELTER IN THIS POST. I don't feel like tagging it, so.. yeah. Stop reading if you haven't seen it.

I dunno. I kinda love the ending. In a weird way, it's kind of a sigh of relief; even if disaster is about to strike, and whether they can escape or not is left hanging, the wife and the kid actually see what he sees. All of the frustration with his visions and fear fades away at that point and reality sets in.

I attended a Q&A with Shannon and Nichols, and someone ask the question if it was supposed to end when they got out of the shelter and if Nichols added the rest last minute. The answer, in short, is: No. That was always his intention, for them to be on the same page, and still having a layer of ambiguity to it. Shannon's response was: "If it had ended that way, it would be like, "So what? The guy's crazy. The end.""

[Colkurtz88]

I've got a Brand New/Sealed Last Year at Marienbad Blu Ray if anybody needs one. I am looking for a Brand New Repo Man Blu Ray and a Brand New Strangers on a Train Blu Ray. See my post on the trading forum under the criterion thread for pictures.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

Some SPOILERS FOR TAKE SHELTER IN THIS POST. I don't feel like tagging it, so.. yeah. Stop reading if you haven't seen it.

Yeah, I can see how spoiler tags can be a hassle. You have to point, you have to click...it can be a real nightmare.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by octagon

Yeah, I can see how spoiler tags can be a hassle. You have to point, you have to click...it can be a real nightmare.

Totally, bro.

[bluesilo]

Melville is not for me. Just finished Le Samurai and while I loved the score and Deion is wicked good...

I guess I have army of shadows left, but I don't really care all that much for le Cercle Rouge or Le Samurai.

I feel like I want the criminal to win. Why is that so difficult?

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

I caught 11 films at the festival, 6 of which have already come out. My favorite had to be Frances Ha. I saw Laurent Cantet's latest, Foxfire, which was a huge disappointment compared to The Class. Doesn't even feel like the same filmmaker. Much Ado About Nothing was pleasant, but nothing outstanding. If I'm able to go again this year, I'll definitely look at seeing some more world cinema.

I just viewed the trailer to Frances Ha. It seems pretty interesting. I thought Squid and the Whale was good. The film used some of Bert Jansch music, one of the great folk musicians.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by bluesilo

I feel like I want the criminal to win. Why is that so difficult?

Melville makes you like the criminal and step into his shoes. It's quite normal to root for him, but ultimately it comes down to what the right thing is.

Should bad win vs. good?

[Scottie]

I'd like to take a moment to reiterate how The Double Life Of Veronique may be my favorite film of all time and I love this Kieslowski guy. A lot.

[unclemat]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I'd like to take a moment to reiterate how The Double Life Of Veronique may be my favorite film of all time and I love this Kieslowski guy. A lot.

Now if we only could see Decalogue on blu-ray. Sigh.

I have a bad feeling we won't see that ever happen. The negatives are probably rotting somewhere at the Polish National TV archives, if exist at all...

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by unclemat

Now if we only could see Decalogue on blu-ray. Sigh.

I have a bad feeling we won't see that ever happen. The negatives are probably rotting somewhere at the Polish National TV archives, if exist at all...

Yeah, I want that to come to Blu-ray, too. I haven't seen it, but it'd be a welcomed title in The Criterion Collection.

Ugh, if it wasn't so late I'd rewatch Veronique for a third or fourth time. I'm going to probably watch it again this weekend.

[vader4]

Originally Posted by unclemat

Now if we only could see Decalogue on blu-ray. Sigh.

I have a bad feeling we won't see that ever happen. The negatives are probably rotting somewhere at the Polish National TV archives, if exist at all...

Same here, I've been wanting to see it ever since I found out that Stanley Kubrick described it as the only masterpiece he could name in his lifetime and as you might've guessed I'm a bit of a Kubrick fan.

[KrugerIndustrial]

I think I'm cursed. Nothing but bad luck with Amazon and Criterion all the time.

Received Letter Never Sent, High & Low and Badlands. All cases cracked, all booklets full of scuff marks/tears or similar and High & Low came without the blue sticker and the plastic wrap was completely different than on the others. This is getting ridiculous. I had to contact Amazon regarding same issues the last time. They just don't seem to understand that you need to add proper padding for international deliveries and not ship in a cardboard envelope..

Time to contact them again. I'm just worried that this will somehow eventually become my fault and I'm getting banned for too many returns. But what I'm I supposed to do? Give them $100 and just be okay when this happens over and over again?

I'm this close of giving up.

Oh, I also tried ordering Asian imports off eBay. Paid via PayPal and got an error code and then they reversed my payment. But naturally remembered to reserve the $$$ from my credit card. Contacted PayPal but after spending 30min trying to write everything down, they replied with an automated message to my email. Now I'll have to wait until they refund me because I'm too afraid to reorder if sh!t hits the fan again.

Some of the damage(kinda looks worse in person):

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by bluesilo

Melville is not for me. Just finished Le Samurai and while I loved the score and Deion is wicked good...

I guess I have army of shadows left, but I don't really care all that much for le Cercle Rouge or Le Samurai.

I feel like I want the criminal to win. Why is that so difficult?

In Le Samouraï, Jef Costello does "win" in the sense that he arrives at the conclusion on his own terms. I won't go into specifics, since I do not want to spoil the movie, but there is an appropriate mix of tragedy and triumph in the proceedings.

I've always disliked the term, "existentialism", with respect to movies, because it's a slippery concept to define, and, as such, it always comes across as hipster lingo in reviews. Le Samouraï, however, is a story aptly described by the term, since Jef Costello is a person who is figuratively alone in the world and, as such, lives by a strict self-constructed set of values that govern his day-to-day encounters. Through the course of the film, we see the walls close in on Jef Costello to the point where there is no way out of the trap, but he still manages let his own will dictate the outcome.

[Louisville Slugger]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I'd like to take a moment to reiterate how The Double Life Of Veronique may be my favorite film of all time and I love this Kieslowski guy. A lot.

Three Colors Trilogy is probably one of my best blind buys ever.