The Criterion Collection

[Tin Drum]

Will be finishing up the tv version of Fanny and Alexander tonight with Episode Four (may watch the movie version next week or so).

As I said in another post - I am dreading it. If I were a nail biter that is what I'd be doing. The film is so intense, dramatic, eerie...

The Great Owl, you watch this at Christmas time? I hope to encounter an uplifting finale! but that wouldn't be Bergman, right?

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Tin Drum

The Great Owl, you watch this at Christmas time? I hope to encounter an uplifting finale! but that wouldn't be Bergman, right?

The first third of Fanny and Alexander provides the bulk of the reason why I consider the film to be Christmas material. It's perhaps the greatest cinematic depiction of a Christmas gathering that I have seen, and it undeniably conveys that feeling of warmth from the cold in a cozy home with family, food, conversation, and childlike wonder.

Some interesting food for thought, without revealing spoilers, lies with the title of the film. The character of Fanny does not say much during the story, but she is listed first and foremost in the title over Alexander's name. One could perhaps theorize that the movie is a narration from a much older incarnation of Fanny who is remembering or telling the story based both what she witnessed and what she ascertains or guesses from what she knows about the family interactions. I am not sure, but the title has always interested me.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by blkhrt

For anyone who is interested, Frances Ha was added to Netflix streaming today. I will probably watch it soon, so I can decide whether to pick it up during the sale.

good to know.. thanks for posting. I will take a look being that it won't cost me anything extra to do so, but I found watching Greenberg to be an insufferable experience. Somebody tell me that I am wrong and will be surprised, but a film about a wanna be socialite (she "apprentices for a dance company (though she's not really a dancer), and throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles)" doesn't sound too exciting. Living in a big city, I know plenty people like this and they annoy me to no end.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by RiFiFi1955

I still am sitting on the decision of picking up Arrow's release of Bicycle Thieves...I haven't yet because I figured Criterion would have been all over this one sooner then later but yet I am(we are) still waiting. I hear arrow's disc isn't a 5/5 release but an upgrade none the less and that there are significant improvements in certain areas, for example the vertical lines that appear quite often on the Criterion DVD are no longer visible on the Arrow disc.

I watched this movie for the first time last night (via Netflix streaming), and I absolutely loved it. Beautifully filmed, and a wonderful, albeit somber, story. I'm hoping Criterion releases this, but I might just get the Arrow release until then.

[dwk]

Originally Posted by noob_saibot

I don't understand why the source material would be that much worse than, say, Hidden Fortress.

Things like the white spots in the opening credits could easily have been removed. Seven Samurai is one of those great titles where fixing film damage manually would be worth the effort.

Anyone know how it compares to the Japanese release? Criterion's release isn't bad, but I'm not sure it deserves all the praise it's getting.

They did spend time manually fixing SEVEN SAMURAI. A total of 1047 hours: 423 for the DVD with an additional 624 for the Blu-ray (which is why the Blu was delayed.)

The Japanese release is a waxy, dnr riddled mess.

[adsdsdsd]

Frances Ha was added to Netflix. I'll have to give it a watch.

[Thebunk]

Can someone tell me if the TV version of Fanny & Alexander contains more scenes with respect to

[Show spoiler]the supernatural or mystical parts of the film or is the extra run time more towards building the characters?

[joie]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I watched this movie for the first time last night (via Netflix streaming), and I absolutely loved it. Beautifully filmed, and a wonderful, albeit somber, story. I'm hoping Criterion releases this, but I might just get the Arrow release until then.

I got the Italian release and it looks better than DVD. It has optional English subs. There is a restoration demo on the disc, and it looks like they went frame-by-frame, but the equipment they used (with Silicon Graphics monitors - When did that company go out of business?) may indicate that the restoration was done some time ago.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Ladri...Blu-ray/20863/
http://www.dvdessential.it/blu-ray/l...ca-t35467.html - use Google translate (restoration done 2008!)

If I remember correctly, Yami posted that the Arrow release was noisy, or was it the Italian release? I didn't notice noise on the Italian release - wasn't looking for it. It was like seeing the movie for the first time.

[smoss469]

Took advantage of the sale (again). All DVDs, all blind buys, 2 get little to no mention around here.


Night Train to Munich
Thieves' Highway
Green for Danger

[Namuhana]

Originally Posted by smoss469

Green for Danger

Green for Danger is a great film! I'm hoping it'll get a Blu-ray upgrade soon.

[bwdowiak]

as I had guessed, my library now has no choice but to buy the dual format Criterions.. can't wait to check out City Lights in hi-def!

[Scottie]

I am REALLY tempted to order these five Eclipse sets (along with Nosferatu and Russian Ark).

#01: Early Bergman
#18: Dusan Makavejev
#19: Chantal Akerman
#32: Czech New Wave
#39: Fassbinder

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I am REALLY tempted to order these five Eclipse sets (along with Nosferatu and Russian Ark).

#01: Early Bergman
#18: Dusan Makavejev
#19: Chantal Akerman
#32: Czech New Wave
#39: Fassbinder

#18 should be a riot!

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by iScottie

#39: Fassbinder

I forgot to get this again, so I'm reeeaally tempted to order it too

[jw007]

Does anyone here own Eclipse Series 2: The Documentaries of Louis Malle ?

I've been into Malle so much lately that I'm wondering if this DVD set is worth owning? I don't usually buy Eclipse sets since I'm only into blu-ray these days. But this one looks so good.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by jw007

Does anyone here own Eclipse Series 2: The Documentaries of Louis Malle ?

I've been into Malle so much lately that I'm wondering if this DVD set is worth owning? I don't usually buy Eclipse sets since I'm only into blu-ray these days. But this one looks so good.

I own it, and what I've watched is great... but I doubt I'll ever sit through the 6 hour documentary about India.

[Oblivion138]

Originally Posted by noob_saibot

I don't understand why the source material would be that much worse than, say, Hidden Fortress.

Things like the white spots in the opening credits could easily have been removed. Seven Samurai is one of those great titles where fixing film damage manually would be worth the effort.

Anyone know how it compares to the Japanese release? Criterion's release isn't bad, but I'm not sure it deserves all the praise it's getting.

They did a LOT of manual clean-up. They spent over a year working on it (on top of the year they'd already spent working on the 2006 DVD). But we're talking about nearly 300,000 individual frames of film. Aside from the question of man-hours, Criterion is a smaller distributor, and cannot afford to spend "Lawrence Of Arabia" amounts on their restorations. If you're at all familiar with the film's history, you should know that the image quality you see on the Criterion BD is a minor miracle.

The Japanese BD from Toho is slathered in DNR. As a result, you can't see as much damage...and also, the image is a waxy mess.


TOHO: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRe...lu-ray1brd.jpg
CRITERION: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-r..._blu-ray_2.jpg

TOHO: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDRe...i_blu-ray2.jpg
CRITERION: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-r..._blu-ray_3.jpg


I'd say the fact that Criterion has spent so much time and money of their own to restore and preserve this masterpiece for future generations, while the original studio has simply buried the damage under ugly digital processing, means that yes, the Criterion BD does deserve all the praise it's received.

[smoss469]

Link's don't work.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

#18 should be a riot!

Huh?

[anthonyg]

Originally Posted by jw007

Does anyone here own Eclipse Series 2: The Documentaries of Louis Malle ?

I've been into Malle so much lately that I'm wondering if this DVD set is worth owning? I don't usually buy Eclipse sets since I'm only into blu-ray these days. But this one looks so good.

I find it to be amazing, Phantom India I believe it is called is breathtaking and was a huge influence on Wes Anderson's The Darjeeling Limited.