The Criterion Collection

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by Megalith

I'm new to Criterion titles. Are all Criterion releases essentially immaculate, or are there some out there with bad transfers or poor audio?

I still need to rip/watch my copies of Frances Ha and Naked Lunch, but The Thin Red Line seems to be completely flawless.

There are some that have minor issues, but when you're talking about films that are up to 80+ years old, perfection isn't really attainable in every case. The ones I have are all excellent and the best releases of each film that I've seen.

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

It's also $11.83 (or $10.67 after promo code HOLIDAY10) at DVDplanet.com. Mine is already on the way.

Many thanks for the tip!

Just purchased All About Eve, The Grapes of Wrath, The Hustler, Last Tango in Paris, Wild River, and The Apartment all for under $10 each with no shipping charges or tax!

[zoodermin]

Originally Posted by Megalith

I'm new to Criterion titles. Are all Criterion releases essentially immaculate, or are there some out there with bad transfers or poor audio?

I still need to rip/watch my copies of Frances Ha and Naked Lunch, but The Thin Red Line seems to be completely flawless.

Children of Paradise and The Earrings of Madame De... are the worst BDs that Criterion has released. Due to age and preservation quality of the original elements, sometimes perfection is not a possible goal but most Criterion BDs look the best they can with today's technology and many if them have superb transfers.

[hustlermane]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

Speaking of directors who lack representation, I would like to see more of the films of Nicholas Ray. This man was a great cinematic artist. Often on this site, members have spoken positively about In a Lonely Place which I saw for the first time this year a couple of months ago. Two nights ago, I watched Johnny Guitar for the first time, and it was awesome. I can clearly see how he strongly influenced the French New Wave. I already own and love Bigger Than Life, and I have seen Rebel without a Cause many enjoyable, times. However, there are several of his films that I have yet to see. I hope that in the near future Criterion Collection can release the blu-ray editions of:

They Live by Night
The Lusty Men
and
Party Girl

+1, Ray is fantastic. The four you listed are great, but Ray has a deep body of work. They Live By Night is pretty good (although you don't really buy Farley Granger as a hardened ex-con) and would look good on blu. The Lusty Men is really fantastic, one of his best, and Party Girl is awesome, its colours and legendary dance sequences would be stunning in HD. But these are essential films that you shouldn't wait for CC to get on.

I'd also recommend On Dangerous Ground (those snowscapes would look great in HD, a beautiful B/W film) and there's a good blu-ray of the Cagney Western Run For Cover that Ray made, and it's a film I like a lot. I think Olive did the blu. Born to be Bad is pretty good as well, and my least favourite I've seen would be Bitter Victory, and even then that's probably partly because I saw it on such a bad copy. Any of his films are worthy of blu, and CC for that matter.


But directors who lack blu/CC representation? Douglas Sirk, first and foremost. I'm a little biased (he's my favourite director) but he was made for blu. As far as I'm aware, only the two MoCs, Tarnished Angels and A Time to Love and a Time to Die, are the Sirk blus in existence. Haven't seen the Criterion DVDs (he's extremely well represented through Madman here in R4) but upgrades are necessary. But I can think of at least 10 of his films crying out for the HD treatment also. Although no director has been more snubbed by CC than Tashlin.

TL, DR: 50s auteurs need more CC/blu love

[mrjohnnyb]

Originally Posted by hustlermane

+1, Ray is fantastic. The four you listed are great, but Ray has a deep body of work. They Live By Night is pretty good (although you don't really buy Farley Granger as a hardened ex-con) and would look good on blu. The Lusty Men is really fantastic, one of his best, and Party Girl is awesome, its colours and legendary dance sequences would be stunning in HD. But these are essential films that you shouldn't wait for CC to get on.

I'd also recommend On Dangerous Ground (those snowscapes would look great in HD, a beautiful B/W film) and there's a good blu-ray of the Cagney Western Run For Cover that Ray made, and it's a film I like a lot. I think Olive did the blu. Born to be Bad is pretty good as well, and my least favourite I've seen would be Bitter Victory, and even then that's probably partly because I saw it on such a bad copy. Any of his films are worthy of blu, and CC for that matter.


But directors who lack blu/CC representation? Douglas Sirk, first and foremost. I'm a little biased (he's my favourite director) but he was made for blu. As far as I'm aware, only the two MoCs, Tarnished Angels and A Time to Love and a Time to Die, are the Sirk blus in existence. Haven't seen the Criterion DVDs (he's extremely well represented through Madman here in R4) but upgrades are necessary. But I can think of at least 10 of his films crying out for the HD treatment also. Although no director has been more snubbed by CC than Tashlin.

TL, DR: 50s auteurs need more CC/blu love

Thanks!

I unfortunately have seen just one film by Douglas Sirk: All That Heaven Allows. I absolutely loved it and felt that it was a subtle indictment on American upper-middle class values. How ironic that the people he was exposing were probably over half of his cinema audience. Brilliant!

I also agree that his films were made for blu-ray!

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by mrjohnnyb

I unfortunately have seen just one film by Douglas Sirk: All That Heaven Allows. I absolutely loved it and felt that it was a subtle indictment on American upper-middle class values. How ironic that the people he was exposing were probably over half of his cinema audience. Brilliant!

I also agree that his films were made for blu-ray!

Criterion released Sirk's Magnificent Obsession just a couple of months after they released their first Blu-rays. I've never been clear about why they didn't also release it on BD at the same time.

[StLouisRibs]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Criterion released Sirk's Magnificent Obsession just a couple of months after they released their first Blu-rays. I've never been clear about why they didn't also release it on BD at the same time.

It was most likely they were commissioned as DVD releases which requires less effort in restoration and rescanning than a BD release. Shame as I have the feeling that the more recent the DVD the less likely it is to be rereleased, meaning some great titles released in this window (such as Z, which is gorgeous in HD on Hulu Plus) might not be seen on BD for ages.

[smoss469]

Just finished Three Outlaw Samurai, while it's a very bare bones CC release.. my goodness does it ever look beautiful! A crisp and clean transfer with such amazing detail for a film that's almost 50 years old!

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by hustlermane

I'd also recommend On Dangerous Ground (those snowscapes would look great in HD, a beautiful B/W film)

I agree. One of my favorite noirs. I would also add that the Bernard Herrmann score is outstanding as are the performances of all involved. Robert Mitchum is frequently acknowledged as the ultimate noir persona but I prefer Ryan. That said, it's a treat to see them together in Crossfire another top noir. Hopefully, Warner's will upgrade their excellent noir box sets in the near future.

[hustlermane]

Originally Posted by StLouisRibs

It was most likely they were commissioned as DVD releases which requires less effort in restoration and rescanning than a BD release. Shame as I have the feeling that the more recent the DVD the less likely it is to be rereleased, meaning some great titles released in this window (such as Z, which is gorgeous in HD on Hulu Plus) might not be seen on BD for ages.

Honestly, at least the DVDs are good (at least, again, the Australian ones are). In fact, as much as blu rays of the most known ones would be essential purchases, I'd love an Eclipse series for Sirk - of all the great directors, his known body of work to most cinephiles is only about 5-6 films strong. There are some awesome early films he made like No Room For The Groom and especially Has Anybody Seen My Gal with Charles Coburn that I really like, and there are a handful from the early 50s that don't seem to be available anywhere I really want to check out.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by smoss469

Just finished Three Outlaw Samurai, while it's a very bare bones CC release.. my goodness does it ever look beautiful! A crisp and clean transfer with such amazing detail for a film that's almost 50 years old!

I think in the back of my mind I expect the 'barebones' releases to be thowaways and I was very pleasantly surprised by this one. It looks fantastic and it's a really fun movie. And by fun I don't mean to suggest it's cheesy or shallow...it's rather good, actually.

It was a very good pickup.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Ctzalman

artificial eye [uk] put out a blu release of cache that is region free. seems like i got it for dirt cheap a while back on amazon.co.uk

I obtained this film from ABDrewes on this website. He sold me it for a good price and shipped it to me as well. I enjoyed watching Caché and so far its the 2nd Haneke film I've seen (other than Funny Games). I recently purchased Amour and plan to watch this one soon. I wish more films like this would be offered Region-free I must say.

[SlickDamian]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Well, yes, Criterion released Blow Out on both DVD and Blu-ray at the same time about 2.5 years ago. However, TGO said "my old Criterion DVD", which suggests an earlier DVD release. But there was no earlier DVD release. I'm guessing that's the reason for SlickDamian's puzzlement.

Exactly.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by StLouisRibs

It was most likely they were commissioned as DVD releases which requires less effort in restoration and rescanning than a BD release. Shame as I have the feeling that the more recent the DVD the less likely it is to be rereleased, meaning some great titles released in this window (such as Z, which is gorgeous in HD on Hulu Plus) might not be seen on BD for ages.

I'm not so sure about that. Several DVDs released in that general period have been upgraded to Blu. Some examples: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, In the Realm of the Sense, Repulsion, and The Last Day of Disco.

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by jayembee

I'm not so sure about that. Several DVDs released in that general period have been upgraded to Blu. Some examples: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, In the Realm of the Sense, Repulsion, and The Last Day of Disco.

Repulsion and (I'm pretty sure) In The Realm Of The Senses were released simultaneously with the dvd editions.
Spot on about the other two though, you can never really tell whats going to get an upgrade and what isn't.
Really hoping for the Dreyer and Von Sternberg sets to get them sooner than later

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

Repulsion and (I'm pretty sure) In The Realm Of The Senses were released simultaneously with the dvd editions.
Spot on about the other two though, you can never really tell whats going to get an upgrade and what isn't.
Really hoping for the Dreyer and Von Sternberg sets to get them sooner than later

Announcement day is only a short week away! (Well, probably 8 days, I'd say Monday)

[ijustblumyself]

If you're interested in Michael Haneke on blu-ray there is a box-set from Amazon.fr which includes all of his films.. Not too sure about the quality of the blu-rays though.

http://www.amazon.fr/Le-Cinema-de-Mi...A1X6FK5RDHNB96

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

I watched Army of Shadows last night an I came out pretty floored. I think Melville may have even bested Le samourai with this one. Does anyone else feel like this film helped lathe groundwork for the most recent adaption of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy? I definitely got a similar feeling from both films.

I've never seen the second film, and cannot comment as such, but Army of Shadows is my favorite Criterion Blu-ray. It's also my second favorite Criterion title of all time behind Le Samourai.

Army of Shadows looks stunning in the format, and I love the pacing of the story. It's a shame that it's out of print these days, and not available to more people.

[The Great Owl]

For the Michael Haneke fans out there, my UK Blu-ray of Hidden (Cache) is marvelous. It's still my favorite Haneke film by a long long mile, although I confess to not yet having seeing The Piano Teacher.

[hustlermane]

Originally Posted by JoeBuck

]
Spot on about the other two though, you can never really tell whats going to get an upgrade and what isn't.

Basically the only rule about guessing what gets released or upgraded with Criterion is "nobody knows anything about anything" :P