The Criterion Collection

[lolwut]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

In case anyone missed the 2011 Best/Worst of Poll results:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-mo...ml#post5538680

I know other Criterion sites do polls but ours looks to have the greatest sample taken into account.

I have to agree with Diabolique having the best cover, and Life During Wartime being the least favorite release...what a disappointment.

[GAX279]

Originally Posted by the sordid sentinel

Thief is one of my absolute favorite movies and if this release materializes I will be ecstatic. One of Mann's best.

+1 for me, in addition to the fantastic score by Tangerine Dream. Would love to hear it in HD Audio.

[I KEEL YOU]

I have just ordered Blow Out, but if Thief gets released, will it be worth picking up as well? It seems to have a lot in common with Blow Out. Both are MGM movies released in 1981, both the same genre. They have identical scores on imdb and nearly identical scores on rottentomatoes.

MGM seems to be giving Criterion a lot of movies. I sure would like to see a Criterion release of Westworld.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

I have just ordered Blow Out, but if Thief gets released, will it be worth picking up as well? It seems to have a lot in common with Blow Out. Both are MGM movies released in 1981, both the same genre. They have identical scores on imdb and nearly identical scores on rottentomatoes.

MGM seems to be giving Criterion a lot of movies. I sure would like to see a Criterion release of Westworld.

Westworld is a MGM titled owned by Warner through Turner. The MGM titles owned my MGM are United Artists films and acquisions from Orion, Castle Rock, etc.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

If you mean why does Criterion do it this way, I believe it has to do with how the film was known for its U.S. distribution. Anglicized titles were more common in decades past. Sometimes the translations aren't literal (Kurosawa's High and Low is actually Heaven and Hell in Japanese) and sometimes, as in the case of The 400 Blows, they are too literal (losing the idiomatic meaning in the process).

For the Blu-ray.com database it makes sense to follow the BD distributor's name. You wouldn't necessarily walk into B&N and ask for Les quatre cent coups as it's possible neither the clerk nor the database would recognize it as compared to The 400 Blows.

This is very true, but you would have to ask for Touchez pas au grisbi
It just seems a little inconsistent, but like you say, these are the names they're known by. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing the original title near the translated title.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by Darkcritic

Don't know if this is a hint or not (Most likely yes, though) but here we go...

[Show spoiler]

Any guesses? To be honest, I am completely clueless this time .

My friend has Thief on DVD, so I asked him to investigate this shot.
His reply: "I checked out the scene from Thief that it may come from, couldn't see anything that exactly matched. Shame, deserves to be a Mann in the Criterion Collection."

[retablo]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

I have just ordered Blow Out, but if Thief gets released, will it be worth picking up as well? It seems to have a lot in common with Blow Out. Both are MGM movies released in 1981, both the same genre. They have identical scores on imdb and nearly identical scores on rottentomatoes.

Thief has nothing in common with Blow Out. They aren't even comparable. One is a dark character study in the world of crime, the other is a rip off of an Antonioni film by way of a rip off of Hitchcock.

Originally Posted by drbikeshorts

My friend has Thief on DVD, so I asked him to investigate this shot.
His reply: "I checked out the scene from Thief that it may come from, couldn't see anything that exactly matched. Shame, deserves to be a Mann in the Criterion Collection."

I don't know if it's form Thief or not, but it's most likely just a small part of the whole image. So if he was looking for that frame exactly, of course he wouldn't find it.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by retablo

Thief has nothing in common with Blow Out. They aren't even comparable. One is a dark character study in the world of crime, the other is a rip off of an Antonioni film by way of a rip off of Hitchcock.



I don't know if it's form Thief or not, but it's most likely just a small part of the whole image. So if he was looking for that frame exactly, of course he wouldn't find it.

Yup, I'm still hoping it could be from Thief.

[Beta Man]

That could be from a single birthday-candle atop a cake, zoomed in to magnify the sparks coming from the single candle-wick.... That's the tough part.... once seen in "full context" it seems so obvious, but until then, it's largely a mystery until it "clicks" with someone

[Criterion Collector]

Ok everyone. I finally had the time to sit down and watch Fellini's The White Sheik. As mentioned, I plan on watching through all of the Fellini films I have on DVD or BD, and review them as I go. After watching through all of them, I plan to re-watch Amarcord...hopefully I will find it to be as enjoyable as most everyone else seems to.

I found The White Sheik to be a bit of a mixed bag for my tastes. Although I found certain parts of it to be funny, I didn't consider it to be a really funny film all the way through. The best bits were the ones involving her husband and his family. The part at the police station, with the guy typing the names had me chuckling. The part where he comes out of the building and starts marching around with the military as if he was going to blend in with them was the funniest part IMO.

I have to say here, that in most modern films I see, the endings are almost always a letdown. I am of the mindset that a strong finish to a film can elevate it up another "notch" on the ratings scale. I honestly felt The White Sheik scored in this respect. I really liked the ending, and found it to be a nice uplifting conclusion to the tale of a very terrible honeymoon.

Another bonus for me was the surprise cameo from Giulietta Masina. As I have stated prior, I liked Nights of Cabiria, and to see the character show up was a delight for me. I also read that Giulietta Masina was actually married to Fellini. I didn't know that until a couple of days ago...I stumbled across that fact while reading something or another talking about him. I wanted to find out a little bit about him, because (as stated in another post) I think it will increase my enjoyment of his work.

Up next for me is Variety Lights. I realized just a bit ago (literally, minutes ago) that I should have actually watched it first, but I was thinking that The White Sheik was Fellini's first film as a director. I see now that Variety Lights actually came first (I should have paid closer attention) but was co-directed with Alberto Lattuada.

[sskclickgeneral]

Just ordered
-The Rules of the Game
-Robinson Crusoe on Mars
-Modern Times
-The Killing
-Shock Corridor
-Rushmore
-The Lady Vanishes

off of wal-mart.com. Total came to $27 after gift cards

[ravenus]

Some Criterion watches recently:
Seven Samurai - This BD was the third time I bought this film (previous purchases also Criterion releases). Saw it in 2 stretches (since I started it late at night and carried the final half hour to next morning). Tremendously fun film, and even though it is quite lengthy it never seems slow-paced or indulgent. The definition of "epic" cinema.
The Music Room - last time I'd seen this was 20 years ago on Indian TV in a faded VHS-like print with muffled sound. The film was amazing enough to transcend those limitations and in its new avatar remains amazing, a great portrayal of obsession and decadence. I imagine that the classical music performances may not be friendly to all western viewers. I do hope some other Satyajit Ray films get good BD releases, Criterion or otherwise.
In The Realm of The Senses - Actually, I'd seen this film on CC's DVD, revisited it now on BD with Tony Rayns' commentary track. I generally am not too big a fan of Criterion film critic commentaries (Stephen Prince's commentaries for Kurosawa films are quite welcome, though) but this was a good one, with a lot of historical perspective on the film's setting and on Oshima himself. Good watch.
I'm looking forward to unravel the package of Battle of Algiers - damn, that one is massive in terms of content.

[SpiderBaby]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Thief, Michael Mann.

Yes, Hollis Frampton set, can't wait!

[jcs913]

Originally Posted by Roninblues

[I KEEL YOU]

Originally Posted by drbikeshorts

My friend has Thief on DVD, so I asked him to investigate this shot.
His reply: "I checked out the scene from Thief that it may come from, couldn't see anything that exactly matched. Shame, deserves to be a Mann in the Criterion Collection."

You do know that it could've come from a promotional photo and not from an actual frame of the movie. Criterion are known to use images of a movie that are not in the movie itself. Tons of their covers are like this. Or it could've just been a random image of sparks, something that the movie is known for.

[rkish]

Originally Posted by jcs913

Rich, I just finished Tokyo Drifter the other day and last night, Branded to Kill, and if you have the old CC dvd's, they are a very nice upgrade from them. I would say Tokyo Drifter has the most improvement from the dvd. Colors are much more natural and not smeared like they seem in the dvd. Branded has much better contrast and depth due to the transfer to BD, but Drifter is definetly a new gem... Anyone on the fence about picking these up should think twice, especially if they are noir fans. They were great releases before BD and now are no-brainers...

I had already seen Branded to Kill on NetFlix, so buying it wasn't a big deal. I've never seen Tokyo Drifter, so I'll pass on it for now.

Looking forward to seeing Branded on blu...maybe Christmas morning.

[Criterion Collector]

Hey everyone, I just saw that Tiny Furniture (spine # 597) is now streaming on Netflix! I was waiting for this day since I watched the trailer for it.

Also, (spine # 576) Secret Sunshine, recently started streaming as well.

I just thought I would give a heads up to those who aren't into blind buying.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by Criterion Collector

Hey everyone, I just saw that Tiny Furniture (spine # 597) is now streaming on Netflix! I was waiting for this day since I watched the trailer for it.

Also, (spine # 576) Secret Sunshine, recently started streaming as well.

I just thought I would give a heads up to those who aren't into blind buying.

I thought Criterion was moving exclusively to hulu plus. Did I miss something? I don't have a netflix account but I did a trial with hulu plus and am thinking of signing up for it.

[rkish]

Originally Posted by oildude

I thought Criterion was moving exclusively to hulu plus. Did I miss something? I don't have a netflix account but I did a trial with hulu plus and am thinking of signing up for it.

I believe that these are IFC titles, which seem to be immune to Hulu's Criterion kryptonite.

[the sordid sentinel]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

You do know that it could've come from a promotional photo and not from an actual frame of the movie. Criterion are known to use images of a movie that are not in the movie itself. Tons of their covers are like this. Or it could've just been a random image of sparks, something that the movie is known for.

It definitely looks reminiscent of the spark shower from the scene where Caan blowtorches the safe. Hope it's not just wishful thinking on my part.