The Criterion Collection

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by oildude

Scooby-Doo and The Banana Splits, gallons of blood, over-the-top campy gore, and one demon cat.

..plus killer mattresses! You gotta see at least one film with those at some point.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by COLD_COBRA_

Here's what I have. Sadly I've only watched a few of them. I'm slowly trying to change that. I bought all of these when B&N had their sale in October/November. And they were all blind buys. But with the info from this thread and the B&N thread this what I picked.


Belle de jour
Blow Out 3/5
Breathless
Chungking Express 4.5/5 Loved it
Cronos 3/5 Different than what I was expecting
Days of Heaven 4/5 One of those where a couple days later I think to myself, that was a damn good movie. Beautiful too on the plasma.
The Double Life of Veronique
The Game 3.5/5 I didn't quite love it.
The Killing
Last Year at Marienbad
The Night of the Hunter
Paris, Texas
Paths of Glory
Rashômon
Ride with the Devil
Rosemary's Baby
Seven Samurai
The Thin Red Line
Three Colors Trilogy
The Wages of Fear 5/5
Walkabout. [Show spoiler]
Wings of Desire 4.5/5

Next time I'm thinking

Repulsion
Badlands
The Kid with the Bike
Brazil
Fish Tank

But not until i've watched at least 90% of them. I just was just having a lot of fun buying them at the time.

Awesome buy. I ve seen 15 movies from your buy, I can guarantee that you will like most of them.

Belle de Jour is the ultimate Catherine Deneuve film. Like any Bunuel movie, you always find something new with every view. I would recommend a rental of Repulsion first. I did not find this movie all that great, that's coming from a big fan of Deneuve and Polanski.

I found out that most posters in this forum are reluctant to say what films they don't like from criterion.

[COLD_COBRA_]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Awesome buy. I ve seen 15 movies from your buy, I can guarantee that you will like most of them.

Belle de Jour is the ultimate Catherine Deneuve film. Like any Bunuel movie, you always find something new with every view. I would recommend a rental of Repulsion first. I did not find this movie all that great, that's coming from a big fan of Deneuve and Polanski.

I found out that most posters in this forum are reluctant to say what films they don't like from criterion.

I might give Belle de Jour a go tonight. Deciding which one to watch next is always a dilemma for me lol.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Awesome buy. I ve seen 15 movies from your buy, I can guarantee that you will like most of them.

Belle de Jour is the ultimate Catherine Deneuve film. Like any Bunuel movie, you always find something new with every view. I would recommend a rental of Repulsion first. I did not find this movie all that great, that's coming from a big fan of Deneuve and Polanski.

I found out that most posters in this forum are reluctant to say what films they don't like from criterion.

I personally really enjoyed Repulsion. I think it was a great story of a woman and her breaking point. I may have liked it better than Rosemary's Baby.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by iScottie

I personally really enjoyed Repulsion. I think it was a great story of a woman and her breaking point. I may have liked it better than Rosemary's Baby.

I had the impression that Repulsion was some kind of (failed) experiment. Rosemary's Baby takes the same themes but delivers they more effectively.

Some could argue that Rosemary's Baby is a remake of Repulsion.

Other films with similar themes ( a woman's alienation due to a circumstance) that I find great Black Narcissus and Vivre Sa Vie.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by COLD_COBRA_

I might give Belle de Jour a go tonight. Deciding which one to watch next is always a dilemma for me lol.

If this is your first Bunuel film that you ever watch. I envy you.

It's like standing in front of a Salvador Dali painting for the first time.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

I had the impression that Repulsion was some kind of (failed) experiment. Rosemary's Baby takes the same themes but delivers they more effectively.

Some could argue that Rosemary's Baby is a remake of Repulsion.

Other films with similar themes ( a woman's alienation due to a circumstance) that I find great Black Narcissus and Vivre Sa Vie.

You do raise an excellent point. I can actually see how Rosemary's Baby could be the remake of Repulsion.

[Show spoiler]In Repulsion, Catherine Deneuve was raped by her father when she was younger. She had her sister by her all of her life for support and when the sister went away she had a mental breakdown. She was delusional and kept having rape fantasies. It was a very creepy film in the sense that her entire world unraveled with her sister going on vacation. She sort of just dealt with her decaying health in her own ways by retreating from society and isolating herself from civilization. Rosemary's Baby, on the other hand, was well shaped like you said. Mia Farrow was raped by the devil and impregnated. She actually went out of her way to try to solve the mystery on her own with nobody believing her. In comparison, both women were raped and isolated in their own unique ways. Also, they both suffered from a mental breakdown in each separate, but creepy story.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

I had the impression that Repulsion was some kind of (failed) experiment. Rosemary's Baby takes the same themes but delivers they more effectively.

Some could argue that Rosemary's Baby is a remake of Repulsion.

I could see experiment but failed? It was certainly rough and in some ways a bit rambling but it was also pretty creepy and effective. Or effectively creepy or creepily effective or something like that.

And on Ira Levin's behalf let me suggest that remake probably isn't the right word

Semantic nitpicks aside though, yeah, in a lot of ways Repulsion was a practice run for Rosemary's Baby. In addition to the obvious parallels you can see pretty clear instances where things worked in Repulsion but were much more polished in RB or where things didn't totally work in Repulsion and he took a slightly different tack in RB.

[Show spoiler]Oh, btw, I was pretty impressed with Le Silence de la Mer. My reaction so far is very similar to Leon Morin, Priest. I walked away from that thinking 'okay, that wasn't great but yeah, it was pretty good' and then the more I thought about it the more I appreciated just how easily it could have been absolutely horrible and just how much he trusted (or didn't give a shit about) the viewer. I expect this to grow on me in very much the same way.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by iScottie

You do raise an excellent point. I can actually see how Rosemary's Baby could be the remake of Repulsion.

[Show spoiler]In Repulsion, Catherine Deneuve was raped by her father when she was younger. She had her sister by her all of her life for support and when the sister went away she had a mental breakdown. She was delusional and kept having rape fantasies. It was a very creepy film in the sense that her entire world unraveled with her sister going on vacation. She sort of just dealt with her decaying health in her own ways by retreating from society and isolating herself from civilization. Rosemary's Baby, on the other hand, was well shaped like you said. Mia Farrow was raped by the devil and impregnated. She actually went out of her way to try to solve the mystery on her own with nobody believing her. In comparison, both women were raped and isolated in their own unique ways. Also, they both suffered from a mental breakdown in each separate, but creepy story.

Great analysis on both films.

Reading your comment made me ponder about Polanski's rape scandal (my opinion is that he should have served some jail time for that incident). Some of his inner demons could be seen in those early films.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by iScottie

EDIT: I'm leaning the most toward these.

[Show spoiler]1. Beauty And The Beast
2. David Lean Directs Noel Coward
3. Fat Girl
4. For All Mankind
5. Godzilla
6. Ivan's Childhood
7. Late Spring
8. Orpheus
9. Qatsi Trilogy
10. Red Desert
11. Stagecoach
12. Tin Drum
13. Two-Lane Blacktop
14. Vanya On 42nd Street
15. Yi Yi

Not bad list (okay, except maybe Fat Girl - not a fan of that one, but some folks here rank it highly.) Glad to see you have For All Mankind in there, a really terrific film.

So many good ones I could recommend, but just choosing off your original list posted earlier, I would definitely expand your short list to 18 and add three of the best films in the collection: Still Walking, The Secret of the Grain, and The Music Room.

I posted my thoughts on these three gems last year, and repost here in case you are interested.

Still Walking -

[Show spoiler] a quietly powerful and often touchingly humorous look at a family, gathered for their annual tribute on the anniversary of the oldest son's death. Still Walking really surprised me, because I had my doubts I would like it from reading the description and the reviews, not really what I would normally go for. The whole film has an intimacy to it that is very real. And although the dialog is exceptionally well done, I especially liked how the director frequently used the camera to show detail and mood without dialog.

What makes the film so brilliant is that the director, Kore-ada, can take such a low-key approach to a slice of everyday life - showing us the gathering of an extended Japanese family, their interactions over several meals, interwoven with interpersonal tensions, quiet demons, and modern vs. traditional cultural themes - and make a totally compelling and identifiable story out of it for a non-Japanese audience.

One of the most influential films I have ever seen; it impressed me so much, I went on to explore deeper into Japanese cinema to discover Ozu, Mizoguchi, Suzuki, Shimizu, Naruse, Kurahara, etc., (and more from Oshima, with whom I was already somewhat familiar).

The Secret of the Grain -

[Show spoiler]one of those underrated releases that doesn't get mentioned nearly enough. SOTG does an effective job of portraying the lives of first and second generation immigrant North African families in French society. I really appreciate its textures. On the surface, it is about an older man who, having become "unprofitable" at a struggling shipyard after many years of working there, has to find a new meaning for his life so late in the game. Harnessing the support and love of those around him, he is resolved to turn what could have been a personal tragedy into the pursuit of a dream.

But the film is layered with other themes. To me, the main underlying theme concerns the decay and loss of traditional community values of second and third generation immigrant youth as told through the family dynamic of the older man. And yet, it is the love of his girlfriend's daughter that gives the film its hope and promise of redemption. The last half hour is mesmerizing and suspenseful in a way that I did not expect.

Along with a touching story and terrific acting, I think it is one of the most strikingly colorful and beautifully shot movies in the Criterion Collection. This film was made to be seen on blu-ray.

The Music Room -

[Show spoiler]I was a initially a big skeptic about getting this film. All I knew about it was what I could find on youtube. There you can view three clips from the movie, each showing one of the three musical performances that take place in the music room. The singing on display in two of these performances was utterly dreadful to my ears. I thought no way I will ever watch - much less buy - this.

But there was enough praise for the film here, especially from SpiderBaby, that I decided to take a chance. I had never seen a Satyajit Ray movie. After buying it at a B&N sale, it then sat on my shelf unwatched for months before I finally decided to give it a go.

It is, without a doubt, one of the highlights of the Criterion Collection. Not only is the restoration a marvel to behold, the story is compelling and the acting superb. It is a tale of vanity and loss; about a proud Bengali zamindar (land holding aristocratic landlord/prince) who remains willfully oblivious while his land - the source of his wealth - falls into decay. His income is shrinking and yet he "fiddles while Rome burns", maintaining his haughty airs, especially toward an upstart commoner who moves next door after becoming a successful business man. In the zamindar's world view, blood triumphs above all. The business man is not shy about using his new riches to celebrate in a princely style. The difference between them is that the commoner is more judicious about his wealth. He is a bit of an uncouth slob, but he is shrewd and works extremely hard. The reward is that the business man’s wealth is growing and his world looks to the future, while the aristocrat's world is a relic of the past that is no longer sustainable.

There are many memorable scenes in this film. One of the most poignant is that the uncultured and illiterate peasants and town dwellers do not value the new self-made status of the business man, who is closer to them in social origin, as much as they value the old traditions of homage to the princes. This, too, must pass away for India to fulfill her destiny.

As for my take on the music in the film itself, the soundtrack outside of the set piece music room performances is outstanding. There are passages where the music adds a real emotional and powerful element to the visuals on the screen. My views toward the singing in the first two performances in the music room have not changed. I cannot stand it. Especially the second performer, the old man with the enormous beard, who at one point sounds like a cat being strangled. However, I find the third performance, that of the energetic kathar dancer, to be mesmerizing. It is a testament to the power and brilliance of this film that I can overlook a relatively small film element that I greatly dislike, to write glowing praises about what Ray created. The Music Room is great stuff, and not to be missed.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by octagon

I could see experiment but failed? It was certainly rough and in some ways a bit rambling but it was also pretty creepy and effective. Or effectively creepy or creepily effective or something like that.

And on Iran Levin's behalf let me suggest that remake probably isn't the right word

Semantic nitpicks aside though, yeah, in a lot of ways Repulsion was a practice run for Rosemary's Baby. In addition to the obvious parallels you can see pretty clear instances where things worked in Repulsion but were much more polished in RB or where things didn't totally work in Repulsion and he took a slightly different tack in RB.

[Show spoiler]Oh, btw, I was pretty impressed with Le Silence de la Mer. My reaction so far is very similar to Leon Morin, Priest. I walked away from that thinking 'okay, that wasn't great but yeah, it was pretty good' and then the more I thought about it the more I appreciated just how easily it could have been absolutely horrible and just how much he trusted (or didn't give a shit about) the viewer. I expect this to grow on me in very much the same way.

I agree on your perspective about Repulsion. One thing he had right from the beginning is the use of space. Both movies towards the end feel very claustrophobic.

Melville's early films feel very static (and narrator heavy) where in his later films action does all the "speaking". I do enjoy Le silence better than Les Enfants Terribles. Both have the same narrative structure, but for some reason I care more about the characters and the story in Le Silence de la Mer.

Bob Le Flambeur is my personal favorite early Melville film. It has the right balance of narration and action.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by oildude

Not bad list (okay, except maybe Fat Girl - not a fan of that one, but some folks here rank it highly.) Glad to see you have For All Mankind in there, a really terrific film.

So many good ones I could recommend, but just choosing off your original list posted earlier, I would definitely expand your short list to 18 and add three of the best films in the collection: Still Walking, The Secret of the Grain, and The Music Room.

I posted my thoughts on these three gems last year, and repost here in case you are interested.

Still Walking -

[Show spoiler] a quietly powerful and often touchingly humorous look at a family, gathered for their annual tribute on the anniversary of the oldest son's death. Still Walking really surprised me, because I had my doubts I would like it from reading the description and the reviews, not really what I would normally go for. The whole film has an intimacy to it that is very real. And although the dialog is exceptionally well done, I especially liked how the director frequently used the camera to show detail and mood without dialog.

What makes the film so brilliant is that the director, Kore-ada, can take such a low-key approach to a slice of everyday life - showing us the gathering of an extended Japanese family, their interactions over several meals, interwoven with interpersonal tensions, quiet demons, and modern vs. traditional cultural themes - and make a totally compelling and identifiable story out of it for a non-Japanese audience.

One of the most influential films I have ever seen; it impressed me so much, I went on to explore deeper into Japanese cinema to discover Ozu, Mizoguchi, Suzuki, Shimizu, Naruse, Kurahara, etc., (and more from Oshima, with whom I was already somewhat familiar).

The Secret of the Grain -

[Show spoiler]one of those underrated releases that doesn't get mentioned nearly enough. SOTG does an effective job of portraying the lives of first and second generation immigrant North African families in French society. I really appreciate its textures. On the surface, it is about an older man who, having become "unprofitable" at a struggling shipyard after many years of working there, has to find a new meaning for his life so late in the game. Harnessing the support and love of those around him, he is resolved to turn what could have been a personal tragedy into the pursuit of a dream.

But the film is layered with other themes. To me, the main underlying theme concerns the decay and loss of traditional community values of second and third generation immigrant youth as told through the family dynamic of the older man. And yet, it is the love of his girlfriend's daughter that gives the film its hope and promise of redemption. The last half hour is mesmerizing and suspenseful in a way that I did not expect.

Along with a touching story and terrific acting, I think it is one of the most strikingly colorful and beautifully shot movies in the Criterion Collection. This film was made to be seen on blu-ray.

The Music Room -

[Show spoiler]I was a initially a big skeptic about getting this film. All I knew about it was what I could find on youtube. There you can view three clips from the movie, each showing one of the three musical performances that take place in the music room. The singing on display in two of these performances was utterly dreadful to my ears. I thought no way I will ever watch - much less buy - this.

But there was enough praise for the film here, especially from SpiderBaby, that I decided to take a chance. I had never seen a Satyajit Ray movie. After buying it at a B&N sale, it then sat on my shelf unwatched for months, before I finally decided to give it a go.

It is, without a doubt, one of the highlights of the Criterion Collection. Not only is the restoration a marvel to behold, the story is compelling and the acting superb. It is a tale of vanity and loss; about a proud Bengali zamindar (land holding aristocratic landlord/prince) who remains willfully oblivious while his land - the source of his wealth - falls into decay. His income is shrinking and yet he "fiddles while Rome burns", maintaining his haughty airs, especially toward an upstart commoner who moves next door after becoming a successful business man. In the zamindar's world view, blood triumphs above all. The business man is not shy about using his new riches to celebrate in a princely style. The difference between them is that the commoner is more judicious about his wealth. He is a bit of an uncouth slob, but he is shrewd and works extremely hard. The reward is that the business man’s wealth is growing and his world looks to the future, while the aristocrat's world is a relic of the past that is no longer sustainable.

There are many memorable scenes in this film. One of the most poignant is that the uncultured and illiterate peasants and town dwellers do not value the new self-made status of the business man, who is closer to them in social origin, as much as they value the old traditions of homage to the princes. This, too, must pass away for India to fulfill her destiny.

As for my take on the music in the film itself, the soundtrack outside of the set piece music room performances is outstanding. There are passages where the music adds a real emotional and powerful element to the visuals on the screen. My views toward the singing in the first two performances in the music room have not changed. I cannot stand it. Especially the second performer, the old man with the enormous beard, who at one point sounds like a cat being strangled. However, I find the third performance, that of the energetic kathar dancer, to be mesmerizing. It is a testament to the power and brilliance of this film that I can overlook a relatively small film element that I greatly dislike, to write glowing praises about what Ray created. The Music Room is great stuff, and not to be missed.

Thanks oildude! My list will more than likely change over the course of the next week or so, but I'm definitely going to be grabbing:

1. David Lean Directs Noel Coward
2. For All Mankind
3. Godzilla
4. Ivan's Childhood
5. Late Spring
6. Stagecoach
7. Tin Drum
8. Two-Lane Blacktop
9. Vanya On 42nd Street
10. Yi Yi

[Jr7936]

i would also have to recommend pina as well, watching the movie again for a 2nd time and it holds up just as good as it did the 1st time i saw it =)

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Jr7936

i would also have to recommend pina as well, watching the movie again for a 2nd time and it holds up just as good as it did the 1st time i saw it =)

Everything is pretty much fair game for me this sale except:

And Everything Is Going Fine
By Brakhage: An Anthology, Volumes One And Two
Gray's Anatomy
Hollis Frampton Odyssey
Life During Wartime
Tiny Furniture
Trilogy Of Life
War Room

[Blu-Velvet]

Lots of really interesting reviews/reactions to various titles here. I rather liked but was not terribly enthused about SECRET OF THE GRAIN and THE MUSIC ROOM (a bit more about MUSIC ROOM), and now I want to go back and watch both again. FISH TANK, like KES, is a film that I find interesting but difficult to watch and not something I like to revisit often. I got Criterion's ROSEMARY'S BABY and really need to watch it, as I have not seen it since watching an old Laserdisc some time ago, which annoyingly cut off the sides of the picture rather than showing the full open-matte frame height. Maybe I'll watch REPULSION again, as well. I never especially cared for BELLE DE JOUR, which I saw in college on 16mm and much later in a 35mm theatrical reissue, and never bothered to buy on DVD or Blu-ray. The more "slice-of-life" style 2006 sequel by Manouel Oliveira, BELLE TOUJOURS, however, is rather interesting if you've seen the original (though it's not yet on Blu-ray).

The Brakhage collection is probably best described as an acquired taste, as they are so different from conventional narrative films, and the films are not the kind of things that lend themselves to viewing in rapid succession. If you like abstract art, they may be something you'll find appealing. They are often fascinating artistic exercises but hard to take for more than several minutes at a time. My favorites include GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS and MOTHLIGHT, although CAT'S CRADLE is sort of intriguing. I rather like some of his earliest work that appears on Kino's Avant Garde Shorts sets (sadly only on DVD so far), which have a stronger narrative thread, if still fairly unconventional and potentially off-putting. I actually met Brakhage and interviewed him when he visited our college when I was a student. He was very engaging to talk to, and strongly interested in classic films, especially silents (notably SUNRISE).

[Yami]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Yi Yi

Best film of the 00s, in my opinion. Definitely worth a watch.

[Hartley]

This isn't exactly related to Criterion Blu-rays, but the Criterion Laserdisc of Orson Welles' "Othello" with original audio is up on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09NWcKA7JKw

And the commentary track has been uploaded too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dywhWg3Pim8

[retablo]

Originally Posted by Fellini912

Great analysis on both films.

Reading your comment made me ponder about Polanski's rape scandal (my opinion is that he should have served some jail time for that incident). Some of his inner demons could be seen in those early films.

Technically, he did serve jail time, while he was being evaluated and held. In no way should a judge have lied to him though, to get a guilty plea... the court system failed in that case and Polanski, IMO, was justified in bailing.

For the record, I think Repulsion works better than Rosemary's Baby — it's certainly more creepy and has deeper roots in psychology. It's not often you can say that the final shot of a movie explains the whole thing.

[SimBelm]

Originally Posted by Yami

Best film of the 00s, in my opinion. Definitely worth a watch.

With exception of Synecdoche, New York for me I have to agree. Here's hoping for more Yang in the collection.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by SimBelm

With exception of Synecdoche, New York for me I have to agree. Here's hoping for more Yang in the collection.

People like to dismiss critics and lists but I'd never heard of this until reading Roger Ebert's column about his submissions for the latest Sight and Sound survey (it didn't quite make the cut on his list, btw).

I don't yet know if I would put it ahead of Downfall or The Lives of Others on any best of the decade ranking but it's definitely right up there.

I love lists