The Criterion Collection

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by LegacyCosts

Thanks, I found it online. The blu is region b. I'll have to wait until its released here.

I hope you enjoy it. I'm holding out on importing on the chance that a Criterion release may be on the horizon. If IFC were just giving it a standard release, I figured we would have seen that by now.

[brandon_260]

So my Criterion backlog has started to build again and I'm having a tough time prioritizing how I watch the films. Whenever I've got a decent size stack to work my way through, I often find myself overwhelmed when it comes to choosing which to watch when and typically just sink back in to watching films I already love. So, I come to you guys in hopes that I can get some insight on which to watch soonest. All of these are sight unseen by me. (I've left off all films I've seen but haven't watched since I purchased the blu-ray).

Letter Never Sent
Lord of the Flies
Slacker
To Be or Not To Be
Identification of a Woman
World on a Wire
The Magic Flute
The Magician
Les cousins
Amarcord
My Life as a Dog
Army of Shadows
The Music Room
The 39 Steps
The Killing
Children of Paradise

[Oblivion138]

The Killing would be my suggestion. Great early Kubrick. An existentialist noir masterpiece with wonderfully down-and-dirty dialogue by Jim Thompson.

[LegacyCosts]

Originally Posted by Oblivion138

The Killing would be my suggestion. Great early Kubrick. An existentialist noir masterpiece with wonderfully down-and-dirty dialogue by Jim Thompson.

I second this. I just watched it and as mentioned the dialogue is well done and memorable.

[Edward J Grug III]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

So my Criterion backlog has started to build again and I'm having a tough time prioritizing how I watch the films. Whenever I've got a decent size stack to work my way through, I often find myself overwhelmed when it comes to choosing which to watch when and typically just sink back in to watching films I already love. So, I come to you guys in hopes that I can get some insight on which to watch soonest. All of these are sight unseen by me. (I've left off all films I've seen but haven't watched since I purchased the blu-ray).

Letter Never Sent
Lord of the Flies
Slacker
To Be or Not To Be
Identification of a Woman
World on a Wire
The Magic Flute
The Magician
Les cousins
Amarcord
My Life as a Dog
Army of Shadows
The Music Room
The 39 Steps
The Killing
Children of Paradise

If you're in the mood for a comedy, To Be or Not to Be is excellent.

The Killing is a great choice too.

[deepbreathsanddeath]

The Killing is definitely the easy pick from that list.
If you're into long sci-fi films, World on a Wire is an amazing experience. In my opinion it doesn't feel that long either.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Actually, that was the Quay Brothers, not the Coen Brothers.

It's funny, because Becker mentioned that they'd done a Quay Brothers film on LD, but I don't know of a single one that they've done on LD or DVD.

Thanks for clarifying...for some reason it didn't really sound like "Coen" but more like "Quay" now that I think about it.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Well after reading the whole uproar over Frances Ha, I rented it last night and it certainly is a piece of crap film - Pro-B was way too generous with his review.

The only difference between Frances Ha and Lola Versus is that one is in color and the other in black and white but both similarly awful films.

It's funny how some people hate this film and some people love this film. This is definitely a polarizing movie. I'm on the "love" side though. I think it hits the nail right on the head in terms of the characters its trying to portray. I mean, it sure is better than Tiny Furniture, that's for sure.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by jw007

It's funny how some people hate this film and some people love this film. This is definitely a polarizing movie. I'm on the "love" side though. I think it hits the nail right on the head in terms of the characters its trying to portray. I mean, it sure is better than Tiny Furniture, that's for sure.

Frances Ha is a strange one indeed - I like all of the director's other films and Tiny Furniture, and I love Girls (Season 1, not so much Season 2).

I'm getting fed up with Greta Gerwig too - she's consistently playing realistic but unappealing characters.

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by brandon_260

So my Criterion backlog has started to build again and I'm having a tough time prioritizing how I watch the films. Whenever I've got a decent size stack to work my way through, I often find myself overwhelmed when it comes to choosing which to watch when and typically just sink back in to watching films I already love. So, I come to you guys in hopes that I can get some insight on which to watch soonest. All of these are sight unseen by me. (I've left off all films I've seen but haven't watched since I purchased the blu-ray).

Letter Never Sent
Lord of the Flies
Slacker
To Be or Not To Be
Identification of a Woman
World on a Wire
The Magic Flute
The Magician
Les cousins
Amarcord
My Life as a Dog
Army of Shadows
The Music Room
The 39 Steps
The Killing
Children of Paradise

Good list of films there! I've got all of these and all are worth watching (although I accidentally clicked on the DVD version of SLACKER during the flash sale, but didn't want to go through the hassle of trying to get it on Blu-ray. That's also the only one I have not watched yet.

Out of these titles, if you've got some time to set aside I'd start with CHILDREN OF PARADISE or THE MAGIC FLUTE (again both of which I have only on DVD, and I don't think MAGIC FLUTE is out in Blu-ray yet, unfortunately). Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS is also an all-time classic. As for all those recommending THE KILLING, I'd actually recommend starting with KILLER'S KISS, the full-length bonus feature on that disc, which I greatly prefer over THE KILLING, good as it is.

[LegacyCosts]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Frances Ha is a strange one indeed - I like all of the director's other films and Tiny Furniture, and I love Girls (Season 1, not so much Season 2).

I'm getting fed up with Greta Gerwig too - she's consistently playing realistic but unappealing characters.

Realism within characters is often more a desired trait than immediately likable characters. I think people that disliked Frances ha felt frustrated and isolated by the characters. They're meant to be flawed, real, and lonely. Frances is a liar and selfish and very Grey. That's why the movie worked for me. Viewers need to stop worrying about other films influences or new wave Bleh Bleh Bleh and enjoy the movie on its own merits. Then if they still hate it then at least it's for good reason

[GentleGiant]

Originally Posted by hustlermane

Shame, it's an incredible film (and packaging looks fantastic) but on the notorious reviews it's received, I don't think its worth it.

On a related note, I'm strongly considering Lola Montes blu before the end of the sale… anyone have thoughts on the disc? I have the R4 dvd (which I haven't seen in full, quality looks average) which I'll keep anyway because of some awesome features (Adrian Martin commentary) but the Criterion (and dat cover art!) looks like a great release...

Lola Montes left me cold. It was visually lush but totally uninteresting to me. I haven't seen any other Ophuls films but if they're similar to this one I'm not sure I want to take any more chances with him. Hope that's not the case, though.
But since you've already seen it and liked it, you might as well go for the Criterion blu (I don't own it myself).

[jw007]

Originally Posted by LegacyCosts

Realism within characters is often more a desired trait than immediately likable characters. I think people that disliked Frances ha felt frustrated and isolated by the characters. They're meant to be flawed, real, and lonely. Frances is a liar and selfish and very Grey. That's why the movie worked for me. Viewers need to stop worrying about other films influences or new wave Bleh Bleh Bleh and enjoy the movie on its own merits. Then if they still hate it then at least it's for good reason

I TOTALLY agree with you on this.

[Blu-Velvet]

Originally Posted by hustlermane

I'm strongly considering Lola Montes blu before the end of the sale… anyone have thoughts on the disc? I have the R4 dvd (which I haven't seen in full, quality looks average) which I'll keep anyway because of some awesome features (Adrian Martin commentary) but the Criterion (and dat cover art!) looks like a great release...

The picture quality on Criterion's LOLA MONTES is very good. A friend of mine absolutely adores the film and Ophuls in general. I found it visually impressive but dramatically disappointing overall, partly due to casting (especially the title role), partly to pacing. It's certainly worth watching, but whether you'll like it enough to buy and rewatch very often is less predictable.

[billyearle]

Originally Posted by LegacyCosts

Thank you for the info. I decided to order the U.K. blu ray of chungking before I buy anything else as it is much cheaper than criterion or the dvd set with most likely a horrible pq.

Good move. Unless you watch on your laptop, DVDs don't really do his films justice. I remember when I first saw Chung King and Fallen Angels on VHS I thought they were tedious, but am a pretty big fan now.
The UK BD looks really nice and made me a convert, but broke down and paid the bucks for the Criterion soon after cause of the cropping. But depending on your settings, the UK could actually look better, as it has a higher black level which also makes the colors look really rich.
Regarding your avatar, I have the same old school Buffalo Bills hat from Buffalo 66.

[LegacyCosts]

Originally Posted by billyearle

Good move. Unless you watch on your laptop, DVDs don't really do his films justice. I remember when I first saw Chung King and Fallen Angels on VHS I thought they were tedious, but am a pretty big fan now.
The UK BD looks really nice and made me a convert, but broke down and paid the bucks for the Criterion soon after cause of the cropping. But depending on your settings, the UK could actually look better, as it has a higher black level which also makes the colors look really rich.
Regarding your avatar, I have the same old school Buffalo Bills hat from Buffalo 66.

This beauty?

Glad I made the right choice, I can live with the incorrect aspect ratio if it means saving 50 bucks.

[billyearle]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

I rented it. That is funny if there are people that own movies they hate.

Wow, you can rent Francis Ha in Hong Kong, was it a blu-ray? The rental situation (especially blu-ray) in Japan really sucks, so I also have to blind buy a lot if I want to see something (oh yeah, and "foreign" films won't have english subs here). I don't have anything in my collection I actually hate, but a few I'm not so crazy about. Also I can't read Japanese, so it's really difficult for me to sell stuff I don't need.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Now that Criterion has officially referred to Warner Bros as a "partner", can we stop all of the "Nope, isn't gonna happen, Warner owns that film" posts?

What I got from what Becker said was that Warner will now "consider" licensing out titles, instead of rejecting outright, but we shouldn't expect to start seeing a flood of Warner-owned titles.

[billyearle]

Originally Posted by LegacyCosts

This beauty?

That's the one. Got it from my mom's cigarette coupons, just cause it had my name on it. But people in NYC kept thinking I'm a big team fan, not that there's anything wrong with that. (Wait a minute, does his say "Buffalo", mine said "Bills") Hope to pick up the Japanese bluray soon, been long enough since the theatrical release, but I remember some good visuals. Hell with it, I'll order it now.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by billyearle

Wow, you can rent Francis Ha in Hong Kong, was it a blu-ray? The rental situation (especially blu-ray) in Japan really sucks, so I also have to blind buy a lot if I want to see something (oh yeah, and "foreign" films won't have english subs here). I don't have anything in my collection I actually hate, but a few I'm not so crazy about. Also I can't read Japanese, so it's really difficult for me to sell stuff I don't need.

Yup, they have video stores here - I rented the dvd. Video stores mainly carry USA videos, Hong Kong videos, and some UK videos. Im assuming the Japanese video store situation sucks because Japanese videos are so damn expensive?