The Criterion Channel

[fdm]

I think I'll finally check out No Such Thing since apparently it's never going to get a blu-ray (and it used to appear on the MGM HD channel often enough that I'd ultimately just pass it by because there's always next time…)

And since there's not really much else that appeals to me that I haven't seen or have on disc, hard to say.

Might check out:

The Day After Trinity
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Making Mr. Right
The Perfect Candidate
Fleshtone
Dangerous Game

But that's just going by titles and pictures… maybe an Elvis title or two… maybe even some other horror flick, but not a huge fan of those (and I'm only a bit curious about I Know What You Did)…

Edit: Possibility I've already seen Dangerous Game, the cast rings a bell.

[Cpt. Feeney]

I didn't manage to catch the rest of The Haunting, but I did watch Don't Bother to Knock before it left. It starts off harmless, quite star-oriented with Anne Bancroft singing in a lounge act, but then it slowly reveals a very interesting subject matter, and indeed quite dark, carried by a role very suited to Monroe. I won't say more because going in blind really made this a nice surprise for me.

And to bring in the new collections I was again very pleasantly surprised by a film I knew little about, Le Mans, with Steve McQueen. God bless the 70s when daring subtlety was the name of the game in Hollywood. This movie is a visual powerhouse, with tons of great footage of the Le Mans race and crowd, and of all that 1970s aesthetic. A direct line of dialogue does not appear until around the 35 minute mark and there must be less than fifty lines in the whole thing. A great example of a movie that gives the audience enough credit to glimpse into a world, and then assimilate everything they're seeing. It does not overly manufacture drama, it shows glimpses of drama that is typical for that world.

[tehthomas]

Originally Posted by JupiterMission

I didn't get to a single one of the three movies I wanted to watch before they left in August. There's a ton leaving in September I want to see though, so I'm hoping to hit the CC more regularly this month.

My checklist...
- Breathless.
- Cutter’s Way.
- Flaming Star.
- Fleshtone.
- It Always Rains on Sunday.
- Making Mr. Right.
- She-Devil.
- Showgirls.
- White Lightning.
- Yield to the Night.
- Zardoz.

Cutter's Way and She-Devil will be back on the CC. Those two always seem to sway in and out of the rotation.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by fdm

Might check out:

The Day After Trinity
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Making Mr. Right
The Perfect Candidate
Fleshtone
Dangerous Game

But that's just going by titles and pictures… maybe an Elvis title or two… maybe even some other horror flick, but not a huge fan of those (and I'm only a bit curious about I Know What You Did)…

Edit: Possibility I've already seen Dangerous Game, the cast rings a bell.

I can personally recommend Making Mr. Right.

Originally Posted by tehthomas

Cutter's Way and She-Devil will be back on the CC. Those two always seem to sway in and out of the rotation.

Are you sure She-Devil has been on the Channel before? I don't remember seeing it there until recently.

[tehthomas]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

I can personally recommend Making Mr. Right.



Are you sure She-Devil has been on the Channel before? I don't remember seeing it there until recently.

Yep, I watched it on the channel probably 2 years ago. Loved Roseanne in it!

[JupiterMission]

Originally Posted by JupiterMission

[Show spoiler]I didn't get to a single one of the three movies I wanted to watch before they left in August. There's a ton leaving in September I want to see though, so I'm hoping to hit the CC more regularly this month.

My checklist...
- Breathless.
- Cutter’s Way.
- Flaming Star.
- Fleshtone.
- It Always Rains on Sunday.
- Making Mr. Right.
- She-Devil.
- Showgirls.
- White Lightning.
- Yield to the Night.
- Zardoz.

Progress report:
I've watched Breathless, Cutter's Way, Making Mr. Right, Showgirls, and Yield to the Night so far.

Breathless was a really pleasant surprise. I know Tarantino has been a longtime champion, but was under the impression that it had a very bad reputation otherwise and I don't even like the Godard version, so my expectations weren't high. But it was a lot of fun! I also saw a ton of True Romance and even some Pulp Fiction in it. Also, Valerie Kaprisky was absolutely smoking hot in it. I'm going to have to check out Year of the Jellyfish.

Making Mr. Right was also quite enjoyable. Just a fun, low key, quirky 80s comedy. I'd say Malkovich was a little miscast, but he's not bad in the role(s).

I enjoyed but wasn't as hot on Cutter's Way or Yield to the Night. I'd heard both hyped up on the Pure Cinema Podcast, so maybe expectations played into it. Both were good though. I liked how offbeat CW was, but I feel like it "defied expectations" too often and wound up undermining itself. Also John Heard's character was just weird. YtnN was a very different movie, and totally solid in its own right, but I did feel it dragged on a bit. Fantastic direction though. And Diana Dors was both gorgeous and gave a great performance, so that was nice.

Showgirls... apparently I've seen this before, about fifteen years ago, but I was drunk and so had zero memory of it. I can see why it's a camp classic or a cult classic or whatever. Well-made, big budget, a lot going for it, but absolutely ludicrous. Such a ridiculous protagonist. So many completely insane lines. I'd have to get out my Thesaurus to break down the other elements of the movie. I settled into it by the end, and liked the big finale, but I'm glad I didn't pick up the new 4k, because I don't see myself re-watching this one anytime soon.

I don't know if I'll get to everything on my list by October, but I'm hoping I can at least squeeze in Fleshtone, It Always Rains on Sunday, She-Devil, and Zardoz.

[DaBargainHunta]

The September 2023 Expiring Movies I've already seen (either recently or in general):

• California Split
• Ghost in the Shell
• The Harder They Come
• The Killing
• Making Mr. Right
• The Masque of the Red Death
• The Pit and the Pendulum
• She-Devil (I barely remember this though, and I don't remember liking it, but maybe I'll give it another try)
• Showgirls
• Zardoz

If you can only watch one, I give my highest recommendation to The Harder They Come.

Making Mr. Right is probably the most fun. California Split is also breezy and enjoyable.

Zardoz is the craziest.

If you want an early start on horror, The Masque of the Red Death has some of the most stunning use of color I've ever seen.

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

The Masque of the Red Death (1964): The perfect pandemic movie? The always fantastic Vincent Price is at his scenery-chewing best here, playing the role of a Satan-worshiping prince throwing a masquerade ball, where he promises all of his guests will be safe from the ominous Red Death. Despite Corman's reputation as a budget director who makes quickie pictures, there are scenes that have a subtle dizzy disorienting effect and the intense use of color is masterful - though that may be more down to Nicolas Roeg's cinematography.

DaBargainHunta's Decree: This is an absolute nutty affair, with Price at his over-the-top best. (Subtitles/Captions: Yes!)

I still have to go through the list and figure out what I'll be watching, but After Yang is probably a definite. Likely The Barefoot Contessa too, because of Bogie.

[fdm]

So far I've only managed to get to I Know What You Did Last Summer, first-time watch for me. I was surfing directv not all that long ago and it was on some channel or other, and caught my attention enough to see if it was on somewhere later (and without commericials), but it wasn't. I'm not really a slasher fan, but I give it a marginal thumbs up as its setting and cast were pretty decent.

The category was High School Horror, may get to some of the others I haven't seen, but this was the only expiring one. I've actually seen half of the others, i.e., Massacre at Central High most recently, it was pretty good; Suspiria which was a bit too weird all in all; Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, 'nuff said; The Craft (long ago), remember liking it; and The Faculty which I really enjoyed. Oh and Donnie Darko too, need to get back to it some day… May watch some of the others if time and expiration dates permit.

My this month list hasn't been finalized but my previous post is probably pretty close. Also probably should get going on it.

[JupiterMission]

Originally Posted by fdm

Massacre at Central High

Massacre at Central High blew my damn mind. I won't spoil anything for the uninitiated, but basically what I expected to be the full movie happened in the first half of the movie, and where it went after that was this wonderful exploration of this very true thing about human nature that I almost never see reflected in fiction. Totally loved it!

[fdm]

Originally Posted by JupiterMission

Massacre at Central High blew my damn mind. I won't spoil anything for the uninitiated, but basically what I expected to be the full movie happened in the first half of the movie, and where it went after that was this wonderful exploration of this very true thing about human nature that I almost never see reflected in fiction. Totally loved it!

I watched the blu-ray (blind buy). I was pretty inspired by it also as I immediately watched the supplements as well. Great disc.

[fdm]

Started out watching The Perfect Candidate. Usually interesting to explore different aspects of different cultures, and this one was a good one for that. Worth a watch.

Then… Fleshtone started out pretty shaky but sticking with it was worth bothering with (sort of). The last of the Erotic Thrillers catagory that I had not seen before. Why not.

My this month list is getting short pretty quick but I recall vaguely Dangerous Game being sort of an erotic thriller so I might give it a re-watch. Used to show up on the MGM HD channel I recall.

And before I got to the channel, I was looking around for something to watch at Prime, but ended up taking a pass. However I did notice that No Such Thing is streaming there too, so will probably watch it there (if I don't procrastinate too long - another MGM title that was often on MGM HD, but I never got around to watching it all the way through.) At least you get a pretty good idea of what is going away when on the Criterion channel…

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

After Yang is probably a definite.

This just got added to Kanopy, so I'll probably hold off for now.

[Lynos]

Any idea as to why Roger Corman's Tales of Terror isn't in the correct aspect ratio on the channel? I'm alsways miffed when I find incorrect OAR on the Criterion Channel. They are the only streaming channel that I expect more of in that regard.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by Lynos

Any idea as to why Roger Corman's Tales of Terror isn't in the correct aspect ratio on the channel? I'm alsways miffed when I find incorrect OAR on the Criterion Channel. They are the only streaming channel that I expect more of in that regard.

What is the AR supposed to be?

I have it on iTunes. I can compare the two. Might be an issue with the digital version in general.

[Lynos]

It's 1:2:35. Like all of Corman's Poe adaptations is was shot in Panavision.

Screen cpatures of the physical releases on this site show the correct AR, and on the channel, the AR switches back to the correct one during the end credits.

The transfer itself though is stunning.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by Lynos

It's 1:2:35. Like all of Corman's Poe adaptations is was shot in Panavision.

Screen cpatures of the physical releases on this site show the correct AR, and on the channel, the AR switches back to the correct one during the end credits.

The transfer itself though is stunning.

I just checked the screencaps here, checked the Channel, and checked my iTunes version.

No bars on the Channel, bars in the caps and on iTunes. So, as far as I can tell, it's OAR on iTunes.

What a weird issue for the Channel to have.

IIRC, you're outside the U.S. But as a general PSA for anyone in the U.S., this set often drops to $19.99 on iTunes.

[fdm]

So just finished watching Dangerous Game. Not the same film I was thinking of and saw before. And it just didn't do much for me. Madonna was good in it, but otherwise I kept waiting for it to turn into something I wanted to be watching, but it never did. I didn't really care much what happened.

Apparently I was actually thinking of Body Of Evidence which was the film she did just before this one, fwiw. Her co-stars in that one were Daniel Defoe and Joe Mantegna.



So that leaves Making Mr. Right and The Day After Trinity from my original list. For now… back to the dvr.

[Cpt. Feeney]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

No bars on the Channel, bars in the caps and on iTunes. So, as far as I can tell, it's OAR on iTunes.

What a weird issue for the Channel to have.

Yeah, disappointing. My guess is the studio supplied them with a copy used for broadcast and nobody checked it.


I've been checking out a few of the 70s Car Movies collection. The other surprise for me that I would recommend, apart from La Mans, is The Last American Hero, with young Jeff Bridges as a cocky stock car racer. It's backed up with a solid family story, with good cast, and a good setting.

Also got a bit preoccupied with Hardcore, the Paul Schrader film, because of Michael Chapman's photography. More and more I appreciate when a film captures an era or a place, or both, and with the film's focus on the contrast between seedy L.A. and bland Grand Rapids, Chapman has ample opportunity to capture it all. I'll be picking up the Indicator blu at some point I'm sure.

As for films leaving the channel, not a whole lot for me this month. I need to finish watching The Day After Trinity. I'm interested to see the Don Siegel movie with Elvis, The Flaming Star, and I'll watch Kubrick's The Killing more than likely.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by Cpt. Feeney

I'm interested to see the Don Siegel movie with Elvis, The Flaming Star

I watched this last night. It's very good. I definitely recommend it.

I might skip The Barefoot Contessa. It's long-ish, and it seems like something that will show up elsewhere eventually.

I'll try to squeeze in Killer's Kiss at some point. It's not long, so it should be easy.

Is Hardcore expiring? It's not on the Letterboxd list I use to track these movies. I watched it a few months ago on MUBI, and it's an absolute must.

As for the Blu-ray, I'm not sure where you're located, but Kino just released it in North America. Is the Indicator Blu the better of the two?

[Cpt. Feeney]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Is Hardcore expiring? It's not on the Letterboxd list I use to track these movies. I watched it a few months ago on MUBI, and it's an absolute must.

As for the Blu-ray, I'm not sure where you're located, but Kino just released it in North America. Is the Indicator Blu the better of the two?

It's not expiring no, I put it on randomly and got absorbed in it, then watched it again a few days later. Saw it decades ago on tv but the difference good picture quality and original ratio make, in this case, is huge.
I'm in Ireland so the Indicator is the one my local store has. Both that and the Kino got 5/5 for pq on here.