The Criterion Channel

[fdm]

I finished up Nine Queens, very nice.

Currently I'm watching Person To Person… taking a short break from it now. It's quite good/watchable so far, should be able to finish it, already about halfway through.

Nearly an hour later… don't think I'm going to make it to anything else after all, Erie was the last one I was contemplating giving a shot to, but this short break ended up being not so short after all… time to get back to it.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by fdm

I finished up Nine Queens, very nice.

I watched the remake, Criminal, last night. (Not on The Criterion Channel - I have the DVD - but it is on The Roku Channel and Tubi.) It's a pretty good Americanization, but it's very close to original, to the point where it felt like the writers (one of which was Steven Soderbergh using a pen name) took the subtitle file for Nine Queens and copied it verbatim for large swaths of the movie. Still, even though it was all very familiar, there were some minor changes - a few different locations (a casino instead of a convenience store, etc.), John C. Reilly has more of a racist and bigoted slant, Diego Luna looks younger and more innocent, stamps have been changed to U.S. treasury bills, things like that. But it's pretty much a straight remake.

Originally Posted by fdm

Currently I'm watching Person To Person… taking a short break from it now. It's quite good/watchable so far, should be able to finish it, already about halfway through.

Nearly an hour later… don't think I'm going to make it to anything else after all, Erie was the last one I was contemplating giving a shot to, but this short break ended up being not so short after all… time to get back to it.

I can't tell if you finished it in time, but if not, it's still on Kanopy.

[fdm]

No kanopy here. It's been a while since I saw Criminal, thanks for the refresher course. I did finish up Person To Person also, but that's about as far as I got early this morning, pretty good fun, worth the while.

It was only the one day today, until next month (following some daytime training and travelling on her part for the rest of this month), but my wife started back on her old schedule this month and I'm back to getting 4 nights a week of uninterrupted me time again. I feel more relaxed already. I wonder how long it will last this time… I also wonder if my sleep schedule will improve, hope so.

[Schlockmeister]

You know how the movies used to be ordered chronologically in each collection, right? And you might noticed that now, all of a sudden they're "dis-ordered" randomly.

Well, I lodged a complaint to their service costumer and this is their explanation:

"we have recently introduced a new ordering system which is meant to be a suggested guide from the programmers of where to start, with the titles we're most excited about being towards the top of the Collection lineup. A lot of our viewers skip around rather than watching chronologically so we felt this was a helpful human touch in the exploration of our offerings."

I replied that I'm obviously in the camp of those who watch chronologically (the movies I haven't seen yet) rather than skip around.

To me, this novelty doesn't strike me remotely as "helpful human touch" but rather algorithmic BS tailored to the impatient moron, unworthy of Criterion.

Anyway, they relayed my feedback to the "programming team" so I still hope against hope they come to their senses and get back to chronological order.

[Cpt. Feeney]

I hadn't noticed, but I only skimmed the new collections.
Those algorithms are mostly for people who don't know what to watch, right? Is that who subs to Criterion? Seems like the opposite is true, but maybe there are those that would appreciate this, I don't know.
Personally, I enjoy making my own choice, and those algorithms, on any service, never ever get it right, and it's irritating that they stupidly persist.

[DickieT]

Nice to see this little gem from Handmade Films again. Robbie Robertson on the soundtrack.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098112..._q_powwow%2520

[fdm]

Originally Posted by Schlockmeister

Anyway, they relayed my feedback to the "programming team" so I still hope against hope they come to their senses and get back to chronological order.

If they had any senses, they would have added minimal dolby digital audio years ago. They won't bother doing anything they don't want to do.

[Schlockmeister]

Originally Posted by fdm

If they had any senses, they would have added minimal dolby digital audio years ago. They won't bother doing anything they don't want to do.

I'm more concerned with the PQ. There are already 4 classic movies this month that I had to pass on because No HD, No Party for me, thanks.

[DaBargainHunta]

According to these links, Vimeo (which is what the Channel uses) now supports 4K, HDR, and surround sound.

https://help.vimeo.com/hc/en-us/arti...with-Vimeo-OTT

https://medium.com/vimeo-engineering...s-cef990f358b1

With that said, I won't hold my breath for 4K and HDR to ever show up on the Channel. I hope surround sound does, at least, though.

(Source: u/knight714 and u/mjw703 on r/CriterionChannel)

Originally Posted by Schlockmeister

I'm more concerned with the PQ. There are already 4 classic movies this month that I had to pass on because No HD, No Party for me, thanks.

Which 4?

[Schlockmeister]

When Strangers Marry (1944)
Undercurrent (1946)
The Upturned Glass (1947)
The Sign of the Ram (1948)

... actually, five, this one too:
Lightning Strikes Twice (1951)

And it's the same every month: I'd say about up to 50% of the classic movies they add, which are the ones I look forward to the most, are never in HD.

[Schlockmeister]

Then again, it could be even worse.

It could be like the TCM hub on MAX: they no longer add classic movies, or they do it every 5 months or so.

Then again, I suspect it's partially for this very reason: MAX (formerly HBO MAX) only does HD material, and TCM probably has relatively few movies in HD prints.

Then again III, they don't even bother to add the movies from the Warner Archives blu-rays, so I'm starting to wonder why I'm subscribed in the first place.

[Cpt. Feeney]

Dammit, Undercurrent and Sign of the Ram were top of my list. I struggle with the old SD transfers too.

[Schlockmeister]

https://www.criterion.com/current/po...ch-2024-lineup

[Cpt. Feeney]

Happy about the Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
Curious about the Fuyuko Tanaka.

[BobbyMcGee]

I received an email today from the Criterion Channel with a $10 thank you code for being a subscriber. Just an FYI to be on the lookout for the same email if you are a subscriber as well. I plan to use mine during the next flash sale

[JupiterMission]

There's a bunch leaving this month that I had on my list, and so far I've hit...
Lady in the Lake - A film noir that is interesting because it's almost entirely a POV shot, but the movie itself is way too long. I wondered if maybe they couldn't edit it down because they'd committed to the POV gimmick. An interesting watch, at least, and enjoyable as a standard noir, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't get sleepy.
Cat's Eye - Very bizarre horror-ish anthology. It was well-made, and the cast was solid, but the stories were totally bonkers, so don't go in expecting the more straight-forward Stephen King stuff. These stories feel like the kind that he cooks up on a whim and writes in two hours.
Arrebato - Very strange film about... film. And consciousness, I think. I found it compelling, but I don't think it made sense (not strictly necessary but it would have helped) and I would say I just short of enjoyed it. Some very interesting ideas. It reminded me of Inland Empire in places.
Little Murders - This one really rubbed me the wrong way. It's a satire about New York and the middle class and other things in the early 70s. It's Bunuel-ish. But I found it really grating and smug and cynical and just couldn't get on its level at all.
That Darn Cat - Now we're talking. I absolutely love the 1997 version of this, yet I'd never seen the original. Thankfully I have now corrected that. Just a very bright and silly film that's up there with the best of the Disney live-action comedies. It was a little slow-paced by today's standards, but I was fine with it because I was just happy to be there.

I don't know if I'll be able to get any others on my list in before March, but Meet John Doe, The Cat From Outer Space, and The Harvey Girls are next on the list.

Also, if you've never seen Gone in 60 Seconds (1974), definitely watch it. If memory serves, it's kind of clunky in the first half, but then the whole second half of the movie is a fantastic over-the-top car chase that's just incredible. I was hoping to re-watch it since it has been many years, but I prioritized new watches instead.

Truly the best streaming service out there.

[fdm]

Not sure what I'll get to, wife's away until Satuday and I'm in the midst of doing some major media re-org in her absence, and not progressing terribly well (boxes and boxes eveywhere)…

But I started watching this early a.m. Gillian Armstrong's The Last Days Of Chez Nous but nodded off about half-way through. It's really good so far though, just got too tired.

There's some others in my watch list (not handy right now) that I want to get to (or at least sample) so time will tell. They Called Him Morgan, The Exit Of The Trains, the Relic shorts, come to mind but there's some others too, like That Darn Cat and some of the foreign films if I get a chance to go through them.

Don't miss The Anniversary Party, if you get a chance.

Back to the boxes…

[DaBargainHunta]

Expiring Picks I've already watched (either recently on the Channel or in general):

My top picks are in bold.

Amateur
An American in Paris
The Band Wagon
Blast of Silence
The Cat from Outer Space
Cat's Eye
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Meet John Doe
Pioneer (short)
Remember the Night
Shadow of a Doubt
Solaris
They Live by Night
Trust
Vertigo

Watched over the past couple of nights (both good):

Rhubarb (a necessary palate cleanser after The Zone of Interest, which is not on the Channel)
Flirt

Planning to watch (Christmas Noirs):

Lady in the Lake (1946)
I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes (1948)
Backfire (1950)
Roadblock (1951)

[fdm]

Taking a breather from the boxes for an evening, I finished up The Last Days Of Chez Nous, excellent film/cast. Recommended.

I also fired up the documentary about jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan by the name of I Called Him Morgan. So far it's even more excellent… just taking a stretch… back I go to finish it up.

Back to the boxes tomorrow, running out of days… for both the boxes and the films, so that could be it…

[Cpt. Feeney]

I tried that Cat's Eye a while back. The dialogue is pretty yikes. A weird role for James Woods. Didn't get far through it.

I think I'll only try for Torn Curtain this month, as my own copy is not HD. The film seems to get a lot of grief, and it does suffer from a bit of a jaded look, between the 60s filmstock, the dated art direction, and claustrophobic set design, but I love some of its cold war characters, and the murder in the farmhouse is just a fantastic scene on every level.