The Criterion Collection

[MifuneFan]

The pics are turning me off the set too. Looks much smaller and flimsier than I imagined, and very bland in color choices (which I half expected from the cover reveal). I mainly wanted the book, but I think I'll opt for the individual releases. Criterion could learn a thing or two about box sets from Arrow.

[pro-bassoonist]

Trilogía de Guillermo del Toro Blu-ray REVIEW



Some quick comments below

1. Pan's Labyrinth: The remaster looks excellent. Depth and detail are vastly improved and color saturation is terrific. Obviously, all of the digital 'enhancements' from the New Line release are gone.

2. I would like to mention something here because I am sure that the screenshot scientists will be looking for flaws. There are a couple of dark shots where some very light macroblocking tries to sneak in. I can see it on the screencaptures, but I was never able to spot it while viewing the film -- and I went back knowing exactly where it was. There is no need to worry. The film looks terrific

3. The packaging isn't cheap/flimsy. The box is heavy, thick and very well made. Basically, it is the type of work that was done for the Zatoichi box. It comes with a nice 100-page illustrated hardcover book

I hope you enjoy the box set!

Pro-B

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

I can see it on the screencaptures, but I was never able to spot it while viewing the film

This seems par for the course with many of the Blu-ray transfers that are controversial here on this site.

Thanks for the Pan's Labyrinth review! I'll be buying the stand-alone at some point, because I already own The Devil's Backbone, but this film is ripe for a reviewing after many years.

[Sifox211]

Originally Posted by jshaide

My buddy who works at the BN that I used to work in sent me the news:

Criterion sale November 1st-28th!!!

Egad - only a month away already! Time to get putting stuff in my basket. Think it'll mainly be new releases, such as:

Del Toro set
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Woman in the Dunes
Blood Simple

Would be more but some of the new titles are also coming out in the UK and I'd rather get them here.

Also 3:10 to Yuma if it ever gets back in stock

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

My wife and I watched the three films in Kieslowski’s Three Colors Trilogy over the past week.

[Show spoiler] Like Scottie going into Dekalog, my expectations were pretty high. My opinion on the films is pretty inconclusive as the three films don’t just demand multiple viewings, they require multiple viewings. That’s fine, but I have to say that Red, which is about 95 minute film without credits, is so ambiguous for the first 88 minutes or so, that it could cause one to lose interest. I read Ebert’s review and I almost wish I hadn’t. I wonder how long or how many watches it would have taken me to piece together the themes Ebert discusses in his review. …and I’m gonna take a hack at one of the sacred cows: I thought

[Show spoiler]the ending was just plain silly. I guess there is some meaningful resonance behind the characters surviving the ferry accident,

but for a first time watch, it really comes across like an artistic stab in the dark.

Nevertheless, I do want to see all of these films again and will probably appreciate them more after a second watch. The most surprising thing about the three films was how good White is. All I had heard prior to seeing these films was that Red was a sublime masterpiece, Blue was great, too, and oh… there’s White, which is ok. I thought White was mysterious, funny, it featured the best music score, and might have contained the best scene in all three films

[Show spoiler](the poignant one in which the main character shoots the man w/ the phony gun.)

It reminded me of a better version of Truffaut’s A Gorgeous Girl Like Me. I hadn’t seen this type of film from Kieslowski up until now. It was quite different and unexpected. I’d rank them as follows:

White
Red
Blue

Thanks for kicking off an interesting conversation about these fiilms!

I enjoyed White most of all, but at only a couple of viewings each I definitely need to revisit them (esp since those viewings were before I got the Criterion set).

Originally Posted by hariseldon

[Show spoiler]Reminds me of taking English Lit 4 decades ago and having my Professor dissecting the poems of Keats and Byron and the rest in infinite minute detail.

I once asked if any of them ever wrote about the symbolism and their thoughts about why they constructed the poem the way they did. Her reply was essentially it didn't matter if it meant that way, because it was obviously what was meant by the writing.

It never sat well with me then and a few years later in a Child Psych class the professor was examining drawing made by a 4 or 5yo girl of a tree with bare branches and a knothole with what might have been a squirrel nearby.
"Well you can see by the fact that there are no leaves on the tree than the child is depressed. This knothole is a sign of loss since a knothole is where a branch once existed and fell or was broken off"

Me: it's a 4yo city kid and it's dead of winter. What if she doesn't know that a knothole was an ex-branch? How could that possibly mean anything and maybe that's just what the tree outside her apartment window looks like this week?

Professor -- "It doesn't matter if the child knows what a knothole once was. Her subconscious knows the meaning and that the way it shows up and she can express the feeling she doesn't have words for yet"

Sometimes a tunnel is just a tunnel.

Great post!

[octagon]

Knotholes are from branches falling off?

I did not know that.

[bwdowiak]

Pan's Labyrinth was a pleasurable watch some years ago. I'll be picking that up. Like Owl, I'm due for a re-watch.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

Reminds me of taking English Lit 4 decades ago and having my Professor dissecting the poems of Keats and Byron and the rest in infinite minute detail.

I once asked if any of them ever wrote about the symbolism and their thoughts about why they constructed the poem the way they did. Her reply was essentially it didn't matter if it meant that way, because it was obviously what was meant by the writing.

It never sat well with me then and a few years later in a Child Psych class the professor was examining drawing made by a 4 or 5yo girl of a tree with bare branches and a knothole with what might have been a squirrel nearby.
"Well you can see by the fact that there are no leaves on the tree than the child is depressed. This knothole is a sign of loss since a knothole is where a branch once existed and fell or was broken off"

Me: it's a 4yo city kid and it's dead of winter. What if she doesn't know that a knothole was an ex-branch? How could that possibly mean anything and maybe that's just what the tree outside her apartment window looks like this week?

Professor -- "It doesn't matter if the child knows what a knothole once was. Her subconscious knows the meaning and that the way it shows up and she can express the feeling she doesn't have words for yet"


Sometimes a tunnel is just a tunnel.

There's a Seinfeld episode where Elaine goes to the NY Times and demands an explanation for a cartoon they drew. At first they tell her "it's a slice of life" and she presses them further: "You don't know what it means do you?" - No, we don't.

[Ausjdm]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Just finished Dekalog.

I just want to reiterate that this is the greatest thing ever committed to screen.

I'm back again here good ol craziness of life....


Seeing this post reignited the criterion love. I've waited my whole life to watch Dekalog. November can't arrive fast enough to buy this on the b&n sale!

[tenia]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

With the slide in sleeves and multifoldover container, I can't imagine those cardboard hinges holding longterm and everytime you want to pull out any of the discs, it appears you have to take the book out and unfold multiple layers. It seems like a longterm nightmare.

Even if you would be using often the set, watching these 3 movies many times, I can't picture the hinges breaking overtime.
Also, you don't need to take out the book to get access to the 3 discs.

I don't want to sound like a fanboy, believe me I'm not. Sure, it's not specifically practical in opposition to a standard case, but I just don't picture these 2 arguments as factually backed up.

I have many circonvoluted releases, and the ones that are failing me now were broken from Day 1 (a bad gluing for instance). Most of them even sustained 2 movings and they're still functioning perfectly (I also never had a digipack or a digibook failing me overtime).

But obviously, if you're not specifically interested in the exclusive content of the book or in this kind of premium packaging, it makes no sense to invest in it. It'll be cheaper for you to get the 3 seperate releases instead.

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

This seems par for the course with many of the Blu-ray transfers that are controversial here on this site.

For some of them, yes, it is.

For others, no, the macroblocking is definitely visible on screen, even without knowing there could be some compression issue, without being 5cm from the screen, and without pausing.

But yeah, there were cases where the compression was only visible when zooming in. It doesn't mean the problem isn't there, just that it isn't of concern.

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

DEL TORO BOX SET

Hey guys, our review of the box set should be up very late tonight (West Coast time). Here are some packaging photos for the set, which we received this morning (see below).

Could you give details about the exclusive segments of the 100-page book ? We know that there is a part of it which is exclusive to the set, but we don’t know exactly (though we can guess by deduction) how extensive it is and what it looks like precisely. It could be a double-dip factor for some fans of Del Toro’s work, so I think this could be of interest.

[shadedpain4]

Is it accurate to say that it's unlikely for a flash sale today since no Criterion.com downtime yesterday or this AM? Is that still a thing?

[theater dreamer]

I've waited until 10 am. If it happens today, and I'm asleep when it hits, I'm not going to be a happy camper.

[ShellOilJunior]

I still think Criterion moved the Del Toro set from 10/11 to 10/18 to accommodate a sale. Stay tuned...

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

Normally it starts at noon ET when/if it starts. I usually give it 15-30 minute window

Did it start at 2pm one time or was that some sort of fever dream?

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

I still think Criterion moved the Del Toro set from 10/11 to 10/18 to accommodate a sale. Stay tuned...

So it wouldn't be included?

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

Sort of my thinking about Oct 4 since there really isn't a new release today other than the re-release of the BD only Nashville. The 11th would be nice, but with 2 new releases next week that seems unusual, but it would be appreciated.



It's certainly possible (? a website malfunction) and I know it's often ended at 2pm in "Bonus Time"



Usually pre-orders aren't allowed, but it's not unheard of

No, sorry, I was trying to figure out what Shell thought the connection was between the changed release date and the sale, and if he thought the date change was specifically so it wouldn't be in the sale. I know traditionally whatever is "in stock" at the time of the sale is fair game regardless of release date.

[themp3000]

Another indicator of flash sales is when the "ships within 1 business day" changes to "ships within 2-3 business days" -- that has been the most significant indicator with the last couple of sales. It changes the day of one. I'm also thinking 10/11 makes the most sense. They've done it before on big new release days.

[StLouisRibs]

This Thursday could potentially still include the two big new releases, too - as it's any item "in stock" they often go up before release.

(Recent sales haven't had this but I believe the sale two years ago this week did offer something like that)

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

So it wouldn't be included?

The opposite. Then again, there could be no sale at all.

[Polaroid]

Oooh halloween sale

https://www.amazon.com/s?rh=i:movies...cd513e24c4a8fd

[Sifox211]

Normally I'd be all over that but with the terrible exchange rate it's cheaper to buy Cat People UK edition! Strange times indeed.