The Criterion Collection

[Rich Pure Doom]

Just watched Pan's Labyrinth.... Oh boy, I can't even believe they released this atrocity.

[Show spoiler]An abysmal experience. Guillermo Del Toro has no nuance in his films. His characters are all types with zero dimension. The captain is a stock bad guy. Ofelia is the standard little girl in fantasy films who reads books and has an imagination. Carmen is the sweet and perfect, pregnant mother who is just a victim of circumstance. Mercedes and Pedro are the doomed lovers, torn apart by war. It's a real struggle to endure this film. The monsters are just there to look good. They too, are uninteresting and serve no greater purpose. The CGI and set design often feel artificial and create no sense of a real location. The script contains no surprises and leads us exactly where every other film of this type would go. The faun tells her not to eat anything on the table. Of course, she does, and problems arise. Brilliant. Don't even get me started on the black and white way Guillermo deals with the very complicated politics going on in this movie. I think had this been an English language film it'd be seen as a lesser Tim Burton film.

[Cremildo]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Just watched Pan's Labyrinth.... Oh boy, I can't even believe they released this atrocity.

[Show spoiler]An abysmal experience. Guillermo Del Toro has no nuance in his films. His characters are all types with zero dimension. The captain is a stock bad guy. Ofelia is the standard little girl in fantasy films who reads books and has an imagination. Carmen is the sweet and perfect, pregnant mother who is just a victim of circumstance. Mercedes and Pedro are the doomed lovers, torn apart by war. It's a real struggle to endure this film. The monsters are just there to look good. They too, are uninteresting and serve no greater purpose. The CGI and set design often feel artificial and create no sense of a real location. The script contains no surprises and leads us exactly where every other film of this type would go. The faun tells her not to eat anything on the table. Of course, she does, and problems arise. Brilliant. Don't even get me started on the black and white way Guillermo deals with the very complicated politics going on in this movie. I think had this been an English language film it'd be seen as a lesser Tim Burton film.

Yeah, but did you like it?

[jhiggy23]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Just watched Pan's Labyrinth.... Oh boy, I can't even believe they released this atrocity.

[Show spoiler]An abysmal experience. Guillermo Del Toro has no nuance in his films. His characters are all types with zero dimension. The captain is a stock bad guy. Ofelia is the standard little girl in fantasy films who reads books and has an imagination. Carmen is the sweet and perfect, pregnant mother who is just a victim of circumstance. Mercedes and Pedro are the doomed lovers, torn apart by war. It's a real struggle to endure this film. The monsters are just there to look good. They too, are uninteresting and serve no greater purpose. The CGI and set design often feel artificial and create no sense of a real location. The script contains no surprises and leads us exactly where every other film of this type would go. The faun tells her not to eat anything on the table. Of course, she does, and problems arise. Brilliant. Don't even get me started on the black and white way Guillermo deals with the very complicated politics going on in this movie. I think had this been an English language film it'd be seen as a lesser Tim Burton film.

Personally, I'm with you. I have liked other Del Toro films, but I really didn't care for this film. I remember people being shocked The Lives of Others won the Oscar that year, which is unbelievable considering how incredible that film is.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Just watched Pan's Labyrinth.... Oh boy, I can't even believe they released this atrocity.

I think had this been an English language film it'd be seen as a lesser Tim Burton film.

Different strokes for different folks, I know, but wow.

Pan's Labyrinth is a beautiful, powerful, haunting film that affected me and has stayed with me in ways a Tim Burton film never has and never could.

[SlickDamian]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Just watched Pan's Labyrinth.... Oh boy, I can't even believe they released this atrocity.

[Show spoiler]An abysmal experience. Guillermo Del Toro has no nuance in his films. His characters are all types with zero dimension. The captain is a stock bad guy. Ofelia is the standard little girl in fantasy films who reads books and has an imagination. Carmen is the sweet and perfect, pregnant mother who is just a victim of circumstance. Mercedes and Pedro are the doomed lovers, torn apart by war. It's a real struggle to endure this film. The monsters are just there to look good. They too, are uninteresting and serve no greater purpose. The CGI and set design often feel artificial and create no sense of a real location. The script contains no surprises and leads us exactly where every other film of this type would go. The faun tells her not to eat anything on the table. Of course, she does, and problems arise. Brilliant. Don't even get me started on the black and white way Guillermo deals with the very complicated politics going on in this movie. I think had this been an English language film it'd be seen as a lesser Tim Burton film.

Couldn't agree with you any less, I'm afraid. Are you sure that you watched the right film??

[Hoke Moseley]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Just watched Pan's Labyrinth.... Oh boy, I can't even believe they released this atrocity.

[Show spoiler]An abysmal experience. Guillermo Del Toro has no nuance in his films. His characters are all types with zero dimension. The captain is a stock bad guy. Ofelia is the standard little girl in fantasy films who reads books and has an imagination. Carmen is the sweet and perfect, pregnant mother who is just a victim of circumstance. Mercedes and Pedro are the doomed lovers, torn apart by war. It's a real struggle to endure this film. The monsters are just there to look good. They too, are uninteresting and serve no greater purpose. The CGI and set design often feel artificial and create no sense of a real location. The script contains no surprises and leads us exactly where every other film of this type would go. The faun tells her not to eat anything on the table. Of course, she does, and problems arise. Brilliant. Don't even get me started on the black and white way Guillermo deals with the very complicated politics going on in this movie. I think had this been an English language film it'd be seen as a lesser Tim Burton film.

Agreed, unfortunately. I loved the movie when I was 12 but re-watched it a few months back and was incredibly disappointed. It was a struggle to even finish it.

[jw007]

I have a crazy but important question.

I'm wondering if this is even possible...

What if I wanted to digitize my entire Criterion Collection blu-ray library?

Could I actually do this or does each disc have some sort of lock for ripping discs?

Could Criterion send me complimentary digital copies if I sent them proofs of purchase (from receipts I saved over the years)?

I mean, being a loyal customer, I feel it would be unfair if I simply wanted digital copies of all of my films and they told me I'd have to re-buy everything digitally. And that's just counting Criterion. I figured bigger video distribution companies would be impossible to persuade if I just bought their physical media on blu-ray or dvd.

Ya know, let's say I plan on moving overseas or someplace like Hawaii and want to live in a yurt and can't possibly manage to take 6 bins full of blu-rays with me for my relocation...wouldn't it be amazing to have digital copies of my entire film library?

What are my options here? Or do I even have any options at all or am I shit out of luck and now forever punished for buying physical media?

[UncleBuckWild]

Originally Posted by jw007

[Show spoiler]I have a crazy but important question.

I'm wondering if this is even possible...

What if I wanted to digitize my entire Criterion Collection blu-ray library?

Could I actually do this or does each disc have some sort of lock for ripping discs?

Could Criterion send me complimentary digital copies if I sent them proofs of purchase (from receipts I saved over the years)?

I mean, being a loyal customer, I feel it would be unfair if I simply wanted digital copies of all of my films and they told me I'd have to re-buy everything digitally. And that's just counting Criterion. I figured bigger video distribution companies would be impossible to persuade if I just bought their physical media on blu-ray or dvd.

Ya know, let's say I plan on moving overseas or someplace like Hawaii and want to live in a yurt and can't possibly manage to take 6 bins full of blu-rays with me for my relocation...wouldn't it be amazing to have digital copies of my entire film library?

What are my options here? Or do I even have any options at all or am I shit out of luck and now forever punished for buying physical media? [/B]

Crazy?!... Yes and No.

It's surely possible, sorry but discussing technical details on this matter is prohibited here.

I had a similar thought once but after realizing that each disc holds nearly 50GB and when you multiple that by the number of titles in your collection...

There aren't any economical options - other then throwing away a couple of grands on hard drives.

However, if you're willing to compress data files, it can be done easily without much cost.

Although... remember the overall process is quite time consuming.

[ThisKid]

I thought that Pan's Labyrinth was OK. Acting was decent, effects were cool, but to make it better, they should've edited the ending better.

[Show spoiler]When Vidal finds Ofelia in the labyrinth talking to the faun who he can't see, they should've deleted any shots of us seeing Ofelia talking to nothing. Would've made us thought if he really saw the faun or not. It would also be better if they ended the movie when Ofelia appears in the throne room. They should've deleted the shots of her dying, so the ending feels more open ended. Did she die? Does she survive?

With those edits, it would've made it feel more like Videodrome.

[Show spoiler]With the line between fiction and reality being so heavily blurred in that film, having the same being done to Pan's Labyrinth would've made it better.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Just watched Pan's Labyrinth.... Oh boy, I can't even believe they released this atrocity.
...
I think had this been an English language film it'd be seen as a lesser Tim Burton film.

Don't think so. Edward Scissorhands was predictable and schmaltzy, and is regarded as one of the best Burton films. With regards to the characters being flat, the whole film, whether real or imagined, is seen from the perspective of the child Ophelia, and by design has the simplicity or flatness of a child's perspective. The fantasy elements are meant to have a made-up look, like illustrations in a Grimm's Tales book. I'm not a fan of this movie either, but methinks thou doth protest too much

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by jw007

Ya know, let's say I plan on moving overseas or someplace like Hawaii and want to live in a yurt and can't possibly manage to take 6 bins full of blu-rays with me for my relocation

I assume if you're moving somewhere, you'd hire a shipping van / container to move your household effects and personal things. Why would it be impossible to add 6 bins of blu-rays? Asking, because I have in the past moved to another city with a large DVD collection.

[Cujo]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Just watched Pan's Labyrinth.... Oh boy, I can't even believe they released this atrocity.

[Show spoiler]An abysmal experience. Guillermo Del Toro has no nuance in his films. His characters are all types with zero dimension. The captain is a stock bad guy. Ofelia is the standard little girl in fantasy films who reads books and has an imagination. Carmen is the sweet and perfect, pregnant mother who is just a victim of circumstance. Mercedes and Pedro are the doomed lovers, torn apart by war. It's a real struggle to endure this film. The monsters are just there to look good. They too, are uninteresting and serve no greater purpose. The CGI and set design often feel artificial and create no sense of a real location. The script contains no surprises and leads us exactly where every other film of this type would go. The faun tells her not to eat anything on the table. Of course, she does, and problems arise. Brilliant. Don't even get me started on the black and white way Guillermo deals with the very complicated politics going on in this movie. I think had this been an English language film it'd be seen as a lesser Tim Burton film.

Couldn't agree more. Even his better efforts fail to rise above mediocrity. It's why I'm not remotely disappointed that his attempts to adapt At the Mountains of Madness have stagnated.

[tenia]

While I didnt like Pacific Rim (and havent watched Crimson Peak yet), Pan's Labyrinth is a tremendous movie and I'd find it hard to say it's bad (even more SO bad), and even more to use the movie to say Del Toro is bad as a whole.
And I wouldnt have changed the end a bit. ThisKid's proposal for change is ludicrous and would change a lot the overall tone of the ending, which doesnt have to change a bit.

[Show spoiler]It's a tragedy. At the end, the girl dies. That's it. There's no need for a cheap "possible happy ending".

[mrjohnnyb]

Question:

Is it worst to pan Pan's Labyrinth or to honor Made of Honor?

It's less than a week until the New Year's Day cartoon!

[Nuck Horris]

Originally Posted by Rich Pure Doom

Just watched Pan's Labyrinth.... Oh boy, I can't even believe they released this atrocity.

[Show spoiler]An abysmal experience. Guillermo Del Toro has no nuance in his films. His characters are all types with zero dimension. The captain is a stock bad guy. Ofelia is the standard little girl in fantasy films who reads books and has an imagination. Carmen is the sweet and perfect, pregnant mother who is just a victim of circumstance. Mercedes and Pedro are the doomed lovers, torn apart by war. It's a real struggle to endure this film. The monsters are just there to look good. They too, are uninteresting and serve no greater purpose. The CGI and set design often feel artificial and create no sense of a real location. The script contains no surprises and leads us exactly where every other film of this type would go. The faun tells her not to eat anything on the table. Of course, she does, and problems arise. Brilliant. Don't even get me started on the black and white way Guillermo deals with the very complicated politics going on in this movie. I think had this been an English language film it'd be seen as a lesser Tim Burton film.

This rant is pretty amusing coming from someone with Argento's Inferno as their avatar...

[tallrichard]

Originally Posted by ravenus

I assume if you're moving somewhere, you'd hire a shipping van / container to move your household effects and personal things. Why would it be impossible to add 6 bins of blu-rays? Asking, because I have in the past moved to another city with a large DVD collection.

Last year, I moved from CT to SC. The key to a successful collection move is the box inventory.

I packed my discs, I sealed the boxes and when they unloaded the truck, I verified the box count and inspected the seals.

Once they were done, I opened and checked for damage and since I had packed them, they made the trip perfectly.

It works this way for local or long distance moves....

[Scottie]

I just watched D.A. Pennebaker's first film, Daybreak Express, and I found it to be a truly engrossing experience.

Figured I'd pass it along!

https://vimeo.com/16674798

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by jw007

I have a crazy but important question.

I'm wondering if this is even possible...

What if I wanted to digitize my entire Criterion Collection blu-ray library?

Could I actually do this or does each disc have some sort of lock for ripping discs?

Could Criterion send me complimentary digital copies if I sent them proofs of purchase (from receipts I saved over the years)?

I mean, being a loyal customer, I feel it would be unfair if I simply wanted digital copies of all of my films and they told me I'd have to re-buy everything digitally. And that's just counting Criterion. I figured bigger video distribution companies would be impossible to persuade if I just bought their physical media on blu-ray or dvd.

Ya know, let's say I plan on moving overseas or someplace like Hawaii and want to live in a yurt and can't possibly manage to take 6 bins full of blu-rays with me for my relocation...wouldn't it be amazing to have digital copies of my entire film library?

What are my options here? Or do I even have any options at all or am I shit out of luck and now forever punished for buying physical media?

Pack everything in binders then place them in Jewel cases upon settling.

Something 12" x 12" x 9" can hold 520 discs (i.e. Your collection basically)

[Rich Pure Doom]

Originally Posted by Nuck Horris

This rant is pretty amusing coming from someone with Argento's Inferno as their avatar...

Pan's Labyrinth is nowhere near the quality of film Dario Argento's Inferno is. Let's be real here.

[MifuneFan]

Only a few more days till the New Year's drawing