The Criterion Collection

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by dvining

Every time someone asks on these forums, Jon Mulvaney pushes out the release date of the next Japanese movie by two months and the next box set by six.

Well, looks like we are getting the Akira Kurosawa boxset on 2123.

[MarkGubarenko]

when does usually February sale starts?

[dr727]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Well, looks like we are getting the Akira Kurosawa boxset on 2123.

That comment pushed it into 2124.

[pullthelever]

Originally Posted by MarkGubarenko

when does usually February sale starts?

Usually on a Tuesday in February, though last year it was in March.

[HipsterTrash]

Let me just demand an Edward Yang box set and delay that possibility.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by dvining

Every time someone asks on these forums, Jon Mulvaney pushes out the release date of the next Japanese movie by two months and the next box set by six.

Mulvaney: Think yourself lucky I only delay the next Japanese movie two months instead of two years. The Great Mulvaney has spoken!

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by HipsterTrash

Let me just demand an Edward Yang box set and delay that possibility.

I was expecting this to happen after I finally imported The Terrorizers, Taipei Story, & That Day on the Beach. I hope at the least they release the new restorations of A Confucian Confusion & Mahjong!

[Sommerswerd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpZXgO_3vN4

[trobrianders]

Autumn Sonata. 2013 or 2018? Does the boosted 2013 release have any fans?

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by trobrianders

Autumn Sonata. 2013 or 2018? Does the boosted 2013 release have any fans?

2018 if you want it done right. That blanket orange filter was terrible.

[trobrianders]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

2018 if you want it done right. That blanket orange filter was terrible.

Thought as much. I have the set. Saw the 2013 going cheap and wondered. Thanks. I'll give it a miss.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by trobrianders

Thought as much. I have the set. Saw the 2013 going cheap and wondered. Thanks. I'll give it a miss.

Some people loved the orange because it gave the film an "autumn" feel, but original trailers closely match the 2018 restoration, so that's much closer to how it should look and looked originally.

[CRASHLANDING]

Recently watched Kiarostami's "Like Someone In Love" and was curious what the board thinks of it? The CC disk is aging a bit but got solid reviews for PQ/AQ at the time and generally positive for the film itself.

Obviously it's not on the same plane as some of his more famous works, but I'm surprised to have never heard much about this one. Thoughts/opinions on either the film or the BD?

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by CRASHLANDING

Recently watched Kiarostami's "Like Someone In Love" and was curious what the board thinks of it? The CC disk is aging a bit but got solid reviews for PQ/AQ at the time and generally positive for the film itself.

Obviously it's not on the same plane as some of his more famous works, but I'm surprised to have never heard much about this one. Thoughts/opinions on either the film or the BD?

Quoting the review I had originally done for the UK blu. The disc may be "aging" but the film was digitally captured so I don't think it has much scope of getting improvements in the PQ/AQ department.

A young girl in a slick Tokyo club (RIn Takanashi) is arguing over the phone with her suspicious boyfriend. Then she is met by the club manager (Denden), who after doling out some life advice asks her to go for a job. We realize she's a part-time prostitute, he's the pimp. She wants to pass on it, as she has exams and also a visiting grandmother that wants to meet her at the railway station before returning back. The manager is polite but firm: the client is someone he respects deeply, and she is the right type for him. While taking a long-distance cab to the client's place, she asks the driver to circle the railway station a couple of times where she observes a woman that may be her grandmother. She lets off some quiet sobs, then falls asleep in the cab while it ferries her to the client. Expecting a high-profile politician or tycoon, she is surprised to find that the client is a comfortable but definitely middle-class retired professor...who also happens to be her grandfather's age.

After having made several notable Iranian films, Abbas Kiarostami went full international to make films in French (Certified Copy) and Japanese (Like Someone in Love). I haven't seen the former, but what strikes me best about LSIL is how much it appears like a film made by a modern Ozu - The respect for spaces and silences, the formal conversation, inner thoughts expressed in glances and in tangential remarks. Of course, Kiarostami's previous landmark films are also noted for their circumlocutory approach.

The introduction scene of the girl is important to what happens next. The professor (Tadashi Okuno) has obviously planned a romantic evening with sparkling wine and fine food (perhaps this refined academic wants to soften the idea of a hired tryst), but after some ice-breaking conversation, the emotionally exhausted girl just flops into bed and falls asleep. Sighing resignedly, the old man tucks her in, as a grandparent would. The next day we see him driving her back. We don't know if at any point in the night (or early morning) they do the deed she was called for. LSIL, like other Kiarostami films, features a lot of riding around in cars (not Fast and Furious fashion, mind).

When she gets off at the university, she is met by the boyfriend who assumes the old man to be her grandfather, and the professor plays along. The young man expresses his views about women in general and the girl in particular, exposing deep insecurities. But he also warms up to the old man's advice about trust in love, which renews hope in his relationship with the girl, and even offers to fix a problem in the car at his garage.At a slightly later point the young man realizes the actual relation between his girlfriend and the professor.

LSIL is a chamber film, and compared to some of Kiarostami's older classics, even slight. It quietly exposes certain emotional situations. and leaves the consequences for the viewer to imagine; in that modest aim, it does well. The film is anchored mainly around the 3 lead performances (the girl, the professor, the boyfriend) and the actors come across wonderfully. In the little that I saw of the making, Kiarostami talks about how Tadashi Okuno had been previously only an extra, not even having any lines. As the girl's pimp, veteran actor Denden in a single scene makes a big impression.

[KubrickKurasawa]

Originally Posted by Sommerswerd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpZXgO_3vN4

Do they have any of their films on the Criterion format?

I know EAA@O is A24/Lionsgate in 4K UHD.

[jedidarrick]

I could imagine Swiss Army Man getting a UHD from Criterion, but the only other A24 title to get one so far is Uncut Gems.

[fdm]

Can anyone remind me in which streaming service I (thought I) saw many of the A24 titles available in one convenient row? Not sure either if they were rentals or provided as part of the subscription.

[kuro_sawa]

Originally Posted by fdm

Can anyone remind me in which streaming service I (thought I) saw many of the A24 titles available in one convenient row? Not sure either if they were rentals or provided as part of the subscription.

Showtime has an A24 collection, a lot of them in 4K. The selection has gotten smaller in the last month or so though.

[fdm]

Originally Posted by kuro_sawa

Showtime has an A24 collection, a lot of them in 4K. The selection has gotten smaller in the last month or so though.

Must have been it.

I added Showtime (and a few others) cheaply to Prime for a couple months during black friday, so I still have a shot at what's left A24-wise, as I let Showtime renew for another month to get to some of the other stuff there. Pity Showtime is merging with Paramount+ though.

Can't really see subscribing to any of them for much longer than a couple (cheap) months, hardly have the time as it is. Do tend to watch a fair amount on the Criterion Channel though, and some things on Prime, my two long term streaming subscriptions.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by fdm

Can anyone remind me in which streaming service I (thought I) saw many of the A24 titles available in one convenient row? Not sure either if they were rentals or provided as part of the subscription.

HBO Max has quite a few A24 titles at the moment.