Criterion The Criterion Collection

[Veum]

Spoiler

41 minutes ago, pygospa said:

 

 

Yes, finally I have, and I placed an order. Here's what I've ordered, and why
But first of, I'm a complicated man, so this was a complicated process, for which I watched and rated all the trailers, looke up if they where in any interesting recommendation list, looked up movies they influenced, critics consensuses, and IMDB rating, as well as counting recommendations, comparing to my watchlist, and looking up if there was a German edition for the movie available as well, that I might rather get, and last but not least, I also looked up some unboxings on YouTube. That's why I am just answering now. Yeah, I'm complicated...

But let's get to my picks:

• 12 Angry Men
  Thanks to you, @Veum, for recommending it once more. It's a classic, and apparently (according to some instutution I forgot) the 2nd best courtroom drama ever made. I've actually had this on my watchlist for so long, but never seen it up to now. So it was a easy pick. There is however a German digibook release as well as a FuturePack, which both look quite nice, though. But I had to fill up to get another 2 for 28€
• Cat People
  One of my original picks, however, in the beginning I thought it was the 1982 movie, which would have been much more interesting to me. But non the less, I picked it up, as it's said to have influenced a lot of other horror genre movies, it's in the "1001 movies you need to see before you die"-Book, there is no German release of this movie as of yet, so I risked it
• Diabolique
  Also one of my original picks, it's in a lot of top lists (BFIs 100 thrillers of all time, Guardians no. 19 of 25 best horror movies of all time), it's in the 1001 movies book, it's said to have the first Shyamalan-style twist, it was remaked countless times, and won a couple of awards. Also I loved the trailer, and it's a French movie, and you know me - I like my international movies And again, no German release for this
• Kiss Me Deadly
  Again another of my original list, and this one, besides looking interesting and having a great trailer that I liked, was also interesting for me, because it's said to have influenced Tarantino, plus Pulp Fiction plays a huge homage to this movie (I won't tell you what it is, if you don't want to spoil it for yourself). This actually has a German releasse as well, but that costs 13,99€, for a simple Amaray release, which only comes with the Trailer, and an alternative Ending. This cost me 14€, and there is so much more extras (different documentaries, an audio commentary, etc.). Oh and last but not least, 1001-movies book
• The Life of Oharu
  This is quite simple: It's a Japanese movie, I would love to watch more Asian movies, and especially Japanese movies as I am learning this language in my spare time. Also the topic sounds quite interesting (forced prostitute who fights for regaining her social status), and what I also found interesting was the trivia fact that this movie was actually underfunded, but the director really wanted to make this, so he did it anyways, paying from his own pocket. You know someone really cares about the movie and will put so much more love and care into it, if you hear something like that.
• Stalker
  This was again a pretty easy pick: I've heard of this movie a couple of times, it's said to be great, I've watched the trailer more than once before and enjoyed it - this trailer looks incredible, there is no German release of this, and it's a "soviet science-fiction art film" what a combination. It's said to be dramatic and raise a lot of philosophical and psychological questions, which is exactly my cup of tea! I HAD to get this. Plus it's in the 1001-movies book.
• Tampopo
  Again a Japanese film, so a huge plus for this one. Still the trailer looked rather absurd to me, to be quite honest. But I cannot ignore the cultural impact, a lot of Ramen shops called themselves after this movie, it's referenced quite a number of times, it has high ratings with critics, was recommended to me twice, and is in the 1001 movies book.
• The Uninvited
  And last but not least, this movie that was again influenced by the tip of @Veum, so thanks once more. I wouldn't have gotten this otherwise, I've never heard of it, but it's probably one of the more important must sees for horror movie buffs like me: It's claimed to be the first movie in history to portray ghosts as legitimate entities. It's one of Martin Scorseses and Guillermo del Toros favourite movies, and the former placed it on his list of the 11 scariest movies of all time. Also, it's in "the book" (you know, 1001... ).

Each of them cost me 14€, and Zavvi calculated that I saved 72€, which is quite something!

As for the other recommendations: I am not a big fan of romantic comedy type of movies, and for me, these kind of movies only get worse, the older they are - no offence - it's just simply not my cup of tea, I guess. I would and will watch them eventually, but for now there are so many other movies that got me interested far more than something like "The Awful Truth" or "His Girl Friday" and such. The other titles however I was really interested in, both sex, lies and videotape and especially the "The Emigrants / The New Land" looked so interesting to me, that I actually added them to my list of movies to get. But then unfortunately I found out that they where not eligible for the 2 for 28€ program, and for my first ever order at Criterion I wanted to make use of this discount... who knows, maybe in the end I don't like those Criterion releases? Then I did not pay too much for them. Especially as "The Emigrants / The New Land" is even more expensive (36€). Really sad, I would have definately gotten "The Emigrants / The New Land" otherwise.

Last but not least: "Easy Rider" - for this one, I've been eyeballing the "Popart Steelbook" for quite a while now. I have a couple of those PopArt Steelbooks, and I really like them. Probably stupid to get a PopArt Steelbook instead of a Criterion release, but those Steelbooks where at ~5€ last I checked, I just need to finally pick them up There are a couple (not many) extras on the PopArt Steelbook, if the Criterion was better, I might later double dip once I've watched this movie (I don't know it yet). I am not sure if you checked for the 28€-Program, but I also picked out one movie I really wanted, Ugetsu, and I was so sure that that was part of the program, but today when ordering, it wasn't - so maybe there is only a small amount, maybe they'll change it around?

The promotion will last till 30th June, so I might shop a second time at the end of the month (hell it's just June 12th, and I already spent all my money ). I might still go for Dreams, Only Angels Have Wings, Death in Venice and Deasert Hearts - and who knows what else is still hiding in the shaddows of this promotion that I overlooked?

 

 

Some good choices there @pygospa, I’ve got several of those you are getting & have not watched as of yet!😉

 

I wanted to tell you about my all-time fav of Criterion which is not on your sale. It is Island of Lost Souls, IMHO a true “horror” classic from 1932 & has one of my fav “horror” actors Bela Lugosi (It also stars the fantastic Charles Laughton). Bela is amazing in his character to me “What is the Law”

 

If you can ever pick this up VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!😊

A twisted treasure from Hollywood’s pre-Code horror heyday, Island of Lost Souls is a cautionary tale of science run amok, adapted from H. G. Wells’s novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. In one of his first major movie roles, Charles Laughton is a mad doctor conducting ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked man (Richard Arlen) who finds himself trapped there. This touchstone of movie terror, directed by Erle C. Kenton, features expressionistic photography by Karl Struss, groundbreaking makeup effects that have inspired generations of monster-movie artists, and the legendary Bela Lugosi in one of his most gruesome roles.

 

https://youtu.be/MOymP3MRxlI

Edited June 11, 2020 by Veum

[R1s1ngs0n]

If anyone is interested in suggesting titles for future Criterion releases, here is their contact information: suggestions@criterion.com

I sent them a wishlist yesterday containing the following titles:

- Strangers On A Train

- The Ipcress File

- Dirty Harry

- Mean Streets

- The Shining

- Miller's Crossing

- Peeping Tom (Blu-ray upgrade)

- Man Bites Dog (Blu-ray upgrade)

 

Edited June 11, 2020 by R1s1ngs0n

[Veum]

@Grendel have you watched Island of Lost Souls (1932)?🤔

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on it if you have!😊

[Grendel]

^^ Nice list (both of 'em 😉) @R1s1ngs0n 🥰

 

FYI, the Studio Canal 50th Anniversary release of Powell's masterpiece "Peeping Tom" isn't too bad at all.

For the price (while your waiting on Crit, heh) it's worth the 10 quid at Amz.uk  🥰

 

Link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peeping-Special-Blu-ray-Karlheinz-Böhm/dp/B003YXZHC6/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=peeping+tom&qid=1591917751&s=dvd&sr=1-1

[Veum]

^^^

 

Peeping Tom sounds like my ‘cup of tea’!😉

 

Michael Powell's controversial serial killer classic. A clean-cut focus puller (Carl Boehm) at the local film studio supplements his wages by taking girly photographs in a seedy studio above a newsagent. By night he is a sadistic killer, stalking his victims with his camera forever in his hand trying to capture the look of genuine, unadulterated fear. On its initial release the film, now regarded as a masterpiece of the British horror movement, was savaged by critics and public alike. The fearsome reaction went a long way to ruining director Powell's career and the movie was unavailable for many years.

[Grendel]

^^ Indeed @Veum, I think you would enjoy it very much.

It's a bloody disgrace that that film effectively destroyed the career of one of Britain's greatest directors.

A year before Hitchkock made Psycho, Powell put out Peeping Tom and the critics tore him to shreds for such a "disgusting, tasteless dive into refuse' etc...

The common 'general public'  wasn't the least sympathetic.

He faded deep into obscurity until essentially "rescued" for a very brief stint by none other than Ken Russell ( which is sorta like getting Dilinger as your lawyer so yeah, there's that...

 

Anyway, yes get it immediately. Oh and indeed "Lost Souls" is a very beloved classic in my library. 🥰 (the Steel is very cool also)

[R1s1ngs0n]

2 minutes ago, Grendel said:

^^ Indeed @Veum, I think you would enjoy it very much.

It's a bloody disgrace that that film effectively destroyed the career of one of Britain's greatest directors.

A year before Hitchkock made Psycho, Powell put out Peeping Tom and the critics tore him to shreds for such a "disgusting, tasteless dive into refuse' etc...

The common 'general public'  wasn't the least sympathetic.

He faded deep into obscurity until essentially "rescued" for a very brief stint by none other than Ken Russell ( which is sorta like getting Dilinger as your lawyer so yeah, there's that...

 

Anyway, yes get it immediately. Oh and indeed "Lost Souls" is a very beloved classic in my library. 🥰 (the Steel is very cool also)

'Peeping Tom' was released in 1960, only several months before 'Psycho' was released to critical acclaim. Michael Powell, whose second wife was Martin Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker (he introduced them), was one of Scorsese's closest friends and mentors. It is thanks to Scorsese's tireless efforts that this movie has finally regained its rightful status as a masterpiece.

I find it to be a vastly superior film to 'Psycho' (an overrated Hitchcock IMO) - its complex, visually stunning and expertly acted. 

[Grendel]

^^ Well, I'd prefer to praise PT without comparison to Psycho but I know what you are saying.

I have a big soft spot in my heart for Hitch and have most of his films.

Powell's works are assuredly of high praise as well.

We're lucky to have had both masters in our lives...🥰

[Veum]

Absurd IMHO Psycho & Hitch are masterpieces!😊

[Grendel]

Oh, you queried my views @Veum on;

Island Of Lost Souls:

 

A definition of a 'cult classic' I'd suggest.

I remember buying "Famous Monsters Of Filmland" magazine with my friends as a young lad and ogling the bizarre yet fascinating pictures from the film in it, as the tv versions we were provided in the '60s were censored.

It was to my sheer delight to finally purchase the uncensored version from Crit when they released it first on dvd. To then see it offered in Blu-ray by Crit and a gorgeous Steelbook released by Eureka's MoC line, well, I had to own them both as well.

Certainly of the same calibre, imho as the best of the Universal Horror films from that era, Paramount was very fortunate to have Erle Kenton in their stable to make this. 🥰

 

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Grendel

[Fortis93]

I don't know why it popped into my head, but I would love to see John Frankenheimer's 'Black Sunday' (1977) get the Criterion treatment on blu-ray. 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Fortis93

[Fortis93]

I only have a few Criterion releases due to how expensive they can be here. I own the following:

 

Stagecoach (1939)

Only Angel's Have Wings (1939)

Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Red River (1948)

3:10 To Yuma (1957)

Harakiri (1962)

Thief (1981)

The Princess Bride (1987)

 

I already own movies like 12 Angry Men, The Night of the Hunter, Paths of Glory and Fail Safe in other editions that I would also like to get in the Criterion Edition. 

 

There are a few I still want to get:

 

City Lights (1931)

The Great Dictator (1940)

Sullivan's Travels (1941)

To Be Or Not To Be (1943)

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Wild Strawberries (1957)

Some Like It Hot (1959)

I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)

Dreams (1990)

 

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Fortis93

[Grendel]

^^ Great choice @Fortis93 🤩

 

I think it's more than coincidence that Phil Robinson's "Sum Of All Fears" bears striking semblance but he was certainly no Frankenheimer...🙂

[Fortis93]

I would also have to watch The Island Of Lost Souls again to confirm it as a definite purchase though I do remember really digging it on first viewing. 

[Fortis93]

13 minutes ago, Fortis93 said:

I only have a few Criterion releases due to how expensive they can be here. I own the following:

 

Stagecoach (1939)

Only Angel's Have Wings (1939)

Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Red River (1948)

3:10 To Yuma (1957)

Harakiri (1962)

Thief (1981)

The Princess Bride (1987)

 

I already own movies like 12 Angry Men, The Night of the Hunter, Paths of Glory and Fail Safe in other editions that I would also like to get in the Criterion Edition. 

 

There are a few I still want to get:

 

City Lights (1931)

The Great Dictator (1940)

Sullivan's Travels (1941)

To Be Or Not To Be (1943)

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Wild Strawberries (1957)

Some Like It Hot (1959)

I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)

Dreams (1990)

 

 

 

I also forgot to include A Matter Of Life And Death (1946) in my Wish List. 😅

Edited June 12, 2020 by Fortis93

[Grendel]

^^ I think you will find it a fun ride for nostalgia at least.

Really great flik for the era and its contribution to the genre.

 

I'm impressed by the Crit titles on your shelf buddy and your "to get" list is shaping up very nicely indeed as well. 🙂

 

edit: oh, except for "Wild Strawberries". I find that film too disturbing for my tastes.

Edited June 12, 2020 by Grendel

[Fortis93]

1 minute ago, R1s1ngs0n said:

Look no further

https://www.criterion.com/films/28833-a-matter-of-life-and-death

 

Oh, I know! I'm currently watching it (and a few others) on eBay.

[Fortis93]

I used the email you provided to send in a list of suggestions:

 

Bringing up Baby (1938)

Beau Geste (1939)

Arsenic & Old Lace (1944)

Act of Violence (1949)

Sergeant York (1941)

Attack! (1956)

The Desperate Hours (1955)

Sergeant Rutledge (1960)

H.M.S. Defiant (1962)

Black Sunday (1977)

The Ninth Configuration (1980)

Prince of the City (1981)

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

The Hitcher (1986)

 

@R1s1ngs0n This would be my actual Wish List.

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Fortis93

[Veum]

Spoiler

11 hours ago, Grendel said:

Oh, you queried my views @Veum on;

Island Of Lost Souls:

 

A definition of a 'cult classic' I'd suggest.

I remember buying "Famous Monsters Of Filmland" magazine with my friends as a young lad and ogling the bizarre yet fascinating pictures from the film in it, as the tv versions we were provided in the '60s were censored.

It was to my sheer delight to finally purchase the uncensored version from Crit when they released it first on dvd. To then see it offered in Blu-ray by Crit and a gorgeous Steelbook released by Eureka's MoC line, well, I had to own them both as well.

Certainly of the same calibre, imho as the best of the Universal Horror films from that era, Paramount was very fortunate to have Erle Kenton in their stable to make this. 🥰

 

 

 

 

Oh @Grendel I have to have that gorgeous steel ^^^... as I tell my wifey “I’m on the hunt” hehe!😊

 

If you find a good sale (before I inform you I did 😝) for this Eureka's MoC line steel give me tag would you please, TU!!😉

[Grendel]

^^ I'll keep an eye out in trade threads for ya @Veum;

At Amz.uk, theres a chap offering one "used: like new" for 27 quid but no idea about shipping. Person to person may be not too bad?

 

Link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Masters-Cinema-Steelbook-Blu-ray/dp/B00719FVRA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=249FCXDLKOOI7&dchild=1&keywords=island+of+lost+souls+steelbook&qid=1591985390&s=dvd&sprefix=island+of+lost+souls+steelbook%2Cdvd%2C241&sr=1-1

 

I am a big fan of the "Masters of Cinema" line and I'd put many of their releases against Criterion's in comparison. 🥰

[pygospa]

55 minutes ago, Grendel said:

I am a big fan of the "Masters of Cinema" line and I'd put many of their releases against Criterion's in comparison. 🥰

 

Yes, Eureka!'s Master of Cinema line is perfect. I don't own any of their Steel releases yet, however. But even the Amarays are of high quality (starting with the package, that has a 14mm spine and feels so much thicker and sturdier than any normal Amaray. Also it's not the ugly blue that destroys the impression that an arwtork should give you when looking at it), and their booklets are also really great. I also love their last page where they tell you how the aspect ratio is supposed to look on your TV so you can adjust it accordingly, so that things don't get cut away or look strangely streached, etc. Huge fan of that.

[Veum]

Spoiler

1 hour ago, Grendel said:

^^ I'll keep an eye out in trade threads for ya @Veum;

At Amz.uk, theres a chap offering one "used: like new" for 27 quid but no idea about shipping. Person to person may be not too bad?

 

Link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Masters-Cinema-Steelbook-Blu-ray/dp/B00719FVRA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=249FCXDLKOOI7&dchild=1&keywords=island+of+lost+souls+steelbook&qid=1591985390&s=dvd&sprefix=island+of+lost+souls+steelbook%2Cdvd%2C241&sr=1-1

 

I am a big fan of the "Masters of Cinema" line and I'd put many of their releases against Criterion's in comparison. 🥰

 

 

Thanks @Grendel for that link ^^^, however unfortunately got this message on AMZ.uk 😔 

 

Sorry, this item can't be sent to your selected address.

 

 

[pygospa]

You've probably seen this - I have a while ago - but if you haven't, this is a small slice through the manual work Criterion is putting to a release, from scanning to cover design. It's just a short peak, but I really liked it, and found it rather interesting back then when I first heard of Criterion and didn't know who they where and what they where doing (if you're not in the international film bubble, which for the major period of my life I wasn't, it's just unknown here).

 

This just got washed up to my YouTube recommendations due to the large search of Criterion titles I've been doing the past couple days, so I remembered it, watched it again, and thought, why not share it with you guys, in case you haven't seen it? Here you go:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Grendel]

Thanks very much @pygospa 🙂

I've seen a few docs on YT regarding Crit but not that one. It's a nice look at what they do.

The particular film they use as subject, "Foreign Correspondent" is of course a much loved film and I was fortunate enough to pick it up in this lovely box set;

 

 

Unfortunately, the price for that set is more than a bit hysterical right now but the individual fliks it contains, are quite reasonable in price...in NA.

Should you elect to hunt down more Crits, though Amz.uk and Zavvi both carry a fine assortment, you may wish to once again, consider becoming Region A compatible buddy.

Cheers. 🙂

[Grendel]

Hi @Veum ;

Should you elect to purchase a Steel of IoLS in the near future, you may wish to lean on our UK hub for assistance.

Not sure what all you will need to discuss wrt purchasing from a third party but just a gentle reminder that option exists. 🙂

Cheers.

Edited June 12, 2020 by Grendel