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I'm listening to the Q&A with Jim Jarmusch on "Mystery Train." I like this format, and I agree with Jarmusch that it allows a little more breathing room in some ways than the standard voice-over-the-film commentary track style. Do any other directors on Criterion sort of run with this style?
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Nov 6, 2010 09:23
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Any idea if Criterion might ever put out the Jim Jarmusch movie Ghost Dog? I've been going through his filmography, and I love both Branded To Kill and Le Samourai, so I'd love to see Ghost Dog but the existing DVD seems kind of lacklustre.
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Nov 17, 2010 09:29
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Fag Boy Jim posted:It's cool, but in all likelihood, you will watch it exactly one time, and never again I put it on all the time as a nice background thing to look up at, and I've watched it attentively maybe a half-dozen times (mostly the first disc though). If it seems like something you'll find absorbing, you probably will.
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Feb 25, 2011 18:46
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The Makavejev Eclipse set is one of my favorite things Criterion has ever done. I love every movie in it, and while the lack of extras is sort of a bummer, I guess, getting three phenomenal movies for that price is great. Don't think of the Eclipse brand as an index of quality but of marketability-- would early Chantal Akerman documentaries sell well? Probably not. Do they stand up to much of the material in the main Criterion line? In my opinion, yeah. Some of the best sets include: -The Makavajev, which includes a really solid directorial debut ("Man Is Not A Bird"), a super-fun pseudo-doc ("Innocence Unprotected") and my favorite of all his films, "Love Affair." -The Akerman set is at once a great intro to her work and a look at some of her more esoteric projects, and probably essential viewing to anybody who enjoyed Jeanne Dielman. -The Lubitsch set is a ton of fun. With this one I can sort of see the "bargain bin" angle-- I probably wouldn't have paid a full $30 for most of these movies, but they make an excellent night in. -Same deal with Nikkatsu Noir. -Oshima's Outlaw Sixties is another collection of top-notch film-making that's a steal for the price. Most of the movies in this could have justified a full, you know, two-disc, thick booklet, capital C-Criterion release if Oshima had the brand power of Godard or whoever.
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Feb 26, 2011 20:17
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I like most of Godard and love a pretty good portion of it, and I've never heard anyone represent Alphaville as "one of his most acclaimed films." I do think it's cool and interesting how even among people who are generally well-disposed towards him, a lot of his movies are polarizing. Tout Va Bien is a good example. It's one of my favorites, but a lot of Godard fans are pretty chilly towards it. Contempt, too-- although I rewatched it recently and appreciated it much more. Edit: A lot of his most immediately exciting, even manic work unfortunately is sort of low-profile in the U.S.-- Pierrot le Fou, Week End, and La Chinoise aren't talked up as much as they probably should be.
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Mar 5, 2011 22:13
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Flutch posted:Hey guys - I lurk the gently caress out of this thread, thought that I would pop in and respond to all of this Godard chatter. Godard is my favorite director, which isn't saying a hell of a lot considering that I'm just a 19 year old art school kid, but regardless I'd like to throw in my two cents. I think those just speak to his overwhelming (and personally, what I find to be very appealing and fertile) debt to Brecht. Edit: Even though those sort of reach their ludic peak in (probably) Week End and their technical peak in 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her, I'd recommend Les Caribiniers to somebody curious about these methods-- they're at their most rough and vigorous there. It's also one of his funniest movies.
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Mar 8, 2011 00:22
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'People on Sunday' came with the latest issue of 'The Believer.' Pretty bare, just the movie on a DVD, but possibly the reason there's a thread for it. And yes, it is very, very, very good.
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Mar 15, 2011 20:30
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I hope 'Gates of Heaven' includes 'Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe.'
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Apr 6, 2011 06:51
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penismightier posted:This surprises me, because while Yojimbo kicks unholy amounts of rear end, it's comparatively slow-paced and has pretty theatrical acting. Not really accessible to idiots. What would you suggest instead? Maybe The Grand Illusion or Breathless or something? It's been awhile since I've seen it but I recall The Testament of Dr. Mabuse being pretty fast-paced and accessible.
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Apr 29, 2011 08:20
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That's awesome. I'm so excited to finally see Zero For Conduct.
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May 2, 2011 19:49
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I just finished the Kaurismaki Eclipse set after borrowing it from the library, and really loved it. I saw 'Leningrad Cowboys Go America' several years ago on a VHS tape a friend from college had, but it seems like finding anything else he's done is kind of a pain. Why is this? I'd think he'd have a pretty decent following in the U.S.-- his humor is sort of sympathetic to the Wes Anderson/Jim Jarmusch deadpan style that tons of people enjoy.
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May 5, 2011 09:50
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Peaceful Anarchy posted:Anyone have any comments on the Basil Dearden eclipse set? I'll probably buy it anyway at 5.75 a movie but it'd be nice to see opinions on it. I already bought the Naruse set because I hope if it does well Criterion will release more silents. I've only seen 'League of Gentlemen' but it's very good. I'm kind of surprised they put it in an Eclipse set, but in any case it's worth $20 by itself, in my opinion.
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May 6, 2011 22:35
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I've actually heard the exact opposite argument, that the visual interest of combat makes it very difficult to pull off a totally unambiguous anti-war message in a visual medium. I think that was either Truffaut or Susan Sontag? But in any case, 'The Thin Red Line' is quite good. Very beautifully shot and although 'haunting' is sort of an obnoxious and vague adjective I think it fits here.
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May 21, 2011 07:21
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appropriatemetaphor posted:So the Thin Red Line is the philosopher scene in Vivre sa Vie stretched out for 2 hours + explosions? Hey I liked that scene. Incidentally I was describing the Kaurismaki set to someone last week and it occurred to me that you could make a decent case for 'The Match Factory Girl' being a stylized travesty of 'Vivre Sa Vie.' Anybody know if Kaurismaki had that in mind when he made it?
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May 22, 2011 04:01
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SubG posted:It's also in Warner's Val Letwon boxed set, which is definitely worth it for those two films along with I Walked With A Zombie (1943) and The Leopard Man (1943), which are all great films even if you're not into Lewton, Tourneur, Wise, and so on. Don't you suppose that 'La Grande Illusion' is still guilty of some of that mythologizing? Pierre Fresnay and von Stroheim's characters both have sort of a martial solemnity and dignity that, if it clashes with the abstraction of modern warfare, still feels kind of elegiac for an older generation of soldiers. Both actors put in an incredible performance but I feel like they kind of make the ideological content of the movie ambiguous.
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May 23, 2011 01:59
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'Fire on the Plains' and 'J'Accuse' also come to mind, although both (and 'Come and See') are so dour that I'll probably end up seeing 'MASH' and "La Grande Illusion' half a dozen more times each before I feel like watching any of them again.
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May 23, 2011 02:12
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FitFortDanga posted:Les Carabiniers I'd say it's more anti war-movie than anti-war.
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May 23, 2011 06:14
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So cool. I didn't have a problem with the Miramax release either, and if this is $80 like the Imamura and Teshigahara sets I probably won't buy it, but it'll still be nice to know that it's out there.
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May 26, 2011 20:09
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If Mahler indicates Ken Russell, that's amazing. I would love to see more of his stuff on Criterion. Imagine being able to just stroll into any barnes and noble and buy Lisztomania.
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Jun 28, 2011 16:51
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Kull the Conqueror posted:I think the only Eclipse set I've actually seen is the one with the Louis Malle documentaries, and they were all astoundingly good. That's good to hear. I've been really into Malle lately and was considering picking up that set when the next sale comes around.
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Jul 4, 2011 18:03
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I agree. Before I saw all of them, people had talked up 'One Hour With You' as the best of the set by far, but I really, really loved 'The Love Parade.' All of the Schertzinger tunes are just great, super memorable and witty, and I think MacDonald and Chevalier are both at their freshest in it. Oh, geez, and of course also Lupino Lane and Lillian Roth, both way under-rated and very good in 'The Love Parade' in an extraordinarily broad and unabashed way.
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Jul 10, 2011 18:12
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Blind-bought 'Berlin Alexanderplatz' just because I love Fassbinder and haven't found any place to rent or watch it anywhere else. 'Kiss Me Deadly'-- I don't know. I considered it but it's such an aggressively unpleasant movie I don't know if I'd have the energy to sit down and watch it again. Although that hellish roar at the end is kind of a masterpiece of sound production, isn't it?
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Jul 12, 2011 19:15
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Space Fish posted:I know, and I want that variety. I love Elevator To The Gallows, so I know Malle can do noir, but thought My Dinner With Andre was godawfully boring, so he's currently batting .500 with me. Black Moon being "his good Weird movie" would tip the average into his favor and add another genre he delivered, giving me confidence enough to explore his other movies. Give 'Zazie dans la Metro' a shot. It's sort of exhausting, but in a very exhilarating way.
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Jul 13, 2011 05:48
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Space Fish posted:Zazie tempted me until I watched its trailer, which is full of precocious slapstick. Zazie hits a man on the head with a frying pan! A car's frame breaks apart, leaving a platform with wheels! Can anyone attest to something funnier in the movie? Here's a scene I liked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geP2eH39Rzs I read an essay about the movie once that said that what's most exciting about is that it is so aggressively 'comedic' without actually being funny. The above clip is a good example of Malle deploying nearly every conceivable formal gesture of filmic comedy, for a tone that's, well, if not funny 'ha-ha' at least somewhat remarkably off-putting. I liked it as a long experiment in defamiliarization. These sombre, often quite grim plot beats consistently framed as really, really broad slap-stick. It definitely lags, though, and by the end I had been ready for it to wind down for about 15 minutes or so. Still, supremely weird and quite compelling.
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Jul 13, 2011 06:15
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The Painleve is one of my all-time favorite DVDs to pop in and rewatch, but I guess nobody else on earth agrees with me. Is 'Something Wild' worth a blind buy? It didn't look super interesting to me, but I've heard strong recommendations.
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Jul 15, 2011 04:10
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Holy poo poo another Kaurismaki box set. I've never seen Total Balalaika Show and I'm literally sort of stomping my feet in joy at my desk.
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Jul 15, 2011 19:04
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Egbert Souse posted:Has anyone tried ordering the OOP StudioCanal titles and have they shipped yet? I have-- they gave me an August 1st ship date for Pierrot Le Fou.
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Jul 20, 2011 03:49
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Oh my god, 'Secret Honor' is unrelenting. A blind buy, trying to get into more Robert Altman, but phenomenal.
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Jul 22, 2011 03:25
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penismightier posted:Didn't he have his film students shoot that one with him? That sorta blows my mind. Yeah. He used a lot of his normal colleagues- Pierre Mignot, Jean Lepine, and his son Stephen- but filled a lot of crew positions with kids in the U Michigan film program.
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Jul 22, 2011 03:37
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Egbert Souse posted:The Furies, Short Cuts (OOP), The Man Who Fell to Earth (DVD only), Vampyr, Mr. Arkadin, and Burden of Dreams all have books included. 'Burden of Dreams' does? Really? I don't see it mentioned on the website but that would be incredible, presuming it's Herzog's memoir of the filming.
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Jul 29, 2011 00:58
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The Makavejev Eclipse set is incredible. 'Innocence Unprotected' is seriously one of my favorite movies and 'Man Is Not a Bird' and 'Love Affair' are both very good. I like all of them more than 'WR' and the later two in the set more than 'Sweet Movie.'
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Oct 10, 2011 23:20
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kaujot posted:Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses is a dud, but still mildly interesting. The rest of the stuff in the set, though, is awesome. I've heard this from several people and I'm sort of curious why people seem so hostile to it. I like '...Meet Moses' quite a lot, and sort of feel like it's a successful blend of the deadpan slapstick of '...Go America' and the more bleak, bathetic humor of the Proletariat Trilogy.
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Nov 5, 2011 20:11
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codyclarke posted:Just watched 'Meet Moses' last night, and didn't like it very much. There are some laugh-out-loud moments but I felt like it lacked the charm and feel-good vibe of 'Go America', which has become an instant favorite of mine. I could watch that movie 100 times. I guess I like the more down-beat and acerbic feeling of 'Moses,' although I'll agree it isn't really anywhere near as good as 'Go America.' I also, really, really liked Andre Wilms in it.
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Nov 6, 2011 00:52
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Tiny Furniture isn't very good but I suppose it's reasonable for Criterion to have at least some acknowledgement of mumblecore in the catalogue, and Tiny Furniture is, if nothing else, probably the most high-profile example of the genre.
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Nov 16, 2011 00:30
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Bown posted:The only thing I've ever read about Tiny Furniture is Ebert's (overall positive) review so it's hilarious to read people all up in arms like "oh no! not one of them there hipster movies!" Like I said, I don't particularly like it (although the more I think about it the more interested I am in seeing it again), but 'hipster movie' is such a weirdly vacant criticism. It could mean anything, it means nothing.
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Nov 17, 2011 01:44
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El Gallinero Gros posted:How is Kuoneko? I saw it in HMV today and saw it was a Criterion film, and I've wanted to get into this collection for a while. It's very good, although a bit more fantastic and understated than 'Onibaba.'
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Dec 16, 2011 23:06
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Every time I watch 'Tiny Furniture' I appreciate it a bit more.
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Apr 16, 2012 15:30
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I've been checking out a few of the movies on Hulu's Criterion channel that haven't been released or announced yet, and have found quite a few total gems. Rossellini's 'Socrates' is my new favorite of his histories, Bresson's 'Trial of Joan of Arc' is gorgeous, and 'Killers on Parade' is a huge and unexpected blast-- along the same lines as 'Branded to Kill' but even more hyperbolic and manic. I saw they also have 'Valerie and Her Week of Wonders,' which impressed me a lot when I saw it a few years ago and is probably my favorite Jaromil Jires. Are there any other must-see films buried in there that aren't available elsewhere? I'm going to check out 'Monsieur Verdoux' tomorrow, and maybe one of the many Zatoichi things they have.
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May 24, 2012 07:48
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Where's the Pasolini? I see a jump from #629 to #634, which would accommodate the Life Trilogy, so I've got my fingers crossed.
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Jul 16, 2012 21:45
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God, 'Lonesome' is great. I always wished more movies were like 'People on a Sunday,' and 'Lonesome' is just a little slicker and sweeter.
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Nov 3, 2012 03:21
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