the criterion collection
 

Are there any other fans on the board? I've had a bit of a collector hard on for them for a little whille now, and I know there have to be some other fans on this board.

The Cliterion Collection's Reissue of Backdoor Sluts 9 was fantastic. You can see the words on the stapler as she's spreading for it. HD rules.

you've made this thread 3 times:
http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/sho...ight=criterion
http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/sho...ight=criterion
http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/sho...ight=criterion

and this one.

YES, Criterion is okay, pretty overrated (release way too much obvious shit -- only early Godard, but no late Godard? Only a few Fassbinder things? No Kitano?) and way too expensive but they've released some gems (Dog Star Man, Hausu, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm, Revanche, Bergman stuff, etc etc etc). Still, $50 for a DVD? No thanks.

The Houston Public Library has all of Hollywood video's criterion collection DVD's,
I am gonna watch TOKYO STORY

The best movie they've released is any of the classic Godards, and Branded to Kill.

Tokyo Story is fucking incredible

I like it, but it's not even in my top 5 Ozus, hah..

ooh I have Tokyo Story on my netflix instant watch. I need to watch that soon.


I don't really buy DVDs, but they do make Criterion Collection editions of a lot of movies by some of my favorite directors.

Hm, so I guess Antichrist is coming out through Criterion? That's odd. Found that movie quite awful. I guess it'll probably make 'em a lot of money though, so yay.

Recently watched Akira Kurosawa's Drunken Angel. Excellent film. I would love to own the Kurosawa Collection, but I don't have $500 spend on movies.




I think my next Criterion purchases are going to be Tarkovsky's Solaris and Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise.

Solaris rules.

Are there any Marx Brothers in the Criterion Collection? Or is it just movies after 1950?

i like them, i've never actually bought one, and honestly i don't give a shit about extras and picture quality most of the time. but the public library has alot of them so i watch them fairly often.

the last one i saw was this one and i liked it, the english title was vagabond

Indeed, Solaris looks amazing. I'm just buying it without watching, I just feel its right up my alley.

I'm not familiar with Marx brothers. What are they all about?

anarchy

this guy:






(THAT'S THE ONE ON THE LEFT, OK)

stole my criterion edition of breathless. asshole.

look at him smiling about it, too.

like:

"ima take this bitch to prom, take her out to a nice dinner downtown, then steal the shit out of her favorite christmas present from '09"

Slit his fucking throat.

I have heard so many horror stories of people's ex's having ruined/broken/stolen/sold their CD's/records/movies.

people treat each other like crap sometimes and they treat each other's possesions even worse.

i think i'm the only person that doesn't like breathless(actually i do like it,but not love) i think vivre sa vie and masculin feminin are alot better.

actually the book version of masculin feminin is one of the best things i own

yeah my life to live is fucking wonderful.

breathless was my first though.. you never get over your first.

[i shouldn't talk shit about blake for not returning my movie. it happens when you date people. things get 'lost'. but still, i can't believe he hasn't returned it yet!]

you don't have to date people unfortunately, if i only got some action for every cd that hasn't been returned to me.....

you could make people sign a legally binding slip of paper that stated "if you lose this cd, you are entitled to give me sexual favors on the date of my choosing"

I agree with wellcharge.

Masculin Feminin > Breathless.

i'm only judging by breathless &my life to live.

i saw parts of a bande apart and some of vacation (??.. the one with the 8 minute traffic scene.)

but i am excited to explore my nouvelle cinema once i get netflix. heEey.

Breathless is one of my least favorite Godards. And I've seen EVERYTHING.

The best currently on Criterion is Week End, Pierrot Le Fou, and My Life to Live.

His best stuff is Slow Motion, Notre Musique, Hail Mary, Passion, Oh Woe Is Me, and King Lear though.

For a brief while I always think of Criterion as this thing that puts out these really um I guess important (or at least seemingly important) films that have a very high value and relevance to culture/history or whatever. And then I remember that there's stuff like Armageddon in the catalog.

Criterion is just a brand that releases "important" films -- which doesn't always mean good -- usually that are extremely obvious -- and there are shitloads of awful movies on their label. On the other hand, there are constant surprises.. Dog Star Man, Revanche, Hausu, etc... My biggest thing with them is that all their dvd's are $40+. That's ridiculous. People can argue all day about that, $40+ (note the plus) for a 90 minute movie is completely absurd. People can say, "OH, BUT YOU GET SO MANY SUPPLEMENTS! THE PACKAGING IS KEWL! eTC!" To me, it makes movies turn into this fetishistic object, rather than you know.. just being a movie you enjoy. I have a non-Criterion Breathless that's just as good as the Breathless print, it just doesn't have some ridiculous special feature you're only going to watch once. The packaging usually is cool, but doesn't justify the price; the only thing I can see is the little booklets in most of their releases, but again, it's something you're going to read once, maybe, and that's if you love the movie. Really, the reason they charge so much is that they know they can get away with it.

On the other hand, FACETS does put out almost exclusively amazing movies, I've watched probably 60 Facets titles and 100% of them have been interesting, and most of them have been great. And you can get them for cheap, usually!

Again, I like Criterion, but they've released some absolute dog shit.

Dog shit? Sorry, but their version of Armaggedon was amazing. Bruce Willis never looked better.

Seriously though, the $40 helps go to the people who hunt down prints, transfer the film, clean it up, go through archives for bonus material, etc. A lot of effort goes into a release that might sell, like, 5000 copies worldwide. That said, something like Seven Samuri--which they know sells like crazy-- should go for ten bucks, just to even things out.

You really think those releases only sell, like, 5000 copies worldwide? I'd have to politely disagree with that. Criterion is a respected brand, with hardcore fans, many of whom ONLY buy Criterion, and many collect everything Criterion does. I am sure if I troll their message boards (which I posted on for a few days until I got annoyed with their "moderators have to approve every single post before it gets posted") I can find exact sales numbers on stuff, since they enjoy bragging about that stuff. I am taking a wild guess though, with a pretty niche collection like By Brakhage getting a volume 2 and being one of the first Blu-Ray releases -- yeah, they're not hurting at all.

They do have the "Eclipse" series, which has cheaper titles, like Kaurismaki's amazing "Ariel". Those are only like $25, and have no extras. HaH!

How much was that one Bergman box set, with 3 films? $90? $110? I mean Christ.

How much are DVDs normally over there? I would never pay more than £5 for a movie unless it was a director I truly loved.

My main praise for them comes in putting out great movies I wouldn't have otherwise ever known of, like The Human Condition or Rififi, but yeah thier fan boys are basically just another category of nerd, and a lot of them seem to think that a movie isn't worthwie unless Criterion puts it out, I love what they do, but they are far from a be all end all of cinema. They, like many record labels (sub pop, southern lord, etc.) specialize in attracting those to whom collecting things appeal to, myself being one of them. Chronological spine numbers is always a guarantee for OCD nerd money.

I have never seen any Goddard. Where to start? I think I may actively hate them severely which is why I have avoided them,.

You probaby will... from the ones I've seen (I liked 2 of the 3) they are very self indulgent and pretntious. Godard is a very interesting artist, but his movies are art house movies of the highest order and most assuredly not for everybody.

I enjoy beautiful cinematography but I really do not enjoy watching movies where the entire film is just about two or three people's personal relationships and dillemas. I get bored.
I have yet to hear anyone talk about what Goddard's movies are ABOUT.

Avoid 2 or 3 things I know about her and contempt then.

Contempt and Band of Outsiders are both his most popular films. Next to Breathless..

I started with Week End and Pierrot Le Fou and My Life to LIve and they were fine.

what are they about though?

I loved both contempt and breathless, but had a hard time really loving 2 or 3 things. The visuals and sounds were interesting, but the overall experience was bogged down in pretense that wasn't necessarily all that interesting.

They're pretty cool, but I never want to shell out the cash for those things, and some of the choices are fucking mind boggling, "Armageddon", really? C'mon.

The best one I've bought is "Throne of Blood".

contempt is about living with brigitte bardot. its awesome. and jack palance is in it