Great cover! I'm stoked for this one. Anyone who is interested in this one, I suggest you watch Dr. Mabuse Der Spieler first if you haven't already, out on Image DVD.

Damn. Mabuse is the man!

And Stray Dog! Woo hoo!!

Yeah that cover is aweseome. I'm definitely getting thsi one. Is it absolutely necessary to have seen the first film?

Its all hype. Yea their movies have a fan base but many are quite boring an too artsy in my opinion.

Once they start doing price drops, most people wont look at criterion as the Picasso of dvds.

There are a number of threads regarding why Criterion is so great - but basically they generally do excellent work with great transfers, extras, commentaries (they invented the audio commentary track) and tend to focus on mostly foreign and classic films - but of course there are newer films like "The Rock" and "Naked Lunch" given the "Criterion treatment" too.

Basically they are the best DVD company, and any time a film that I love is announced as a Criterion release I'm happy.

I haven't seen Testament yet, but my hunch is it's not entirely necessary to see the first one.... but I love it. Be forewarned though, it is a silent film. If that's not your bag, you may want to skip it. I'd at least pester your library to order it, and just check it out from them.

Too artsy?

Quote:

Once they start doing price drops, most people wont look at criterion as the Picasso of dvds.

Not quite artsy enough?

Make up your mind.

I posted the news about Stray Dog a while back in a thread about Stephen Prince being my film teacher...nice to see that I wasn't proven wrong...

First off, Testament of Dr. Mabuse is a sound film, Fritz Lang's 2nd, I believe. Second, I am way past tired about all the snobbery complaints about Criterion. I know this is an ongoing debate and everyone has their own tastes, but everyone needs to give it a rest. I mean no one is being forced to buy them. Bottom line, to some people the higher cost is too much, understood, and others simply won't like every title, also understood, so don't buy them. As a company, Criterion seems to strive to release interesting and often historically important titles and they do an excellent job at it. Occasionally, they don't release the definitive edition or there is a problem, but that is usually an older release, like Salo, and they seem open to trying to fix their old problems. Personally, the reason I give them the benefit of the doubt, is that they have released many films I love and introduced me to many great films that I didn't even know about. I also give a company like Blue Underground this same consideration, because of the loving care they provide for their niche. For me and many others, its about film love and discovering the riches and depth of cinema around the world and in our own backyard.

Another for the 1922 silent Dr Mabuse out on Image. It's a great 2-disc set (the two parts of the movie total nearly 4 hours) and there is in an outstanding commentary track throughout that that puts the movie and Fritz Lang in historical perspective.

I am definitely psyched for the Criterion!

Very happy indeed with the upcoming Criterion titles, although come May, i doubt my wallet will be

First off, I was referring to Dr. Mabuse der Spieler (a.k.a., Dr. Mabuse the Gambler)

Marty, glad to see a fellow fan of the film. I agree that it's a great dvd too. Did you happen to also get The Nibelungen?

Am I the only one that isn't very impressed with these new covers? Lately I've thought they've been doing great jobs with them, but Stray Dog is bland and not very interesting, Dr. Mabuse is absolutely hideous, and none of the others thrill me either.

Yes.

Sorry Mutley, I realize this probably sounded kind of rude. That's not the way it was meant, I just thought you were mistaken about Testament and were not speaking of Gambler

Well I'm definitely getting The Testament of Dr. Mabuse - you can't beat these extras, and I'm curious to see a 1.19:1 aspect ratio. I'll pick up the other films in the series if I enjoy this one a lot, and I expect I will, it sounds really interesting. No problems with silents from me, though I only have one in my collection: Metropolis.

The other releases all look interesting, as well, but I think I'll limit myself to Tim Drum and Leopard, in addition to Dr. Mabuse. Had I unlimited amounts of money, I'd pick up every single Criterion release - they're that good. If you're a cinema fanatic, they are THE company for you. All this talk about them being too expensive and too artsy and whatever is nonsense. You can tell their release are made with such love and care that no other studio even comes close, ever - maybe with some notable and rare exceptions. Also, no other company would give these obscure but genuinely great films the treatment Criterion gives them. I check out every Criterion release and announcement and if something sounds interesting or has interesting extras, I buy it blind, knowing full well it will not disappoint, and it never has. I've bought many Criterion releases I knew NOTHING about and none have left my collection, and I doubt that will ever happen.

Long live Criterion!

jmj713,
I understand the money issue, particularly since I just moved and am getting set up in a new, much more expensive city. That said, I would definitely suggest the 2 you do not mention, Stray Dog and Smiles of a Summer Night. Stray Dog is simply one of Kurosawa's best, particularly his best pre-Rashomon film. Smiles of a Summer Night is also great. It is probably Bergman's lightest film, along with The Magic Flute, that I have seen and it is great fun. Also of interest if you haven't seen it is the February releases Pickup on South Street and Maitresse. I'd seen Pickup and knew it was great, but Maitresse was such fun. Also, the upcoming Onibaba is awesome.

I just finished watching Pickup on South Street a few days ago. Great film! Didn't pick up (pun intended) Maitresse as the subject matter didn't really appeal too much to me. Onibaba is preordered, along with Floating Weeds. Other new releases from Criterion I got were Diary of a Country Priest, Rules of the Game, Ikiru, Cercle Rouge and La Strada. Also some older releases that I just picked up, Bunuel's Diary of a Chambermaid and Discreet Charm... All great stuff!

It's all good, bruh.

Could there possibly be enough room for a CC Mabuse trilogy?

Dr. Mabuse (1922)
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1932)
The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960)

All directed by Lang.

And does anyone here speak German? One of the posters that I've seen for the 1st film says "Inferno des Verbrechens". Translation?

I speak German, and this roughly means "inferno of crimes".

Online translator come up with literal translation "Pandemonium of the crime". I would say it means criminal mayhem? Just a guess. I know no German.

As for 1000 Eyes, I've never seen it, but I'm not so sure how much it would 'fit in' with the other two. First, it was made so much later, and second, it's got Gert Fröbe (Auric Goldfinger) as Mabuse, and not Rudolf Klein-Rogge. I can't imagine anyone else as Mabuse but Rudolph, however, I like Gert and would love to see his outing as the diabolical crimelord. I just don't think I would queue it up with the others for a 'trilogy marathon'.

Oh... thanks Dr. Jay!

Too artsy? If you bothered to watch most of them you would realize that just about every film in the CC is an extremely influential movie with a large impact upon most movies following it.

In terms of price drops, licensing a motion picture is not cheap, and I doubt Criterion could afford a price drop...you get what you pay for in this case.

Actually Inferno can be translated this way as well, just depends on context, and as I haven't seen the movie, I wouldn't know. I was assuming it meant a metaphorical inferno, in any case .