nonametofame- glad to see you snagged the Straw Dogs in the Treasure Hunt thread!

The Kurosawa set. While I was impressed with the 400 Blows, the rest of the box set was less than stellar.

Continuing my criterion dvd acquisitions with

Contempt & Le Cercle Rouge

For fear of being stoned to death in this forum, I love the CC of Armageddon. Great transfer and a fun movie.


Ok, now back to your regularly scheduled love affair of foreign movies....

It is non-anamorphic which is an issue if you have a widescreen TV.

why does everyone make such a big deal out of cirterions ???

90% of their widescreen format movies are NON-ANAMORPHIC and therefore seriously FLAWED in my view. how can any true film buff prefer a criterion to a proper anamorphic transfer.

while i do conceed the point that the criterions are very richly enhanced with extras. extras cannot outway a proper transfer.

let the opinions fly

T

Can you give a source for the 90 percent figure? I tried searching Criterion's Web site, but they don't seem to have a function for searching for anamorphic vs. non-anamorphic.

I have a hard time believing the 90 percent figure though. Criterion's been releasing anamorphic DVDs for just about as long as all the studios have been, and they've released many widescreen movies in that time. It's just that many of the old non-anamorphic DVDs have not been rereleased as anamorphic. (At least one, "Charade," has been though.)

Of course, the anamorphic thing is a moot point to those people without widescreen TVs (or other TVs with anamorphic mode) anyhow. It's also irrelevant to all the Criterion movies that aren't widescreen, which accounts for a huge chunk of their collection.

There are reasons to criticize Criterion, I just don't know that this is one of them...

You may want to buy a better calculator... it's alot less than 90%.

Here are the widescreen Criterion DVDs which are non-anamorphic:

4 Amarcord
7 Night To Remember, A
8 Killer, The
9 Hard Boiled
10 Walkabout
12 This Is Spinal Tap
13 Silence Of The Lambs, The
17 Salò
18 Naked Kiss
19 Shock Corridor
20 Sid & Nancy
21 Dead Ringers
23 Robocop
24 High And Low
26 Long Good Friday, The
27 Flesh For Frankenstein
28 Blood For Dracula
29 Picnic At Hanging Rock
34 Andrei Rublev
37 Time Bandits
38 Branded To Kill
39 Tokyo Drifter
40 Armageddon
45 Taste Of Cherry
50 And The Ship Sails On
51 Brazil
52 Yojimbo
53 Sanjuro
57 Charade
59 Night Porter, The
60 Autumn Sonata
73 Cleo From 5 To 7
74 Vagabond
83 Harder They Come, The
119 Withnail And I
120 How To Get Ahead In Advertising
128 My Métier

And if you're really a fan of film, you'll take a good film in a non-anamorphic DVD over a bad film in an anamorphic DVD everytime.

Define "distinct possibility"

Lines of evidence:

1. In June, the trustworthy DVD Times posted a 'rumour' that a CC re-release of Seven Samurai was expected "in the coming months." I don't give that rumour much credence though.

2. More importantly, Lee Kline, the Director of Technical Development for the Criterion Collection, said the following in a February Chat at HTF:
3. Since the original DVD was released, Criterion has commissioned Linda Hoagland to translate new subtitles for a number of Kurosawa films, including Seven Samurai.

4. The superior R2 Japanese release from Toho (no English subtitles) indicates that there is room for improvement in the picture quality.

So, if I tally it all up, it still looks like a "distinct possibility" to me ...

thanks for the info filmfan.....I'm straddling the fence on whether I should pick up the box set or not. For $65, you get four solid movies. But I would definitely be more interested in acquiring a better version of Seven Samurai if available. I guess I'll hold off for a few months.

for me it doesnt make sense to collect something like "the criterion collection". just cos the lable says "collection" doesnt mean it has to be collected : theres always a good chance your either gonna fool yourself you then know a lot about obscure foreign cinema, or that you will get jaded about spending money on films your not that interested in. i do buy films buy a couple of certain directors, but not many directors have made that many films to compare with the size of the "criterion collection" - and i also "dip" and "pick out" things of interest from where ever it may be... much more succesful and satisfying than "collector edition : only 1 million copies made" or "japanese limited set with free toy" or "special over-delicately packaged edition" and so on. in the end - dont buy dvds : buy films! thats whats on them shiny discs....

logboy, I agree with you for the most part. Although it'd be nice to own the complete criterion collection, I seriously doubt I have the interest nor the funds to complete such a daunting task. I'm starting to pick up criterion discs for a variety of reasons.
One, it is a great way to open doors to foreign cinema. Netflix allows us to do it the cheaper way. Two, criterion covers a wide range of movies, from classic to contemporary, so there's something for everyone. Three, criterion is reputable for setting the benchmark for exceptional quality on all their discs in presentation and extras, including the best versions of some of my favorite movies, Traffic, Fear and Loathing, and The Rock. And lastly, there is a certain appeal and aura about them being collector's items. With the exception of out of print dvds and non region 1 dvds, criterions are always in demand and are highly sought after from collectors and movie buffs. As for you last statment, since the dvd industry is so lucrative, studios hardly ever allow film lovers to be satisified with just buying the "film." Film buffs want the best edition, but unfortunately studios just happen to replace them with newer, shinier versions by the boat load, i.e. "ultimate, unrated, extreme, SE, Anniversay, CE, etc.. So, ultimately, we're all collecting "dvd's" at some point.

I love Notorious (heck its my favorite movie), but the extras (except for the 2 commentaries - really aren't that great) I know MGM will be re-issuing all of the Hitch movies done by Criterion's Box Set later this year..so it might be worth waiting and seeing the difference.

Picked up a few more additions. Seventh Seal, Notorious, Night and Fog, and Straw Dogs. Seventh Seal and Straw Dogs are true classics. I was especially blown away by those two. I hadn't seen either before. Is Wild Strawberries as good as The Seventh Seal?

Wild Strawberries is a masterpiece, The Seventh Seal is one of my favorite movies but I find Strawberries can hold it's own right next to it. If you haven't purchased it already Smiles of a Summer Night is also incredible and Criterion did a great job on the disc.

Thanks, i'll look for Smiles...the next time I do a run around for the next batch of criterions.

As great as The Seventh Seal is, I actually liked Wild Strawberries more. It's just a beautiful film.

Carnival of Souls is my favourite, along with the Blob as a close second.

Mind you, classic horror is my favourite genre, so take that as you will.

So what did you think of Le Cercle Rouge noname?

May I remind you that I'm still new to the foreign genre, but I've always been a fan of crime flicks so my opinion may not be entirely valid, compared to a more informed flim buff. I found the first half to be extremely promising, but was disappointed by the remainder of the movie. The movie is branded as the epitome of cool. I only found this true for a few scenes. The characters were pretty interesting, the atmosphere and cinematography were well done, but overall I was a bit disappointed. I had a sealed copy on hand, but I rented it to make sure it was worth keeping. I've since exchanged it, but it's definitely worth watching.

Of all the criterions I've purchased and/or experienced so far, I have to say Notorious is my favorite, with The Seventh Seal, Spartacus, and Straw Dogs coming in very close. Now that I'm familiar with the more popular titles, which lesser known titles are must haves/must watch?

I've got a few on my checklist
Diary of a Country Priest
Knife in the Water
Smiles of a Summer Night
Port of Shadows
The Vanishing
Sullivan's Travels
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Wages of Fear
Videodrome
Slacker

Of those, I'd pick Videodrome, Wages of Fear and Sullivan's Travels.

cool, thanks, I'll look into those.

I'd get Knife in the Water and Picnic at Hanging Rock. But again I haven't seen Videodrome or Slacker yet.

VIDEODROME should be awesome. I can't wait until the end of this month. :)

Finally saw Wild Strawberries. Although it was good, I didn't like it nearly as much as The Seventh Seal. Which brings me to my next question, what cc disc have you been disappointed in after viewing/purchasing it?

I just get the movies that I like (or strongly suspect that I will like) that are available through Criterion.

I've got 3 -

Spartacus
The Killers
Charade

Out of those 3 The Killers is by far the best. It is an amazing 2 disc set featuring 3 versions of the film (the 2 "official" versions from 1946 & 1964, and 1 short version from Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky - back when he was a film student in 1956!), and there are lots of good extras in the set. The 1946 version is the best, but the 1964 version is pretty darned good too! If you like Film Noir, check this set out - it really is a "must have" for anyone interested in Film Noir.

I was very pleased with the transfers on all of these films.

I got another Criterion for my mom - it was the only way to get the movie that she wanted! Which one? Hopscotch, starring Walter Matthau. This one is a really good movie, and it features the original theatrical audio track as well as the "cleaned up" version for TV (for "family viewing" as the package says). My mom is really anti-foul language (like a lot of moms are), and we were both surprised to see that the clean version of the audio track was available (she always griped about Ned Beatty's swearing in the movie).

So if you see a movie that interests you or that you already know you like, by all means by the Criterion. If you're not sure, rent it. That's the recommendation that several others have made, and I agree with it.

These movies continue to amaze me. My recent experience involves two gems called Grand Illusion and Ikiru. I especially enjoyed the latter. I've only seen a handful of Kurosawa flicks, but this one definitely will be hard to top. I also have Rebecca and Spellbound incoming. I'm wondering if I should just complete the set with 39 steps and lady vanishes.