In their defense, this is one of their oldest discs. Early Criterion discs, with a few lovely exceptions, generally show their age a great deal. Of course, this defense does not leave us with a progressive special edition of this set, so the point is righteously moot to any righteously angry Fields fan. I'm very glad they did not tackle Brakhage three years before they did.

A thought, though...considering their new relationship with Paramount, its possible that the Fields shorts disc could be remastered, and pushed into a box, along with some other Fields silents, or simply re-mastered as a companion piece to an Eclipse box. Paramount does own a couple of Fields' surviving silent features. Just a slight possibility; though Criterion has already announced plans to release a few silent films from Paramount.

I'm not a Michael Bay fan, and I agree that high grosses doesn't equal quality, but just because a movie isn't good doesn't mean it's not important as well. Case in point, Pink Flamingos. It's not a good movie by any standards, and gets by only on its shock value. But it's considered important, due to its pushing of the cinematic envelope.

When I watched Samurai Rebellion I had a lot of shows on my DVR and I was trying to get through them real quick, so the problem could have been that I didn’t have enough patience with it.
I thought Solaris was interesting, but when Kelvin arrives on the space station, the movie, for me, seemed to really slow down. But, I’m willing to give this and Samurai Rebellion a second watch.

Umberto D. I probably shouldn’t have put on that list since the movie didn’t disappoint me, but it did leave me feeling somewhat depressed after it was over. I don’t feel like that’s a movie I want to revisit.
I also shouldn’t have put Mafioso on that list. I wasn’t disappointed by the movie, but I didn’t really find it funny. Could be I didn’t “get” the humor, but I’m willing to give this a second watch too.
Actually I will give each of the movies on my list a second watch except for The Honeymoon Killers, Man Bites Dog, and Knife in the Water. Those three movies I did not like.

Regarding the Criterion DVDs, the ones I am disappointed with are:
The Night Porter – As I stated before, I thought the print was bad and there were no extras.
Samurai Trilogy – Poor print and lack of extras.
The Hidden Fortress – Lack of extras. (Yea, we got an interview with George Lucas and the trailer, but I would’ve liked more)

Now, I’m not saying these movies are bad, the movies are excellent, but they have very poor DVD editions. I would really like to see The Hidden Fortress get the same treatment the reissues of Yojimbo and Sanjuro got.

Just a reminder that La Dolce Vita is actually from Koch-Lorber Films and not Criterion.

I was wholly unimpressed with Tanner '88.

I blind bought Two-Lane blacktop last month during the D 20% off sale and also ended up watching it last month. I was very unimpressed with the film. The extras were good and all but I just couldn't get into the movie. I dont like Easy Rider either though so I dont know maybe I would have had to have been alive in the 60's or 70's to appreciate it.

I agree that a sub-par film, technicially speaking, may be important due to its subject matter, theme, or lasting impact on future cinema, but that is still not the case with any of Bay's movies. If it was, I would overlook the horrible direction, but one of my complaints is exactly that there is no worthwhile content/message in addition to his poor direction and that his films are basically derrivative of Tony Scott's mind-numbing exercises.

Where John Waters pushed the envelope, Bay has done nothing of the sort. Even if one were to make the argument that his mindless drivel was a "pushing of the envelope" to some sort of unadultarated mindless form of cinema, I would simply reply, "See Top Gun."

Crazed Fruit

I doubt that you have to be older than 28 to appreciate Two-Lane Blacktop, but it may take a bit of work if your usual film preferences run more toward The Fast and the Furious than L'Avventura. The writer's commentary is particularly good on this release, and capable of providing much deeper appreciation for the film, I think, so consider giving that a listen if you haven't already.

Interesting interview with Rudy Wurlitzer from May's Arthur Magazine. I'd like to check out his books, but they seem to be difficult to find.

Equinox.

That's a weird one for me. Equinox is a film I saw on my local TV station's "Chiller Double-Feature" which ran from about 11 PM Saturday night to 3 AM Sunday morning when I was about 10-years old (thanks to permissive parenting). That film stuck with me more than any of the 100 or so other late-night horror films I saw during that period, but I didn't remember the name of it and couldn't figure it out even after the internet came along and I inquired of people and plugged the details into Google. When Criterion released Equinox it was as though they were scratching an itch I'd had for twenty-five years.

I felt the same way. I also blind bought this, but couldn't bring myself to break the shrinkwrap, so I rented it.

I though it was OK....more meh than wow. Couldn't imagine rewatching it, so I was relieved that I hadn't opened it, and could return.

Wow, this topic has an unnecessary amount of elitism in it.

I watched Godard's Alphaville (which, I admit, I had downloaded on a torrent) last night and thought it was amazing. But I sadly will not be picking up the Criterion because there's no point in upgrading my torrent to a $25 CC that includes zero features. I desperately hope this movie gets a re-release.

My least favorite Criterion film itself is The Seventh Seal. It is a bottom five movie of all-time for me. The Ice Storm is not very far behind in second place.

Exactly. Why pay for what you can steal? F*ck the man!

If it weren't a 10-year-old disc with no features, I would gladly buy it. Before the DeepDiscount sale expires, I'm going to place a large order that will include among many others Band of Outsiders, Contempt, Pierrot Le Fou, and Breathless. Ironically, I like Alphaville better than the majority of these films... But I'm gonna wait for the hopefully-forthcoming re-release.

I guess I'm f*cking over Blockbuster/Netflix, eh. I don't blind-buy CC's so the rental business loses out when I "rent" them for free via torrent.

All of them were incredibly boring, and the plots were hard to follow. Brazil was just stupid and weird.

You, my friend, have a lot more will power than I do. I've blind bought DVDs on several occasions, considered renting them first before I opened the shrink wrap, but always, inevitably, open the DVD anyway. I'm a weak, weak man...

As I type this, I've got Criterion's Overlord, Army of Shadows, and Monsters and Madmen opened but unwatched on my shelf.

Criterions are just so darn pretty looking, you have to open them as soon as they arrive.

I have to open all the DVDs I buy during he car ride home, I love looking at the booklets / disc art.

is it me, but the restoration Second Sight release doesn't impress me. I'm really hoping Criterion has a release of their own later in the year - and preferrably on blu-ray.

Those caps look decent. Are you saying you saw the disc and it was unimpressive, or are making that assumption just based upon the caps? The Second Sight Ophuls I'm most disappointed with is Reckless Moment. Perhaps it's my player, but the video was jagged and choppy at times.

yes 'decent' but not wow - but of course the pics aren't in motion, for a 4k scan/restoration it just looks lacking (and yes, I making an assumption, which I know isn't really fair) - I thought the 35mm print I saw of the restoration looked better - or maybe I'm just used to blu-ray hidef screen caps from DVDBeaver and blu-ray.com

if only they had been longer and rated R

I've at the very least been able to appreciate everything from the CC i've seen with one glaring exception: Godard/Bunuel/Fellini and the rest of the New Wave surrealism they love so much. Just can't do it...ESPECIALLY Godard. And i've tried, believe me. The impenetrable nonsensical bullshit is only acclaimed because it gives movie nerds a platform from which they can look down on the unwashed masses that can't understand any of it....even though they can't either, but pretend to in order to be in the cool crowd and use big words when they talk about all the symbolism and the meaning of pure cinema and whateverthefuckelse they think it's about. Godard is by far the most over rated film maker in history. Even he didn't understand what the fuck he was doing...which somehow makes him a genius?

I must confess to also be a bit full on all the Japanese releases. I've loved more than a couple of them...but it's getting to be a bit much. I don't fully understand the fascination with Japanese cinema on the whole. It's interesting and certainly unique, but not everything is a masterpiece. That said, i can't freaking wait to get the Nikkatsu Noir Eclipse box

and Anchor Bay's version came out about 3 years after Criterion's (same with Mona Lisa) - these are quite clearly exceptions to the rule...in fact they are the only two titles you can say this about.