Disappointing Criterions
 

Well I finally watched one I couldn't even finish: Jubilee.
I guess an "important" movie doesn't necessarily mean a "good" one. I don't recommend this to anyone unless you have a serious interest in all things punk related. Just watch Clockwork Orange again and think about how you could be wasting your time watching this.

I understand some may like this, and thats cool, to each his own.

What Criterions have turned out to be total duds for you?

I didn't quite "get" The Earrings of Madame De... (future Criterion release)

I just watched Jubilee as well and i found it very disapointing as well. The plot synopsis on the back cover makes it certainly sound cool but I found it didn't really decribe the actual movie that well.
ALso i found Ace In The Hole, Ivan's Childhood, La Jetee / Sans Soleil, Under The Volcano, to be rather dissapointing as well.

While I didn't find Jubilee to be as entertaining as the synopsis on the back made it out to be, I still find it quite entertaining. I haven't come across a Criterion yet that I haven't appreciated in one form or another.

Oh. My. God.

Jubilee is a strange movie. It's not particularly entertaining, but it is interesting to watch. No, I haven't been able to finish it yet.

The one I hear mentioned the most is I Am Curious.

:up:

I love film noir... I love Jules Dassin film noirs... But <b>The Naked City</b> does nothing for me.

There, I said it.

So far I haven't been impressed with Jubilee, Blood for Dracula, Or I am Curious. I am sure there will be others, but as a studio I have been very impressed with Critierion and will continue to buy just about everything they put out.

Also i really love Hitchcock but I was very disapointed in The 39 steps.
Also I love Lars von Trier but i HATE The Element of Crime.
Also, In the Mood for Love (probably one of my most hated films I have ever seen),

Great movie.

I Am Curious-- also great, especially Blue.

Well it's only his best British film

I'll put my neck on the line as well and agree with you, I didn't hate, but I didn't think it was all that.

Yi Yi - is another film I can't seem to get past the thirty minute mark.

I couldn't finish Withnail and I.

In The Mood for Love? Seriously? Wow. Are you the same person who said Lifehouse is better than Smashing Pumpkins in music talk last month?


Withnail and I - that one I can agree with.

I bought Jubilee based on the back description and that it was Criterion about 6 months ago or so. Still haven't watched it though. I've been generally happy with my Criterion purchases, but I admit I have had some for a while and still not watched them.

I can tell I need to stop reading this thread

Generally speaking just because a movie may be "important" doesn't make it good. That said I actually despise about a quarter of the Criterion collection.

I got Jubilee four years ago when it came out, and yes, it was on the disappointing side of all things Criterion. Probably the most disappointing I've ever come across, anyway. I agree that the on-package description was "hyped". I've tried to keep that in mind ever since when considering buying Criterions sight-unseen.

Hmm. In The Mood for Love might be one of my TOP 5 Criterions.

Alexander Nevsky.

Not because it's a bad movie, but because it doesn't have the Prokofiev score.

Awful, awful. I hated it, and consider it the only money I've "wasted" on a Criterion.

This is a good topic. I love Criterion and now their Eclipse line. But no matter how open-minded I am, naturally there's stuff that doesn't interest me or work for me.

I've pretty much enjoyed every Criterion/Eclipse title I've bought, all are blind, but for me "49th Parallel" didn't impress me as much. It's the only CC I've regretted about buying.

No kidding. I gotta hand it to Criterion though, they manage to make every film they produce sound like the most important film ever made.


I'm usually pretty picky when it comes to which Criterions I watch so of the select few I've seen the only one that has disappointed me was The Night Porter. I felt the filmmakers could have done so much more with that story.

Overlord

I guess I could steal another poster's bit of wit and say the only Criterion that ever disappointed me was "Good Burger." :)

I know that everyone has different opinions, but would you mind explaining what you have against this one? I can understand someone not liking Jubilee and stuff like In the Mood For Love, but I don't get why someone wouldn't enjoy Ace.

i didn't like Branded to Kill

I didnt like ace in the hole either. And Wilder is one of my all time favorite directors. I loved 39 steps though.

I didn't like The Royal Tenebaums.

I may not agree with all of Criterion's tastes, but I would only be "disappointed" in one of their editions if the DVD itself wasn't up to their usual standards (extras, etc.)

I agree that I am always disappointed when a Criterion disc contains only the theatrical trailer -- not that it's any different from a normal DVD containing only the trailer, but normal DVDs are only ten bucks.

Add me to the club who didn't like Withnail & I. I found How to Get Ahead in Advertising in a pawn shop for $3, bought it and thought it was hilarious and awesome, and eagerly bought Withnail & I, expecting more awesomeness but just found it pretentious and unfunny.

That was one of my beefs with The Night Porter. If I remember correctly it was nonanamorphic, the transfer looked like crap, and it contained no features, not even a trailer.

I was a bit underwhelmed by Jigoku. I still liked it, but I was expecting a bit more from a film about Japanese Hell. Plus, my friend hyped it up BIG TIME which didn't help matters. Other than that I really haven't bought a Criterion that I didn't like.

Armageddon

What a waste of opportunity not to have released this original anamorphically.

I want the 'internal release notes' on this DVD - stating whom at Criterion thought that they should not release this in the 16x9 format. I wonder if that person still works there ???

Most of the early Criterions (like Armageddon) were not anamorphic. Apparently it wasn't till later that they thought it would be critical to have every release anamorphic.

Ace in the Hole just never really got me involved. It's not a film I hate but i just felt that it was boring for me. Again it's not that I would call it a bad movie it's just something I didn't connect to for some reason.

Chasing Amy, duh. Garbage Kevin Smith film did not deserve the Criterion treatment!

Armageddon came out before they released anamorphic titles though, right? I can see it and the Rock being re-released.....

Jubilee is cool, but it's like Border Radio, the synopsis Criterion provides hint at them being movies most won't appreciate and try to provide historical context for their importance...I like both, but I think their marketing is a little misleading.

Anything by Michael Bay.

E