CardiffGiant

Anybody have any favorite Criterion commentaries?

I'm leaning towards 8 1/2 and/or Chungking Express. I've only listened to the commentary for Do The Right Thing and The Seventh Seal.

Also, feel free to suggest great extras that you have come across over the years.

Fist of Doom

I love the Steven Soderbergh & Tony Gilroy commentary for The Third Man. It's one of the few I've listened to more than once. It's loose and conversational, but also informative.

The commentary on The Double Life of Veronique is also excellent, though it's more academic in nature.

CardiffGiant

Thanks for the info. I actually own both of those, so I'll look into them. I like academic-leaning commentaries.

I typically don't listen to commentaries because so much of the film is torn down and exposed (I know that's the point) that it affects future viewings for me. However, the academic in me wants to know more.

Mondo Kane

TV schedule for Criterion titles in Sept. (Fill free to fill in certain showings that aren't listed)

Times Eastern:

Che Part 1
IFC: 23rd: 6:00am, 1:00pm
Che Part 2
IFC: 23rd: 8:15am, 3:25pm

Dead Ringers
Encore Drama: 11th; 12:00am,20th; 3:50am

The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Showtime Extreme HD: 5th; 7:15am, 8th; 10:45am, 6:00pm, 9th; 4:25am, 13th; 8:00am, 5:00pm, 18th; 4:05pm, 26th; 10:00am, 30th; 6:15am, 3:30pm

The Fugitive Kind
TCM: 21st; 1:15pm

Hamlet
TCM: 16th; 9:45pm

High and Low
IFC: 9th; 7:35am

The Ice Storm
IFC: 3rd; 6:30am, 12:45pm, 26th; 10:00am

The Last Metro
IFC: 5th; 6:00am

Lord of the Flies
IFC: 14th; 6:00am, 11:40am, 4:25pm

Make Way For Tomorrow
IFC: 6th; 8:00pm

Night and The City
Fox Movie Channel: 16th; 12:00pm, 27th; 8:00am

Pickup on South Street
Fox Movie Channel: 30th; 1:00pm

Playtime
TCM: 6th; 11:45pm

Ran
Sundance Channel: 13th; 8:35am, 2:50pm, 21st; 9:10am, 4:00pm

Rashomon
TCM: 22nd; 10:00pm

The Red Shoes
TCM: 20th; 10:00pm

Ride With The Devil
Cinemax HD: 9th; 2:25am

The Rock
The Movie Channel HD: 2nd; 8:00pm, 24th; 10:00pm
Encore Action: 5th; 1:40pm, 10:00pm, 17th; 10:10am, 7:40pm, 18th; 4:05am, 21st; 9:50am, 6:00pm, 22nd; 4:30am, 29th; 11:20am, 7:40pm

The Royal Tenenbaums
Starz HD: 8th; 12:30am, 16th; 5:05pm
Starz Edge HD: 14th; 10:00am

Shadows
TCM: 21st; 12:30am

Sid and Nancy
Encore Love: 7th; 2:10am, 20th; 2:15am

Summertime
TCM: 16th; 3:30pm

The Virgin Spring
TCM: 17th; 12:30am

Written on The Wind
HBO Signature: 17th; 6:30am

Young Mr. Lincoln
TCM: 11th; 2:00pm

Travis McClain

Question: Let's say I watch a movie that's in the Criterion Collection, but I don't watch the actual Criterion disc. Can I still mark it off in the Spine Range portion of the checklist?

KaBluie

Do we have to watch the Criterion versions? The only Criterion I own is Chasing Amy. I checked the DVD & Laserdisc lists and I have alot of the movies, just not the Criterion versions.

The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen / The Adventures Of Robin Hood / Annie Hall / The Big Chill / Blade Runner / Carrie / Casablanca / Chasing Amy / Chungking Express / Close Encounters Of The Third Kind / Crash / Crimes And Misdemeanors / Darling / Dr. No / Dr. Strangelove / Easy Rider / From Russia With Love / Ghostbusters / Goldfinger / The Graduate / The Great Escape / Halloween / Head / Help! / Invasion Of The Body Snatchers / It's A Wonderful Life / A Hard Day's Night / King Kong / Monty Python And The Holy Grail / Monty Python’s Life Of Brian / The Princess Bride / The Producers / Pulp Fiction / Ride With The Devil / RoboCop / Shampoo / Silverado / Straw Dogs / Switchblade Sisters / This Is Spinal Tap / Walkabout / The Wizard Of Oz

This could be a pretty good month, if I decide to do it.

Trevor

Hmmm, we didn't think about that last year. Generally, we're very lenient on the Challenge checklists, but let CG make the call.
Nope, any version counts!

CardiffGiant

Mondo: Thanks for the schedule...I will link to you post in the 1st post of this thread. (I wish I got IFC and Sundance in HD)

CardiffGiant

I have an inclusive stance when it comes to this kind of stuff and last challenge I counted them for myself, so I say go for it. Essentially, those spine numbers correspond to the DVD counterparts, so as long as it has a DVD counterpart, I think it should count. For clarity sake, if you watch Citizen Kane, I think you could count that for film, time period, etc., but not spine number since it has no DVD counterpart. Obviously, if we used spine numbers from Laserdisc and DVD, things could get confusing (I feel my response is becoming the same way).

Additionally, I think future titles (with official Criterion announcements) could also count. I haven't watched The Thin Red Line since it came out and own it on regular DVD, but I've contemplated watching it during this challenge (although it does come out in September).

I stream films on Netflix all the time; sometimes the "C" comes spinning into view, sometimes it doesn't, whether it does or not shouldn't stop you from checking off a spine number.

Numes

As far as commentaries go, most of this is just a cut/paste from last years list thread:

This is Spinal Tap - What a great commentary. The "in-character" commentary on the non-Criterion release is funny, but more of a novelty. Listening to Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Christopher Guest talk about the movie as themselves was truly a treat. They did a wonderful job talking about the history of Spinal Tap, how the movie was made, and their experience since the movie was out.

Spartacus - This commentary features Kirk Douglas, Peter Ustinov, novelist Howard Fast, producer Edward Lewis, restoration Expert Robert A. Harris, and designer Saul Bass. The thing that really struck me is how honest and open Howard Fast is. He was basically fired from writing the screenplay because it wasn't going to be done in time. He points out a lot of the differences between his book and the screenplay and is quick to both praise and criticize those scenes. The most interesting thing he said so far is he didn't think how Kirk Douglas played Spartacus was anything like what the character should have been! Peter Ustinov's comments were wonderful and went deeper than I would have expected. In fact, everyone on this track was truly top-notch. One of the best commentaries I've ever heard.

Spartacus (quasi-commentary) - Workprint comments by screenwriter Dalton Trumbo - Probably one of the best "commentaries" I have ever heard. I put "commentaries" in quotations because it was an actor who was reading Trumbo's comments to the workprint version of the movie. If anyone wants to get a real view into the mind and thoughts of a screenwriter, this is what you must listen to. He holds absolutely nothing back in his comments, and I mean nothing. He does praise certain parts of the movie that he thought was done well, but typically focuses on the things that he feels do not work or things that were changed from his script that were detrimental to the movie. One thing that truly stood out at me was a very very harsh criticism of Tony Curtis. He basically stated that he was a terrible terrible actor, he is a terrible actor, and will always be a terrible actor. Other than that one personal attack, I can't say that I necessarily disagree with anything else that he stated. A lot of it was little nits, but there were some major items that are worth further study/thought. Highly recommend.

Notorious (Rudy Behlmer) - Amazing! Top notch stuff here. A lot of behind the scenes information on the actors, the production, and just the making of the movie in general. He also does do some screen-specific commentary at certain parts so it's not just one-dimensional.

Boogie Nights* - I asterisk this one because I wasn't sure if this was the commentary from the Criterion laserdisc or not. This was just the PTA commentary. There is another one with PTA with various cast members that is still entertaining, but not as good as his solo one.

Any Terry Gilliam movie - He always has some of the most amazing commentaries out there. Criterion titles include: Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Life of Brian. Note: I haven't listened to Life of Brian yet. Note2: Apparently there is a unique commentary for The Adventures of Baron Munchausen laserdisc that is different from the other release. Very interesting. I also see that The Fisher King laserdisc has a Gilliam commentary not available on the DVD. Oh wow, I would love to get my hands on that commentary!

Looking forward to listening to the following commentaries this year: The Third Man, Dazed and Confused, the Kurosowa films that I have never seen before, and any of the other Criterion titles that I have no expectations for at all.

I am a huge fan of commentaries and I'm sure I've listened to over 500 commentaries. A pretty good resource for commentaries can be found here: http://www.ratethatcommentary.com

Supplements:

Beastie Boys Video Anthology - This is probably reserved for hard-core Beastie Boys fans (for which I am one.) I loved the alternate angle/shot features that they had on a lot of their videos. Really just an excuse to listen to the songs more than once

Lux Radio Theater broadcasts (mostly on Hitchcock titles) - These are hit and miss, depending on who the voice actors are, but for someone who didn't grow up anywhere near the radio days, it is SO interesting to listen to some of these. I found myself kind of placing myself back into a time period that I never even experienced and being able to appreciate what they were doing back then. Obviously, a lot is lost in the radio adaptations, but it is an experience nonetheless.

Rebecca supplement "How did you like the picture?" - This only takes a few minutes to read, but there are some pretty funny comments by some of the people who filled out the questionnaires.

Almost all the supplements from Criterion are top notch. I have to think about the supplements a bit more to capture the ones that I didn't have listed in the list thread from last year.

CardiffGiant

Thanks for the list. I usually jump in to a good deal of the extras, but I haven't listened to many commentaries (you are at 500; I might be under 10). Usually, when I contemplate listening to a commentary, I decide to just watch the film instead.

I've checked out the website before, but the films I've looked up have been pretty limited in ratings. Still, agreed, it's a good resource.

I plan to watch Dazed and Confused during this challenge. The real question is whether or not I can pull the trigger on the commentary. I'm definitely going to check out some of the extras.

Agreed regarding the supplements. It's been very rare that I've found a Criterion supplement that I didn't like. Last year I watched a short film on A Woman is a Woman called Charlotte et Véronique ou Tous les garçons s’appellent Patrick that was quite good (for those looking for a decent short film).

NoirFan

I'm moving on the 1st, so I'm not sure how much viewing time I'll have during the first couple of weeks - I've got 58 (!) boxes of DVDs, Blu-rays and books alone to unpack.

ororama

I love this movie. Charlotte et Son Jules on Criterion's Breathless DVD apparently involves the same character, and Presentation or Charlotte and Her Steak on Criterion's Six Moral Tales may involve the same character, although I haven't seen either of these yet.

Numes

I always watch the film/show first, and then listen to the commentary within a reasonable amount of time after I've watched the film (I try for less than 30 days.) If I wait too long, I find myself listening to the dialogue of the film rather than listening to the commentary. If I've watched it recently, my brain kind of knows what's going on already.

CardiffGiant

Awesome, thanks. I had no idea. I'll have to check that out. The "to do" list for this challenge is really starting to pile up. I tried to find a copy of A Woman is a Woman during the most recent sale, but my B&N was out. Hopefully, it will get a release somewhere on some format in the future.

Trevor

So what did everyone do on the first day?

I was fairly spent by the Animation Challenge, staying up all night watching South Park, so am probably in for another mellow September. I doubt if I'll go more than one film per day on average this month, and started today with an Eclipse set, watching Sacha Guitry's excellent The Story of a Cheat.

Travis McClain

I watched The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, the first Criterion Collection DVD I ever bought. It was largely a blind buy at the time; I'd seen the trailer for the movie and knew a friend loved it, but I hadn't seen the film when I came upon it used in early 2005. I enjoyed it more this time, perhaps because I knew what to expect. With the exception of the commentary track, I did watch all the Disc 1 content; I'm going to hit Disc 2 either tomorrow or later in the challenge.

Numes

All I was able to muster was one of the special features on the 3-disc Brazil set. It was an original featurette called "What is Brazil?" I was expecting a normal fluff piece, but it was pretty informative and truthful as far as original featurettes go. I have a feeling Gilliam was actually part of the making of this one, not just the studio.

I also was able to start the first commentary on The Third Man. I'm about halfway through and it is fantastic. It is with Steven Soderbergh and Tony Gilroy and they have been great so far.

KaBluie

I saw the first three Bond films on the Wikipedia list of Criterion Laserdisc releases, so that's what I decided to start with but I only got the first two in. I'll start day two with Goldfinger.

ThomasB

I watched Criterion #1 Grand Illusion. Tonight will be #8 The Killer.

CardiffGiant

I watched Slacker yesterday. As mentioned in my write up on the list thread, I was pleasantly surprised since I hated it when I watched it around 15 years ago. I don't know what made me choose it...I was just surfing through my Netflix Instant Queue (the first 80+ films are Criterion).

No idea what's on for tonight...I do have eventual plans to finish up the Early Bergman Box Set that I started back in June and finally getting around to watching The Complete Monterrey Pop on Blu.

CardiffGiant

In other news, Red Desert has been at the top of my queue since it came out, every time I send one back, it says Available Now, but I end up getting the second disc on my queue (this time it was Revanche, which I've never seen). It seems that it keeps flopping between Available Now and Short Wait. Oh well, small complaint. But I'm a fan of Antonioni and Vitti, so I'm looking forward to it.

Ash Ketchum

I have a few unwatched Criterion discs (e.g. TOKYO STORY, THE SCARLET EMPRESS), so I'll try to watch them this month in honor of this challenge, although I won't be participating beyond that. The August Animation Challenge used up any "Challenge energy" I might have had.

ThomasB

It is worth the wait. Vitti gives a great performance. If you are in the mood for a double feature, the movie pairs quite well with Todd Haynes' "Safe".

MrTerrific

Since I'm heading to Dragon*Con in Atlanta this weekend, I opened the challenge with Chasing Amy. LOVE this movie. Oooohh Yanni!