Travis McClain

Last night, my wife and I streamed The Royal Tenenbaums from Netflix. Neither of us had seen it, though a friend of mine has loved it since its release. I enjoyed it, but the one complaint I have is that I felt like its pace never really changed; there was no sense of momentum, so much as the movie just...kept...going. Also, I found the music rarely contributed anything to the rest of the film; I never felt like the songs selected really added anything to the on-screen content (save for a use of the Stones's "Ruby Tuesday").

Travis McClain

After streaming The Royal Tenenbaums, I began watching the bonus materials disc of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou; I didn't make it to all of the content before falling asleep, but I came back to it late this afternoon and went through the remainder of it early this evening. I have to say, I was largely underwhelmed. I liked the intern's video, as well as the 40-minute "This is an Adventure" doc; the rest of the bonus content was fairly thin, I thought. Looking forward to the commentary track to finish off the entire release.

Also, isn't it time the Animation Challenge list thread was un-stickied and the Criterion Challenge list went up?

Travis McClain

A question I didn't even think to ask until just now: Are we allowed to count English as one of the five languages for the checklist?

CardiffGiant

Yes, I would count English.

Also, I feel the opposite about The Royal Tenenbaums; I'm a big fan of the music (I love the "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" scene).

Also, yeah, a sticky would be nice.

CardiffGiant

I watched Revanche earlier today. If anyone hasn't seen it, check it out. I highly recommend it. For some, it may be slow, but certainly a great, well-paced drama/thriller. Oh, and it looks great on Blu.

Travis McClain

I'd like to emphasize that this was my first viewing of the film. I may, in future viewings, come around on the songs selected for inclusion. This time, I felt like the music was an inorganic element attached to the film, rather than an organic part of the overall work of art. I'll certainly give it another opportunity in the future to win me over, though.

Travis McClain

I just finished streaming this via Netflix after I had problems 8 minutes into Brief Encounter. I really enjoyed it. For those who haven't seen it, I'd say you can trace both The Bridge on the River Kwai and The Shawshank Redemption back to this 1937 film co-written and directed by Jean Renoir. I have a fuller review in my list thread post, which you can find linked to in my signature below.

Travis McClain

I just got back from the library and...holy damn! I found 22 Criterion Collection DVDs on the shelves! That's not 22 eligible titles; that's 22 actual Criterions. I wound up snagging three of them (due back Tuesday): Divorce, Italian Style, Sullivan's Travels and The Wages of Fear. I picked that last one because another forum member in the Animation Challenge discussion thread mentioned it as one of only two that he has.

It also just occurred to me that I seem to be monopolizing this thread. I realize most members are using their list thread posts for their comments on the movies, but am I wrong in thinking that this thread is for the kind of back-and-forth conversation the challenge intends to evoke?

Undeadcow

I for one enjoy your posts and am surprised there's not more discussion steming from the challenge. Maybe in the future specific scheduled movie recommendations or theme/director suggestions a la October Horror Movie Challenge might help encourage discussion.

CardiffGiant

Wages of Fear is a great film; I think it has fairly universal appeal. Suspenseful, well-shot, good performances. Great choice.

I think the purpose of this thread is for discussion of titles, questions that people have, etc. So, you're certainly correct in your assumptions about discussion. Looking at the lists, it doesn't look like many people are participating (yet). That may have to do with the challenge starting in the middle of the week and around a holiday weekend. Hopefully, things pick up next week.

CardiffGiant

I contemplated this, but I tried to stay as close to the spirit of the challenge that Trevor and other created last year. I wanted to make this as inclusive as possible and not push people away from participating in the challenge. To me, it seemed that if I put a check mark for the big Criterion directors (Bergman, Kurosawa, Godard, Fellini, etc.), then people may avoid the checklist all together because of a dislike for an individual director. Additionally, considering the high cost of titles, most people's collections are small and they may have greater difficulty with completing a longer checklist.

I think it's an interesting debate to have and if others feel that we should include more items or certain recommendations, I think that would be a good idea. There was talk last month about the large number of Criterion titles involving prostitution. I considered adding that to the list, but erred on the side of caution, not knowing if it would cause people to feel like the checklist had become a chore.

Finally, I don't think we're going to pull anywhere near the number of participants that the Horror, Animated, and Holiday challenges pull (oddly enough I've never participated in those) because those are more likely to have universal appeal (most of us have titles that fit in those categories without trying and they are readily available on television during the months of those challenges); Criterion titles are more elusive.

Thanks for the recommendations and this is something that we should all certainly discuss more to try and welcome as many members into the challenge as possible.

Undeadcow

Excellent work pulling the challenge together. I really appreciate it.

CardiffGiant

Watched Monterey Pop. Amazed at how good it looked and the performances were great. I have a long, rambling review on my list.

Thanks, like I said, hopefully things pick up after the weekend and we get some more conversation going. Thanks again for the feedback.

Travis McClain

Thanks; that's very kind of you to say!

I look forward to it!

I was surprised how many eligible titles I had in non-Criterion editions. Throw in the 22 Criterion releases at my local library and the plethora of content available for streaming via Netflix and it's a lot easier for me to participate in this challenge than I thought it would be. I initially feared that I was only going to be able to watch the two Criterion DVDs I owned (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and The Rock). I enjoy film, but my taste is very pedestrian; if I can find access to enough content to participate, I suspect most DVD Talkers can as well.

I can't speak to prostitution specifically, but I like this year's checklist. I might suggest, since the Criterion Collection is a celebration of the auteur theory that perhaps it's more appropriate here than in most challenges to have a sub-set of directors on the checklist. In the interest of inclusion, though, perhaps restrict it to just a few, and let the list rotate annually. Or maybe even only have one required director, and let participants vote on which director that will be each year.

I think the Horror and Holiday Challenges do well because a lot of us movie watchers tend to gorge on qualifying content for those times of year anyway. And the inaugural Animation Challenge this year seemed to catch several of us at a time when it was a lot easier to participate than, say, June or July. And a lot of parents seemed to participate in that one because they had qualifying content around the house for their kids anyway; there were a handful of longtime forum members who popped their Challenge cherry on that one.

But this does speak to the view that a lot of fans have of The Criterion Collection in general; that it's exclusive and elitist. I think a lot of people feel intimidated when they're first confronted with the Criterion library; it's as though we're being told that if we aren't familiar with these works, then we're not taken seriously as fans of the medium. I leave it to the actual Criterion organization to decide whether they wish to change their image at all, but within the scope of luring DVD Talkers into participating, perhaps there's something we can explore that might promote a more accessible view of the Collection?

Incidentally, I blogged about this challenge yesterday. I had 29 page views within about 20 minutes, so maybe someone who read it will find their way here as an eager participant?

NoirFan

I finally got enough unpacking done yesterday to watch a couple of films. Night Train to Munich was an enjoyable if minor yarn. I thought the minimization of the concentration camp experience was a bit offensive, but this being 1940, I'm sure most folks really had no idea what was actually happening there, or didn't want to know. I also thought Charters and Caldicott were far less effective here than in The Lady Vanishes, with almost no memorable quips at all. An entertaining rental, but nothing I'd go out of my way to view again. I also took my Blu-ray of Black Narcissus out for it's first spin, and was 'gobsmacked', as the Brits say. The image was far better than the ITV Blu-ray. Even though this was my 7th or 8th viewing of the film, I found myself completely mesmerized, as always. I'll probably start working my way through Ozu and check out another Blu-ray tonight.

CardiffGiant

I think that sounds like a great idea. Perhaps we could rotate out the big directors in the collection for the checklist. Make the current year's director ineligible for the next year to ensure variety.

I think that "exclusive and elitist" feel might come more from a number of fans of the collection than from Criterion itself. With a $39.95 MSRP and a slogan like "a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films" will come off as elitist to some, but the work that they do is important and, along with Janus films, have allowed American audiences to see important foreign films that they may not have otherwise seen. Maybe next year, I can add something in the beginning of the discussion thread emphasizing the number of non-Criterion DVD titles that are out there.

I don't want to discount the fact that people may just not be interested in the challenge, which is completely fine and understandable, we all have our own taste and people should like what they like. I have only participated in the Historical, Criterion and Academy Award challenges because those fit more into the films that I watch often, own, and enjoy. I've contemplated a passing participation the Horror challenge this year, but the genre isn't one that I frequently explore.

Glad to hear it. I've been introduced to (and influenced to purchase) a number of titles from DVDTalkers and I like reading the mini-reviews for inspiration.

Travis McClain

Man, this challenge is awesome for getting a ton of checks all at once over on ICheckMovies.com. I got 13 checks just for The Grand Illusion!

Travis McClain

Yesterday, when I checked out three Criterions from the library I remarked to the librarian how surprised I was to find they had 22 titles from the Criterion Collection. She just stared at me blankly, so I elaborated that it's a collection of some of the most highly regarded movies ever made. She wasn't impressed, but she "got it." I then added, "To get these, you'd have to go to a place like Barnes & Noble [the only retailer in our entire county is a Walmart] and they'd be $30 to $40 apiece." The moment I put the price tag on what I was walking out with, she was sufficiently wowed.

As for the issue of getting this challenge to feel more accessible to potential participants like me with more pedestrian taste, I don't know how to do it. It reminds me of earlier in the year when Scrabble began allowing proper nouns. I had to wonder how many people were out there who heard that announcement and said, "I can use proper nouns now? Alright! I'll play me some Scrabble right now!"

One thing I try to do is post in the "Last DVD You Watched" thread, and make it clear which challenge I watched the movie for (where applicable) and a brief remark about whether I enjoyed it or not. I figure if enough people see enough positive remarks about these movies outside of a Criterion-specific thread, maybe it'll attract some attention.

ThomasB

I'm definitely enjoying participating in my first challenge (viewing my OOP Criterion DVDs in order). Since Sept. 1, I have watched #1 Grand Illusion, #8 The Killer, and #9 Hard Boiled.

Travis McClain

What did you think of Grand Illusion? I streamed it from Netflix a couple nights ago (I'd never seen it before).

ThomasB

I think it is wonderful. Jean Gabin is great as always. Have you ever noticed how many Criterion titles he's in? It must be some sort of record for an actor. And of course, Erich von Stroheim steals the show.

Travis McClain

Actually, this is really the first time I've begun to explore the Criterion Collection. I bought Life Aquatic in '05 because a friend of mine talked it up and I found it used in great shape at a good price, and I bought a used copy of The Rockl because I enjoyed the movie and didn't have any other edition of it in my library. Otherwise, I'm a Criterion newbie, with the exception of a handful of titles I've got in non-CC editions.

I'm also a newbie to French cinema, so these actors are entirely unfamiliar to me. I enjoyed von Stroheim as von Ruffenstein; he'd have made a good Sith Lord or Bond villain. It's not easy to make a villain that isn't one-dimensional, but to infuse some genuine humanity into the character? Rare indeed (though one can debate whether or not von Ruffenstein was truly the "villain" of the film).

It's a pity this is out of print. I might keep a look-out for a good deal on it anyway. It's the early pick to be my favorite first-time viewing from this challenge.

NoirFan

It got a Blu-ray release in France through Studio Canal, so this is likely to be a future Liongate release.

ororama

I think that a major problem with encouraging more participation in this challenge is that its name suggests to most people that they wouldn't be interested. Other challenges, particularly horror and sci-fi/fantasy, have some potential to attract most people because they like some movies in the genre, even if they aren't fanatics. Criterion isn't a genre, and the name makes people think of relatively expensive DVDs, which are mostly art films with subtitles.

I wasn't planning on participating, even though I have a lot of Criterion DVDs. I have decided that I agree with Trevor's mantra across several challenges that numbers don't matter, and since I expected to watch at least seven movies this month that would qualify, why not participate? I've already reached that number, and Black Orpheus was the only one so far that was on my original probable viewing list.

I knew Criterion had released a lot of classic movies on laserdisc that they haven't released on DVD, but I was surprised at the number and breadth of the titles when I looked at the entire list. If more people realized that many movies they like or are interested in watching qualify, participation might improve.

ThomasB

Funny observation! Those would be good roles for him. I wish Criterion would release his Greed.