5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

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09-18-13 | 02:04 AM

#376

Travis McClain

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Also, here's something I've been working on for a little bit. You can copy and paste any or all of this for your own checklist purposes. It's every box set and Top 10 list presently on Criterion.com, formatted for our purposes.

Box Sets

Spoiler:

Collector’s Sets

Spoiler:

Essential Art House

Spoiler:

Eclipse Series

Spoiler:

Top 10 List

Spoiler:

LaserDisc Releases not Issued on DVD

Spoiler:

Last edited by Travis McClain; 08-07-17 at 04:52 AM.

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09-18-13 | 02:10 AM

#377

ororama

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntnon

I've just finished Bridge on the River Kwai, and it is fantastic. What really struck me - and I presume this was quite deliberate - was how it managed to accurately and persuasively portray and argue two completely opposite sides of the same coin with considerable eloquence and sway. On the one hand, the 'rightness' of indomitability and the British Spirit, maintaining dignity and order and following the rules no matter what. And at the same time, pointing out in no uncertain terms the inherent absurdity and great problems in so doing.

On the first side, the Colonel clearly wins every battle he picks with his captor by sticking firmly to his sense of duty and law despite threats, starvation and inevitable death. On the other, there's the American officer who in the last third of the film gives a passionate mini-speech to another British officer in which he states starkly 'You're so busy trying to die like a Gentleman that you forget to live like a human being'. Similarly, Alec Guinness's Colonel has a moment of almost-self-doubt not long thereafter when he notes that he's been in the army for 28 years, and probably only been home for 10 months.

The sense of duty and rightness leads prisoners to help their captors - and the pride and honour in a job well done further has them rewrite the plans and work schedules to make it better. Watching this so soon after The Great Escape, with it's opening gambit that 'the duty of every officer is to escape' or otherwise stymy the enemy is particularly interesting.

Here, though, you have the British officer "leading them [the enemy] right to it [the sabotage]," out of a misguided (or is it?) sense of pride in his accomplishment of building a sturdy bridge in no time flat. "What Have I Done?", indeed.

It's a study in madness, pride, honour, decency; a clash of wills, and probably a pointed commentary on the decline of Empire and the erosion of precisely the kinds of Gentlemanly behaviour depicted so cleverly and accurately.

I'm not sure if I thought of this before, but the movie that The Bridge on the River Kwai most closely parallels is La Grande Illusion. Potential double bill.

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09-18-13 | 02:19 AM

#378

ororama

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis McClain

I discovered that Criterion included a short film, Charlotte et Véronique, ou Tous les garçons s’appellent Patrick [All the Boys Are Called Patrick], as an extra on their DVD release of Une femme est une femme...and that the short is streaming in the HuluPlus library. From my Letterboxd diary:

Loved this since the first and only time that I saw it (maybe when I first saw Breathless?). I don't take Patrick any more seriously than the girls do. He's a jerk who gets caught in his deceptions, it's their friendship that's the point of the narrative, and ultimately, it's the difference that point of view makes in storytelling that is the point of the movie.

I assume that Patrick would have been an unusual French name at the time, which would have been part of the joke, although I recall that a decade or so ago it was the most popular name for baby boys in France. I am a fan of the Irish fiddler Patrick Orceau, who is the only French player of traditional Irish music that I know of (although Breton and Quebecois traditional music is very similar to Irish music).

Last edited by ororama; 09-18-13 at 02:34 AM.

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09-18-13 | 02:31 AM

#379

Travis McClain

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntnon

The sense of duty and rightness leads prisoners to help their captors - and the pride and honour in a job well done further has them rewrite the plans and work schedules to make it better. Watching this so soon after The Great Escape, with it's opening gambit that 'the duty of every officer is to escape' or otherwise stymy the enemy is particularly interesting.

There were an awful lot of WWII POWs who rejected and condemned the film for depicting what they saw as cowardice and treason. I don't have their life experience, so I'm wholly unqualified to speak to that matter. I can only say that I personally felt the story made it clear that Col. Nicholson's cooperation was, at least initially, conceived as a manner of passive-aggressive resistance on pretty meta level. There's the scene after Nicholson has been released from solitary confinement, where he leads his officers through the planning stages and Col. Saito shrinks with each exchange, clearly having lost control over the situation.

Nicholson's orders to surrender are the real conceit, but that often gets lost in the course of discussion. My sentiment is that the big picture idea is that Nicholson is behind the 8-ball and has to do the best he can. He does that, and then somehow finds himself down the rabbit hole. His perspective of the bridge outliving the war is clearly in the realm of idealism rather than the world view that a career soldier would have had, though the way Guinness plays him, it's not out of the question that these events simply caught up with him at a wistful time in his life.

Incidentally, the original novel by Pierre Boulle does not include the American soldier played by William Holden. He was created because it was felt that the novel as it was was too thin for a full length feature film. I read the novel about 13 years ago after finding a copy of it in the campus bookstore. In my estimation, it's one of the clearer exceptions to the presumption that adaptations are always inferior to the original books.

Any time I hear anyone talk about how CGI allows movies to be bigger than they were before, I think of the fact that David Lean built a bridge, put a real train on it, and blew it to hell. There may not be a more thrilling climax from a "sheer spectacle" point of view, and the more movies are rendered by computers, the more impressive it becomes by contrast.

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09-18-13 | 02:45 AM

#380

Travis McClain

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by ororama

I don't take Patrick any more seriously than the girls do. He's a jerk who gets caught in his deceptions, it's their friendship that's the point of the narrative, and ultimately, it's the difference that point of view makes in storytelling that is the point of the movie.

I did enjoy the chemistry between Charlotte and Véronique, and I get that Patrick is a cad who becomes the butt of the joke, but I know too many women who are made to feel threatened by that kind of behavior on a daily basis. I might have been more accepting if 1) Patrick had been less intrusive and bombastic - and certainly more respectful of physical boundaries - and 2) I had a sense of just how or why the women came around to give into him. It happens primarily because the story needs it to have happened, but there's no obvious spark in either cafe scene in which the light goes off for either woman. I just don't buy that they bought into his abrasive pitch.

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09-18-13 | 05:51 AM

#381

Ash Ketchum

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by ororama

I knew this seemed familiar, finally remembered why. http://softfilm.blogspot.com/2009/11...k-douglas.html

It seems the Asian studios were interested in having a little Hollywood glamor rub off on their stars, since there doesn't seem to have been much interest in Hollywood for these actors.

Hope to get to The Life of Oharu this weekend, and I'll be sure to watch The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka sometime this month.

Wow, Ororama, thanks for that link. That's another trip I'd never heard of. Lin Dai was, for a while, Hong Kong's biggest female star. I've seen quite a few of her movies. She was great. She killed herself in 1964 with several movies waiting to be released.

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09-18-13 | 06:33 AM

#382

Travis McClain

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Another rough night, but at least I've got another viewing to show for it. This time, I went back to Hets [Torment], which featured the first Ingmar Bergman screenplay to be filmed. From my Letterboxd diary:

***SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE READING EMAIL***
(Spoilers also for The Virgin Spring.)

Spoiler:

Quote:

During the 2011 DVD Talk Criterion Challenge, I nearly completed viewing the films in the Eclipse Series 1: Early Bergman box set. The one film I didn't get to then was Hets [Torment]. There was no particular reason for that, and it's annoyed me ever since that I still hadn't gone back for this one.

I'm conflicted. The cast is terrific, particularly Stig Järrel as the cruel "Caligula" and Mai Zetterling as the desperate Bertha. Olof Winnerstrand exudes a reassuring warmth as the Headmaster, and in some ways, he may be the most important member of the cast. It's his kindliness that takes what would otherwise be a suspenseful melodrama and elevates it to something fuller, something more "real".

Ingmar Bergman's narrative is judicious in its revelations. Some information we're given for the express and obvious purpose of baiting and tantalizing us. There's no question, for instance, that when Bertha gives Jan-Erik a key to her apartment that he will later use it to gain entry. We're left wondering, though, whether he'll be in time or too late. Rather than be discreet about the key and hope we've forgotten about it, Bertha's presentation of it is completely conspicuous.

No sooner is the key given to Jan-Erik than we see the shadow of Bertha's tormentor. From that point onward, I was completely enthralled. I felt surges of anxiety and I don't mean that in the abstract, generic sense. I mean I seriously contemplated taking a Klonopin because my chest was so tight and my breathing so intense. It's the effect I'm told Hitchcock has on others, but that I have yet to experience with the films of his that I've seen to date.

Unfortunately, despite the compelling and captivating first two-thirds, the final third of the film is little more than an anticlimactic "woman in refrigerator" story. There are some poignant themes in the finale, but I confess that speaking strictly from the perspective of watching the film, it became perfunctory and, if I'm being entirely honest, dull after Bertha's death.

Despite the ho-hum followup, there are shades of Bergman films yet to come in the final act of Hets. Most prominently, of course, there is a parallel with Jungfrukällan [The Virgin Spring]. In that film, Töre rends asunder his daughter's assailants; here, Jan-Erik gets in but a single punch. The takeaway is the same for both characters and their respective films, though.

Bergman doesn't go as far as Fritz Lang's M, stopping short of shaming us for becoming bloodthirsty, but he does caution us that there's no peace to be found in vengeance. Töre finds no peace in exacting revenge. Jan-Erik must content himself that he has seen how truly pathetic "Caligula" is.

We're left instead knowing that when the film is over, we're leaving Jan-Erik on the first day of the rest of his life. He has to reconcile these experiences for himself somehow. It's murky business, but it's the kind of storytelling that Bergman did so well to remind us that life is rarely as tidy as are plays and films.

I just wish that the final section was interesting beyond its philosophical implications. We don't need to see the graduation ceremony, for instance. I appreciate Bergman's abstinence from a conventional wrap-up, but there's simply too much mumbling through the rest of the post-Bertha part of the film. The tension left the film with her.

Still, it's a hell of a first screenplay to have had filmed! One of the things I've enjoyed about exploring Bergman's filmography has been hitting different eras at different times, and in the process getting an ever-changing sense of his evolution as a storyteller. I can't say that I have much of a feel for any specific influence that Alf Sjöberg's work as director on this picture may have had on Bergman; it's been two years since I saw the other films in the Early Bergman box set, after all. Though none of the iconic troupe of actors and crew are here, the themes and motifs that dominate Bergman's filmography are all identifiable.

Hets entered my Flickchart at #640/1573

Hets [Torment]
-X- 1940 (1944)
-X- an Eclipse title
-X- Language: Swedish
-X- Person: Ingmar Bergman
1/5 Box Set: Eclipse Series 1: Early Bergman

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09-18-13 | 08:31 AM

#383

Trevor

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gobear

When I saw that Criterion had officially added Nashville to the collection, I dragged out my old paramount barebones DVD (soon to be sold), What a phenomenal film! From the K-Tel Records opening credits sequence to the weird political background to the music, Altman's film really captures the zeitgeist of mid-70s America.

Zeitgeist?! Wrong Challenge!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis McClain

Awesome, thanks Travis!

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09-18-13 | 08:47 AM

#384

Travis McClain

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trevor

Zeitgeist?! Wrong Challenge!

It's only been two months. Too soon, dude. Too soon.

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09-18-13 | 10:57 AM

#385

malazar

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

I finished off the Robert Downey Sr. set today after watching it over the course of the last several days. This definitely had its ups and downs. The highlights for me were Putney Swope, No More Excuses, and Babo 73. Chafed Elbows and especially Two Tons of Turquoise to Taos Tonight were difficult to get through though. I think this set is definitely one that you have to be in a certain frame of mind that I am never in to enjoy fully.

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09-18-13 | 11:10 AM

#386

Ash Ketchum

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by malazar

You're a better man than I am. Of that set, I never did manage to finish TWO TONS OF TURQUOISE. I did see it when it was released as JIVE many years ago (late '70s sometime) at a film festival so I kind of HAD to sit through it all back then. I believe it was even longer then.

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09-18-13 | 11:36 AM

#387

shadokitty

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

I was in the mood for some horror today, so I opened my DVD of Halloween that I got at Wal Mart a few years ago. I hadn't opened it till now as it is always on tv every year. I think it may have been the cut down version as it was only about 1 hr 25 min I think. There are some nice extras that I may watch and list without counting on the disc too.

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09-18-13 | 07:05 PM

#388

malazar

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ash Ketchum

You're a better man than I am. Of that set, I never did manage to finish TWO TONS OF TURQUOISE.

I don't think I would have managed to finish that turd if it hadn't been a really slow day of work where I was essentially on call waiting for stuff to come in, so I needed something to keep me occupied so the time wouldn't drag. This didn't really help in that regard, but at least the goal of finishing off a boxset and marking that off on my checklist gave me some motivation.

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09-19-13 | 01:05 AM

#389

LJG765

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

I went to watch The Princess Bride and ended up spending about an hour watching all the extras. (I have the br combo pack of it). Except for the one on the Dread Pirate Roberts, they were all well done. I know this was never given a DVD/BR Criterion release, but I think these featurettes would hold up well if they ever decided to make one. I am going to try to watch the actual movie tomorrow.

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09-19-13 | 01:32 AM

#390

Travis McClain

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by LJG765

I still haven't explored much of the bonus content, but I did get a kick out of Rob Reiner's commentary track. He shared a great anecdote about going to dinner once at a place where John Gotti was also dining. I can't remember now where in the movie that came up; 30-40 minutes in, maybe? Worth a listen.

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09-19-13 | 02:02 AM

#391

ntnon

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis McClain

There were an awful lot of WWII POWs who rejected and condemned [The Bridge on the River Kwai] for depicting what they saw as cowardice and treason. I don't have their life experience, so I'm wholly unqualified to speak to that matter. I can only say that I personally felt the story made it clear that Col. Nicholson's cooperation was, at least initially, conceived as a manner of passive-aggressive resistance on pretty meta level. There's the scene after Nicholson has been released from solitary confinement, where he leads his officers through the planning stages and Col. Saito shrinks with each exchange, clearly having lost control over the situation.

I did like that scene particularly, yes. My initial thought was akin to your suggestion of wistfulness, coupled with his overbearing sense of Britishness and duty - they were put to work building a bridge, and honour demands it be a GOOD one - but then I wondered, particularly given the final scenes, if maybe his extended isolation didn't get him thoroughly confused and he forgot that they were working for the enemy. Given Guinness' line - "What have I done?" - I certainly think that's a possibility.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis McClain

Any time I hear anyone talk about how CGI allows movies to be bigger than they were before, I think of the fact that David Lean built a bridge, put a real train on it, and blew it to hell. There may not be a more thrilling climax from a "sheer spectacle" point of view, and the more movies are rendered by computers, the more impressive it becomes by contrast.

And on location, too.

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09-19-13 | 04:22 PM

#392

LJG765

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis McClain

Hmm, I can't remember if I've watched the commentary or not. I may go that route...

Picked up a stack from the library this afternoon. Already watched The Beales of Grey Gardens. I picked this one mainly because I've heard of the Beales and the spine number was one I needed for the check list. When I ordered it, though, I thought it was the original, but it's actually a sequel of sorts. Footage is from the same time period as the original but is the stuff that didn't make the cut. I enjoyed it nevertheless. It was quite interesting looking at these two women and a slice of their unusual lives. I would recommend. I didn't feel lost or anything either, even though I hadn't watched the original film.

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09-19-13 | 09:56 PM

#393

LJG765

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

I watched two more movies today. Monterey Pop and The Princess Bride. The Princess Bride is one of the best movies every made in my opinion. It has a bit of everything in it. It's funny, has adventure, love, pirates, some of the best lines ever...and the song is awesome too. I enjoyed watching it even with the commentary which rarely happens for me! (Travis, the bit you mentioned is about 10 mins in).

The other one was pretty good too. I enjoyed the music which is always helpful. Earlier in the challenge, I watched Gimme Shelter which could almost be seen as the counter film to this one. Where Monterey Pop shows how a concert came together quickly and turned out well, the opposite can be said for Gimme.

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09-20-13 | 06:27 PM

#394

popcorn

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Anyone have a resource for film soundtracks? I haven't found it as a feature on any disc.

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09-20-13 | 07:20 PM

#395

Travis McClain

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by popcorn

Anyone have a resource for film soundtracks? I haven't found it as a feature on any disc.

To my knowledge, none of the DVDs or Blu-rays have included the soundtracks. Spotify is a handy resource for this. I just checked the first few movies to come to my mind:

8 ½
<iframe src="https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:album:5fNPvUjo9caWubvvgs2s8S" width="300" height="380" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou -
<iframe src="https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:album:37b6oqnt71ASLnRtG0VTYP" width="300" height="380" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>

[Two score pieces by Sven Libaek not available.]

<iframe src="https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:album:2tAFOhqz3DxxVI2s5YNsrD" width="300" height="380" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>

[Final song, "Team Zissou", not available.]

The Darjeeling Limited
<iframe src="https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:album:5ZYgdnOWgfgruHFLt1J3Ss" width="300" height="380" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>

When I proposed the soundtrack be added to the checklist, it was with the allowance that it be optional since access may not be great.

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09-21-13 | 08:51 AM

#396

Travis McClain

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

A little after midnight, I watched Les Diaboliques. Initially, I only anticipated getting one check mark out of it because the DVD my library has is the first Criterion edition, which is movie-only. However, I found that the two interview segments produced for the 2011 Blu-ray release are both streaming on HuluPlus. From my Letterboxd diary:

***SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE READING EMAIL***

Spoiler:

Quote:

In his video interview remarks for The Criterion Collection, Kim Newman makes the argument that one problem that Les Diaboliques has with modern audiences is that we've seen so many homages and parodies that on some level, it feels already familiar to us. I'm reminded of my first viewing of Casablanca a few years ago. Even knowing how many iconic lines of dialog originated in that film, there was something about seeing where it all began that made for a slightly surreal viewing experience.

I had previously seen the 1996 remake, Diabolique, during its theatrical run. It was the second movie I ever went by myself to see in a theater, though I keep making the mental mistake of thinking it was the first (which was, instead, Jumanji). I haven't seen the remake since, but at several points while watching the original film, I found myself recalling things I'd forgotten.

Despite the inherited secondhand familiarity and the viewing of the remake, though, Les Diaboliques held my attention. In the 2011 introduction for Criterion's second edition release, Serge Bromberg discusses how specific and attentive director Henri-Georges Clouzot was to detail (a point echoed by Newman in his remarks). I was mindful how sophisticated the film really is, and I don't qualify that by adding "for its time".

Part of the credit, though, despite the director's notorious dismissive view of actors, goes to the principle cast.

Newman makes the argument that Paul Meurisse as Michel is so instantly loathsome that "only the staunchest moralist" would withhold sympathy for Christina and Nicole. The last movie I watched was Hets [Torment]. The dinner scene here, in which Michel bullies Christina into swallowing rotten fish, is as affecting as is the first classroom lesson scene in Hets. Eating fish and learning Latin have never been as terrifying as in these two films.

Danny Peary observed in his 1999 essay for Criterion that Les Diabolique "is a film where the heroine—the nicest person in the story—plans a cold-blooded murder". That description might ordinarily indicate that Christina is simply the least despicable character in the film. Yet just as I would not qualify the film as being sophisticated for its time, I would also not argue that Christina is only the nicest person in the story because everyone else is even uglier.

Véra Clouzot's presence imbues the film with most of its humanity. We would side with Simone Signoret's Nicole simply because Michel is so appalling, but it's a different matter to care for Clouzot's Christina. Even when we feel okay with what she's done, Christina expresses remorse and self-incrimination. She shames us for even rooting for her in the first place. She may be something of a cliché as the fragile, good woman in a bad situation, but Clouzot's pervasive sadness, muted anger, and her projected decency elevate her above being the kind of caricature that the role might have been in someone else's hands.

Bromberg, Newman and Peary all emphasize the relationship between Henri-Georges Clouzot and Alfred Hitchcock, specifically Les Diaboliques and Psycho. The similarities between the two, and their acknowledged mutual respect as storytellers, invite head-to-head discussion and debate. I'm content to say that I was invested in Les Diaboliques in a way that I never fully was with Psycho or most of Hitchcock's more iconic works. (I'm far more into his earlier British works.)

One thing I found curious is that Bromberg and Newman both really talk up how influential Les Diaboliques has been over the years. Certainly, it merited inclusion in The Criterion Collection. But as of right now, Criterion has presented us with 99 Top 10 lists compiled by different film-makers and other celebrities. Les Diaboliques has only been selected for inclusion in just one of those 99 lists: William Friedkin's Top 10. Said Friedkin:

"You can bet I thought  about how it was shot and paced when I sent Ellen Burstyn up to that attic in The Exorcist. No nudity, no sexuality, no violence, just pure, slow-building suspense that escalates to terror."

Edit to Add
I forgot to mention that I encountered an odd playback problem with the Criterion DVD I checked out from the library. Twice, the subtitles "froze". That is, the text simply did not continue to update. I had to stop the DVD and resume. In the first instance, I tried to go back to just before where the text had frozen, but it happened again. I had to instead fast forward by a second to trigger the resumption of the subtitles. Never had that happen before!

Edit to Add, II
I forgot to stream the theatrical trailer from Criterion.com. Now that's how you make a suspense trailer! Teasing and titillating, enough to pique curiosity without giving away enough that I don't feel like I need to bother seeing the movie.

I was also reminded while watching the trailer that I had forgotten to comment on the near-complete absence of music in the film. It's impossible for me to think of a single spot in the film where I feel music would have serviced the story. If anything, trying to punctuate suspense with music would have undermined the seriousness of the film.

Les Diaboliques Entered My Flickchart at #290/1574

Les Diaboliques
-X- 1950 (1955)
-X- 001-050 (#35)
-X- Language: French
-X- People: Henri-Georges Clouzot
-X- People: Simone Signoret
-X- Theme: Noir and Neonoir
-X- Theme: Originals
-X- Theme: Scary Movies
-X- Theme: Suspense!
-X- Essay: Diabolique by Danny Peary
-X- Supplemental Interview: New video introduction by Serge Bromberg, codirector of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s "Inferno" (14:50)
-X- New video interview with novelist and film critic Kim Newman (15:47)
1/10 List: William Friedkin's Top 10

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09-21-13 | 03:39 PM

#397

popcorn

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis McClain

When I proposed the soundtrack be added to the checklist, it was with the allowance that it be optional since access may not be great.

Since I'm watching The Royal Tenenbaums and love this soundtrack, I might do this one. Thanks.

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09-21-13 | 04:56 PM

#398

pacaway

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From: Calgary

Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

What perfect timing for the Calgary International Film Festival to show Jason and the Argonauts (LD #160) this morning! So awesome to get to see this on the big screen!

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09-21-13 | 05:13 PM

#399

rbrown498

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

I watched THE MAGICIAN this afternoon. It didn't disappoint me; I was expecting something a lot heavier than what I got, and I really enjoyed Bergman in a relatively playful mood. I've found that, so far at least, I haven't met a Bergman film that I didn't like.

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09-21-13 | 06:41 PM

#400

shadokitty

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Re: 5th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by pacaway

What perfect timing for the Calgary International Film Festival to show Jason and the Argonauts (LD #160) this morning! So awesome to get to see this on the big screen!

I didn't know Jason and the Argonauts was eligible. I own that and never got around to watching it in either the Sci Fi Challenge or the Animation Challenge.

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