Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Not feeling it? You've watched something almost every day!

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

But not enjoying it hardly at all, and plan to stop. I have to force myself to watch something challenge related.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Maybe if I try your idea of watching Criterion horror.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

The Scarlet Pimpernel (34/35) is just brilliant - an excellent Percy/SP, and a great supporting cast. I'm not totally sold on Merle Oberon's abilities, but she's great as Lady Blakeney - and particularly he late discovery.

Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel is very mildly disapppinting in that it loses the brilliance of Leslie Howard in favour of a Percy who's less fop and more effeminate. However, the barrage of brilliant final-ish lines (the subtle cameraderie and knowingness between Percy and O'Brien; Chauvelin's putative punishment as per Lady B) make it a very good sequel and SP film.

But Richard E Grant's still the best...

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I might try watching some Criterion horror today, as I'm stuck in bed. My entire body is in pain from head to toe. And to break it up, will watch other Criterion too.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I'm actually stuck for what to watch. May just browse Roku for a good show, and later do a Criterion marathon.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I'm out of town this weekend, visiting friends which puts a hamper on my viewing (though I've convinced everyone that we really should watch Mad Max: Fury Road.

Last Monday, I got together with my weekly movie group, and we watched Terence Malick's Badlands. We've decided that we're going to watch one Malick film a month until we've seen all of them (minus To the Wonder which we were disappointed by last year). For a first film, Badlands is amazing! It feels so polished and deliberately paced. I loved everything about it!

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Europa: LvT was my favorite filmmaker for a while, and I've had this movie for years, but somehow I don't think I watched it all the way through until now. I have however seen the first twenty minutes several times. Max Von Sydow's narration, the precise German mannerisms, real B&W photography not some grayscale shite.

But Ernst-Hugo Järegård is by far the best part. So cranky and crusty but probably always right. I wonder if Criterion could ever get LvT's The Kingdom?


Chungking Express: Like a lot of Great Movies, this one gets better with each viewing. It's so momentary and alive, and even though it's clearly part of the 90s, it still feels like it's happening right now. I'm sure that has something to do with the fact that Wong Kar-Wai dashed it off in two months while taking a break from Ashes of Time.


Also, Happy Birthday Pedro Almadovar!

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

The Man Who Could Work Miracles is fairly standard wish-fulfillment/be careful what you wish for/Change The World! fare with some interesting anf mildly impressive trickery. But the central performance from Roland Young is rather good. He captures the optimism, befuddlement and naivety nicely. Not nearly as sublime as his tricky/Wodehouse-y bumbling in Wedding Rehearsal, but still highly enjoyable.

Now, Miracles' story and script were by HG WELLS. And Criterion have TMWCWM (Hulu only so far), Island of Lost Souls and Things to Come, so why don't they also get hold of the other Wells-scripted short films that are (so far as I know) absent entirely from DVD and do a nice Wells boxset?

Plus Dead of Night should join Lady Vanishes (and Wells' stuff) in the Collection.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I just finished watching A Canterbury Tale. I didn't know a lot about it going into it, other than it was filmed the year my mother was born. I ended up thinking it was quite charming. I thought it was fast paced and had a good plot going. The only part that really slowed down for me was the last 20 minutes or so. They wrap the film up fairly nicely on the train trip to the cathedral but then spend 20 minutes longer to answer the last couple questions that are left hanging. I think they could have done that a little bit quicker, but you do end the movie feeling like all the t's are crossed and i's are dotted. I think it's most noticeable because you've spent most of the movie not thinking about how long it actually is (a shade over 2 hours) and it just kind of comes to a screeching halt for 20 minutes where nothing major is happening with the plot. It's just a bit extra to finish a side element, if that makes sense.

Overall, I'd really recommend this one and I'm glad that I watched it.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

With the Horror Movie Challenge only days away, and with it looking like Halloween everywhere I look, combined with Halloween being my favorite holiday , I decided to watch some horror tonight. So I pulled out my copy of the Special Edition of Halloween. I've always loved that movie.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I'm woefully behind, but I have actually been watching movies recently! My laptop is presently nonfunctional, and it's hard for me to write long form on my phone, so here are some quick, brief remarks:

TUNES OF GLORY
Interesting themes, delightful performance by Alec Guinness, but I can't help seeing this as a light riff on THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. I think I'd feel that way even if not for Guinness's presence. This one loses sight of some of its threads at times, too.

SWEET MOVIE
Basically, this seems to be JACKASS for the art house crowd. Some genuinely engaging sequences, but on the whole forgettable. But then, I readily conceed I may just be desensitized after years of Internet videos.

PERSONA
I was mesmerized by this when I streamed it a few years ago, so I finally splurged during Barnes and Noble's most recent Criterion sale for its Blu-ray release. I gorged on its supplements as well, and I confess to being somewhat disappointed by how little there actually is. Still, the film itself is captivating. It's the only Bergman film I've seen twice, and also the only one I own, which should say something to those who've endured my gushing over his movies in previous discussions.

[Gem from the 1970 interview: "I'd much rather see Goldfinger than an Antioni film. I can't help it. That's simply how it is."]

LIV & INGMAR
Documentary feature included with PERSONA, telling Liv Ullmann's perspective on her relationship with Bergman. Much of it was familiar to me already from having read her memoir, CHANGING. I found the book more appropriately intimate, but appreciated the film for what it shows, and for hearing Ullmann herself speak on these things.

HAXAN
Fascinating, disconcerting, and unintentionally hilarious at times, at least for a viewer with my macabre sense of humor. So far, my favorite viewing of the challenge outside PERSONA. Benjamin clearly devoted a great deal of attention and effort, and it shows.

LE MILLION
The tone is right and the cast is pitch perfect, but the comedy-of-errors milieu wears thin for me quickly. I can enjoy it in short form (love me some Stooges!), but in long form it becomes tedious. I was ready for LE MILLION to be over before Act III even started. It didn't help that I only sympathized with Beatrice, and had time to remember how Michel had been such a cad about her when the film opened that I didn't want to see them end up together.

Side note: I kept looking at the guy playing Prosper and thinking how much he resembles James Franco. Distracting, that!

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I just finished the last Zatoichi movie of the set. I ended up liking them a lot more than I imagined. There were multiple days I'd watch 2 or 3 of them back to back and I didn't get burned out at all on them. I'd say this set it near the top of the criterions I've seen, if not the top. For reference, I've seen 662/931 criterions. My time with the eclipse series is much less 21/174.

I started to watch the documentary that came with it but even though it said it explored all aspects of Katsu's life, I didn't get the feeling it touched too much, if at all, on the darker side, such as the drug use. I watched about 15 minutes, skipped ahead some and it didn't seem like the rest of it was going to be much different than the beginning. If I'm wrong, oh well, it just seemed really boring and I'm fine with never watching it.

Not sure what I'm going to watch the last few days as I didn't think I'd go through them all so fast. I figured I'd get burned out after a few and not finish the set this month but I managed to do it in a little over 2 weeks.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

So. . . anyone else spend the last week of every month trying to cram in Netflix titles before they're gone? There's a ton of stuff leaving in a few days.

http://www.netflixupdate.com/leaving...-october-2015/


Fortunately, there are some Criterion titles, so you can knock a few out if there's overlap.

Days of Heaven
The Mikado
Robocop
Kicking and Screaming
The Canterbury Tales
(Kicking and Canterbury are in my queue and it says it they're leaving Oct. 1. Not sure why they're not on the list)


Also, it looks like Moonrise Kingdom was just added.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I've been watching some "edgy" Japanese films from the '50s and '60s, all first-time viewings. CRAZED FRUIT (1956) was controversial in its day for its depiction of wanton sex among privileged young people at a seaside resort. It's kind of similar to ...AND GOD CREATED WOMAN (1956), a French film starring Brigitte Bardot made the same year and one which I've also seen for this challenge. YOUTH OF THE BEAST (1963) is an early yakuza film by cult director Seijun Suzuki, but it's mostly style over substance. (Suzuki is an intriguing director for the way he uses genre for stylistic experiments, but his films just aren't that compelling.) PLEASURES OF THE FLESH (1965) by Nagisa Oshima has a really amusing and intricate plot about a guy who's been entrusted to hold a case of embezzled money while its owner is in prison but he instead decides to spend it on a series of women in exchange for a temporary live-in relationship with each. It's got a couple of twists at the end. It's very European-influenced, I'm just not sure which directors. One of the most interesting first-time viewings I've had during this challenge.

Going back to the 1940s, I watched Keisuke Kinoshita's PORT OF FLOWERS (1943) about a pair of con men trying to bilk a community of islanders into buying shares in a planned but non-existent shipyard to help the war effort. In the course of the film, Japan goes to war against England and the U.S.--they cheer when they hear about Pearl Harbor--and they all get a renewed sense of patriotism and the con men find themselves changing their plans. Always interesting to see propaganda from the other side. I yelled out "Hiroshima and Nagasaki, baby!" after they cheered the Pearl Harbor news. Sorry, but I couldn't help it.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I got an email earlier today from criterion about a $10 credit for them hitting 300,000 facebook likes. I just had to wait a few hours for the site to stop being slammed before I could get logged in.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Just watched one of my near-perennials for this challenge, The Silence of the Lambs. Such a well-crafted flick.

I had a hankering to watch The Third Man and know I have two Criterion copies floating around. The first one I ran across was the sealed two-disc SE from 2007 and figured it was time to open it because DVDs have no resale value, right? But that rule doesn't necessarily apply to Criterion, and then I saw the new prices on Amazon. Sure, seller prices aren't necessarily what someone is paying, but it gave me pause anyway. Maybe I'll take another look for my older, open copy. Still regretting I never pulled the trigger on that Criterion BD.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Ebay sold items is a better gauge of prices things are selling for http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?rmvSB...p2045573.m1684

But there's still money to be made on DVDs, especially after they go OOP.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Nice. Yeah, the top $134 one is sitting here unopened, while the $13 one is what I know I have opened on a shelf upstairs. At the moment, I just want to watch the movie so the latter should work fine.

And yes, I don't resell much, but when I do, I'll start with the Criterions.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Two things: 1) the mobile version of this site is AWFUL. 2) I want to propose we streamline the spine section of the checklist to increments of 100 rather than 50. As it is, we have 18 spine checks, which is quite a lot. By expanding the range increments, we would drop that down to a more manageable 10.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

While I usually check the forum on my phone, my phone gives me the option to view the full site. Have you tried that?

I might watch Gojira or Godzilla: King of the Monsters tonight to get me in the mood for tomorrow.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I did find my other copy of The Third Man right where I expected it to be. It's still sealed as well! Damn, how long has it been since I've watched this movie? :lol:

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Sealed copies are going for $200 on Amazon.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

I've checked the box, but it still only gives me the abysmal mobile version.

As for my viewing, I've knocked off the following since my previous post:

LE MILLION
Affable enough, but I have little enthusiasm or patience for comedy of error storytelling in long form. (Short form is fine; I love me some Stooges!) The first act is engaging, but I was ready for the movie to end by the time Act III began. And because I remembered how much a cad Michel was in the opening, I didn't even want to see him wind up with Beatrice - the only character I actively rooted for, though there's something charming about Grandpa Tulip. Maybe if I saw this with an audience, I'd be more into it.

SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS
AUDIO COMMEMTARY with NOAH BAUMBACH, KENNETH BOWSER, CHRISTOPHER GUEST, and MICHAEL MCKEAN
I saw the movie a few years ago and loved it, and it's been on my mind lately, so I decided it was high time I checked out its commentary. To be honest, I kind of wish I hadn't. It's a perfectly fine track, mind you. The knowledge and enthusiasm of the participants keep the track from dragging, despite discussing Preston Sturges perhaps even more than the film at hand.

No, my problem is simply that where they focus on how it's a film about how film portrays the downtrodden, I responded to it more as being about the value of entertainment for those in need of it. What brought it to mind recently was being in inpatient care at a mental health facility, and reflecting on how important it was to us to laugh. That aspect is downplayed in the commentary, so it felt a little like having a perspective from one's youth laughed at by grownups later.

THE BLOB
Absolutely pitch perfect from start to finish, this is as balanced as it gets when marrying different genres. Here, the blend of coming-of-age/teenage rebelliousness and sci-fi monster invasion is almost as satisfying as peanut butter and chocolate. Steve McQueen imbues his role with earnestness, and the supporting cast plays off that in kind, and this creates sympathetic characters rather than mere fodder. The premise could easily have been entirely ridiculous, so finding myself wondering what these characters' lives were like before we meet them here is a testament to how invested I became in them.

VIVRE SA VIE
This is, I think, my third Jean-Luc Godard film and my first disappointment. I get that the cinematography is designed to create a sense that we're a voyeur, but there are too many instances that just feel too cute by half. So much of the "substance" is created in preposterous conversations that only the charisma of Anna Karina kept me from checking out entirely as Godard engaged in self congratulation for an hour and a half.

HOPSCOTCH
About 18 years ago, I dashed off a sketch of "Grumpy Old Men in Black", depicting Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as black suited agents. HOPSCOTCH is as close to that idea as I think I'm ever going to find. Matthau was one of film's most brilliant trolls, always managing to make it look easy to expose the absurdities of others, himself, and situations alike. We've seen so many spy comedies that were merely parodic riffs on Bond stereotypes that it's surprising to see instead what I suppose might best be classified as a spy movie with a sense of humor rather than a spy comedy. And in the era of Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, maybe it's even more serious than it intended to be 35 years ago.

Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
 

Kagemusha - I know you're loved by many but your use of synthesizer music is simply awful. It literally sounds like it was lifted from Deathstalker 3 and other DTV fantasy films of the 80s and 90s. If anyone disagrees, just close your eyes and listen. If you've seen DTV fantasy films, you've heard that music.

The mid-movie battle scene was pretty pathetic unless you consider small groups of people running around is supposed to simulate a large battle.