7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
09-07-15, 11:00 PM
#126
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
Edmond O'Brien's centennial is this Thursday, Sept. 10. I wanted to watch some O'Brien films to honor it, but the only O'Brien film I can find on Criterion is THE KILLERS (1946), which I watched last night on Blu-ray. Great movie, which I've seen a number of times before, but it still seemed fresh to me last night. There were several scenes I hadn't remembered, including the one where O'Brien goes back to Brentwood to search the Swede's room, only to encounter one of the other gang members there with the same idea. This shot is from that scene:
The Blu-ray comes with the Don Siegel-directed remake which stars Lee Marvin and Ronald Reagan(!).
I'm gonna watch more O'Brien films before Thursday, but I wonder if there are any others that fit this challenge.
The Blu-ray comes with the Don Siegel-directed remake which stars Lee Marvin and Ronald Reagan(!).
I'm gonna watch more O'Brien films before Thursday, but I wonder if there are any others that fit this challenge.
09-08-15, 01:57 AM
#127
DVD Talk Gold Edition
09-08-15, 05:07 AM
#128
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
I certainly see your point, and if the film were made today I'd probably be on your side of the fence. However, with the film being essentially the first of its kind (an ethnographic study that has a narrative), I have to cut it as much slack as it needs. As Flaherty's widow said in the short interview on the disc, there was no such thing as a documentary film back then. It was seen as, first and foremost, a commercial film designed to make money.
As the rules of documentary filmmaking became codified (through the work of John Grierson and others), the documentary slowly began to take the form that it now has. Nanook didn't have that heritage to either guide it or to constrict it. To judge Nanook under today's rules is unfair to the film. Whether it conforms to anyone's idea of documentary, or whether it's simply an adventure tale, it's still a fascinating piece of cinema.
I like what Roger Ebert had to say about it:
"The film is not technically sophisticated; how could it be, with one camera, no lights, freezing cold, and everyone equally at the mercy of nature? But it has an authenticity that prevails over any complaints that some of the sequences were staged. If you stage a walrus hunt, it still involves hunting a walrus, and the walrus hasn't seen the script. What shines through is the humanity and optimism of the Inuit. One of the film's titles describes them as "happy-go-lucky," and although this seems almost cruel, given the harsh terms of their survival, they do indeed seem absorbed by their lives and content in them, which is more than many of us can say."
As the rules of documentary filmmaking became codified (through the work of John Grierson and others), the documentary slowly began to take the form that it now has. Nanook didn't have that heritage to either guide it or to constrict it. To judge Nanook under today's rules is unfair to the film. Whether it conforms to anyone's idea of documentary, or whether it's simply an adventure tale, it's still a fascinating piece of cinema.
I like what Roger Ebert had to say about it:
"The film is not technically sophisticated; how could it be, with one camera, no lights, freezing cold, and everyone equally at the mercy of nature? But it has an authenticity that prevails over any complaints that some of the sequences were staged. If you stage a walrus hunt, it still involves hunting a walrus, and the walrus hasn't seen the script. What shines through is the humanity and optimism of the Inuit. One of the film's titles describes them as "happy-go-lucky," and although this seems almost cruel, given the harsh terms of their survival, they do indeed seem absorbed by their lives and content in them, which is more than many of us can say."
09-08-15, 07:49 AM
#129
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
09-08-15, 08:39 AM
#130
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
09-08-15, 10:13 AM
#131
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
Skipped Genocide last night because I was too tired for subtitles, so I went with 12 Angry Men. Watched the tv play first and then did the movie.
09-08-15, 04:28 PM
#132
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
09-08-15, 05:12 PM
#133
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
I just found an example when the Dish Guide can be wrong. Taxi Driver was supposed to be on El Rey Network, but it was some vampire movie instead.
09-08-15, 06:35 PM
#134
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
09-08-15, 07:33 PM
#135
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
This is one of my favourite CC discs (helps that it's a great film, too) almost solely for the TV version. Never heard of it until I got the disc(s); now invaluable.
09-08-15, 07:38 PM
#136
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
Observation: Anyone else noticed how many Naked... films are in the Collection...?
09-08-15, 08:17 PM
#137
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
I tend to agree with most of that - and don't we also see the accused's silhouette in the TV version? - although the way I usually put it is that I broadly prefer the characters of the TV version but the actors of the film. And since a story hinges on its characters... TV just edges the film.
This is one of my favourite CC discs (helps that it's a great film, too) almost solely for the TV version. Never heard of it until I got the disc(s); now invaluable.
This is one of my favourite CC discs (helps that it's a great film, too) almost solely for the TV version. Never heard of it until I got the disc(s); now invaluable.
I didn't like how the last holdout in the TV version finally changed. I rewound it a few times but it just sounds like he screams some sort of gibberish word. Right before that he was talking about how it's going to be a hung jury, so if I hadn't already watched the movie, I wouldn't have been sure he changed his vote. In fact, I'm still not 100% sure it's not a hung jury because it ends right after the judge asks the jury for their decision.
09-09-15, 04:27 AM
#138
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
Started early today by finishing the supplemental material for Armageddon
. I was just going through them a little at a time.
. I was just going through them a little at a time.
09-09-15, 10:23 AM
#139
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
I watched Genocide last night. I'll probably ditch this set. As with the others, it had a decent enough idea but then slowly went bad towards the end.
So a movie about venomous insects that upon biting, turns it's victim insane before they finally die turns into
So a movie about venomous insects that upon biting, turns it's victim insane before they finally die turns into
Spoiler:
09-09-15, 11:59 AM
#140
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
Over Labor Day weekend, I took some extra time off work and visited a friend in Kentucky. We were so busy that the only films we watched was Mommie Dearest and Area 51. Before she moved away, we liked to get together and watch camp classics as well as what we called "Netflix dreck".
Before I left on my vacation, I watched Some Like It Hot which is a film I didn't care for the first time I saw it. The film topped many critics' lists, and I watched it with a friend who was working his way through several AFI lists. He hated it, and I didn't find it very funny at all. However, I've since been exposed to different forms of humor over the years, and Wilder's masterpiece has become one of my favorite comedies. I especially find Jack Lemmon's character and performance to be delightful. He's got this nervous mania that I enjoy.
Before I left on my vacation, I watched Some Like It Hot which is a film I didn't care for the first time I saw it. The film topped many critics' lists, and I watched it with a friend who was working his way through several AFI lists. He hated it, and I didn't find it very funny at all. However, I've since been exposed to different forms of humor over the years, and Wilder's masterpiece has become one of my favorite comedies. I especially find Jack Lemmon's character and performance to be delightful. He's got this nervous mania that I enjoy.
09-09-15, 03:41 PM
#141
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
I started Tanner '88 today. The series interested me, as political satire always interested me.
09-09-15, 04:23 PM
#142
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
Let me know what you think. I watched it several years ago when I was working my way through Robert Altman's filmography. As a Sex and the City fan, it was fun to see Cynthia Nixon. Also, there was a followup called Tanner on Tanner that's worth checking out after you finish the series.
09-09-15, 04:34 PM
#143
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
I finally got my first batch of movies from the library today so I'm eager to delve in. 12 Angry Men, My dinner with Andre, Tootsie, Notorious and Foreign Correspondent are the ones I received today. I'm eager to watch Notorious and Foreign Correspondent as they are the last 2 Hitchcock films that qualify for the challenge that I haven't watched yet. I spent last challenge focusing on him so it'll be nice to finish these off. I still have a couple more of his that don't qualify for Criterion that I should watch (Rear Window, for example) but I'll worry about those later.
I'm really not trying to finish the check list this month, I decided. I decided to just get movies that I have an interest in seeing that I have not watched before or have watched long ago where I don't remember a lot about them.
I just wanted to add that I saw Nanook of the North last year and enjoyed it. You really do have to know it's the first of it's kind. It's kind of like watching propaganda. You know that there is a definite slant, but still has a good reason for being and has merit anyway.
I'm really not trying to finish the check list this month, I decided. I decided to just get movies that I have an interest in seeing that I have not watched before or have watched long ago where I don't remember a lot about them.
I just wanted to add that I saw Nanook of the North last year and enjoyed it. You really do have to know it's the first of it's kind. It's kind of like watching propaganda. You know that there is a definite slant, but still has a good reason for being and has merit anyway.
09-09-15, 05:14 PM
#144
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
Let me know what you think. I watched it several years ago when I was working my way through Robert Altman's filmography. As a Sex and the City fan, it was fun to see Cynthia Nixon. Also, there was a followup called Tanner on Tanner that's worth checking out after you finish the series.
09-09-15, 08:52 PM
#145
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
I just finished watching 12 Angry Men and really enjoyed it. The time went by quite quickly. I thought I had seen the movie, but after watching it, I'm pretty sure I saw a play version, but not this movie version. Well worth the watch if anyone is on the fence about it.
09-09-15, 10:10 PM
#146
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
09-10-15, 12:14 AM
#147
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Re: 7th Annual Criterion Challenge - Discussion Thread
While a good film, not my favorite of his. Probably in the top five, though. Towards the end, it was a little frustrating watching all the times Alicia is treated like a commodity by every man around her, including Devlin. But, I do like the closing scene quite bit.
09-10-15, 11:22 AM
#150
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