Last Movie You Watched

[Karl Henning]

I don't know why Criterion no longer have The Third Man available, however I suspect that it's similar to the case (as mentioned above) of Kurosawa's Ran, in that they've no longer the rights. Having said that, it could be a market driven decision, because I do know that the StudioCanal Blu-Ray is available and despite what it says on the box (French and UK) is region free.
As for how it looks, I've seen the Criterion on a home cinema system (don't recall the specification) and last year we saw the Deluxe 4k StudioCanal in the cinema. Two different scenarios, but I found the StudioCanal to be cleaner, almost to the point of it being distracting. I don't remember much else, apart from hearing a number of harrumphs when exiting the cinema.

Thanks!

[SonicMan46]

Total Film
The 30 best superhero movies (it was difficult) http://buff.ly/1RmJ0xP 

Hi James - thanks for the link - almost an impossible one to put together - below (left) is a list of the 30 films chosen - I've seen about two dozen and own the ones in bold - also have a number of others (second image, right) in my collection not on the list (not sure if the ones w/ a question mark would have been considered - suspect not?).  Dave

 

[SimonNZ]

Seen quite a few merely average / unremarkable documentaries recently, but these two stood out as a cut above and highly recommendable:

[Drasko]

As a digression: so now that we have 12+ hours to buy at 50% direct from Criterion, what are the top 5-10 Criterion releases you might recommend to someone who wants to spend a little money?

A few less known titles that I think are worth seeing:

Marketa Lazarova, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, La Jetée / Sans Soleil, In the Mood for Love, The Battle of Algiers, Naked, Repulsion, Senso, Harakiri

and a few more that are still DVD only:

Il Posto, I Fidanzati, The Cranes are Flying, Cria Cuervos, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, Double Suicide, Woman in the Dunes, Pandora's Box, Wise Blood,The Complete Mr. Arkadin (DVD set), Three Silent Classics by Josef Von Sternberg (DVD set)

[(poco) Sforzando]

A few less known titles that I think are worth seeing:

Marketa Lazarova, The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, La Jetée / Sans Soleil, In the Mood for Love, The Battle of Algiers, Naked, Repulsion, Senso, Harakiri

and a few more that are still DVD only:

Il Posto, I Fidanzati, The Cranes are Flying, Cria Cuervos, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, Double Suicide, Woman in the Dunes, Pandora's Box, Wise Blood,The Complete Mr. Arkadin (DVD set), Three Silent Classics by Josef Von Sternberg (DVD set)

Thank you for that! I have a few of these already (love Il Posto and Senso), but as the hour is already past and I have overspent my budget, any further Criterions (Criteria?) will have to wait for the next big sale.

[James]

Hi James - thanks for the link - almost an impossible one to put together - below (left) is a list of the 30 films chosen - I've seen about two dozen and own the ones in bold - also have a number of others (second image, right) in my collection not on the list (not sure if the ones w/ a question mark would have been considered - suspect not?).  Dave

 

I don't think Matrix or The Terminator are based on comics, though they do have a comic book vibe (as do many sci-fi, fantasy & action pictures) but they aren't really 'superhero' oriented, I dig them though, especially the Matrix.

I think Total Film's list overall is pretty damn good.

[listener]

The FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (or Pardon Me but Your Teeth Are in My Neck)  1966
Jack MacGowran, Ferdy Maine, Alfie Bass, Sharon Tate, Ian Quarrier,  Roman Polanski  (also directed)
photographed by Douglas Slocombe

[Drasko]

Thank you for that! I have a few of these already (love Il Posto and Senso), but as the hour is already past and I have overspent my budget, any further Criterions (Criteria?) will have to wait for the next big sale.

Well, between Criterion site flash sales and Barnes & Noble regular ones don't think you'll have to wait too long.


In the meantime here is about to start Belgrade Film Festival (FEST) and I've noted down few films I'd like to see if I can manage schedules. Usually I avoid big Hollywood titles since they will anyhow come to regular cinema distribution afterwards.

Hirokazu Koreeda - Our Little Sister
Lucile Hadžihalilović - Evolution
Alex de la Iglesia - My Big Night
Yórgos Lánthimos - Lobster
Hou Hsiao-Hsien - The Assassin
Luca Guadagnino - A Bigger Splash

[Karl Henning]

Thread Duty:

Last night, finished my first (probably only) viewing of Alien Resurrection.  At first, I felt more engaged by it than I had with Alien³, but I wondered even at that point if it were simply a matter of my having read fewer reviews, so that fewer key plot points had leaked to me.  ** SPOILER ALERT **  The opening "beetle" was . . . interesting.  The "xenomorph obedience school" was fairly well played, though we all knew it could not end well.  Meet the new Ripley, not quite the same as the old Ripley . . . the ambivalence has me wondering if the viewer quite cares about her (a) as we used and (b) as is necessary for engagement with the movie.  Do we really care about her, can we really care about her, are her motivations and goals really the same as ours?  As a half-alien, where are her loyalties?  Is she sufficiently alien that she's just a cold, survivalist, amoral killer?  She seems at her most nearly human when dropping in at the "1-7" clinic, which was probably the most Cronenberg-ish moment in the four movies I've seen.  They really could have escaped clean away if Ripley hadn't lingered to sniff out the nest, right?  Freaky-creepy, her sinking down into that nest.  The whole Spawn of Ripley bit, de trop?  Ripley's sarabande with the crittur is squirm-inducing (and maybe that is the entire point);  don't know what it's supposed to be about, what it does or does not mean to #8.  Nevertheless, she acts coolly to destroy it.  Its demise, like the contents of an egg being blown out a pinhole in the shell, is both profoundly undramatic, and underwhelming as SFX, isn't it?  The wreckage of Le tour Eiffel is ironic in timing, as I am now also watching the 1968 Planet of the Apes.

So, offhand, I do not see myself bothering to watch this one again;  while I will watch Alien³ once again before returning the box (sacrée vache, 50 hours of extras???) to my brother.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Thanks!

Apropos:
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1366-out-of-print-sale

[Karl Henning]

Apropos:
https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1366-out-of-print-sale

Thank you again!

[Karl Henning]

Thread Duty:

Last night, finished my first (probably only) viewing of Alien Resurrection.  At first, I felt more engaged by it than I had with Alien³, but I wondered even at that point if it were simply a matter of my having read fewer reviews, so that fewer key plot points had leaked to me.  ** SPOILER ALERT **  The opening "beetle" was . . . interesting.  The "xenomorph obedience school" was fairly well played, though we all knew it could not end well.  Meet the new Ripley, not quite the same as the old Ripley . . . the ambivalence has me wondering if the viewer quite cares about her (a) as we used and (b) as is necessary for engagement with the movie.  Do we really care about her, can we really care about her, are her motivations and goals really the same as ours?  As a half-alien, where are her loyalties?  Is she sufficiently alien that she's just a cold, survivalist, amoral killer?  She seems at her most nearly human when dropping in at the "1-7" clinic, which was probably the most Cronenberg-ish moment in the four movies I've seen.  They really could have escaped clean away if Ripley hadn't lingered to sniff out the nest, right?  Freaky-creepy, her sinking down into that nest.  The whole Spawn of Ripley bit, de trop?  Ripley's sarabande with the crittur is squirm-inducing (and maybe that is the entire point);  don't know what it's supposed to be about, what it does or does not mean to #8.  Nevertheless, she acts coolly to destroy it.  Its demise, like the contents of an egg being blown out a pinhole in the shell, is both profoundly undramatic, and underwhelming as SFX, isn't it?  The wreckage of Le tour Eiffel is ironic in timing, as I am now also watching the 1968 Planet of the Apes.

So, offhand, I do not see myself bothering to watch this one again;  while I will watch Alien³ once again before returning the box (sacrée vache, 50 hours of extras???) to my brother.

And — is it me, or does Winona Ryder seem pretty much just to play Winona Ryder all the time?  Is this just an accident of what I have seen her in (Beetlejuice & Alien Rez)?

[Sergeant Rock]

And — is it me, or does Winona Ryder seem pretty much just to play Winona Ryder all the time?  Is this just an accident of what I have seen her in (Beetlejuice & Alien Rez)?

Karl, have you not seen Heathers or Mermaids or Edward Scissorhands or Coppola's Dracula or Scorsese's The Age of Innocence?

But yes, she basically plays herself...although sometimes with an English accent 

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

Karl, have you not seen Heathers or Mermaids or Edward Scissorhands or Coppola's Dracula or Scorsese's The Age of Innocence?

Sarge, I have not seen any of those, although I am conscious that I ought to watch Edward Longshanks Scissorhands, at least.

[NikF]

Sur mes lèvres/Read my Lips (2001) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Read_My_Lips_(film)

Another film from the most recent batch we're taking to the charity shop as our downsizing continues...

A César Award winning display from Emmanuelle Devos as a deaf secretary who is generally overlooked and often alienated by her colleagues. In the midst of her loneliness she occasionally indulges herself by allowing her dreams out to roam a little, and here these are so wonderfully illustrated and handled that they're cameo moments of real pathos. However a change approaches in the shape of a good performance by Vincent Cassel, a recently paroled small time crook who enters her life as a work colleague. Sensing that he can take advantage of the fact she's starved for affection, he initially has less than noble plans for her. Ah, but the slow burner of mutual attraction...

It's a pleasure to watch such a well realised combo caper/drama that can include a mystery subplot, the element of awkward romance, and a perhaps a hint of Hitchcock. And if you do watch this, check out the body language of Devos as she continually strives to make herself as unobtrusive as possible when in the proximity of others - it's good stuff.

An aside: in this role Vincent Cassel's nose is masterpiece of make-up and and almost a worse specimen than my own.

[George]

Sarge, I have not seen any of those, although I am conscious that I ought to watch Edward Longshanks Scissorhands, at least.

When you go to the video store, just be sure to not get the film from the back room, the one with the beads in the doorway.

[aligreto]

Sur mes lèvres/Read my Lips (2001) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Read_My_Lips_(film)

Another film from the most recent batch we're taking to the charity shop as our downsizing continues...

A César Award winning display from Emmanuelle Devos as a deaf secretary who is generally overlooked and often alienated by her colleagues. In the midst of her loneliness she occasionally indulges herself by allowing her dreams out to roam a little, and here these are so wonderfully illustrated and handled that they're cameo moments of real pathos. However a change approaches in the shape of a good performance by Vincent Cassel, a recently paroled small time crook who enters her life as a work colleague. Sensing that he can take advantage of the fact she's starved for affection, he initially has less than noble plans for her. Ah, but the slow burner of mutual attraction...

It's a pleasure to watch such a well realised combo caper/drama that can include a mystery subplot, the element of awkward romance, and a perhaps a hint of Hitchcock. And if you do watch this, check out the body language of Devos as she continually strives to make herself as unobtrusive as possible when in the proximity of others - it's good stuff.

An aside: in this role Vincent Cassel's nose is masterpiece of make-up and and almost a worse specimen than my own.

An excellent film 

[André]

Re: Vincent Cassel. Indeed, an impressive nose job compared to his usual self



The only question is: why ? 

FWIW, Vincent is the son of actor Jean-Pierre Cassel, himself a well-known quantity for french film audiences:

[Drasko]

Superb.

[asin]B00YTSH21Y[/asin]

[SonicMan46]

Today a couple of Bogart DVD replacements arrived, just released on BD - Dave