Criterion Collection

Yep, you heard right, Criterion is putting together a box set of 5 Cassavetes films and the Charles Kiselyak documentary "A Constant Forge".

It contains every touchtone of John's career:
Shadows/Faces/A Woman Under the Influence/The Killing of a Chinese Bookie/Opening Night.

Man, these guys have got their hands DEEP in my pockets...

Cassavetes is one of my favorite American directors and I'm thrilled. I actually own every title available on dvd, discs I'll be selling soon to purchase the box set.
I'm curious about where posters buy their Criterions. Maybe it's a good idea to pass along some tips on how to make the precious discs more affordable. I've been buying and selling them for myself and others for years, and I'm currently "the foreign film buyer" for a buff-oriented rental shop.

Most people don't want to bother with bidding on ebay auctions or buying opened dvds (no matter how mint they are). The best, most reliable, cheapest store to buy Criterions is dvdplanet.. Every single titled is sold at 35% off list price, so the 39.99 list are $25.97 and the 29.99 list are $19.47. THAT INCLUDES SHIPPING! If you can do better than that, please let us know.

For those who like to shop on ebay, there are several interesting possibilities:

*Bid on discs that have been played but remain in mint condition and you'll save. I haven't been disappointed. Seems people who buy 'em take good care of them.

*Buy new, import Criterions at substantial savings. Be aware that even though the discs will look and sound as good as the North American discs, some imports may be missing special features. Most of the time the only difference is extra writing on the cover in a foreign language.

*Bid on an auction that includes several Criterions for big savings. Sample deal: I payed $265 (includes $10 s/h) for 17 Criterions including brand new Band of Outsiders, Ikiru,Ratcatcher, The Tin Drum, and the 3-disc Brazil. Average price per movie: under $16. It'a good investment as many Criterions go up in price as they age.

Criterion Collection releasing Altman's 3 Women.
Article about film in NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/30/movies/30CLEM.html

I've wanted to see this film for quite a while, and up to now it's been unavailable on VHS or DVD. Good to see it being released now. Several of Altman's movies from the early to mid '70's were never released on VHS and some are only now getting out on DVD. Images was released last year, and California Split isn't out yet. Needless to say, seeing these films up to now has been difficult if not impossible.


Oscar, thanks for the info on dvdplanet. I'll go check it out. I've bought a few movies on ebay, even used ones, and I've never had a problem. I just make sure to check the "feedback" on the sellers to see if anyone's had a problem with them in past. Also, any legal ramifications in buying import DVDs, i.e. are they illegal?

Originally posted by JustaFied
Images was released last year, and California Split isn't out yet.

I had no idea Images had been released on dvd! I was a kid when I saw it and I loved the cinematography but I couldn't make up my mind between mysterious/complex vs. confused/feeble. Susannah York won Best Actress at Cannes in a role similar to Devenue's in Polanski's masterful Repulsion. Avoid at all costs if you require tidy endings_ I'm not certain that by film's end you'll discern exactly what actually happened from the protagonist's hallucinations. I'd be interested in your opinion, Justafied. I will buy or rent this dvd. A good anamorphic transfer of a clear print states one review I read.


Oscar, thanks for the info on dvdplanet.

Place to go for Criterions. For other dvds, check out deepdiscountdvd.com .

I just make sure to check the "feedback" on the sellers to see if anyone's had a problem with them in past.

Excellent advice.

Also, any legal ramifications in buying import DVDs, i.e. are they illegal?

Perfectly legal. You'd be surprised at the number of import dvds bought by Americans. Asians counties in particular are releasing just about everything in our NTSC format, even some European films otherwise available only in European format (PAL). Anyway, dvd players that can show PAL dvds in our tv sets are now at the cost level of "regular" dvd players.
There are rental shops where the most popular titles are import dvds. It's even legal to transfer them onto vhs and make the tapes available for rental, as long as an "official" region #1 vhs of a given film has not been released.

Haven't yet seen Images. Just looked up a couple of Altman titles yesterday after seeing the article on 3 Women. These were two I tried to track down a few years ago, to no avail. I'm certainly not expecting a happy movie, nor one with a tidy ending. Sounds like a rather different type of Altman film; he is indeed a unique filmmaker, but I consider his films overall to be more humanistic than abstract experimental (a la Greenaway). This films appears to break that mold. I'll probably go ahead and buy the DVD also, it's still going to be tough to find at the video store. I'm also the current high bidder on a copy of the Criterion edition of 3 Women over on Ebay, don't go and outbid me!

I've been leary of buying import DVDs so far. Doesn't sound like I have anything to worry about. Thanks for the advise.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JustaFied
Haven't yet seen Images. I'll probably go ahead and buy the DVD also, it's still going to be tough to find at the video store.

Buy it at deepdiscountdvd for $13.67, which includes shipping, and please post after you've seen it.

I'm also the current high bidder on a copy of the Criterion edition of 3 Women over on Ebay, don't go and outbid me!

Good luck JustaFied. I won't ruin your party. dvdplanet quickly run out of stock at $25.97.

I've been leary of buying import DVDs so far. Doesn't sound like I have anything to worry about. Thanks for the advise.

I started a thread called "Import DVDS" in the General Forum section. Will post there periodically if I gauge enough interest.

Quote:

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Originally posted by oscar jubis
Buy it at deepdiscountdvd for $13.67, which includes shipping, and please post after you've seen it.

---

Bought it today, I'll post my thoughts after viewing.

I'll check out the Import DVD thread too.

Stanley Kubrick's favorite Fellini film, I, Vitelloni is being released this year. I'll be buying that baby as soon as i see it on the shelf.

And we mustn't forget the Canadian filmmaking god, Cronenberg, whose Videodrome is also getting the treatment, with a TON of extras...

Again i must say, Criterion are doing GOD'S WORK.

Forgot to mention Slacker. Criterion is also doing an edition of Richard Linklater's ode to apathetic youth.

The Battle of Algiers, which was discussed on this site a little while ago is being released as a 3-disc special edition.

It has a plethora of special features, including commentary with Nair, Soderbergh, Spike Lee and Oliver Stone!

Man, Criterion must be able to read film buffs minds...

Originally posted by Johann
Man, Criterion must be able to read film buffs minds...

They are doing a great service to cinema but I can think of a ton of films more worthy than Videodrome.

Or Slacker. Or Armageddon. Or The Lady Vanishes.


(just buggin' ya oscar...). Incidentally, what titles do you think deserve "the treatment". I think I know a few you might wanna see:Cria/Spirit of the Beehive/Vertigo...

You have me figured out, Johann. Three of my favorite movies of all time. I'm happy with the Vertigo dvd, and the Spirit of the Beehive dvd I imported from the UK. Let's talk about...

Cria
Cria (aka Raise Ravens) won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 1976. But there has never been a properly subtitled release of Carlos Saura's masterpiece. Not even the theatrical release, much less the poorly transferred laserdisc and vhs releases. The first scene pans over a set of photos with written captions underneath, which identify the characters and how they are related to each other. The viewer is supposed to have this knowledge as the second scene commences. These hand written captions are not subtitled though.
Throughout the movie, the 8 year-old protagonist Ana (Ana Torrent) plays a record on her portable turntable over and over, as she sings along. If you don't understand Spanish, it's impossible to figure out it's not simply a hummable tune but a song about abandonment, Ana's sole outlet for her grief.
Moreover, Saura doesn't go out of his way to make the political context explicit. Some knowledge on the part of the viewer of the historical moment in which the film takes place deepens and amplifies the experience. Criterion could provide an essay or commentary to that effect.

Wong Kar Wai's Ashes of Time and Hou's The Puppetmaster
Two of the best films of the 1990s are available on dvd of the poorest possible quality. Avoid at all cost until proper releases become available.

Bela Tarr's SatanTango and Fassbinder's Berlin Alexanderplatz
Marathon films present a challenge to viewers and programmers. SatanTango is 7 1/2 hours long and Berlin is longer. The former screened at Toronto '95, which I attended, but the screening was sold out. I haven't seen Fassbinder's either. I've only read the uniformly, deliriously enthusiastic reviews.

In Rosenbaum's book Movie Wars he mentions Satantango and the screening at the Toronto fest.

I still haven't seen any Tarr films and I wait with great anticipation. I've already spent way too much money on rare films:

-Agnes Varda's Lion's Love
-Coppola's 5-hour workprint of Apocalypse Now
-Jim Morrison's HWY
-Kubrick's Day of the Fight, The Seafarers, Flying Padre and the uncut Eyes Wide Shut
-Greenaway's The Falls & Vertical Features Remake
-various documentaries and Orson Welles' It's All True

As for Criterions I would like to see I agree with your picks and would add Strohiem films, The Fall of Otrar, Man Follows Birds and Valerie and her Week of Wonders- all films I saw last year and ones I still think about often.
Not to mention Eisenstein's October which I just saw and blew my mind. A Criterion edition would be a godsend...

Ah, what deserves the treatment. Well I am actually excited about Videodrone coming out, being a Cronenberg fan and all, and I wish they would re-release Dead Ringers, but oh well I might have missed my opportunity.
Seeing as how Criterion is an offshoot of Home Vision and Janus, I would like to see some of their films previously available on VHS make the grade, none more important than the films of Kenji Mizoguchi. I can't say I regard him as highly as Kurosawa and Ozu, but I must say it is nothing short of bullshit that none of his films have been released when a dozen Kurosawa films have already gotten "the treatment". Just to let you know what they released on video from him:
1. Osaka Elegy
2. Story of the Last Chyrsanthemum
3. Life of Oharu (The one I most want)
4. Ugetsu
5. Sansho the Bailiff
Some of the New Yorker films of his I would also like to see released particularly Princess Yang Kwei Fei and A Geisha.
Not to mention some other important films like Shin Heike Monogatari, and my second favorite The Crucified Lovers.
As for Kurosawa there are only two more films I would like to see make the cut which are The Idiot and Kagemusha. Kagemusha is owned by Fox which is currently competing with Disney for rights to the title "The Great Satan". But what can you do against multi-national corporations that want to surpress art? I should excuse Fox because they owned the rights to 3 Women (Blah) and The Leopard (overrated) which were recently released by Criterion. As disappointed as I was in those films, I am very glad that they are available on DVD.
The Battle of Algiers and I Vitelloni are big news in my eyes, and once La Dolce Vita comes out in September I think I can say safely that Fellini is perfectly represented on DVD, true Cassanova and the Clowns would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.
More than Criterion getting the ball rolling, I would rather see New Yorker Films get off their ass. They are sitting on a massive library of great films that have slipped out of print. Criterion already beat them to the punch with Tokyo Story and The Marriage of Maria Braun, but maybe they should consider the same fate for the following films:
1. Late Spring
2. Weekend
3. Landscape in the Mist (and any other Angelopoulus film while we're at it)
4. The Lovers/Elevator to the Gallows/Zazie Dans le Metro/The Fire Within
5. Point of Order
6. The Boys of St. Vincent (Which was going to be released but was postponed for god knows why)
7. Pixote (why the hell was this pulled as well?)
8. Celine and Julie Go Boating
9. Red Soughum
10. And all other Bresson films
Now, more important are films that have never been released on VHS in the US. Among those I would most like to see are
1. Hour of the Furnaces
2. The Silent World
3. The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On
4. Boy/Death by Hanging/The Ceremony
5. Killer of Sheep
6. The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith
7. City of Sadness
8. A Brighter Summer Day
9. To Die in Madrid
10. The 17th Parallel: Vietnam at War
11. From Montgomery to Memphis
12. Late Autumn/Early Autumn
13. And please lets see some Ousmane Sembene films, anything would be nice. I can't understand why we in America are denied an entire continents cinematic output, particularly his films. Black Girl, Xala, Ceddo, Camp de Thiaroye in particular.
Sorry that I went on, but I sit awake many nights wondering why I can't see these films.