Criterion Collection

[cinemabon]

First of all, I must say that the list by SinjinSB looks like the list of the greatest movies of all time. That they have them all on DVD is impressive, most impressive. You'd have to be very proud of a collection like that. I only wish I had the funds to buy everything on my wish list. Gradually, I hope to include many of those titles.

The very first Criterion release was "King Kong" on Laserdisc in a boxed set, somewhere around 1983 or 1984 I believe. It was too expensive for me to purchase back then, so I passed on it. Criterion releases was the main reason I bought laserdisc. The first Criterion disc I purchased was "Citizen Kane". I only wish the laserdisc format had been more stable. Unfortunately, the glues which hold the two large plastic discs together are not stable, and most of the early discs are no longer viewable. Despite the improvements, laserdisc ultimately gave way to lighter, smaller, cheaper, faster. There is nothing wrong with that as long as picture quality and sound do not suffer. Fortunately for us all, they have not. In fact, the picture is vastly improved.

I am so grateful to the people at Criterion who have recognized quality in their choices for preservation versus popularity. I only wish they were not so expensive, but I understand why they are so costly, with all the work that is put into each disc.

[Johann]

Mr. Kiarostami enjoys polemic and controversy:
[i] I don't like films that provoke the viewer. I prefer films that put the audience to sleep. It is kind of a film to allow you to take a nice nap.

I remember that this was a slow-starter. Cabbie cabbie, more cabbie... I paid it no mind, as I was aware of it's awards. Twyker's "Heaven" is kinda like that...

[SinjinSB]

Originally posted by cinemabon
First of all, I must say that the list by SinjinSB looks like the list of the greatest movies of all time. That they have them all on DVD is impressive, most impressive. You'd have to be very proud of a collection like that. I only wish I had the funds to buy everything on my wish list. Gradually, I hope to include many of those titles.

The very first Criterion release was "King Kong" on Laserdisc in a boxed set, somewhere around 1983 or 1984 I believe. It was too expensive for me to purchase back then, so I passed on it. Criterion releases was the main reason I bought laserdisc. The first Criterion disc I purchased was "Citizen Kane". I only wish the laserdisc format had been more stable. Unfortunately, the glues which hold the two large plastic discs together are not stable, and most of the early discs are no longer viewable. Despite the improvements, laserdisc ultimately gave way to lighter, smaller, cheaper, faster. There is nothing wrong with that as long as picture quality and sound do not suffer. Fortunately for us all, they have not. In fact, the picture is vastly improved.

I am so grateful to the people at Criterion who have recognized quality in their choices for preservation versus popularity. I only wish they were not so expensive, but I understand why they are so costly, with all the work that is put into each disc.

I definitely enjoy some of my Criterion Laserdisc:
Blade Runner - Original Theatrical Version not on DVD
Boyz N the Hood - Commentary and other features not on DVD
Menace II Society - Commentaries and other stuff not on DVD
A Night at the Opera - Not on DVD at all
Sabotage & The Secret Agent - Far superior quality compared to their DVD countrparts.

[Johann]

Laserdiscs were almost before my time ( they came out when I was in my teens-correction- I was first AWARE of them in my teens), and certainly beyond my budget-I longed to buy that beautiful beige box of Natural Born Killers even tho I had no LD player...
I saw the huge Dr. Strangelove & Killing boxes for sale in a video store I used to go to. I also heard that the famous missing pie-throwing scene is on that Criterion LD release.

Can anyone confirm?

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by Johann
And the ending? My reaction was one of anger-but, as always, I stew afterwards and ultimately say: BRILLIANT. Taste of Cherry is one thought-provoking film.

Kiarostami avoids at all costs bailing out the viewer by providing interpretations or readings of his films. He has explained there are no wrong answers, but I found this quote from a Film Comment interview:

The scene at the end, where you see cherry blossoms and beautiful things after he's died, means that he has opened the door to heaven. It wasn't a hellish thing he did, it was a heavenly transition

I propose that Kiarostami's opinion may be aligned with Mr. Badii's, when he tells the seminarian that unhappy people make those around them suffer, which may be more immoral than ending your life. In Kiarostami's "metacinema", there are meanings implied at different levels. For example, Badii's passage: the lenghty fade to black after he lies down in his ditch, recalls the darkening of a theatre prior to a screening as moviegoers close our eyes to one world (a type of death) and open them onto another. So TASTE OF CHERRY is not only a polemic about suicide and the moral choices faced by Badii's three potential accomplices. It is also about the relationship between artist and audience amongs other things.
There is plenty to say about Kiarostami's novel use of sound, perhaps more significantly in his next film:THE WIND WILL CARRY US. But let me mention the significance of using Louis Armstrong's St. James Infirmary, a New Orleans funeral song, at the end of Taste. In typical New Orleans jazz fashion, the tone goes from mournful to joyful. A heavenly transition indeed.

[Johann]

Once again, you're insight into film is refreshing and accurate, oscar. You know how to put into words what people should acknowledge....

[oscar jubis]

I'm beginning to think Mr. Kiarostami is as much an innovator as our beloved Stanley Kubrick. I plan to view The Wind will Carry Us again. I hope you indulge me with your attention again when I post.

[Johann]

Yes, he's always been lurking in the back of my mind as a force to be reckoned with.
And aside from film buffs, who really knows who the hell he is?
I'm amazed how many people still don't know who Trier or even Gus van Sant are.. I'm doing what I can to spread the word.

[oscar jubis]

I recently had the opportunity to watch the Criterion release of one of my favorite film-noir movies: Carol Reed's The Third Man. Director Peter Bogdanovich refers to it as the greatest non-auteur film ever made. Along with Casablanca, the film is considered the pinnacle of "collaborative" cinema. Both films are brilliant beyond what anybody can expect from their good-but-not-visionary directors Reed and Curtiz.
The Third Man is based on a screenplay by Graham Greene about a poor pulp-fiction writer(Joseph Cotten) who is offered a job in post-WW II Vienna by a close friend(Orson Welles). Cotten arrives in the bombed-out city and finds his friend dead under mysterious circumstances. Cotten stays to investigate and meets his friend's girlfriend (Alida Valli), a czech national hiding from the Russians, and some of his associates. Just like Bogart in Casablanca, the protagonist is soon faced with a moral and ethical dilemma.
The Third Man features Greene's most moving mystery, an addictive musical theme played on an instrument called the zither, jaw-dropping b&w cinematography(Krasker), wonderful performances, and Welles' own film-noirs for inspiration and guidance. But perhaps its greatest asset is the Grand Dame of Central Europe.

[Johann]

I love that theme to The Third Man. And anyone who says Orson doesn't have presence doesn't know shit.

Case in point: "The cuckoo clock".

[oscar jubis]

Harry Lime(Welles) to Holly(Cotten):

Don't look so gloomy, old boy. It's not that awful. In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. But they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance.

In Switzerland, they had brotherly love. They had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.

[HorseradishTree]

I just recently saw Kiss Me Deadly with Ralph Meeker. It all was so wonderful and captivating until there's talk of a radioactive box that was stolen from the commies or something. This spiraled it all down to something out of an Ed Wood movie.

[cinemabon]

Oscar, that was brilliant. You should have put that in the film quotes section. It's been so long since I've seen "The Third Man", I went back today and gave it another look. Thanks for reminding us all how great Carol Reed was... I also like "Oliver!", another Carol Reed film.

[oscar jubis]

I decided to put the quote here because Johann referred to it in the previous post. So glad you enjoyed it. Graham Greene was indeed brilliant. He also wrote the screenplay for Reed's The Fallen Idol. Another must-see is Odd Man Out with James Mason, now available on dvd. As a kid, I didn't quite fall for The Sound of Music. Reed's Oliver! was the first musical I loved.

[Johann]

James Mason has left a great film legacy. It's too bad he doesn't get a lot recognition. A total pro.

I would recommend The Blue Max and Kubrick's Lolita as prime examples of Mason's ability to play great characters .