Help HTF Members With Criterion Recommendations (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Selfishly, I started this thread for my own benefit -- but I soon realized that it would benefit everyone.

With the upcoming Barnes & Noble sale coming up in another two weeks, I thought this would be a great thread to recommend some "MUST HAVE" Criterion titles.

I already own about a dozen titles. If I were to recommend some of my favorites, they would be:

All That Jazz
Bicycle Thieves
It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World
The Night of The Hunter


However, with this sale coming up, I am really looking for some knockout suggestions on some titles you guys think I and HTF members would enjoy.

For instance, I am looking at "The Seventh Seal." I have always been intrigued with the photo of a chess game with death. Not sure if it's a great film or not.

"Stagecoach" is a John Wayne movie I have never seen. Not sure if it's worthy of a purchase.

I am certainly going to buy "Dr. Strangelove. Didn't like it as a kid, but willing to give it a second look.

If the people who really know film would help the rest of us by picking out some essential Criterion titles that should be at the top of our shopping list, it would be appreciated.

​

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Manchurian Candidate
In a Lonely Place
Only Angels Have Wings

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The person who's recommendations I cherish the most. Okay, on my list.

As you are one of the biggest John Wayne fans I know, Robert, how is Stagecoach?

 

[Robert Crawford]

The person who's recommendations I cherish the most. Okay, on my list.

As you are one of the biggest John Wayne fans I know, Robert, how is Stagecoach?

I thought you already made that excellent decision.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I thought you already made that excellent decision.

I don't *think* I have that movie or have ever seen it.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I don't *think* I have that movie or have ever seen it.

Then you need to correct that as soon as possible.

 

[Keith Cobby]

The Lady Vanishes
The Great Beauty
Bigger Than Life

 

[Robert Crawford]

You do have Red River?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Thanks, guys. Keep the recommendations coming.

...and I take it that "The Seventh Seal" is a must buy?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You do have Red River?

Yes, of course, thanks to you.

 

[Konstantinos]

I personally don't think there are MUST HAVE titles, since every person is different and since every person has its own tastes in movies.
Movies that are considered classic and important and all that, may do nothing at all at other people.
(eg. I've seen 3 films by Godard, and I resulted that this way of filmmaking is not my cup of tea at all. Yet, I assume many people would recommend them as must have titles)

Now, if I knew that person's tastes and what he generally likes, I might be able to recommend something.

 

[sleroi]

Kurosawa's High and Low is a great kidnapping/police procedural/thriller. The tension starts early and never lets up. One of Toshiro Mifune's finest performances, and as usual per Kurosawa, every shot is perfectly framed with character placement used to maximum effect. There are some great supplements as well.

 

[Rob Mac]

Rififi
Charade
Blow Out
Dressed To Kill
Peeping Tom
Hard Day's Night

 

[RMajidi]

Ron, I know what Konstantinos means, but heck, I'll play...

The Innocents - Magnificent spooker; still remains the best B&W HD transfer for me, helped in no small part by the exquisite cinematography of Freddie Francis. Superb direction by Jack Clayton and brilliantly acted by Deborah Kerr and the supporting cast.


It Happened One Night - Because I'm a Frank Capra nut, and I think everybody else should be too!


[I've never seen The Seventh Seal. It's one of those titles I've ummed and erred about, knowing that it has a massive reputation, but will I ever be in the right frame of mind to watch it? I think @Mike Frezon might have some definite ideas about this one, with matching animated gifs]

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I think The Seventh Seal is a classic that anybody with an interest in film must see. I think it was one of the first films Criterion chose to put out...and there is a reason for that. However, it is a foreign film that is slow paced, quite thoughtful, and philosophical. Plus it is subtitled and in black and white. So, it is not going to be for everybody. However, you have proven to have a very varied appreciation for film, Ron, based on things I have read that you have liked. I can't predict if you will enjoy it...it's a pretty unique work but if you do then the door to Ingmar Bergman films opens to you. You will find he was a rather giant influence on Woody Allen, not in the comedy sense but in the philosophical sense.

Dr, Strangelove sits atop my list of all time favorite films. I have watched it more than any other film and never tired of it. I was once asked to show a film that I loved to a group of people all at least 15 years or more younger than I. I chose Strangelove...they hated it. I was asked to show a different film to them. I went in a different direction and chose Micheal Mann's Manhunter...thinking the style and use of music in the film would be something they might appreciate...they hated it. Plus they informed me it was a crappy version of Silence of the Lambs. OK.

The Criterion Collection has been one of the more serious film appreciation collections available to home video viewers over the years so literally people could make just about any list from their releases and you would have a group of quality films.

I'm not sure what directions you might want to go in, Ron, but likely what will happen as you start going through Criterion releases is more and more doors will open because many of the films present very unique visions from the filmmakers.

Here are a few ideas...

The Friends of Eddie Coyle - This stars Robert Mitchum giving one of his, in my opinion, greatest performances in this 1970s color Noir. Set in Boston in the world of small time criminals I've always felt this was up there with the great color Noirs of the seventies...like Chinatown.

Solaris - If you enjoyed Kubrick's 2001 and wanted to see what it might be like if a brilliant Russian filmmaker made his own somewhat more philosophical space odyssey...OK, you probably have not considered that...then this film is for you. A sort of stylistic cross between Kubrick and Bergman that opens with a wonderful section that is meant to pull you into the beauty and natural tempos and rhythms of Earth before shooting you off into space to a space station orbiting a mysterious planet...well...there really is nothing like this film and it is a pretty unique experience. A science fiction film that dwells heavily on human longing and desire this is quite a trip. Andrei Tarkovsky was an amazing filmmaker but I think the glacial pacing of his films puts some people off. To me his works are must see events. Again, not for everyone.

Picnic at Hanging Rock - A wonderful early work from Peter Weir. Beautiful, mysterious, and unforgettable. My guess would be you would love this...but I hate guessing because it is hard to say what people would connect with.

Down by Law - A very funny and at times poignant jailbreak movie. Sort of like if cooler versions of Martin and Lewis starred in Papillon. Jim Jarmusch is another filmmaker that is not for everybody, like a lot of the filmmakers featured in the Criterion Collection, but he has a unique vision and personal style which is easily recognizable as his own. I love the guy's work and he has a new film out this year that people are calling one of his best ever. One of my favorite quotes from Jarmusch is "My films are generally made up of the stuff other people cut out of their films."

Bigger than Life - OK, how about a movie made and set in the 1950s starring James Mason as a school teacher that becomes addicted to drugs and...well...goes a little funny in the head. Yes, this really exists and is gorgeously shot and directed by the wacky Nicholas Ray.

There's some to think about but we are talking Criterion so there is so much available I could go on forever. Ace in the Hole with Kirk Douglas, Sweet Smell of Success with Lancaster...or Brute Force also with Burt...lots of wonderful foreign films which I am always afraid to recommend. You could end up with a very long list, Ron.

 

[RMajidi]

I don't think you can start throwing around names like Stanley Kubrick and Kirk Douglas and then omit Paths of Glory!

 

[B-ROLL]

"The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp"
Gojira (Godzilla)
Babette's Feast
Quadrophenia
Things to Come
anything Kurosawa
David Lean Directs Noel Coward
Paths of Glory (Kubrick)
The Killing (Kubrick)

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I don't think you can start throwing around names like Stanley Kubrick and Kirk Douglas and then omit Paths of Glory!

No, but with somebody like Kubrick I expect, particularly American born film fans, it is a film people have already seen. Ron seems to have missed a lot of great films over the years though so I guess it is possible he has not seen Paths of Glory. I was trying to come up with films he definitely would not have caught.

 

[RMajidi]

No, but with somebody like Kubrick I expect, particularly American born film fans, it is a film people have already seen. Ron seems to have missed a lot of great films over the years though so I guess it is possible he has not seen Paths of Glory. I was trying to come up with films he definitely would not have caught.

Agreed - I could see that you were covering a broad range and I agree with your suggestions as well as those in Bryan's follow-up list. Many of the titles that you and Bryan listed I have bought from UK sources, but they are usually the same transfers used by Criterion - i.e. magnificent.

 

[Dave Lawrence]

I personally don't think there are MUST HAVE titles, since every person is different and since every person has its own tastes in movies.
Movies that are considered classic and important and all that, may do nothing at all at other people.
(eg. I've seen 3 films by Godard, and I resulted that this way of filmmaking is not my cup of tea at all. Yet, I assume many people would recommend them as must have titles)

Now, if I knew that person's tastes and what he generally likes, I might be able to recommend something.

I agree with this.

Ron, I can tell you that I plan on purchasing The In-Laws, Dr. Strangelove, and The Manchurian Candidate in the upcoming sale. Possibly a couple of others, but those 3 are definite buys.

Last year, I purchased It's a Mad, Mad..., which you already mentioned, as well as 12 Angry Men, the Cassavetes film Love Streams, and the "John Cassavetes: Five Films" collection, which contains A Woman Under the Influence, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Opening Night, Shadows, and Faces.