Help HTF Members With Criterion Recommendations (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

Where's all the love for Altman's THE PLAYER? Superb satirical view of Hollywood. Had this been Altman's last film rather than THE PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION, (which is good but not great), he'd have gone out on one of his best films.

 

[SAhmed]

As many have already said, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". So many great titles - I have yet to be disappointed by any in the Criterion collection that I have bought and/or upgraded! title have already been mentioned - you really can't go wrong with any Bergman, Chaplin, Kurosawa, Powell & Pressburger, Hitchcock, Antonioni etc...

Additional mentions must go to "Persona", "L'Avventura", "Still Walking". And another mention for Zatoichi - some good to great stories, beautiful imagery/compositions, fight sequences - "Zatoichi Challenged" in the boxset perfectly highlights these qualities although this YouTube clip ( ) clip does not do justice to Criterion's presentation on a 120inch screen in a dark room!

Regards,

 

[David Norman]

Zatoichi is a great set, but for the July sale is going to be very hard to find/ The current Combo Boxset been OOS online since November at least, OOS at Criterion.com since Feb
There are still some stores that have shelf stock though many of those were sold in the just ended 40% sale for folks that didn't want to take a chance.

The New Bluray only boxset won't be out until Sept so not applicable for the July sale -- a good one ot put on the wishlist for either the usual fall Criterion.com flash sale (usually in Oct)
or Nov BN50% sale.


I agree there are very few Criterion duds though there are a pile of them that are most certainly not safe blind buys -- Antichrist, Salo for more obvious reasons. One of the most unliked releases was the recent Jellyfish Eyes. Probably the most unhappy threads of any release I think finally displacing both Benjamin Button which is or isn't a Criterion depending on your field of vision and Tiny Furniture (Lena Dunham is nothing if not polarizing).

Children of Paradise is a very good if not great film, but very much disliked video transfer

the Criterion Eclipse DVD get little press these days, but there is tons of great stuff there again many great sets of Japanese films, Louis Malle, Bergman, Samuel Fuller, Ray, etc. Unfortunately many of these films may never be destined for HD presentations due to lack of decent elements or general low volume niche-dom

 

[Stephen_J_H]

The story on Benjamin Button is the same as with the original DVD release of The Royal Tenenbaums; while both are in The Criterion Collection, distribution of these two titles on disc was handled by their original theatrical distributors: Touchstone for Tenenbaums and Paramount for Benjamin Button. The supplements were still produced by Criterion.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Does Amazon ever match the sale prices?

 

[DavidJ]

Then you need to correct that as soon as possible.

I'll just double-down on Robert's recommendation for Stagecoach. It is fantastic. Evidently Orson Welles watched it forty times prior to making Citizen Kane and I've shown it to some of my filmmaking classes in recent years. So while I haven't seen it 40 times, I've seen it quite a bit and my appreciation for it has only grown. I wasn't a big John Wayne fan prior to seeing this. He was more the movie star than an actor to me. This his first collaboration with Ford helped me see him in a new light.

 

[DavidJ]

Lot's of great recommendations so far. A couple I didn't see mentioned that I recommend:

Keislowski's Three Colors Trilogy

Modern Times -- my personal favorite Chaplin film

LOVE the Three Colors Trilogy, Especially Blue.

 

[Bryan^H]

Paris, Texas(1984)-Wim Wenders

Bottle Rocket(1996)-Wes Anderson


Also, the new transfer of Easy Rider is amazing.

 

[TravisR]

Does Amazon ever match the sale prices?

They may match a few titles but to the best of my recollection, they do not generally match the B&N sale prices.

 

[David Norman]

They may match a few titles but to the best of my recollection, they do not generally match the B&N sale prices.

Never known them to, but since they pretty much don't match anyone anymore and people still seem to want to pay them a 20% premium

The only time I remember them doing it sort of was when BBY ran their own web sale simultaneously on about half the BN titles and then Amazon came within a dollar or two of BBY price on
about half of those.

 

[TonyD]

I would recommend Fantastic Planet.

I saw it years ago and found it so different and fascinating.
Just came out today and will grab it during the BN sale.

 

[B-ROLL]

They may match a few titles but to the best of my recollection, they do not generally match the B&N sale prices.

I have never bought anything on Amazon but it appears they sometimes have their own Criterion sales as does Best Buy(online).

 

[David Norman]

I have never bought anything on Amazon but it appears they sometimes have their own Criterion sales as does Best Buy(online).

Amazon occasionally they'll drop a decent number to to 45% off SRP. A few titles around 50% and a handful a hair lower

I can't remember the last big BBY sale -- ?? close to 2 years maybe since their last 50% sale

Costco will have 6-12 of the $40 MSRP titles at a time for $20 depending on your store inventory


BN and Criterion.com will put the entire library on-sale.

If you buy $500 at Criterion you'll get a $50 GC so it ends up averaging around 55% off ($18 for the usual $40 titles).
BN sales can easily hit 60 and 70% off isn't unheard of counting the extra discounts ($12-16ea)

 

[Johnny Angell]

Gawd, that's a pretty hideous cover.

Never known them to, but since they pretty much don't match anyone anymore and people still seem to want to pay them a 20% premium

The only time I remember them doing it sort of was when BBY ran their own web sale simultaneously on about half the BN titles and then Amazon came within a dollar or two of BBY price on
about half of those.

Amazon will match prices sometimes. BB will lower their price on a move and a few days later Amazon matches it.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Okay...

First, I want to thank all of you for your responses. I poured over all your recommendations.

I am only going to spend $100 during the B&N Sale. That's 5 films and only 5 films.

It was a tough choice, but these are the five I picked (in no particular order)....

Dr. Strangelove
Kiss Me Deadly
In a Lonely Place
Stagecoach
The Seventh Seal

Of course, this thread will remain here forever and I will go back to it, often, whenever there is another sale.

Thank you all again!

 

[Keith Cobby]

That's not a bad selection. I obviously didn't put you off buying The Seventh Seal and will be pleased to read your thoughts on it in due course.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I can't wait to hear about your reaction to The Seventh Seal is Ron!

I held In a Lonely Place in my hands the other day when I was in B&N during their 40% off sale. I only know about it from the comments I've read on the forum. Now that I've read even more raves for it in this thread, I think I'll be heading back to B&N during this upcoming Criterion sale!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I will be interested in reading your thoughts on The Seventh Seal, too, Ron. While I recognize Bergman as a great film maker, for some reason his films put me to sleep. I tried to watch this one a couple of times and kept nodding off. Wild Strawberries has the same affect.

 

[DavidJ]

That's a good selection, Ron. I was looking through my Criterion's last night to see what I'd recommend, but like others have said it's a difficult task. I also realized how many blind buy Criterions I have to still watch. I need to get busy.

Scott, your reaction to Bergman in interesting. He's probably my favorite non-English language film director and Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal are my favorites.

 

[Cranston37+]

I just got an email from B&N telling me that I have a $20 credit in my account because of the ebook settlement. The timing couldn't be better!