Recommended 'sight unseen' Criterion discs? (1 Viewer)

[Daniel P]

I'm interested in 8 1/2, Children of Paradise, Passion of Joan of Arc - among about 50 others...

Give me your recommendations...film and informative extras are the criteria for me - over transfers...

 

[george kaplan]

Charade
Notorious
The Killer
The Third Man
Playtime
The Killers
Rashomon
Throne of Blood
The 39 Steps
Rebecca
The Lady Vanishes
Trouble in Paradise
Rififi
Alexander Nevsky
The Rock
M
The Seventh Seal
Diabolique
Silence of the Lambs
Mr. Hulot's Holiday
Spartacus
Hard Boiled
Spellbound
Mon Oncle
Hopscotch
Sullivan's Travels
My Man Godfrey
The Horse's Mouth

 

[George See]

My wife got me the Criterion Complete Monterey Pop festival for Xmass, if your a fan of music i'd say this ones definently a must have. And i'll second about half of George's list, and i'd most likely second the whole thing if I had seen them all. Too many DVD's too little money.

 

[Matt Pelham]

I'll make this simple:

The Third Man
Sullivan's Travels

 

[Walter Kittel]

Rebecca, Notorious, Spellbound and Straw Dogs are going out of print on December 31st, 2003. If you have any interest in any of those titles I'd act now.

Kind of tough to give recomendations without knowing your interests, in a more specific manner. (I certainly believe that all of the titles you listed Daniel, are worth your while. ) Here are some of my favorites, mostly on the basis of the film; although the supplements on some of these are quite good.

Bob le Flambeur
Brazil
Brief Encounter
Do The Right Thing
For All Mankind
Great Expectations
The Hidden Fortress
The Killers
My Man Godfrey
Notorious
Oliver Twist
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Rashomon
Rebecca
Seven Samurai
Spartacus
Sullivan's Travels
Taste of Cherry
The Third Man

- Walter.

 

[Haggai]

Many of the above recommendations are great. You know, one that I rented once but don't own is The Red Shoes, which is a nice movie, and has FANTASTIC extras. It's absolutely one of the best special editions I've ever seen for any movie. Passion of Joan is one that I should own, too. Great movie, and some of the extras are really brilliant.

One of my most recent acquisitions is Wild Strawberries, awesome movie, and with a good commentary track. There's also a long interview/documentary with Bergman that I haven't watched yet, which is highly praised in the disc reviews that I've read.

I also strongly recommend Grand Illusion.

 

[Brook K]

Ali: Fear Eats The Soul
The Fireman's Ball
The Shop On Main Street
Red Beard
Carl Th. Dreyer box
8 1/2
That Obscure Object Of Desire

 

[Kenny Goldin]

Picnic at Hanging Rock is a favorite of mine.

 

[Mark_vdH]

Quote:
I'm interested in 8 1/2, Children of Paradise, Passion of Joan of Arc I'd definitely go for Children Of Paradise and The Passion of Joan of Arc - two of my favorite dvd's. Other Criterion favorites are:

Grand Illusion
Picnic At Hanging Rock
The Seventh Seal

 

[Jan H]

Fassbinder BRD Box set
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
Tokyo Story
La Strada
Hearts and Minds

are some of my recent acquisitions and they're all remarkable.

 

[CraigF]

Quote:
film and informative extras are the criteria for me - over transfers...

Then the answer is: BRAZIL



For piccy and sound, though, and if you like action stuff: The Rock

We need to know your taste and genre likes, lots of good Criterions in most categories, but the above two are pretty hard to fault for the reasons mentioned.

 

[Yee-Ming]

If you liked Apollo 13 and/or From The Earth To The Moon, get the "real thing": For All Mankind (#54). A documentary using real footage shot by the Apollo astronauts

 

[obscurelabel]

Black Narcissus is superior in just about every area. Disclaimer - it's one of my favorites, maybe my one favorite.

 

[dpippel]

I'll second your vote for Black Narcissus Larry. Wonderful film and a great disc. Another Criterion I'd recommend that hasn't been mentioned yet is The Cranes Are Flying. A touching film that's just brilliantly shot. Worth owning for the cinematography alone. And like other posters have mentioned, Notorious and Straw Dogs are must-haves that are going OOP soon, and Brazil simply cannot be beat for extras and depth of supplemental material (if only the film transfer was anamorphic!).

 

[earl_roberts]

The 39 Steps
The Lady Vanishes
Rebecca
The Lady Eve
Sullivan's Travels
Spellbound
The Killers
Do The Right Thing
Hard Boiled

 

[oscar_merkx]

which of the 3 Hitchcock is truly essential to purchase ?

Cheers

 

[george kaplan]

which of the 3 Hitchcock is truly essential to purchase ?
All 5 are truly essential!

If I had to rank order them:

The Lady Vanishes
The 39 Steps
Rebecca
Notorious
Spellbound

 

[Paul_Scott]

just watched Lady Vanishes this morning (for the first time).
entertaining movie, although like 90% of Hitchs films, many contrivances are needed to wring out the suspense, and if you aren't willing to suppress some groans and eye rolls at the plot holes, you may have a hard time enjoying it.
that said, the 'holes' in LV are relatively small, and the Criterion presentation is top notch.

not being a big Hitchcock fan, i was still impressed with Notorious- both film and disc.
i would definitely try to snag that one before they disappear off the shelf.

Rebecca was a good film, but i think i enjoyed the first two more. the disc however is probably the best devoted to a Hitchcock film in terms of a/v quality and supplements.

my favorite Criterion at the moment would probably be Walkabout. only extra is a commentary, but from what i've read its a good one (don't listen to them much myself).
the film is truly unique, but i really wish it would get an anamorphic remaster to pump it up a notch.

Carnival Of Souls and the Killers are both great, substanative discs.

Black Narcicuss is a great film, just beautiful to look at.

lots of good choices-hard to go wrong with any of them

 

[Mark_vdH]

I would rank the Hitchcocks:

Movie:

Rebecca
The 39 Steps
The Lady Vanishes
Notorious
Spellbound

DVD:

Rebecca
Notorious
Spellbound & The 39 Steps
[Little gap ]
The Lady Vanishes

Just buy the box....

 

[andrew markworthy]

I don't believe it - not one of you seems to have mentioned Belle et la Bete. :frowning: