Did Criterion ever release a real stinker?

They put out so many obscure and edgy (to most folks) films, that any one of them could be a stinker to anyone.
One persons meat is another persons foot fungus.

It took me two viewings to appreciate Salo.
That old man is the personification of depravity and the story's symbol of facsist oppression.

 

I didn't know there was any "universal hate" for Tiny Furniture.... Roger Ebert gave it a decent review (3 stars).
I actually just watched it myself last weekend and I thought it was alright...

 

It's the only good movie Michael Bay has ever done.

 

Both Michael Bay movies and he's the most "arty" of the destructive blockbuster directors so I'm sure that also helped justify it to Criterion. When I saw both of them I thought "what the F"? Criterion was, I'm sure, experimenting with these to see if they could reach people who never bought their movies and who might be intrigued enough to try more ( probably unlikely) . I'm sure that some film fans were bugging them for more popular fare like this. I wasn't.

 

I feel that way about Wes Anderson's films that and the fact I just can't stand them. I will admit that I have enjoyed a couple of them but his "quirky" style is pretentious, self conscious.

 

Nope. And to my knowledge no one has ever confused them with each other.

 

To be fair Criterion has always eschewed the notion of being a label for just "arty" or "Oscar worthy" films. That's more a reputation hoisted on them by consumers (and some in the press).

 

I think the bigger issue is that the end of the film was given away. I've never seen this one.

 

If nothing else, the Criterion DVD of Armageddon is an interesting curiosity because it actually contains a slightly (2-3 min) longer version of the film.

 

...and to be fair, he's only had 32 years to see it.

 

What does that have to do with anything? Has everyone here seen every film that's at least 32 years old? It's ALWAYS uncool to reveal a film's ending.

 

I think if it's enough to get your panties in a twist, 32 years is ample enough time to fit it into your agenda.

 

So you HAVE seen every movie that's at least 32 years old and don't mind me exposing major twist endings all over the forum? Again, a film's age is no reason to ruin its ending for ones who haven't seen it.

 

Don't you have to go yell at a cloud now?

 

Indeed.

I've only seen Salò once, and I never want to see it again, but that doesn't mean it's a bad film. On the contrary, Pasolini is a master filmmaker, and he did his job all too well with this one. It's an important film, which should be available in fine editions such as those from Criterion and the BFI.

 

Andy Warhol's Frankenstein

 

Nah, that one's awesome. It's just a shame it's non-anamorphic.

 

Don't let that stop you, it's not really the film's ending moment.

 

Do you like the UK release. I have both and prefer, well, both. Both are nice. However, the dude chatting about the film on the UK version if he says Hawkian one mo' time I'll clip him around the ears. Call it scholar masterbation to the 'ian extremo.

 

Yes. How did you know I'd bought the Masters of Cinema edition as well? The MoC edition is from a different source. The transfer isn't as clean, clear and sharp as the Criterion, but the density isn't wrong. The correct brightness is quite a contrast to the Criterion. To watch the Masters of Cinema edition is to realize just how far wrong the Criterion went.

By the way I don't enjoy criticizing Criterion, because they do impeccable work and have issued lovely transfers of films that are important to me. But Red River deserves a right and proper transfer, and someone has to point out that Criterion's transfer is at least two clicks too bright. So bright that facial textures are washed out. It spoils the viewing. I'm sure they realize this. They should have issued a corrected disc, whether the customers complained or not.

 

I like it also. I'm holding out for a 3-D blu-ray. It is on blu now, but it's tooty. *



* 2-D

 

I got that vibe from him and the Gerard Butler lookalike. Next thing from Criterion - A Serbian Film!

 

Now that would awesome!

 

I'm still interested in picking up the Criterion release for the alternate version of the movie, but I'm definitely going to hold on to my old MGM disc as well.