Here's the update to my Criterion collection. A Face In The Crowd / Cluny Brown / Down By Law / Heaven Can Wait / I Married A Witch / I Wanna Hold Your Hand / In The Heat Of The Night / Night & The City / Short Cuts / Sweet Smell Of Success / The Circus. Criterion is amazing!!!
I used to buy just about every Criterion release they put out, but in the past 3 or 4 years I've slowed down a bit and become more picky about which ones I buy. Not only was it getting too expensive to keep up with their catalogue, but I was also finding that there were too many films that I was disappointed by and/or that didn't interest me enough for repeated viewings. Now, I tend to only pick up a new Criterion release if it's a film I already know I like, or if it's by a director whose work I admire. Occasionally I'll also make a blind-buy for certain genres, but generally my acquisition rate for Criterion discs has decreased quite a bit. The new Godzilla box is one of their first releases in a while that I'm genuinely excited about.
Despite the size catching me off guard, I thought the graphics on the Godzilla set were pretty magnificent. Each illustration is done by a different artist, including a typically uber-detailed one by Geoff Darrow. It is very comic book in style but I think it fits the material and makes the whole thing feel like more of an art object than just a box of DVD's. Mileage may vary of course. Naturally, because it's a 50% off sale, I had to pick up a few more titles as well. Got to store up nuts for the long winter! Getting into Luis Bunuel recently: Belle De Jour Annihilating Angel Ongoing Dennis Hopper 'Lost Years' Fetish: The American Friend + Catching up on some classics (i.e. Impulse Buys!): Medium Cool Diabolique Now I have to hope my bank account can recuperate before the Vinegar Syndrome sale. November is a tough month!
I’ve just ordered two new Blu-Rays to the collection, which are on the way from the USA due to the 50% off Barnes and Noble sale. These are NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (so I can start my son off right introducing him to the best horror films) and LOCAL HERO (which has always been a favourite). Only a few of my Criterions are not in English. Those are French films - Melville, Truffaut and Tati. One Fellini film, which is ‘8 and a half’. Most are DVD copies, some early releases like ROBOCOP, THIS IS SPINAL TAP and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. I only have a few Blu-Rays, including A HARD DAY’S NIGHT, TOOTSIE and MACBETH.
My two blind buys from Criterion's recent sale were "Cluny Brown" and "The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice." Both great IMO.
Quite a haul! I didn't learn the sale was on until Saturday night, and despite the fact I was supposed to be taking it easy after my surgery 10 days before, I immediately made a beeline down there and picked up: * 1984 * Monsieur Verdoux Of course I also had my eye on The Circus (as I've mentioned before) but my local B&N only had the DVD.
Everytime I buy a Chaplin film, it becomes another example of why he was a genius! "Monsieur Verdoux" is also awesome! As a kid I used to wish I could find $5,000 & go on a shopping spree for records. Today I wish I could have $5,000 to go movie shopping & Criterion would take up half of that.
I know you got The Kid some time ago, and in the event you haven't seen them yet, short sections of the restored 1971 feature "bookend" each deleted scene showing exactly where they were in the original 1921 cut. Also, the deleted title cards switch back and forth between original and restored for comparison (there's many, many examples of these).
Hit both the Criterion site and the B&N site for their 50% sales From Criterion: The Princess Bride Gimme Shelter Monterey Pop From B&N: Haxan Safety Last Dr Strangelove
The Godzilla Box for me. For $112 + tax is the lowest you will ever see this. About $8.00 a movie is a bargain.
I must recommend that you upgrade to the Criterion Blu-Ray of Silence of the Lambs. Huge improvement over the DVD.
Just ordered "Witchcraft Through the Ages" to finally have a good copy of it, along with "Salo" and "Cat People" There's a feeling of "catching up" between what I have, what I get from overseas and especially with The Criterion Channel being available. I divide my purchases into "must-haves on disc", things I can live with for streaming and the "here-now-and-gone" niche silent-film DVDs and BRs being released. C.
Picked these up from Criterion during the flash sale: Klute Notorious Shallow Grave Five Easy Pieces Paris, Texas Debating the B&N sale....
The FEb release list looks interesting. Never heard of most of these but some are very intriguing. Also the fact that Roma got a release gives me a small sliver of hope that maybe The Other Side of the Wind will get the same treatment someday...
Two titles I've wanted for a long time are now in my library. "Make Way For Tomorrow" & "My Darling Clementine". They've been at my local B&N store but MWFT's disc is loose in the case & I can bet the disc inside id very much scratched & MDC's case is damaged on the bottom. I told the staff weeks ago but they just leave them in the bins. I went to another store & they were perfect. I'm happy now.
Picked up a batch of like new Criterions for a song on Ebay, including Asphalt Jungle, one of my favorite Noir films. I am really getting into the supplements lately and this one includes an incredible feature length documentary about a middle aged Sterling Hayden living on a long boat in a Scandahoovian canal. Hayden smokes hash, swigs from an ever present bottle of Johnny Walker and holds forth on a number of wide ranging topics, including his acting career and struggles with alcoholism. To say it's unflinching is an understatement, but it cements his reputation as one of the most eccentric leading men ever to grace the screen. Absolutely essential. This is why I love Criterion.
My last two Criterion Blu-Rays I bought today. "Ghost World" & "Seven Samurai". Now I can focus on Christmas shopping.
Nice to see a 32 page booklet in the Now Voyager CC release I just picked up. Lots of Bette Davis recently. How many meaty stapled booklets have they done since Ghost World 2.5 years ago? Excluding fancy boxes like olympics/Godzilla/Bergman.
Bumping this for a little Criterion news (didn't see this posted anywhere else)... Looks like there's no Barnes & Noble 50% off sale this time around. Stopped into my local B&N today and was told there was no advance notification from corporate about the annual July sale this year like before. He said they normally get the announcement several weeks before the July 1st start date. No mention of the COVID shutdown being a factor but it's a safe bet that it is.