What are you watching on the Criterion Channel?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Electric, Jan 2, 2020.

  1. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
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    Akira Kurosawa: My Life In Cinema (1993, Shizuo Satô)
    Glad to see this extended Kurosawa interview with filmmaker, Nagisa Oshima, on the channel. Love the above snippet concerning advice to new filmmakers. The full full version is also currently up on YouTube as well.
     
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  2. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    Love it! Excellent advice!
     
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  3. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
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    Godzilla (Gojira) (1954, Ishiro Honda)
    Boy, there are a lot of sequels. I was in the mood for a great End of the World Midnight type of flick and Gojira fits the bill perfectly. Don't think I want to venture the other (roughly) dozen other sequels currently featured on the channel tonight. But I thought I'd refer to this extended capsule review of ALL the Godzilla films above. If you've got time and are a fan of the franchise it will undoutedly make interesting watching. But none of the sequels top the first Godzilla film to my mind. Always a satifying watch when the world seems on the verge of collapsing overnight. :winkgrin:
     
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  4. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    [​IMG]
    The Player (1992, Robert Altman)
    A Hollywood studio executive with a shaky moral compass (Tim Robbins) finds himself caught up in a criminal situation that would be right at home in one of his movie projects, in this biting industry satire from Robert Altman.
    Finally watching (a nice copy of) this. This, Secret Honor, Tanner '88 and The Long Goodbye are the other 3 Altman films currently up on the channel. Back in '93 Altman talked to Charlie Rose about Player in the clip above.
     
  5. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    More early Kurosawa I had not seen. Wow! I loved this one. The second half is a knockout. Beautiful camera work and a stellar performance from Setsuko Hara. I guess I have a long list of Ozu films to watch this fall. I have seen a couple, but now it's time for a marathon. I will probably start with Late Spring and Tokyo Story and take it from there. I also look forward to watching The Idiot by Kurosawa which also features Setsuko Hara. I don't know what it is, but I love Japanese films from this era.

    No Regrets for Our Youth

    Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1946 • Japan

    In Akira Kurosawa's first film after the end of World War II, future beloved Ozu regular Setsuko Hara gives an astonishing performance as Yukie, the only female protagonist in Kurosawa's body of work and one of his strongest heroes. Transforming herself from genteel bourgeois daughter to independent social activist, Yukie traverses a tumultuous decade in Japanese history.

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  6. Electric

    Electric The Medium is the Massage Thread Starter

    I was attracted to the title but actually and unexpectedly enjoyed the film:

    The Clock
    Directed by Vincente Minnelli • 1945 • United States
    Starring Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason

    Judy Garland received her first serious, non-musical role in this swooning romance exquisitely directed by her soon-to-be husband Vincente Minnelli. While on forty-eight-hour-leave in New York, young GI Joe Allen (Robert Walker) meets office worker Alice Maybery (Garland) amid the hustle and bustle of Penn Station. Over two whirlwind days, the impossible happens: the two strangers fall in love with each other, with the city, and with its colorful inhabitants. But what happens to their whirlwind affair when he ships out?

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  7. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    Started Ozu with an earlier silent film. I'd say it was an excellent introduction to his films.
    An Inn in Tokyo
    Directed by Yasujiro Ozu • 1935 • Japan

    The final still-extant silent film directed by Yasujiro Ozu is an exquisitely tender portrait of everyday survival in 1930s Japan. Anticipating the neorealist poetry of BICYCLE THIEVES, AN INN IN TOKYO follows unemployed ne’er-do-well Kihachi (Takeshi Sakamoto) and his young sons as they eke out an existence on the city’s margins, catching stray dogs for reward money and eventually becoming involved with a similarly impoverished woman and her daughter. With its simple yet elegant compositions and striking use of Tokyo’s industrial landscapes, this bittersweet slice-of-life tale represents a key work in the evolution of Ozu’s artistry.

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  8. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Yeah, I initially saw this stumbling on it channel surfing. Very nice surprise. Love Judy getting cozy with MET sculptures! :laugh:
     
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  9. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    Excellent! Not sure how this one slipped through the cracks. I never even heard of it. I love Lino Ventura and Belmondo! A bit of a lost classic.

    Classe tous risques

    Directed by Claude Sautet • 1960 • France
    Starring Lino Ventura, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Sandra Milo

    After hiding out in Milan for nearly a decade, fugitive gangland chief Abel Davos (Lino Ventura) sneaks back to Paris with his children despite a death sentence hanging over his head. Accompanied by appointed guardian Eric Stark (Jean-Paul Belmondo, fresh off his star turn in BREATHLESS) and beset by backstabbing former friends, Abel begins a journey through the postwar Parisian underworld that’s both throat-grabbing and soul-searching. A character study of a career criminal at the end of his rope, this rugged noir from Claude Sautet (UN COEUR EN HIVER) is a thrilling highlight of sixties French cinema.

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  10. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    Last night, Anatomy of a Murder.
     
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  11. Electric

    Electric The Medium is the Massage Thread Starter

    I've been watching a few mainstream movies lately. This one's nice and quirky though:

    Topsy-Turvy
    Directed by Mike Leigh • 1999 • United Kingdom
    Starring Allan Corduner, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Spall

    The world of Gilbert and Sullivan comes to vivid life in director Mike Leigh’s extraordinary dramatization of the staging of the duo’s legendary 1885 comic opera THE MIKADO. Jim Broadbent and Allan Corduner brilliantly inhabit the roles of the world-famous Victorian librettist and composer, who, along with their troupe of temperamental actors, must battle personal and professional demons while mounting this major production. A lushly produced epic about the harsh realities of creative expression, featuring bravura performances and Oscar-winning costume design and makeup, TOPSY-TURVY is an unexpected period delight from one of contemporary cinema’s great artists.

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  12. Electric

    Electric The Medium is the Massage Thread Starter

    Now what did I learn from this film? That cops can sometimes be bad shots and sometimes good shots (depends on the plot), and that crime doesn't pay.

    :p
     
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  13. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    [​IMG]
    Dracula Spanish language Version (1931, George Melford)
    Shot concurrently using the same sets as the Tod Browning–Bela Lugosi classic, the Spanish-language version of the Bram Stoker novel was made as a part of a common practice in the early talkie era of producing foreign-language versions of Hollywood films for international audiences. Spanish actor Carlos Villarías steps into the role of the seductive vampire who preys upon an innocent young woman (Lupita Tovar). Considerably longer and racier than the English-language version, this DRACULA is more than a mere curio—it’s a significant artistic achievement in its own right.

    Odd that the channel isn't featuring the Browning/Bela Lugosi English language version as well. Here's a fine online version of that one. In the above video a YT poster provides a detailed analysis of the differences between the two. Either way, the versions really haven't been bettered, imo.
     
  14. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    I also thought this was odd. I have never seen The Spanish version, so maybe I will watch it before the month is over. I have been watching some of these Universal horror films. Most I have seen before, but a few I haven't. So far I have watched these in the last few days.

    The Raven- I loved it, and I am a huge fan of anything Boris and Bela. I had never seen this one before.
    The Creature From The Black Lagoon- This was pretty bad. I usually love bad movies like this, but this was boring and not bad enough. Great iconic creature costume, but couldn't wait for it to be over, and it's only 79 minutes .
    The Mummy- I have seen it before and still think it's a good one. I don't think I have seen any Boris Karloff movie I have not enjoyed.

    I watched The Black Cat last year and it's another great Boris and Bela film.

    The other three playing on Criterion are The Bride Of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and The Wolf Man. These are all classics that I have loved in the past. I will soon watch them again. I wish they had more films playing in this collection.

    I also watched The Island Of Lost Souls which I have always wanted to see. Great performance by Charles Laughton.
     
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  15. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    Day of the Jackal.

    I know the darn thing by heart, but it was so perfectly crafted and performed that it still keeps me completely focused every time I watch it.
     
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  16. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    [​IMG]
    Cronos (1993, Guillermo Del Toro)
    Guillermo del Toro made an auspicious and audacious feature debut with CRONOS, a highly unorthodox tale about the seductiveness of the idea of immortality. Kindly antiques dealer Jesús Gris (Federico Luppi) happens upon an ancient golden device in the shape of a scarab, and soon finds himself the possessor and victim of its sinister, addictive powers, as well as the target of a mysterious American named Angel (a delightfully crude and deranged Ron Perlman). Featuring marvelous special makeup effects and the haunting imagery for which del Toro has become world-renowned, CRONOS is a dark, visually rich, and emotionally captivating fantasy.

    I've only seen Del Toro's Pan's Labyrynth but I am always fascinated with his dialogues with other artists/filmmakers. The Adventues In Moviegoing series featured Del Toro on the old Filmstruck channel back in 2018. Good one.
     
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  17. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    I loved The Shape of Water. Much better than Creature From the Black Lagoon.

    I watched The Wolf Man last night and it wasn't anywhere as good as I remembered. Some of these Universal horror movies are not holding up for me.
     
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  18. dwm67

    dwm67 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alberta, Canada
    Thank you for this recommendation … just finished watching … incredible … will be hunting for the blu ray :)
     
  19. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    Worth the investment. I believe you will watch it repeatedly.
     
  20. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    [​IMG]
    The Steamroller and the Violin (1961, Andrei Tarkovsky)
    When Sasha, a seven-year-old violin protégé, meets Sergei, a steamroller working in his neighborhood, he starts to open up from his strictly imposed routine of practice. Made as a thesis film for the VGIK Soviet film school, this early work by Andrei Tarkovsky captures the sadness and joy of childhood with the keen perception and visual imagination of a master in the making.
    The look of this film reminds me of early Parajanov. I wonder if Tarkovsky watched any of the Georgian/Armenian filmmaker's work before he began to make his own movies. A nice discussion (above) of Steamroller provides a nice intro to the film.
     
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  21. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    La chienne
    Directed by Jean Renoir • 1931 • France
    Starring Michel Simon, Janie Marèse, Georges Flamant


    Watched this today and didn't even know it was an earlier version of Scarlet Street. Both films based on the book by Georges de La Fouchardière. Scarlet Street with Edward G. Robinson and Fritz Lang is a favorite of mine, but Jean Renoir and Michel Simon do it just as well 14 years earlier. Highly recommended double feature.


    Jean Renoir's ruthless love triangle tale, his second sound film, is a true precursor to his brilliantly bitter THE RULES OF THE GAME, displaying all of the filmmaker's visual genius and fully imbued with his profound humanity. Michel Simon cuts a tragic figure as an unhappily married cashier and amateur painter who becomes so smitten with a prostitute that he refuses to see the obvious: that she and her pimp boyfriend are taking advantage of him. Renoir's elegant compositions and camera movements carry this twisting narrative, a stinging commentary on class and sexual divisions, to an unforgettably ironic conclusion.

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  22. Electric

    Electric The Medium is the Massage Thread Starter

    Wow!

    To Die For

    Directed by Gus Van Sant • 1995 • United States, United Kingdom
    Starring Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix

    Based on the novel by Joyce Maynard (which was inspired by the true story of Pamela Smart), Gus Van Sant’s whip-smart, darkly comic satire explores America’s obsession with celebrity. Nicole Kidman delivers a wickedly diabolical breakthrough performance as Suzanne Stone, a shallow, narcissistic, and ruthlessly ambitious small-town girl with a dream to become a famous TV personality—even if her husband (Matt Dillon) stands in the way. After she manages to talk her way into a job at a local TV station, Suzanne sets about climbing the corporate ladder, enlisting the help of three easily manipulated teenagers (Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, and Alison Folland). Together, they form a powerful and dangerous bond that threatens to blow the lid off their seemingly idyllic suburban life.

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  23. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, NY
    [​IMG]
    Wings of Desire (1987, Wim Wenders)
    Bruno Ganz is Damiel, an angel perched atop buildings high over Berlin who can hear the thoughts—fears, hopes, dreams—of all the people living below. But when he falls in love with a beautiful trapeze artist, he is willing to give up his immortality and come back to earth to be with her.

    Didn't take this one long to become a late 20th century classic. Nice retrospective above.
     
  24. ~dave~~wave~

    ~dave~~wave~ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lincoln, NE
    I very much enjoyed watching this again.

    It made me want to see the "semi-sequel" Faraway, So Close, which had scenes and images that are memorable three decades after seeing the film.
    Made in Berlin after re-unification with resonant locations.

    Cameos by Mikhail Gorbachev (?!), Lou Reed, Peter Falk again.
    Bought the soundtrack CD with Nick Cave, Laurie Anderson, Reed, U-2...

    For some reason it's not in the Criterion collection, available on BD, or streaming that I can find. :confused:
    Seems like it would be ripe for a re-issue.
    Must be a story there.
     
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  25. Recently watched Let Me Die a Woman as part of the collection of movies by softcore sexploitation, er, "auteur" Doris Wishman. I never would've thought that poorly made quasi-documentaries promoting transsexualism directed by exploitation filmmakers would have their own sub-genre, but maybe they do. Imagine Glen or Glenda hosted by a doctor with less than zero screen presence, and starring some of his patients instead of Ed Wood, and you're just about there.

    Also watched one of Wishman's proper movies, Indecent Desires, about a weirdo loner who discovers a cheap plastic doll that has "voodoo doll" powers over a woman he lusts after. Weird, wild stuff.
     

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