@Hidden: Science is Fiction and La Haine are must buys! They’re two of my favorite Criterion pieces I have.
If the films in the Von Sternberg set are as good as his “Scarlet Empress”, then you have nothing to worry about.
Somebody mentioned Children of Paradise. Put this at the top of your lists, those of you who have not seen it. It is a real jewell of cinema, one of the very best films ever.
Blu ray is absolutely worth it.
As far as Mizoguchi, there are a few good films in the “Fallen Women” set, but I don’t think that any of them are among his best work. Definitely get his Sansho and Ugetsu films first. After that, invest in a multiregion player, and start getting some of his other films from the UK’s Masters of Cinema collection. “Life of Oharu” should be the next Mizoguchi film that you see after Ugetsu and Sansho.
I’m hurting for money going into this sale so I’m only going for 4 titles:
Most important—BBS: America Lost and Found
Then—Seven Samurai, House, Night of the Hunter.
@Ryan. Yeah I thought La Haine was amazing. I haven’t seen Science is Fiction though. It’d be a blind buy, but I’m fascinated with aquatic creatures. =]
Also I have seen Sansho and Ugetsu. Unfortunately those are the only two of his I’ve seen…I’m really eager to delve further. Thanks for that warning though.
Last time round I got
Made In U.S.A.
Cassavetes set
Two or Three Things I Know About Her
Vivre Sa Vie
Last Year At Marienbad
Breathless
L’avventura
L’Eclisse
Thinking about A Woman Is A Woman, Night of the Hunter, maybe Band of Outsiders, the Bergman trilogy , perhaps the Teshigahara one.
How do the other two films in that set compare to Woman in the Dunes?
Pitfall and Face of Another are incredible films. Don’t hesitate to pick that set up.
@Dada I’d second what Tommy is saying and say that it is totally worth buying the Teshigahara box set. Not only do you get those two films with Women In The Dunes, but there are four short films, I believe one of them being the very first short film that Teshigahara ever made. Plus, there’s video essays on each film You also get a documentary covering Teshigahara and Kobo Abe, who wrote the books the films are based on and you get interviews with scholars like Donald Richie and Tadao Sato Plus it comes with a nice booklet. Night of the Hunter is a really good film. It’s the only film that the actor Charles Laughton ever directed and it has a great performance by Robert Mitchum. I don’t have the Criterion copy of that one, but I do have it and I think the cinematography is extremely beautiful in it. I’d also pick up a copy of Band of Outsiders. It’s a very entertaining film and has some nice music in it.
I agree completely with Hal. The Teshigahara set is top notch, all three films are superb. Band of Outsides is also a recommendation, it’s my absolute favorite Godard film.
Oh….. Band of Outsiders…………… :\
Savvy
@Dada
Definitely pick up the Teshigahara set…. All three features are brilliant, the short films are excellent, the documentary on him and Abe is top shelf, and the book that comes with it is superlative. With the exceptions of Antonio Gaudi (which you can also get on CC) and The Ruined Map (which I don’t think has a DVD release), you are pretty much getting Teshigahara’s oeuvre in a single box, which is all sorts of hot….
I think we can all agree it’s a monumental vulgarity that Laughton only directed Hunter. I have not however seen Band of Outsiders, though it is one of the few 60s Godards I have left(and am vastly looking forward to).
Very cool, folks — thanks for the intel. Am probably going to pick up the Teshigahara set now, I think.
I think we can all agree it’s a monumental vulgarity that Laughton only directed Hunter. I have not however seen Band of Outsiders, though it is one of the few 60s Godards I have left(and am vastly looking forward to).
Very cool, folks — thanks for the intel. Am probably going to pick up the Teshigahara set now, I think.
I’m gonna pick up the Darjeeling Limited, A Christmas Tale, The Secret of the Grain, and maybe the Brakage set.
also the Yojimbo and Sanjuro set.
definitely:
Seven Samurai BD
Yojimbo/Sanjuro BD
Vivre Sa Vie BD
maybe:
Oshima Eclipse set
M BD
The Seventh Seal BD
Breathless BD
I’ll think about it:
8 1/2
An Autumn Afternoon
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
Bicycle Thieves
Chungking Express
Clean, Shaven
Death of a Cyclist
Hoop Dreams
House
In the Mood for Love
Jules & Jim
The Last Temptation of Christ
Last Year at Marienbad
M
Make Way for Tomorrow
Masculin Feminin
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
Modern Times
Onibaba
Paths of Glory
The Rules of the Game
Simon of the Desert
Solaris
Stories of Floating Weeks
Sword of Doom
The Thin Red Line
Walkabout
The Virgin Spring
Viridiana
Wild Strawberries
Wings of Desire
If I can narrow this down to about 5 titles, then I will have done my job. As much as I hate to admit it, I’ve only seen one of these films (In the Mood for Love) and about half of another (Wings of Desire), so there is some serious canon catching up for me to do.
EDIT:
I managed to narrow it down quite a bit (although not as much as I need to), and now I’m probably just going to work with these:
Bicycle Thieves
Chungking Express
The Last Temptation of Christ
Last Year at Marienbad
Onibaba
Paths of Glory
The Rules of the Game
The Thin Red Line
Viridiana
Wild Strawberries
Wings of Desire
My suggestion:
Onibaba
Last Year at Marienbad
Wild Strawberries
House
Floating Weeds
You’ve got a lot of great titles in there, though…
Josh H… out of the ones you narrowed it down to… I’d go with
Bicycle Thieves
Chungking Express
Paths of Glory
The Thin Red Line
Wild Strawberries
But that’s just me.
A lot of great titles either way.
Also… is there any word of a solid beginning and ending date… I’ve head the 1st, 9th and 16th for starters and all the way up through December 7th for the ending… anything official?
Recently I read that it will be the 1st-22nd… seems that this is likely… and if so, hopefully it’ll include pre-order for the BBS Blu Box.
Any official (or as close as possible to it) word would be appreciated… thanks.
Yeah, the BBS bluray box set is #1 on my agenda…if I can get that at half price, I will be one happy son of a bitch.
Well, if the sale was on the first, I would assume the B&N employees should be finding out this weekend because they are going to have to get those sticker labels on the Criterion cases soon right? Perhaps B&N employees can chime in….
Here’s my list:
BD:
Seven Samurai
Vivre sa vie
The Thin Red Line
Paths of Glory
The Night Of The Hunter
DVDs:
I really haven’t decided what catalog titles I want to get yet. I want to get at least one box set and during every sale I always pick up the Antoine Doinel set and say ‘I have got to get this’…and then I don’t. I’m thinking it might finally happen this time, but I don’t know.
I’d also like to get a few Godards that I don’t have yet. Probably “Made In USA” and “2 or 3 Things…” since those are two that look like you have to buy together.
Then again, I also need to finally get my first Eclipse set…ugh…so confused.
I’m probably going to get the Oshima’s Outlaw Sixties Eclipse set and The Adventures of Antoine Doinel.
It still starts on November 1st right? I’m not working that day so I could probably get there right at store open.
I’m not going to be going in with any set plans. I’m just going to browse through and pick up the things I most want that they have. If that Cassavettes box set I’ve been staring at for the past month is still there and included in the sale I’ll probably grab it. Otherwise, I don’t know. Maybe the Proletariat trilogy. But more, anything I liked but don’t own, or anything I’m 90% sure I’m going to like.
All of their boxsets will be on sale. I bought the Proletariat Trilogy at the last sale. That sale is such a great time to pick up boxsets. The Cassavetes box is a good idea. I’m thinking about that too.. or Berlin Alexanderplatz. I’m such a huge Fassbinder fan, and BA is amazing.. But I wasn’t sure I’d go back and rewatch the whole thing very often.. still would probably be worth it. The B&N stores near me don’t usually have everything that I want, so I’m used to ordering stuff online at every sale.
@Josh H
If you like In The Mood For Love and Wings of Desire, Chungking Express is a safe bet.
@Soul Deserter: Honestly the Criterion label alone is a safe bet to me. I’ve seen maybe 75 Criterion titles, and the only ones I didn’t like were Pygmalion and Armageddon. A large number of my favorite films were impulse buys/rentals of Criterions. I have extraordinarily similar taste to the Criterion show runners, and I have no doubt that I’ll enjoy 97% of what they release.
Seven Samurai bluray for twenty-five bucks! Can’t wait!
I might have to get Letters from Fontainhas. I didn’t “love” any of those three films; at times I found them infuriating. But weeks after watching them, I simply can’t get them out of my mind.
Seven Samurai BD is $29.99 (40% off) at BN.com right now for those who can’t wait a week.
Max Slobodin
I don’t think I can buy much at all this time around :(…. maybe The Night Of The Hunter and a select few others. House I’m already buying so I can watch in time for Halloween.