does that apply to the films themselves that thread you just linked me to, or the criterion packages?
Ride the Devil (by Ang Lee) was lousy
It’s some of both, but mostly it’s about the films themselves.
Blast of Silence was horrible.
A lot of their recent releases don’t look to be very good, but hey, they can only release so much Kurosawa and Bergman.
David Lean’s “Summertime” was bad. In fact, outside of Lawrence of Arabia, and maybe Father Ryan or Doctor Zhivago, Lean is just not that interesting. He is a very boring filmmaker, and probably spends way too much money making his films.
In Summertime, he had Kate Hepburn playing lead, and I don’t think that I have ever found her to be more dull, than she was in Summertime.
dp
Oh man…seriously? Summertime is one of my favorite movies of all time! Hepburn was illuminating!
Armageddon???
I’d have to agree that no Michael Bay movie should be in the Criterion. Maybe I’m alone on Equinox and someone could set me straight, it’s not that I hate the film but It doesn’t measure up to say The Blob or even Fiend Without a Face.
You’re not alone. I immediately thought of Equinox when I saw this topic reappear just now. I like (not love) it but it seems a bit out of place in the Collection. Armageddon makes sense to me, though.
I couldn’t stand Border Radio
I’ve said it before,
I can’t stand Resnais’ films.
White Dog was pretty horrible. My guess is it only made it in the collection because of the NCAAP misunderstanding, which is a silly reason to include it.
I agree, ‘White Dog’ tops the list.
There’s been so many lately. Shock Corridor, Naked Kiss, Broadcast News. And that ridiculous Robinson crusoe on Mars. Ugghh. Please Criterion, there has to be better films to release than these.
I hate when these old threads get dug up.
I find myself agreeing with a post, and thinking, dang, this guy is a scholar!, I have the exact same feelings about that movie, and then I look and its one of my old posts…
White Dog is fine by me.
And maybe this goes without saying, but uh… the fact that micheal bay has a place in the criterion catalogue is, i think, a travesty.
There are some lame films like Time Bandits, Yojimbo, The Element of Crime, Do the Right Thing, The Rock or Wild Strawberries – but as I always say: you cannot enjoy everything (as great as that would be)…
Taste is utterly subjective: I love The Element of Crime, Do the Right Thing, and Wild Strawberries.
(Disagrees VEHEMENTLY with Savannah and Un Nino about White Dog. That’s one of my favorite Criterions)
I didn’t actually watch the Criterion edition of this movie, but I gave Carnival of Souls enough of a chance to entertain and interest me, and it failed me at every turn.
The version of Carnival that I watched was part of one of those 50-movie packs of horror movies (with some REALLY good stuff on it). If I didn’t feel that Carnival was watching for a practical pittance, I would have been REALLY FRIGGIN’ MIFFED if I plunked down $30 for that thing.
Why do you like WHITE DOG? I’m honestly curious how anyone could enjoy this movie. It’s something I would show to a first grader with an exceptional attention span if they asked me what racism was.
I agree, Broadcast News could be one of the most boring movies I’ve ever sat through but I really like Shock Corridor. Also, I have to add Walkabout to this list. I couldn’t finish that one.
-White Dog was pretty horrible. My guess is it only made it in the collection because of the NCAAP misunderstanding, which is a silly reason to include it.-
No, the reason it’s included—along with Shock Corridor, Naked Kiss, Pickup on South Street, I Shot Jesse James, The Baron of Arizona, and Steel Helmet—is because many people, myself included, consider Sam Fuller to be among the greatest American directors.
Let’s remove some of the pictures above for the sake of the trash-pile by the name of Benjamin Button.
Walkabout is a MASTERPIECE by the way. No Roeg film until early 90’s is a failure.
Y tu mama tambien seems an unnecessary addition to the collection, but that’s just me.
Can anyone vouch for or against Carlos? How does it compare to Soderbergh’s Che?
Have you seen Y tu mama tambien, Rossi? It’s brilliant.
I’m not saying it’s not brilliant, I’m just saying that I’d rather see more films that are obscure and hard to find. The sorts of films that people find out about as a result of a criterion release. But then again, I suppose only criterion would take the time to release a deluxe edition of a film like that. I doubt MGM would release a special edition blu ray of a divisive foreign art film. I guess it’s a similar issue with Paths of Glory and The Night of the Hunter in that only cinema fans and cinephiles are going to buy deluxe releases of those films. Thus, it’s not in the financial interest of someone like MGM to put out such releases, so they license them over to criterion. It’s funny. I just noticed the bare bones releases for Blow Out, Y tu Mama Tambien, Paths of Glory, and Night of the Hunter were all put out by MGM. Perhaps there’s a pattern.
Charlesdegaulle
I personally found Revanche to be somewhat lame in the end