I, too, am a little baffled at all the hate that “Chasing Amy” seems to get, since I thought it was a small, ragged little gem, and I totally loved the sheer ballsiness of that scene where Ben Affleck pours out his heart. Tom Wilson put it quite well when he said it speaks to “that nagging sense that movies seldom get to the guts of true romance.” Love is as awkward in movies as it is in life, and I thought the movie really got that awkwardness and just rolled with it.
I own “Branded to Kill” and could not get through it.
I saw “The Tin Drum” 17+ years ago on VHS tape. No, N-O, desire to see it again.
I’m another who had to resort to pretty drastic measures to stay awake for the full length of “M. Hulot’s Holiday”; which is pretty sad for a movie that short. I appreciated bits of it but over all it just wasn’t anywhere near as funny as I’d been led to believe it would be.
I’m another Chasing Amy, Rushmore and Brazil defender. Brazil belongs here 100%. Chasing Amy and Rushmore stand out a bit more as oddballs for being more recent and not particularly artful, sure, but both films have great strengths. Rushmore has some of the best young-star acting and a brilliant turn by Bill Murray, all while heralding the arrival of an up and coming filmmaker to watch (Bottle Rocket came first but doesn’t impress nearly as much). Chasing Amy remains Kevin Smith’s strongest film and Smith is an intriguing leading voice for a whole subculture of the modern pop culture scene, so some film of his belongs in the collection. Chasing Amy is by far his best but really, if Slacker belongs in the collection than the Kevin Smith film that should really be here is Clerks.
On that note, I truly detested Slacker. And pretty much anything else I’ve seen yet from Richard Linklatter. I’ll give Dazed and Confused a chance when I get around to it though…
TOKYO DRIFTER, despite how much I enjoy the theme song and eye-catching opening shot. The subsequent scenes are too “innovative” to follow, or too self-consciously kitschy to take seriously. The shots are at such odd angles that the scenes are difficult to follow without multiple rewinds. The acting is uneven, great in some scenes, not sure if they are outakes substituted into the body of the film in others.
I watched it through against my better judgment; since, I haven’t considered watching another Suzuki film. It’s been a few years, so I might watch something else by him. Judging from this thread, it shouldn’t be BRANDED TO KILL.
The Man Who Fell To Earth. Its hard to describe what i didn’t like about the film it just felt empty, emotionaly and narratively.That was the point mind you it failed to ring as a tragedy for me anyways. However the inclusion of the book in the package is something quite thoughtful perhaps a read through of that will help me understand the themes a little more thorughly. Its inclusion in the Blu Ray collection is an odd choice for me as there are more a bunch more films that would be more worth looking at (in a purely visual way).
I LOVE CHASING AMY. I’m not crazy about kevin smith, but chasing amy is fan-fucking-tastic. People in this movie talk like me and my friends, so i may be biased. I loved the relationship between affleck and lee, i thought their friendship is something you see in the real world A LOT and the ending when they see eachother at the comic book convention was SUPER sad. Not because it’s a scene filled with undying dramatic emotion, but because of how real it is. They just… don’t even talk. Smith doesn’t show them crying or agonizing over eachother, he only shows a brief nod. Yet that brief nod tells a whole story.
Besides ARMAGEDDON, I would say that Noah Baumbach’s KICKING AND SCREAMING has to be one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen in my life.
Why is there no love for Tati?? Tati is fantastic!
Kazu-I know a lot of people love Tati but I find him very dull and not the least bit funny. And I like visual humor-Keaton, Lloyd are both favorites.
Personally, although he is a Canadian and I liked the look of Archangel, I did not care for Guy Maddin’s Saddest Music in the World. I believe he is an artist in a serious downward spiral, though I’ll reserve judgment on Brand upon the Brain until I have a chance to see it. I still recommend Archangel as a film where his satiric look at late silent/early sound expressionist pictures is clever and artful. After that, his films seem to just get more repetitive and tedious.
I certainly take exception to anyone putting Jacques Tati in any kind of ‘worse’ category. His films may not work for everybody, but they are still gems of comic invention. Maybe not to all tastes, but the same might be said of my criticism of Maddin – except here I think it would be hard to argue the merits of Saddest – unless you are watching the movie thoroughly drunk or stoned – where anything might be considered funny. With Tati, you don’t need to be to have a laugh.
Bob-Have to agree & disagree. Have never so much as chuckled at a Tati film. Agree on Guy Maddin. I liked him the first time I saw one of his films but it seems to be the same old schtick over and over again.
METROPOLITAN — by far the worst film to get a Criterion release. A bunch of spoiled rotten rich brats sit on their asses whining about their lives lacking direction. Vile film.
Never cared much for Metropolitan either. Never found any of the characters interesting.
What’s so bad about Chasing Amy or Metropolitan? They are some of the most well written dialogue pieces of the decade, which is probably why they were included. But I don’t really understand why The Lost Honor of Katherina Blum (sorry if misspelled) is in there.
I thought George Washington was boring and pretentious. Other than that there aren’t any Criterions that come to mind that I absolutely hated. There are a lot, however, like Army of Shadows, Pandora’s Box, 8 1/2, High and Low, and a handful more that I can’t think of right now that don’t really do much for me, but I wouldn’t say I hated them. I don’t know why, perhaps it is the mood I was in when I watched them, which I feel can often influence what I watch a great deal. If I watched these films again, I might really like them, but who knows.
AOAIJEA, I’ll tell you what was so bad about METROPOLITAN: pretty much everything. Amateurish acting and bad dialogue, characters who I couldn’t possibly have cared less about, and would have gladly seen slowly tortured to death a la SALO.
Apart from Michael Bay films, what Criterion releases (that you don’t already own) repel your gaze as you scan the B and N racks? You don’t even pick up the box to read the back copy. No way are you buying it.
@ Moderators
Can this thread be moved to the “Criterion” tab?
Nate
I think Chasing Amy came around because it was one of those Indie films at the time that really bucked trends and CC loves to do that when they release the new films, why else would they release Rushmore (a film I’ve never gotten into, ever)? But I think it falls in line with Rushmore, George Washington, Schizopolis, Metropolitan, and Do the Right Thing. All these 90’s indie flicks that did what they wanted to do, so I have no problem with their inclusion in the collection.
I always wondered why they released things like Spartacus and The Rock. Also, I understand why films like Band of Outsiders and Shoot the Piano Player are in the collection, I’ve just never found them to be good films. Both Godard and Truffaut have made much much better films, and Band of Outsiders is just not good. There I said it.