MY LIST OF DON’T AGREE’S: Youth of the Beast is fantastic, as is The Bank Dick, and I honestly loved Robinson Crusoe on Mars- the old scifi films are so bad you can’t help but love them and this really held me in, Fishing with John is great, Kicking and Screaming is brilliant, Contempt I also love, Rushmore and Bottle Rocket are fantastic additives to Criterion- The Life Aquatic not so much, The Royal Tenembaums sure, Honestly I really enjoyed The Ice Storm as well, The Night Porter was clearly distributed for historical purposes only- another shock value film, but without Criterions release I would never have seen what that famous image was connected to, Oh and my God please forgive me, but I loved Sweet Movie- that’s the film I show to anyone who thinks they can handle it all haha, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm is a filmmakers film- there is so much to like in this if you have ever worked with actors and a production crew that thinks they’ve got all the answers, Grey Gardens is a classy documentary almost as good as Salesman, Man Bites Dog is unbeatable in regards to something that appears so real it makes you sick, Brazil, Maitresse, My Own Private Idaho- all magically original, Shock Corridor is one of the greatest asylum films ever produced, The Harder They Come is a classic, Slacker is absolutely brilliant like a deadpan Rope with all the continued shots, and THE ELEMENT OF CRIME is a masterpiece, the images are breathtaking, I was blown away, anything by Lars Von Trier is brilliant, I loved Europa/Zentropa- he is more of a visual filmmaker so I tend to almost ignore the story and just allow the hypnosis of his visuals take over. That about does it.
AGREE’S OR UNNECESSARY FOR THE CRITERION STANDARD (or at least what I assumed the standard was): Don’t think Robocop, Armegeddon, The Rock, Time Bandits (all the Monty Python films- even though I enjoy this one), Fiend Without a Face, Beastie Boys Anthology, Hopscotch, Chasing Amy, Jubilee, Naked Lunch (the book is too good for an adaptation), Videodrome (I like the movie but not in my criterion collection), Indiscretion of an American Wife/Terminal Station- terribly relies on the obnoxious soundtrack for drama, haven’t seen Border Radio yet, but there is a reason, I can almost guarantee that it ranks even lower than Jubilee.
Does anyone else love the film Paper Moon? I’ve always loved that film, Peter Bogdanovich is due for a film, he’s done a number of introductions for Criterion.
RoboCop is one of the best sci-films, I’d say…
I just watched “Brief Encounter” for the first time, and I really had trouble enjoying it. I was going to create a new thread and ask what I was missing, but I suppose posting here is just as effective. I couldn’t believe that Jesson and Harvey had fallen so deeply in love with each other in such a short amount of time. Also, I didn’t feel like there was enough proof that her current home life was unsatisfying enough to warrant an affair. That being said, I thought that the movie was shot very well, I loved the cinematography. But the script? I thought it was just too quick. What are your thoughts?
I’m just gonna step in front of the bus and profess my love for Wes Anderson here. To me he’s one of a small group of American filmmakers, Paul Thomas Anderson, Charlie Kaufman, the Coen brothers would be others, who have been able to find success in an American studio system that has little tolerance for personal vision or originality by making personal and original films. Wes Anderson is the very definition of an Auteur and the kind of filmmaker who’s films should be showcased by Criterion.
Rant aside, I found it impossible to get through Alphaville and I loves me some Godard but I do like that I had the oppertunity to see it.
It’s personal preference but Alphaville is my absolute favorite Godard film. I ADORE that movie. i don’t care if Eddie Constantine is too old for Anna Karina[which is what my friends usually say too me] there’s just something about the movie that jumps off of the screen and consumes me.
that aside.
i would like to know how movies wind up in the criterion collection: mainly…How did Armageddon and The Rock get in?
THE NIGHT PORTER.
id say Branded to Kill and the Samurai Trilogy. Good films, just poor quality prints.
Armegeddon and The Rock are the most glaring. If you did not know they were really released by Criterion you’d think they were joking.
Days of Heaven … hehehe I was stuck, trying to figure how much of a difference there was to this release and comparing it to the initial dvd on Paramount that i actually had both out watching the movie, pausing it, putting in the other copy. i can honestly find very little difference. I was let down big time on this release
Naked City. Not amongst Dassin finest or even amongst the noir genre. It spawn a television series and that nice and dandy quote “There are eight million stories in the city…”
hahha on that note, r we seeing a Badlands release some time in the future?
I’d have to agree with The Night Porter..
Spoorloos. It’s a pretty mediocre movie enlivened by an exciting last 5 minutes. Which, unless you’re Robert “Wow ’em in the end!” McKee , does not a great film make.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
I think The Rock is the only Michael Bay movie worth a damn. Indeed, I’ll agree that Armageddon sticks out like a sore thumb, and it keeps getting hit by your guys’ hammers so it’ll be sore for quite a while it seems. Some of these movies mentioned are OOP anyway. But, anyway, and stuff, just a comment:
Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make the film bad. There’s plenty of movies in the Criterion Collection that I’ve watched that I just simply didn’t like. For instance, I saw Crazed Fruit and found it to be one of the least interesting Japanese movies I’ve ever seen in my life—but I admit that that ending is magnificent and that the build-up throughout the movie is well done. It’s a well done movie. I’m sure for a lot of people, it’s a movie they can watch over and over and over again. And for my buck, I’m always willing to give my time to Powell and Pressburger, but the fact that the essential story behind “I Know Where I’m Going” has been done a thousand times before and a thousand times since really make it “uninteresting” to me.
“Interesting” is a weird word, one that any academic or reviewer should always avoid using. I make a point of using it. There are great films out there that show the world what the film world can do, and I couldn’t care less. Ummmm… hate to say it, but…. I don’t actually care all that much for Hitchcock. Everytime I watch a Hitchcock movie, I can’t argue that his skill is godly, and he’s an expert craftsman, but most of his movies simply do not interest me. Half the time, I’m thinking, “Stop running, jackass, and try communicating without yelling like a frantic jerk!” But I wouldn’t post on this board, “Oh MAN, and why’d they put Lady Vanishes on the Criterion Collection?! You can get that at a Wal-Mart $1 bin!” (You can.) I know why it’s there. And I’ll probably never buy it or rent it, because I’d rather get around to watching 49th Parallel instead—even if, as someone else mentioned on this board, it’s not as good as other Powell and Pressburger movies. Don’t care, I like their work better, because it’s just me.
My mother once watched The Matrix and said, “I hated it, absolutely hated it!” I said, “Why? It’s a really well done movie!” and she said, “Oh yes, it was. It was a very well done movie. And I hated it.”
As for the Wes Anderson haters, whateva, man. Whateva.
And as for the “Michael Bay movies aren’t FILMS!” comment…. I believe, if I’m not mistaken, that The Rock and Armageddon were, in fact, shot on film. So they are films.
—PolarisDiB
I concur with most of the scuttlebutt on Kevin Smith, Wes Anderson, and Michael Bay films. If you look around though you can find any of these titles for $10.00 give or take in new/almost new condition. That puts all of these films in a different light and worthy the Criterion fix.
A lot of the early titles had little to no bonus, extra features like: Amarcord, The Lady Vanishes, Walkabout, Andrei Rublev, Insomnia, Great Expectations, The Last Temptation of Christ, etc. This does not take away from them being excellent films and possibly the only DVD format for many. I just received The Honeymoon Killers which is on the far left fringe of “important classic and contemporary films”. I feel
they gave it all the proper sleaze it deserved and served it up in a manner fitting it’s nature. It’s perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Armagedon and the Curious Case Of Benjamin Button have to be the worst for me.
Along with a lot of others I am somewhat puzzled by the John Woo and Michael Bay titles but then they are all self actualized in that they are no longer available nor/or scheduled for an update. I feel Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy may also be a little suspect but then I’m an amateur not and an auteur. Robocop is in a class by itself, whatever that is. The bottom line is, at sometime someone a lot more competent than me had the impetus to bother cleaning these up for their proper Criterion issue. None of them have ever looked better. I just happen to have these titles I’d admit, none in the Criterion version. I would not divvy up the coin to make it happen. I would save that for more worthy films which Criterion have plenty of. It’s the best thing going in home collecting.
Slacker and every Wes Anderson movie except maybe Life Aquatic shouldn’t be on Criterion. RoboCop’s a lot of fun but is one of Verhoeven’s lesser films. If Criterion had to release just one of his I’d say it should be Soldier of Orange.
“Kicking & Screaming” is without a doubt at the very bottom of my collection.
I assume we are voting for second place after Koko the Talking Gorilla.
… and The Night Porter is superb.
In a series of what, 400-500 titles and counting, they can’t all be winners.
I’m not sure if I got this from a book, film, or life, but I’ve come to treat it as a proverb.
Q:Why do they make chocolate and vanilla ice creams?
A: Because you like ice cream that sucks.
From what I’ve seen, I don’t think I’m much of a Stan Brakhage fan, but won’t say a collection of his works is somehow invalid. Armageddon does suck. I don’t care if it has a Criterion or not, I’m not rich enough to track down every spine number.
The first post of the thread mentions Long Good Friday, and the last Night Porter. I’m a fan of both, but will call them and the couple-other no extras one the worst. As a broke basement dweller, I can’t afford to drop $30 for (like Friday) a film with a better edition available cheaper, or (like Porter( one where the VHS i’ve had for years has the same extras). Shit, have an intern discuss Dirk Bogarde’s tea preferences. A decent (or crappy, if the film is rare enough) transfer is worth a buy, but I need something to justify 30 bucks. In Critierion Co’s defence, I haven’t seen them release anything like that in awhile.
Remember when DVDs would have menus or chapter stops listed as extras?
@Henry Krinkle, thank you for defending Life Aquatic which is easily one of the sharpest and most original comedies I have ever seen. I haven’t seen Royal Tenenbaums for years but when I saw it I hated it.
@Futurestaff Have you ever seen Hard Boiled? That is easily one of the greatest action films ever made and still holds up. The plot is pretty good for an action movie and you even get to see Tony Leung in an early role.
Equinox is easily the most terrible film released by Criterion even though it is understandable why it was released.
I must say Jubilee was the worst film released on the criterion collection. Probably one of the most pretentious art films ever made. Olny redeeming quality is to see Little Nell and Richard O’Brien of Rocky Horror Fame on Screen doing something that is not Rocky Horror Related.
Traffic i wasn’t a big fan of. I actually don’t believe that it should have been put on criterion.
I really think the most cringe worthy films in the collection are the Michael Bay films. I bought The Rock just because it was a Criterion for only 6 bucks. I figured I would find something of value in the special features or something. Needless to say the beauty of the Criterion Collection is that there is something in there for EVERYBODY (even “Joe Six Pack”)! I think that is what the company prides itself in (or is it?). I really doubt the decision makers for the company see their films being displayed alongside some guy’s Maxim magazine collection but you have to ask yourself, how else could they make the money to license the rest of the collection?
I thought this was going to be a bunch of people talking about the worst “DVD” and not movie in the collection. And if you’re crying about the early releases in the Collection being terrible..give the company a break. Those transfers are 10 or so years old. Those crying about having mainstream movies in the collection need to learn how to have some variety. Those crying about why an “inferior” movie by a director is included but not a “superior” one need to realize that other companies own movies as well and do not wanna license things. If you don’t like some movies then just Netflix them and then decide to buy them. You don’t HAVE to have every movie.
I am glad that Criterion started going back to titles in the first 50 releases and re-doing them. can’t wait to see what else they can improve on. I definitely would like to see an HDD transfer of Alphaville. time will tell. I definitely want a new transfer of Last Temptation of Christ. It hurts to watch upconverted.
In response to Chris Knudsen regarding “Equinox”….you do realize that if it wasn’t for this movie, which was Dennis Muren’s labor of love, there would be no Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Close Encounters, Jurassic Park, ET, Abyss, etc?
it’s 3:30 am and this post was probably typed out terribly. i apologize.
I don’t think Robocop should be included in this thread…it’s a terrific sci-fi movie…I do think Equinox is the worst…and the upcoming Homicide is a very bad movie.
Robinson Crusoe on Mars. So bad it is bad. But not as bad as Jubilee.
I’ve been lucky because I haven’t seen a lot of the “bad” Criterion movies listed on this thread. But of the 100+ Criterions I have seen, these are some of my least favorite:
In the Mood for Love
Dead Ringers
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Grand Illusion
Salo
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois
The Seventh Seal
Two Lane Blacktop
Yi Yi
Zack Scott
Well Said, Justin. Well Said!