To me Martin Scorsese uses popular music the best in his films, Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love in Goodfellas or the Rolling Stones Jumpin’ Jack Flash in Mean Streets comes to mind. But I wholeheartedly agree with Wes Anderson’s use of Cat Stevens, Velvet Underground, The Who, etc. in his films. Amazing. You can never listen to those songs and not think about his films. In Rushmore, when Jason Schwartzman comes out of the elevator after putting bees in Bill Murray’s hotel room as the Whos’ A Quick One While He’s Away plays is unforgettable.
UHHHHH, sheesh Alanedit pretty much covered it. Great job! Oh, but one of the most erotic scenes I have ever seen is from that film CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS. The scene where they are making love in the train station and the clerk is ink stamping the girl’s body.
To be fair to the good folks at Criterion when new technology comes out what else are they supposed to do, but re-release their previous standard def titles. Now where I think you have a legitimate gripe is when they released M on DVD years ago with very little special features and released it again a couple of years ago in a 2-disc edition with all the great special features. We shouldn’t be punished because the people at Criterion didn’t put out a comprehensive edition the first time around. One great thing they have been doing recently is putting stripped down versions of their catalog so you don’t have to spend $39.95 if you want ONLY the film of Wild Strawberries. A way more affordable way to purchase the great restored versions of these films., though I do love the special features on their discs.
REDS and DEER HUNTER I would not call great “flawed” films. I would just call them great films. PSYCHO flawed? Maybe the ridiculous psycho babble expository scene at the end of the film is nowhere near the quality of the rest of the piece, but it is not enough to catagorize the film as flawed.
To me some great flawed films would be:
RUMBLE FISH
ANGEL HEART
BIRD
BARFLY
SHADOWS AND FOG
THE COLOR OF MONEY
These are films I can watch over and over again because of specific things in the films that attracts me to them. Or to be more critical, films that strived for something great and just missed the mark. To me the cinematography and music in Rumble Fish are well worth the price of admission, but the characters are one dimensional, and the cinematography, music and performance by Forest Whitaker in Bird are amazing, yet the film often meanders and it is way too long.
I think it was Casablanca or Citizen Kane on LASERDISC!!! I still have my Criterion Laserdiscs. It’s still the only way you can get Midnight Cowboy with John Schelsinger’s commentary. Also the Graduate Criterion Laserdiscs has on of the best commentaries I’ve ever heard. It’s by a Film Professor from UCLA and he really breaks down the film in a constructive way. I highly recommend it to any aspiring cinefile or filmmaker. That is if you can get your hands on it. Also the Some Like It Hot Criterion laserdisc with commentary by the same professor is great.
Favorite use of a song in a film. over 3 years ago
To me Martin Scorsese uses popular music the best in his films, Cream’s Sunshine of Your Love in Goodfellas or the Rolling Stones Jumpin’ Jack Flash in Mean Streets comes to mind. But I wholeheartedly agree with Wes Anderson’s use of Cat Stevens, Velvet Underground, The Who, etc. in his films. Amazing. You can never listen to those songs and not think about his films. In Rushmore, when Jason Schwartzman comes out of the elevator after putting bees in Bill Murray’s hotel room as the Whos’ A Quick One While He’s Away plays is unforgettable.
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Most erotic films you've seen. over 3 years ago
UHHHHH, sheesh Alanedit pretty much covered it. Great job! Oh, but one of the most erotic scenes I have ever seen is from that film CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS. The scene where they are making love in the train station and the clerk is ink stamping the girl’s body.
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Most erotic films you've seen. over 3 years ago
I have to agree with Nikhil about Savage Grace and lets not forget about Salo: 120 Days of Sodom.
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As it must to all DVD, Double Dip came to Criterion... over 3 years ago
To be fair to the good folks at Criterion when new technology comes out what else are they supposed to do, but re-release their previous standard def titles. Now where I think you have a legitimate gripe is when they released M on DVD years ago with very little special features and released it again a couple of years ago in a 2-disc edition with all the great special features. We shouldn’t be punished because the people at Criterion didn’t put out a comprehensive edition the first time around. One great thing they have been doing recently is putting stripped down versions of their catalog so you don’t have to spend $39.95 if you want ONLY the film of Wild Strawberries. A way more affordable way to purchase the great restored versions of these films., though I do love the special features on their discs.
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GREAT FLAWED FILMS over 3 years ago
REDS and DEER HUNTER I would not call great “flawed” films. I would just call them great films. PSYCHO flawed? Maybe the ridiculous psycho babble expository scene at the end of the film is nowhere near the quality of the rest of the piece, but it is not enough to catagorize the film as flawed.
To me some great flawed films would be:
RUMBLE FISH
ANGEL HEART
BIRD
BARFLY
SHADOWS AND FOG
THE COLOR OF MONEY
These are films I can watch over and over again because of specific things in the films that attracts me to them. Or to be more critical, films that strived for something great and just missed the mark. To me the cinematography and music in Rumble Fish are well worth the price of admission, but the characters are one dimensional, and the cinematography, music and performance by Forest Whitaker in Bird are amazing, yet the film often meanders and it is way too long.
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As it must to all DVD, Double Dip came to Criterion... over 3 years ago
Yes, Alanedit, I too have an upres DVD player. A truly amazing piece of hardware.
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What was the first Criterion movie you watched? over 3 years ago
I think it was Casablanca or Citizen Kane on LASERDISC!!! I still have my Criterion Laserdiscs. It’s still the only way you can get Midnight Cowboy with John Schelsinger’s commentary. Also the Graduate Criterion Laserdiscs has on of the best commentaries I’ve ever heard. It’s by a Film Professor from UCLA and he really breaks down the film in a constructive way. I highly recommend it to any aspiring cinefile or filmmaker. That is if you can get your hands on it. Also the Some Like It Hot Criterion laserdisc with commentary by the same professor is great.
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Your favorite title sequence over 3 years ago
Se7en, Catch Me If You Can, Once Upon a Time In the West, just about anything Saul Bass has done.
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