The Criterion Collection • Page 21

Yea I’ve heard the grading might have been tinkered, and maybe some audio mixing as well, by WKW himself. I’m fine with that as I’m sure the films are still gorgeous. A little bit of gatekeeping going on about true “film preservation”.

 

By the way, have any of you seen The Vanishing?

 

The Vanishing is terrifying.

 

yeah did not see it going the way it did. really good film.

 

If you have seen the Vanishing, you should read the ending to the American remake. It is such a complete misunderstanding of the original film.

 

Kim Ki-Duk passed away from Covid yesterday.

 

Lol, thats so bad. Remake a film just to ruin the best part of it.

 

Sluizer, 1988? Just added it to my watchlist.

 

Yes. Incredible film and it’s only like 90 mins. Love me some brevity.

Go in as blind as you can. I’d put it at the top of your list, can’t recommend it highly enough.

 

So I just watched Dressed to Kill for the first time on the channel because it leaves at the end of the month.

holy shit I don’t think I’ve ever actively despised a movie as much as this one while watching it. De Palma is clearly a great director, there are some great moments and he knows how to ratchet up the tension slowly, it’s masterful in parts, specifically the museum sequence. But everything else.....wtf. Rampant misogyny and transphobia. Maybe someone else can chime in with some thoughts.

 

March slate:

Touki Bouki (solo release outside of WCP vol.1 box)
Secrets & Lies
Celine and Julie Go Boating
Defending Your Life
+ the already announced WKW box

Incredible month tbh. Three legit masterpieces plus a boxset of one of contemporary cinema's greats. I've got an old UK blu of Secrets & Lies and the Touki Bouki in the WCP set, but I'm long overdue to upgrade Celine and Julie. Nice to see two African titles announced for back to back months, I just wish one of them wasn't something they've already made available!

 

Secrets and Lies is incredible.

 

Defending your life is a masterpiece but I wish they’d done more with the art

 

Secrets & Lies is on my list for next year and I've been wanting to watch Touki Bouki for a while now.

 

The presentation of that video is so clean, I love it.

 

Watched Naked and Vengeance is Mine. Naked is difficult but fascinating, not something I’d probably own but really glad I watched it. Incredible script and character study. My first Mike Leigh film, excited to dive into the rest. I can see why it’s held in such high esteem.

Vengeance is Mine is more my speed and a Criterion I’ll definitely pick up in the future. Also my first Imamura.

 

I think Naked was my first Mike Leigh film and I wasn't a big fan, I remember the character annoying me more than anything. After watching and loving most of his other films though I want to revisit it.

 

Naked is not an accurate representation of his other films.

 

Peep the Imamura boxset that Arrow just released last week. Three of his works from the 80s, including The Ballad of Narayama (his best film imo). One of my favourite filmmakers. His earlier work The Insect Woman is deeply underrated too.

 

I’ll check it out for sure. I’m hoping Criterion upgrades their Imamura boxset soon, The Insect Woman is in that one.

 

I'm surprised Criterion hasn't upgraded more of his stuff. Eureka! in the UK released like half a dozen of his films on blu in the early 2010s and Vengeance of Mine is the only one that got a blu release in North America until the Arrow set.

 

My cousin bought me the Tenet steelbook for Christmas and for some reason it’s totally reinvigorated my desire to collect physical media lol.

 

There are too many Nolan film in the Criterion Collection.

 

Cool