Criterion Sale Week 3

Another week and another (two) trip(s) to Barnes and Noble. All told I wound up adding 13 titles to my collection this week. A few that I was happy to finally cross off and a couple that are getting surprisingly difficult to find. Along the way I got myself engaged, so you could say things are getting pretty serious.

In terms of what I’ve watched recently, I finally got around to watching Galaxy Quest a full 21 years after it was released. I’d love to dig a bit deeper into 1999 as the year has gotten more attention recently as possibly the greatest year for movies. For the record Galaxy Quest is pretty damn satisfying so if you have Amazon Prime give it a view. In terms of everything else, I crossed off another couple of Wes Anderson re-visits, which I swear will lead to a detailed re-cap at some point in the future.  I watched Miss Annie Rooney with Shirley Temple and (not a porn star) Dickie Moore. It was nauseatingly awful, but one less film from 1942 I have to watch.

Back to the title of the post, here is what I got this week in part three of the Dave’s ever growing Criterion blu-ray collection. I also recognize that some people have very little if any interest in reading these haul blogs, but for those checking in, I appreciate it. I will get back to a somewhat normal blogging schedule soon. As always these are by spine number so let’s get to it.

Picnic at Hanging Rock - This is the first Peter Weir film I ever heard of. It was referenced in Danny Peary’s Cult Movies Volume 2 and when I eventually watched it I was a little confused and slightly bored. This edition includes his early film Homesdale, but enough bells and whistles to shed some light on what made this a cult favorite and an enduring classic. It certainly falls into the “I’d like to take another look at it” club so why not get it? I have an older DVD of The Last Wave somewhere in my collection and it only makes sense this should join it.

Taste of Cherry - Taste of Cherry just came out on blu-ray this past Tuesday and Abbas Kiarostami’s masterpiece is an essential bit of viewing. Like Picnic this is one of the first 50 releases Criterion ever put out. In fact I don’t think any other company ever released this film on DVD or blu-ray. I’ve seen it a couple of times but only had a VHS copy of it, so when I heard it was making the leap to blu-ray I got excited. The fact that it was actually in stock on Tuesday made me even happier.

The Honeymoon Killers - Another film who I have Danny Peary to thank. He featured this in the first volume of Cult Movies and he always seemed a bigger fan of it than myself. Leonard Kastle only made one feature as a director and in Peary’s eyes it was a 1/1 masterpiece. It’s definitely a film I knew I would like more on a repeat view, and since I’m getting more inclined to revisit some cult films lately, this was definitely jumping out. I can’t say the special features are jumping out at me, but the film itself is worth the price of admission, and the more old VHS tapes I can replace the better.

The Earrings of Madame De . . . - Max Ophuls film always fell into the I thought I had it category. Lola Montes (another Peary selection) was one of the first films I got on blu-ray and for whatever reason I think I got it mixed up with his preceding effort.  La Ronde and La Plasir have not made the jump from DVD to blu-ray but for Ophuls I’ll take what I can get. Paul Thomas Anderson offers his own introduction to the movie which is a nice feature and there is a commentary track which I may have listened to during the last top 100 film research. If anything I want to encourage Criterion to upgrade Ophuls other offerings so it was high time I got this.

Close-up - Speaking of Kiarostami here is his other best known film. After I picked up The Koker trilogy it seemed appropriate to get a few of his other releases. I’m not a huge fan of his offerings from the 2010s, but Close-Up remains a vital piece of cinema. It was featured in The A-List and the critic who wrote about it there (Jonathan Rosenbaum) offers a commentary track here. Like the Homework extra on the other set, this features The Traveler as an added bonus. I do wish Makhmalbaf’s superior The Cyclist was included here considering it’s very literal and direct influence on this narrative, but alas he has yet to join the Criterion ranks.

Love Streams - When Husbands came out I was noticeably excited. I had a bootleg copy of some kind of Love Streams but I quickly realized it was the only Cassavetes Criterion release I didn’t have. It is an unnecessary dual format edition, and apparently when I opened my copy the inside case is broken, so I might attempt to swap it out if possible. It was his last feature as a director and a damn fine film to go out on. Ask any random fan of Cassavetes and you might get 5 different answers for his best film, but it’s hard not to consider this in the running. It is a little product of it's time for Cassavetes letting his very underage son smoke and drink in a scene, but well times were different.

 Boyhood - I meant to get this the first day of the sale but when I picked up the case it was rattling around. I wound up buying it in Deerfield, and that version too was a bit loose. I’m taking my chances and hoping there aren’t any scratches but we shall see. Linklater’s much praised 2014 film was perhaps more respected than enjoyed when it was released. I liked it a lot and in my effort to add more contemporary films to my list it seemed a worthy edition. In the extras department, it leaves very little to be desired. I aim to revisit it with the commentary, and after all this is the only Linklater Criterion release I didn’t own so why not?

The Age of Innocence - I dismissed this film pretty quickly when I first saw it. I appreciated Scorsese stepping out of his comfort zone but ultimately thought he was ill suited to it. A friend of mine from the foreignfilms.com days was a huge fan of it and made me think I might need to give it another chance. When it was added to the Criterion collection I had that I’ll get around to it attitude and today was that day. If Daniel Day Lewis remains retired nearly all of his films (excluding the comically inept 9) are worthy treasures of cinema so that alone makes it vital, even if In the Name of the Father upstaged it a bit in 1993. I did read Wharton’s novel since my initial viewing of this which was one of my unofficial requirements before taking another look at it.

In the Heat of the Night - Somewhere in my mom’s attic is an MGM VHS of In the Heat of the Night, perhaps even in a protective case. Myself and others have perhaps unfairly dismissed this movie because it won best picture over such enduring classics as The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde. It is a landmark with a near perfect ensemble of cast and crew. Rod Steiger won a hotly contested best actor statue for his work. The Criterion release is an infinite upgrade over my crappy VHS tape that I haven’t watched in 20+ years.

Local Hero - Despite a vogue for 1980s popular cinema and a never ending mining of nostalgia there remains a group of critical darlings from that decade that faded into obscurity. Alan Rudolph, Juzo Itami and Bill Forsyth were all poised to be household names in international film in their era but are largely forgotten today. Itami’s Tampopo received the Criterion treatment as well, but it hasn’t renewed too much interest in his work. Forsyth had a very impressive run and emerged as something of a Scottish answer to Lawrence Kasdan. That Sinking Feeling, Gregory’s Girl, Comfort and Joy, Housekeeping, and Breaking In were all considered noteworthy films in their time. Local Hero however was frequently considered his masterpiece and easily the first place to look. It is also one of Burt Lancaster’s late career gems which is worth the price of admission.

The Great Escape - This was sitting in a display the first day of the Criterion sale on July 10. I looked at it and thought “Oh yeah I’ll get that” then forgot it in my haste to grab another dozen titles and by the time I returned to the store it was gone. Today I found another copy of it and was pleased to pick it up. Like In the Heat of the Night it’s another American 60s classic that’s well worth a repeat viewing but a film I largely tossed aside. Many of the special features here seem like they were made for a previous DVD release, but I am not complaining. The cast here is legendary even if I get it mixed up with The Dirty Dozen some times, but there is enough bonus features to satisfy the biggest fanatic. I had at least one film professor at DePaul who mentioned this as their favorite film, so if you're reading this please speak up so I can remember who it was.

The Cameraman - I have long held out hope that Buster Keaton would one day make an appearance in the collection. His independently produced features were all released on DVD by Kino 20 years ago but I believe The General might be his only feature to make it to blu-ray. Although The Cameraman is his first feature after his legendary independent run as director-star it is still a great movie. MGM had a knack for taking great talent and squandering it in mediocre productions and within two years Keaton was nearly obsolete. The Cameraman remains his high-point with the studio and serves as his equivalent to the Marx Brothers A Night at the Opera. As a bonus his lesser known but worth watching follow-up Spite Marriage is also included here.

Bruce Lee His Greatest Hits - As late as the last blog post I had made peace with the fact that I would probably not get this set until the November sale. After checking two stores and striking out each time an associate offered to order it for me when he mentioned it being out of stock in their warehouse. After being told it wouldn’t re-stock until August I simply assumed it was not to be. A few Criterion releases still surprise me with how popular they wind up, and I should have known that a definitive collection of Bruce Lee’s best known work would be a highly sought after release. Well Tuesday I spotted a copy and immediately grabbed it. It was clearly a recent re-stock because they hadn’t even put a price tag on it. I’ve seen Enter the Dragon about 20 times and his other work I’ve checked out periodically but to have them all in HD transfers, with multiple commentary tracks, and multiple documentaries this seems like an essential purchase for anyone as obsessed with Kung-fu movies as I was.

At some point in time I may actually watch this massive pile of movies. I also may have finally run out of space in my case for these movies. Currently my Marvel collection and select other blu-rays share space but that real estate is getting limited. For whatever reason The Naked Kiss and Silence of the Lambs are still impossible to find on blu-ray. I thank anyone who has continued to read these blurbs from me, and some time in the future there might be a major change to this site. In the meantime keep watching great movies and let me know what you’ve picked up.