Criterion News and Discussion

[polkablues]

will the same rule apply to all terminal illnesses?

At least stick to funny ailments.  Like anal fissures, or hysterical pregnancy.

An example:
"I hope anyone who's not excited about 'A Man Escaped' on Blu-Ray comes down with water-elf disease."

[samsong]

dick cancer seemed pretty funny to me.

[Stefen]

Dick Cancer is only funny when it's supposed to be Don Quixote but gets typo'd and auto-corrected in a Playlist article that was written on an iPhone.

[jenkins]

In the dawn of a new day the whole thing seems kind of like unnecessary, to me. My personal boredom with recycled releases doesn't have a relation with the merits of the movies themselves, of course, just as samsong's words don't have an influence on the condition of my penis.

[BB]

...just as samsong's words don't have an influence on the condition of my penis.

That's what you think.

[jenkins]

You're right, there's a contradiction here. His words totally got a rise out of me.

[MacGuffin]

'Repo Man' & Laurence Olivier's 'Richard III' Lead Criterion's April Slate
Source: Playlist

This spring, The Criterion Collection have both cult and classic movies on their mind, and their newly announced April slate will have for something for fans of either category -- or both.
Kicking things off, Alex Cox's "Repo Man" finally arrives after being rumored for quite some time. The Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton starring flick uses a journey between a repo man and a young punk he takes under his wing to delve into Los Angeles and '80s America. The Criterion disc will come stacked with extras including commentary, interviews, deleted scenes and even the edited TV version, supervised by Cox. But oddly enough, there's not much about the soundtrack, though we guess that's what former Born Against member Sam McPheeters will cover in his essay.

For those looking for something a bit more high brow, Laurence Olivier's "Richard III" will get the wacky C. What is there to really say about this? The legend produced, starred and directed it, lined up a great cast -- Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, and Claire Bloom -- and shot the thing in VistaVision and Technicolor. The supplements are the standard commentary, interview, behind-the-scenes stuff, but most notable is a 12 minute trailer for the movie with Olivier, producer Alexander Korda, the cast and crew and much more.

Also arriving: Teinosuke Kinugasa's Academy Award winning "Gate Of Hell," an epic tale about a twelfth-century Japanese imperial warrior who falls for a lady-in-waiting, who even after he discovers she is married, goes to extreme lengths to win her love. Meanwhile, French comedy master Pierre Etaix gets a boxset featuring five of his films. Speaking of box sets, over on the Eclipse line "The Human Condition" helmer Masaki Kobayashi gets a set dedicted to four of his searing post WWII dramas.

Lastly, you can upgrade your copy of David Cronenberg's "Naked Lunch" as it goes Blu.

[Reel]

Did my pants just get tighter or is Repo Man coming out on criterion?

[socketlevel]

Did my pants just get tighter or is Repo Man coming out on criterion?

It's funny, I must have rewatched this a month ago, and I was very disappointed. There is some great stuff in it, and it was pioneering in it's day, but I couldn't help but be underwhelmed.

[polkablues]

I think Repo Chick managed to reach back through time and make Repo Man that much worse by association.

[Reel]

THERE'S A REPO CHICK?!?!?!?!?





hold all my calls.

[jenkins]

i think you gotta love the intent. alex cox movies in general don't hold up. like they're just not very well put together. the guy's strengths weren't craft related. and production value standards are higher now. i worry about older lowbudge movies. they're tough to show modern audiences. for kinda understandable reasons.

i saw straight to hell returns with an alex cox q&a and the whole evening was kind of damaged and depressing. i'm not ready to go back.

[wilder]

I never got into Alex Cox, but I just found out about his movie Highway Patrolman (1991) which looks fucking awesome. Have either of you seen this one?

[jenkins]

haven't seen it/agree it looks sweet

[MacGuffin]

Criterion's May Slate Includes '3:10 To Yuma,' Haskell Wexler's 'Medium Cool,' Mike Leigh's 'Life Is Sweet' & More

Saddle up, because Criterion has dropped the veil on the May releases and they've got a couple of gunslinging classics to share, along with some works from a couple auteurs and much more. So let's dive in.

First off, Delmar Davies gets a nice hat tip as both "3:10 To Yuma" and "Jubal" are getting stamped with the C. The former is probably the best known of the pair (partially due to remake by James Mangold in 2007 starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale) about a mild mannered rancher who brings a wanted outlaw to the train station. This disc will carry a high-def transfer, but not much else in the way of extras. Same goes for "Jubal," about a cattleman who becomes the centerpiece in a roiling drama on a ranch. But hell, two movies with Glenn Ford shoud be enough to please anyway.

Meanwhile, cinematographer Haskell Wexler's directorial feature debut "Medium Cool" gets the deluxe treatment. The film follows a cameraman (Robert Forster) who has an eye on the shifting tides of '70s America, and this one comes loaded with two audio commentaries, a documentary, interviews and more. And in keeping with gritty realism, though a bit more lighthearted, Mike Leigh's "Life Is Sweet" will arrive as well, boasting a new commentary and a few more odds and ends. It's the first of his films about working class folks that broke out in a big way, and it's worth tracking down.

Finally, toss out that "Band Of Outsiders" DVD you have, because that just got upgraded to BluRay dawg.