A.J. Reviews Criterion Movies

Olivia Bauer · November 05, 2019, 08:33:31 AM

Quote from: chefzombie on November 04, 2019, 11:57:15 PM
a.j. my friend, do you have an ebay account? i get used criterion movies there at very good prices. if you don't have an account, i'd be happy to help you get set up! :)

I have an account. I mostly use Amazon though. Criterion Blu-rays on Amazon are basically $20 year round.

chefzombie · November 05, 2019, 07:47:56 PM

ah, that's right, i forgot that you like the blu-rays.

Rev. Powell · November 06, 2019, 09:39:51 AM

Criterions are 50% off at Barnes and Noble in November. They have 50% off sales twice per year. That's when I usually buy mine.

Olivia Bauer · November 06, 2019, 12:44:32 PM

Quote from: Rev. Powell on November 06, 2019, 09:39:51 AM
Criterions are 50% off at Barnes and Noble in November. They have 50% off sales twice per year. That's when I usually buy mine.

That's where I got my two most recent films.

I went to pick up a copy of Funny Games but I just saw Bowling for Columbine on a shelf and thought "Y'know, I've never seen a Moore documentary... Eh, f**k it why not?".

chefzombie · November 07, 2019, 12:35:27 PM

well shoot, i wish i'd known you wanted that a year ago, i had 4 copies in my ebay inventory that i sold off when we moved.

Olivia Bauer · July 06, 2020, 08:52:03 PM

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

An enjoyable film, but it didn't exactly blow me away as I expected. I appreciated the creativity and found the visual effects to be very appealing for the time.
However, I found myself getting annoyed when the mystical elements were being interrupted by the side-plot with the villain.

The plot follows a Spanish girl named Pan who finds a mysterious labyrinth. Inside the labyrinth is a strange creature that claims she is a dead princess that had been reincarnated.
She must complete three tasks within three nights if she desires to return to her kingdom and become immortal.

Maybe I need to watch it more than once, but I just found myself to not be super invested in it.

7/10

Rev. Powell · July 07, 2020, 07:35:08 AM

Quote from: A.J. Bauer on July 06, 2020, 08:52:03 PM
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

An enjoyable film, but it didn't exactly blow me away as I expected. I appreciated the creativity and found the visual effects to be very appealing for the time.
However, I found myself getting annoyed when the mystical elements were being interrupted by the side-plot with the villain.

I think that the mystical elements more qualify as the "side plot." I read the plot as the girl's fairy tale fantasies are her escape from her awful reality. Fantastic movie, you should give it another go someday. Listen to del Toro's commentary, too, it's impressive.

Olivia Bauer · July 10, 2020, 10:33:42 PM

Just bought a bunch of 'em on sale.

The Piano Teacher

The Lonely Place

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Dr. Strangelove

Code Unknown

I, Daniel Blake

Seven Samurai

Watership Down

Brazil

A Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Rev. Powell · July 11, 2020, 08:46:21 AM

SEVEN SAMURAI would be nice. Out of those I only have WATERSHIP DOWN.

I ordered the Karel Zeman box set and HAXAN. Should arrive later this week.

bob · July 11, 2020, 09:24:11 AM

Quote from: A.J. Bauer on July 10, 2020, 10:33:42 PM
Just bought a bunch of 'em on sale.

The Piano Teacher

The Lonely Place

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Dr. Strangelove

Code Unknown

I, Daniel Blake

Seven Samurai

Watership Down

Brazil

A Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Of those I got Dr. Strangelove, 7 Samuari and Brazil.

iWhich Brazil did you get? I got the package with Gilliam's directors cut of Brazil, the studios edition of Brazil and 1 disc with just special features.

Olivia Bauer · July 15, 2020, 08:59:49 PM

I don't remember which version of Brazil I got. It's still in the mail.
Also, I messed up and a bunch of the Criterions I bought were DVD instead of Blu ray.
So I needed to return them. Here's the corrected list.

I, Daniel Blake

The Fisher King

The Piano Teacher

Grand Budapest Hotel

Watership Down

Code Unknown

Night of the Living Dead

~~The Lonely Place~~ (I had trouble paying attention during most of this. I let dad keep it. Didn't seem like my thing anyway.)

Brazil

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Olivia Bauer · July 15, 2020, 09:03:35 PM

The Piano Teacher (2006)

A film by Michael Haneke. I absolutely adored the original 1997 version of Funny Games so I was excited to try another one of his movies.
The Piano Teacher absolutely did not disappoint. It has a slow start but slowly devolves into absolute madness.
It seems almost like a parody of Hollywood romance in the way it's presented and it's ultimately an incredibly twisted and uncomfortable film.
But man, it was good.

Won't spoil anything else. I'll just recommend it.

9/10

Olivia Bauer · July 16, 2020, 12:15:31 PM

I, Daniel Blake (2016)

I, Daniel Blake is a social commentary that is heavily critical of the unneeded and unwanted complexities of bureaucracies.
Daniel is just an old man that wants to get back to work. But legal red tape seems to be constantly getting in his way.
So many forms to fill and government workers to talk to that seem to love wasting his time.
He stands up for a single mother and he ends up befriending this family.
It's funny, sad, and very intelligently written.

If I had to criticize one aspect, it'd be that the ending is really predictable. But, honestly, that's a very small flaw.

9/10

Olivia Bauer · July 16, 2020, 04:37:49 PM

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

After watching Dracula, The Mummy, and now Night of the Living Dead, I've come to the conclusion that I don't like old horror movies.

Just like the other two previously mentioned I absolutely appreciate and understand the position that these films have in the history of cinema and how important they are. I perfectly understand that a lot of movies and video games that I love would not exist if not for this movie.

However, when it comes to actual enjoyment I just plain didn't have fun. The cheese factor was mildly amusing for a while but it kinda runs into a catch 22. The cheesiness of an Ed Wood film is thanks not just to the time it came out but the incompetence of the director. However, it's harder to laugh at this since the cheese is mostly from the constraints of the time.

Unlike a b-movie the direction was competent and I can absolutely compliment the film for that. Yet the datedness of the visual effects and acting prevent me from being able to take it seriously as a horror film. I'm sure it was scary when it came out. But compared to classic horror movies from later on it has aged very poorly.

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining has aged like wine and still absolutely terrifies me to this day.

Night of the Living Dead, in my completely subjective opinion, has aged like milk.

I know a lot of people will disagree on this but if I'm being honest all of my criticisms have more to do with my personal tastes as opposed to actual faults in the film. While I used The Shining as an example of a well aged horror film, I would never directly compare the quality since that would be completely unfair to Night of the Living Dead.

Again, I completely understand why people enjoy these old movies and I have no intention to s**t on their legacy. However, at the end of the day my ratings have to do with how much I enjoyed watching it. And, unfortunately, I don't control how much fun I have watching a movie. In the case of Night of the Living Dead I didn't have much fun at all.

5/10

Rev. Powell · July 16, 2020, 06:03:26 PM

Quote from: A.J. Bauer on July 16, 2020, 04:37:49 PM
Night of the Living Dead (1968)

After watching Dracula, The Mummy, and now Night of the Living Dead, I've come to the conclusion that I don't like old horror movies.

Just like the other two previously mentioned I absolutely appreciate and understand the position that these films have in the history of cinema and how important they are. I perfectly understand that a lot of movies and video games that I love would not exist if not for this movie.

However, when it comes to actual enjoyment I just plain didn't have fun. The cheese factor was mildly amusing for a while but it kinda runs into a catch 22. The cheesiness of an Ed Wood film is thanks not just to the time it came out but the incompetence of the director. However, it's harder to laugh at this since the cheese is mostly from the constraints of the time.

Unlike a b-movie the direction was competent and I can absolutely compliment the film for that. Yet the datedness of the visual effects and acting prevent me from being able to take it seriously as a horror film. I'm sure it was scary when it came out. But compared to classic horror movies from later on it has aged very poorly.

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining has aged like wine and still absolutely terrifies me to this day.

Night of the Living Dead, in my completely subjective opinion, has aged like milk.

I know a lot of people will disagree on this but if I'm being honest all of my criticisms have more to do with my personal tastes as opposed to actual faults in the film. While I used The Shining as an example of a well aged horror film, I would never directly compare the quality since that would be completely unfair to Night of the Living Dead.

Again, I completely understand why people enjoy these old movies and I have no intention to s**t on their legacy. However, at the end of the day my ratings have to do with how much I enjoyed watching it. And, unfortunately, I don't control how much fun I have watching a movie. In the case of Night of the Living Dead I didn't have much fun at all.

5/10

I appreciate that you don't trash the movie just because you didn't personally enjoy it. I try to give good ratings to movies I don't personally enjoy but which I recognize as quality filmmaking. I love NOTLD (much more than DANIEL BLAKE, for example) and I'd gladly trade a Criterion I'm lukewarm about from my collection for it!