Comments | thehefner: FILMGASM: All Criterion Collection DVDs half off. What to do, what to do?

thehefner

FILMGASM: All Criterion Collection DVDs half off. What to do, what to do?

Nov 04, 2010 17:01

Great news for movie lovers, bad news for their pocketbooks: all Criterion Collection DVDs 50% off at Barnes and Noble. I now actually have reason to go to B&N other than to kill an hour while waiting for a movie to start or a friend to arrive. Or, even better, I can just scour the entire Criterion catalog online and see what I want.

( Massive filmgasm of movies I've already bought, movies I'm gonna buy, movies I'm waffling on buying, movies I'm tempted to buy sight unseen, out-of-print films I can't have, and the super-expensive box set of jaw-dropping erection-inducing awesomeness )

movies that deserve watching, geekgasm

Comments 11

cisic November 4 2010, 21:10:10 UTC

Hello Olivier's Shakespeare...

thehefner November 4 2010, 21:52:36 UTC

I want to revisit his Hamlet. My father revered that film as the ultimate Hamlet by which he compared all other versions and found them fall short. He particularly fawned over Jean Simmons' Ophelia, a character I've only liked in one production, and even there they took slight liberties with the text. For all the shit Olivier gets for being over-the-top, no one seems to recall how daring and understated it was to deliver the soliloquies via the purely cinematic method of internal voice-over.

His Richard III... ohhh man, that opening speech, where he makes the brilliant decision to splice in the ultimate evil speech from Henry VI Part III results in the single most perfect depiction of classic Richard I've ever seen. The rest of the film, however, I barely remember.

It recall it being rather dry, which is also how I remember his Henry V, but I could be wrong on both. But then, I suppose it's all a matter of taste, and how one prefers to have their Shakespeare performed.

lillbet November 4 2010, 21:58:21 UTC

Wim Wenders' "Until the End of the World" and "Wings of Desire". STAT.

thehefner November 4 2010, 22:01:24 UTC

I need to see both. I've only seen Paris, Texas, and even that I barely remember, much as I adore Harry Dean Stanton.

lillbet November 4 2010, 22:08:49 UTC

DUR. Haven't seen Paris, Texas. To the Netflix machine!

lillbet November 4 2010, 22:10:20 UTC

And Time Bandits is just SO FULL OF WIN!

"Don't touch it Dad! It's pure concentrated EVIL!"

surrealname November 5 2010, 06:13:25 UTC

Personally I'll take Laurel and Hardy over Keaton or Chaplin any day.

captaintwinings November 5 2010, 19:46:53 UTC

But!

thehefner November 5 2010, 19:54:56 UTC

Sheer perfection. But I still prefer what Chaplin does with his films as a whole. Modern Times is packed not just with stunning comic setpieces, but biting satire, marvelous use of sound (as a silent film made in the talkie era), and lots of heart in the characters. It hits more levels than just comedy, but then, I should watch all of Steamboat Bill Jr first. I think the only Keaton I've seen all the way through is The General, which I've seen twice, but it's held up as his masterpiece.

captaintwinings November 5 2010, 20:54:19 UTC

I don't care all that much for The General. It's good, but I wouldn't consider it a masterpiece. But Steamboat Bill, Jr. is my favorite silent comedy of all time. Chaplin is wonderful but I'll always love Keaton more.

Also because of The Electric House.

cisic November 7 2010, 13:32:26 UTC

Also, to SAVE MORE MONEY:

Through today you can save 10% on one item by using the code J9H8P8W. That might help with the Kurosawa collection...

JOIN EBATES!!! Right now Barnes and Noble gives you 8% cash back when you make a purchase through ebates. (I'm assuming you are ordering all of these online)

Here is the link to join:
http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=1BNafsvZT2fz5ljlAHi2yA%3D%3D

And please use that link, because if you join and make a purchase, I get a referral credit!