Criterion Film Club: Suggestions and General Discussion

[domino harvey]

The Ruling Class is one of the worst films in the collection, seen Naked and Le Doulos but would have nothing to contribute for their discussion though. Voting Sundays and Cybele for the usual reason: I own it and can pledge to watch it.

[Drucker]

How does Ruling Class keep coming up? This is at least the second, possibly third time.

My vote is the same as Dom's for the same reason. Definitely worth a second watch, as well, to get more out of it.

[swo17]

How does Ruling Class keep coming up? This is at least the second, possibly third time.

Statistics. Some films are bound to keep popping up like this. It's the same concept at work that says that if there are just 23 people together in a room, there's a 50-50 chance that two of them will have the same birthday.

Actually though, this particular film had a recent advantage because it happened to come up during each of the two "faith list" rounds. Each of those times it had about a 17% chance of being up for voting, whereas in a normal round it's more like 0.5%.

[zedz]

How does Ruling Class keep coming up? This is at least the second, possibly third time.

Statistics. Some films are bound to keep popping up like this. It's the same concept at work that says that if there are just 23 people together in a room, there's a 50-50 chance that two of them will have the same birthday.

Actually though, this particular film had a recent advantage because it happened to come up during each of the two "faith list" rounds. Each of those times it had about a 17% chance of being up for voting, whereas in a normal round it's more like 0.5%.

Short answer: swo keeps putting it there to irritate domino.

[domino harvey]

I guess the bright side of it winning would be it could never come up for consideration again

[swo17]

I'm heartened to see that domino isn't being a sore possum about this.

[swo17]

Uh, it's a dead heat for the runner-up position. Which of those middle three films will have a moderate chance of landing in the next runners-up poll to be held in a few months? Or will I have to think of a special way to handle ties, which has surprisingly never come up before? The suspense is palpable.

[Mr Sausage]

So it's Sunday and and Cybèle!

[Mr Sausage]

For a change, here are five randomly selected MOC titles.

[Drucker]

Honestly was going to propose this, and I own none of these films

[knives]

I'm surprised that the Lang is winning. There's not really much to talk about beyond the historical aspect the current thread and disc itself doesn't already go into.

[Lemmy Caution]

I voted Abhijan, because it'll get me to unearth the disc and finally watch it.
Pigsty i don't own (or know), while the others I've seen and wouldn't have much to say about.
And probably wouldn't re-watch.

[domino harvey]

I've seen the Langs, Pigsty, and the Pialat and have nothing to say about any of them. Haven't seen and don't own the other two. I abstain! Good idea in theory but an underwhelming first selection of random titles

[Drucker]

Yes I vote for a quick re-count of MOC selection.

[swo17]

Uh...that's not one of the five options?

Some comments for those still up in the air:

Pigsty is Pasolini's best film, a caustic hate letter to humanity that switches out Salò's explicitness for biting dialogue, stunning location shots, and, um, metaphorical cannibalism. It's readily available on DVD in the U.S. as well.

Abhijan is only available in the MoC edition, which is technically OOP but still available directly from their website. (Although with Ray fever sweeping the nation, might MoC's stock finally dry up soon?) Also, the disc is region-free and NTSC.

The Naked Island is available on Criterion's Hulu channel.

[Lemmy Caution]

Didn't realize Pigsty was Pasolini's Porcile.
I have the film somewhere and it would be a good excuse to finally watch it.
But that might be a tough disc to excavate.

[Minkin]

The Naked Island was the biggest surprise for me when I watched it and I heartily encourage all others to see / discuss it - as it is magnificent. It also garnered 2nd place on my Religion list (some endorsement ). Shindo perhaps described it best as a:

cinematic poem to try and capture the life of human beings struggling like ants against the forces of nature

Far better than Lang in King Solomon's Mine / Jungle Jim mode.

[Mr Sausage]

The Tiger of Eschnapur/The Indian Tomb it is!

[Mr Sausage]

In Keeping with last week's theme, here's a special vote: five films randomly pulled from Arrow Academy's line-up.

[MichaelB]

I produced every single one of those discs, so for once I have absolutely no excuse for not taking part, no matter what gets picked!

[Drucker]

Goto is such a wonderful, delightful, and unique film, even for Boro. Has my vote.

[domino harvey]

Seen Manchurian Candidate and the Long Goodbye but have nothing to say. Absolutely no interest in the Boro titles. I still have the big unseen R1 Ferreri box with Grande Bouffe so it gets my vote even though I hated Dillinger is Dead

[Mr Sausage]

Goto, Isle of Love it is!

[Mr Sausage]

As the first part of our two-part celebration of Halloween here at the film club, and in conjunction with our recent trend of giving other lables some attention, colinr0380 has curated five Scream Factory titles for your vote. He's also kindly offered a small explanation of his choices:

I've tried to go for a range of relatively recognisable titles (Though I feel that we've covered Life Force a bit on the forum and Lord of Illusions was close to getting picked, but I think domino has done a great job of highlighting that film elsewhere. So I thought that I would rest these titles for now!) and nothing too extreme or gross (though From Beyond may test people!) which should help to illustrate the range of Scream Factory's releases. I also wanted to go for films that were as much thought provoking in all sorts of different ways as much as just being horrific!

Cat People is a fascinating film that straddles graphic horror and arthouse, with the subtle implications of the original Lewton film sexed up and made much more explicit, with interesting results! From Beyond is a strange fusion of Lovecraft, goofy comedy, sci-fi, sex and some of the gooiest and icky but untouchably bizarre images that have ever been produced. I thought about Halloween III: Season of the Witch partly because of the season that the Film Club is taking place in but also because despite the title it is a standalone film in the Halloween series and would benefit from being considered as its own thing outside of the series. Plus it is also weird and strange! I wouldn't have much more to add to the discussion than the previous post I made about it, but it is the kind of film that it would be great to hear different people's responses to!

The People Under The Stairs is a great Wes Craven film that inside its fairytale atmosphere tackles issues of race, class and money head on, and has a great performance from Brandon Adams as the young boy trapped inside a maze of a mansion! This would be my choice in tribute to Wes Craven as well.

And a wildcard entry is Without Warning, which is a film that I have not actually seen myself yet (though I have the disc somewhere in my to watch pile in case it wins the vote), but from what I gather is about an alien hunter stalking humans on Earth film that pre-dates Predator by a number of years (and actually features Kevin Peter Hall in the alien suit, who went on to wear the predator costumes in those films!). It was apparently extremely hard to track down before this Scream Factory release (according to the 42nd Street Forever commentators over the trailer for it, the film had not been released on VHS), which is strange considering the starry named cast of Hollywood names who surround the teens at the centre of the drama, including Martin Landau, Jack Palance, Ralph Meeker, Neville Brand and Cameron Mitchell. So this could be either a hidden gem or rightly overlooked, but it should be interesting to figure out which it is!

[Mr Sausage]

I've seen From Beyond and Halloween III. The former is a outrageous bit of perversity with plenty of weird imagery, but I'm not sure I have anything to say about it. Halloween III is actually quite good for about 30 minutes, then it all collapses into silliness and self-parody.

I've gone for People Under the Stairs because, like IT, it was a movie that everyone in my childhood (besides me) had seen on tv or rented for a sleep over and would talk about in hushed tones. I don't know why I should still credit preteens with any kind of taste, but this recommendation continues to stick.