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Isnt the success of all the Marvel movies proof of something in this day and age that a lot of people can agree upon despite (most of) them not being anything that is (usually) all that good?

nitin wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 7:02 am Isnt the success of all the Marvel movies proof of something in this day and age that a lot of people can agree upon despite (most of) them not being anything that is (usually) all that good?

Not really. Look at the state of the industry and it's no wonder why franchises are basically the most pushed upon option. If the market was more diverse these days then yeah.

knives wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:47 am The one this thread is dedicated to. Are you sure you don't have me mixed up with someone else as in general I would say I am rather positive in my film specific comments.

I just recall you disliking many films, but I wasn't hurt because you dislike Raging Bull (or color Kurosawa) was just interested in reading what constitutes a good film for you.

As for Marvel, most people this age just have no interest in any deeper films beyond big explosions and some humor, which most superheroes answer for. That they are almost all safe, predictable and boring films with nothing to offer is only half the problem.

dda1996a wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 11:17 am

knives wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:47 am The one this thread is dedicated to. Are you sure you don't have me mixed up with someone else as in general I would say I am rather positive in my film specific comments.

I just recall you disliking many films, but I wasn't hurt because you dislike Raging Bull (or color Kurosawa) was just interested in reading what constitutes a good film for you.

As for Marvel, most people this age just have no interest in any deeper films beyond big explosions and some humor, which most superheroes answer for. That they are almost all safe, predictable and boring films with nothing to offer is only half the problem.

If I am to be remembered at all I'd rather it be for my weird positive opinions than my negative ones.
As for Marvel, that comment could literally apply to any era, or need I remind that the longest running American movie series is Blondie and the continued success of James Bond.

Costa wrote: Tue Jul 17, 2018 9:03 pm I wonder if I'm the only one here that doesn't like this film.
I LOVE 80s fantasy films (Labyrinth, Willow and Legend are my favourite), but I found this one of the worst films I've ever seen.
I am not sure what I might have missed.
Although seeing this edition, i want to re-evaluate it and like it so that I could buy it.

Based on everything you said, if you didn’t like it then, you won’t like it now.

For what it’s worth, I love those Arthur Lake Blondies!

It wouldn't have made much difference here if it was included obviously, but a nice bit of trivia is that the video for the song was directed by David Fincher.

I like it but don't have much strong feelings or interest apart from maybe checking out the laserdisc-era supplements. It's a good time for Criterion as far as bridging that gap between what they could get away with releasing then and what they can now in the post-DVD boom era.

The Criterion commentary hasn't been available anywhere else, has it? I'm just aware of the separate Reiner and Goldman tracks recorded for the MGM special editions.

All I remember of the Goldman commentary on the old Blu-ray is him pointing out all the things Reiner changed

domino harvey wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:23 pm All I remember of the Goldman commentary on the old Blu-ray is him pointing out all the things Reiner changed

I’ve never listened to that and always wondered how he felt about that. I read Goldman’s novel long before the movie came out (for some reason the book was more popular in Germany than anywhere else) and when you’ve loved a book it’s hard not to compare the two. All the best jokes from the novel are missing and it also becomes incredibly moving in a way the film doesn’t. I thought the film’s strength is that it’s very well cast but that’s about the best I can say for it,

Lost Highway wrote: Thu Jul 19, 2018 8:50 am

domino harvey wrote: Wed Jul 18, 2018 6:23 pm All I remember of the Goldman commentary on the old Blu-ray is him pointing out all the things Reiner changed

I’ve never listened to that and always wondered how he felt about that. I read Goldman’s novel long before the movie came out (for some reason the book was more popular in Germany than anywhere else) and when you’ve loved a book it’s hard not to compare the two. All the best jokes from the novel are missing and it also becomes incredibly moving in a way the film doesn’t. I thought the film’s strength is that it’s very well cast but that’s about the best I can say for it,

But Goldman wrote the screenplay also. Was he not involved in the major changes?

One of those reviews might mention it but the notes on the restoration indicate that Criterion's LaserDisc was used as a reference for the look of the film (I'm assuming colors, framing, and such).

Svet's written some utterly bizarre reviews before but this one takes the cake as far as unnecessarily politicizing a film goes.

It doesn't seem too far fetched considering how he seems to be now mostly writing movie reviews only to twist them into something political. This one is just silly because he spends more than half the review not talking about the movie itself but about some criticisms I don't think I ever read before about the movie (in an ironic twist, it turns out the movie is mostly praised as feminist, so it seems only logical the one website titling "The Princess Bride Is Objectively Terrible" is Breitbart).

This one is particularly incredible in how he just uses the review as a tribune for whatever he thinks the world has gone too :
"This is where we are right now, enjoying the gifts of political correctness, and having an overwhelming majority of filmmakers consciously or subconsciously pretending that they still have the freedom to create, and even their dwindling customers doing a fair deal of acting when addressing the quality of their work. Don't shake your head, because it is true. Think. It is not an odd phenomenon that so many people are once again falling in love with the '80s. Even those that weren't around when the '80s ended would admit, if they are honest, that they had better films and better music."

The fun stuff though is how he handles truly politicized movies, so I just can't wait for his (I guess) future reviews of Panique, A Dry White Season or In The Heat of the Night.

But again, to be fair with blu-ray.com, the response to this review there isn't especially positive (or even neutral).

I don't think he can help himself. He sees cultural problems with most movies he reviews. He never disappoints to amuse me. Sometimes I wonder if he drives around in a white van with anti Obama/Hillary stickers all over it. Should we be worried about his state of mind?

That's what someone wrote on the board there. It's now pretty much expected from him to just go this route in almost every single movie he reviews. If Criterion releases Dumbo, he'll find something political to say about it. In a way, in this weird WTF out of subject way, he got predictable as hell. I don't particularly find this entertaining though, rather pointless and empty because it's probably not the place to do this kind of extremely biased analysis. He would write on his own blog, I'd understand, but not in a mutualised website where making this kind of pseudo-politico-philosophical blurb just makes you look like a fool and most likely reflect on the rest of the staff from a reader perspective.
As I usually write, what I'm most surprised is how the rest of blu-ray.com's staff seems at least OK-enough with that to tolerate it.

I wonder if he's looking for straw men because this is a popular film in American evangelical circles. It's the rare fun mainstream film evangelists approved because there's no magic (unlike Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings), no sex, not too much violence, and only one curse word (many are the stories of conservative mothers at sleepovers fastforwarding through "you killed my father you son of a--" only to land on "bitch").

tenia wrote: Mon Oct 29, 2018 8:45 pm "This is where we are right now, enjoying the gifts of political correctness, and having an overwhelming majority of filmmakers consciously or subconsciously pretending that they still have the freedom to create, and even their dwindling customers doing a fair deal of acting when addressing the quality of their work. Don't shake your head, because it is true. Think. It is not an odd phenomenon that so many people are once again falling in love with the '80s. Even those that weren't around when the '80s ended would admit, if they are honest, that they had better films and better music."

What in God's name is he talking about?

It looks as though all the critical posts have been removed: literally the only reaction to Svet's review is something so comically brown-nosing that it looks like a parody.

I was originally wondering if this was an ironic post or not, and now that it's basically the only post left mentioning directly the review, it's only even more ambiguous (to me).

The booklet for this release is lovely. The lead in essay is adorable, taking a tack clearly inspired by the film (a conversation with a “child”), and Goldman’s excerpt on making the film is lovely if you’ve never read.

But the series of full paintings in the booklet are the real surprise, a beautiful touch and stylistically, the paintings seem to be in the style of the tapestry Goldman commissioned, which is one of criterions new extras on the disk.

Also, as I keep exploring the seeming unending sub menus of extras I keep stumbling across new ones mixed in thematically with similar old ones, so I’d not advise skipping any sections entire, inconceivable as that might seem.

And there’s a reason the top billed extra is first, the conversation between Reiner, Elwes and Wright-Penn is stellar, really amusing and entertaining.

It seems like Chris was more careful or lucky than I was with unglueing the backcover : the glue took part of the "As You Wish" ink away when I peeled it off. I also crumpled the backcover quite a lot since the glue was so strong.

The stills on the Criterion page have changed this morning, so I'd reckon this is getting a 4K upgrade in September.