Criterion Film Club: Suggestions and General Discussion

[knives]

Hearts and Minds has issues beyond the pro and anti divide if memory serves.

[swo17]

I could be wrong, but I remember Hearts and Minds being sort of obnoxious in its anti-war stance.

Regarding Burden of Dreams, I see no reason why people couldn't watch Fitzcarraldo along with it, and the ensuing discussion about how the two films relate to each other could be illuminating. Of course, this would first require someone anyone to cast it a vote.

[matrixschmatrix]

As much as I love Burden of Dreams, it seems like the most well-covered ground out of the options.

[movielocke]

I wish it had been God's Country, instead of Calcutta, from the Malle eclipse, God's Country is just a superb piece of cinema. Damn, now I want to watch it again. Calcutta is very decent, but sort of pales compared to Phantom India, both of them have the orientalist strain you'd expect from the era, but it's not offensive nor blatent, just mildly annoying that everything about India is SO wonderful for being 'other', a pedestal is a prison too, Malle.

[movielocke]

any chance of us having a few of the upcoming votes sooner rather than later? If the remaining 2013 selections were voted on now, while the sale is going on, it'll be a lot easier for me to budget for them, rather than trying to work them into tight holiday budgets.

[Mr Sausage]

any chance of us having a few of the upcoming votes sooner rather than later? If the remaining 2013 selections were voted on now, while the sale is going on, it'll be a lot easier for me to budget for them, rather than trying to work them into tight holiday budgets.

I get why you're asking, but having four to five ongoing votes seems like a nightmare to me.

[movielocke]

oh I didn't think they'd all be simultaneous, I figured after the current vote ended on monday, that a new vote would start tuesday and run for three days. Then just list the victors on the schedule as upcoming titles.

[Mr Sausage]

oh I didn't think they'd all be simultaneous, I figured after the current vote ended on monday, that a new vote would start tuesday and run for three days. Then just list the victors on the schedule as upcoming titles.

Hmm. Alright, well, in order to lighten the burden on everyone's pockets I'll hold the next four votes this month, one after the other.

[zedz]

Actually, I don't really have much to say on any of those films, so I might sit out this vote. Burden of Dreams is the great film from that lot, but it's never really been lacking for supporters and it's sort of self-explanatory. It's far more likely to spark a discussion of Fitzcarraldo.

[knives]

I actually prefer the King and find it (and the other King's) some of the best films Crit has released.

[Mr Sausage]

As per the conversation here, we'll be having our next four Film Club votes back-to-back to allow members to take advantage of the B&N 50% off sale.

As a small measure of thanks for his years of contributing directly to this board (running the genre list project, moderating) and his excellent posting, Domino will be curating the vote this time.

Usual preamble: vote ends this time Thursday, the 14th. You can change your vote, so, you know, strategize or something. Anything.

Have at it!

[Mr Sausage]

A bunch of tantalizing titles, but I picked Homicide because the recent Mamet discussion has reminded me how little of him I've seen/read.

[Mr Sausage]

Antonio Gaudi it is!

[domino harvey]

I didn't court this curation but I am thankful for the opportunity and I'm glad to be able to shine a spotlight on some titles: Heaven Can Wait was my first non-Godard Criterion and an influential film for me in terms of Hollywood studio pictures. It contains some of my favorite moments and stars in all of film, and is a pure delight. Weirdly there's a contingent here who find this to be one of Lubitsch's weakest films, and I think a reevaluation/reconsideration is in order on that count! Terminal Station is one of Criterion's best packages, with De Sica's underrated Jennifer Jones and Montgomery Clift-starring art house piece sharing disc space with the Selznick-recut travesty and a great commentary explaining what happened here. So it gets my whole package spotlight. Homicide is my favorite of the two Mamets in the collection and, yes, recent discussion in the Mamet thread along with my own current teaching focus leads me to recommend this one. And Miss Julie is my biggest Criterion discovery, a film almost no one's seen or talks about but seemingly everyone who does see it is blown away and tries to help get the word out. Consider this my part of the load.

Of course, I'd be happy to see any of these films make it (I kept off personal favorites that didn't seem too conducive to discussion, like Kicking and Screaming, which is one of my all time favs in the collection but I'm not sure I'd want to read a thread of people "forced" to watch it) but I'm casting my own vote for Broadcast News, which has, embodied by Holly Hunter, William Hurt, and Albert Brooks, three of the realest, most interesting and enjoyable character portrayals in all of cinema. It's a film so good in so many ways that it deserves the adjective "stunning"-- I think it's a film that deserves greater attention, as much attention as it allows, and James L Brooks' screenplay is full of witty lines and keen insight into the human condition beyond the satirical aspects of its portrayal of the news

[YnEoS]

Didn't contribute to the last 2 discussions, but I hope to catch back up.

Heaven Can Wait is one of my favorites. I cast my vote for Miss Julie because I've thought about watching it many times, but never had the right nudge. I'll probably watch it and Broadcast News regardless of the voting results.

[Yojimbo]

What happened to the 'None of the Above' option?

[swo17]

Oh come on, there are some good options here, especially Miss Julie and Heaven Can Wait.

[matrixschmatrix]

Yeah, that's uncalled for, particularly in a curated selection. I've seen Miss Julie, Heaven Can Wait, and Homicide, and they're all absolutely rich works with a lot to talk about in them- though I'm voting for Miss Julie, if only because I'm fascinated by what everyone else might have to say about it. It's something of a provocation piece.

[Yojimbo]

Oh come on, there are some good options here, especially Miss Julie and Heaven Can Wait.

Which Heaven Can Wait, though?
The Lubitsch is probably worth talking about; I'm not sure the 'remake' is. Although, given that 'Broadcast News' is an option, I suspect it's that version that is the option.

Dom always brings something interesting to the table, of course, so if I can keep reminded of this topic, I'll be happy to lurk for this round

[swo17]

Which Heaven Can Wait, though?

Uh, the one that's in the Criterion Collection. Or in case there was any doubt:

Weirdly there's a contingent here who find this to be one of Lubitsch's weakest films, and I think a reevaluation/reconsideration is in order on that count!

[Lemmy Caution]

I was going to joke that Miss Julie might get more votes if folks know that the original title is Froken Julie. But it's already well in the lead.

I watched it for the first time about two months back and wasn't really engaged.
I'd be interested in what folks had to say about Terminal Station since I'm a big DeSica fan, and it's a fairly unique film.

[Yojimbo]

I was going to joke that Miss Julie might get more votes if folks know that the original title is Froken Julie. But it's already well in the lead.

I watched it for the first time about two months back and wasn't really engaged.
I'd be interested in what folks had to say about Terminal Station since I'm a big DeSica fan, and it's a fairly unique film.

Some people might take offense, and tell you to 'Frok' off!

[Drucker]

I voted for Terminal Station and have been aching to watch it for a while.

[Moe Dickstein]

Broadcast News is an amazing film, and Jim Brooks is one of the people who most inspire me as a filmmaker. The deleted material and big subplot in this one is something I'd love to get into and I've had a unique opportunity to examine one part of this film in great depth, or the script rather. Once a year my boss, John Badham teaches at a directing workshop and we use several scenes and bring out actors from LA to show putting a scene on its feet, rehearsing, and how a director stages and adjust performances. The scene after Aaron's first anchoring job where Holly Hunter comes to his house (I'll be vague to not spoil the contents of the scene) is one of the 3 we use. I've seen 3 sets of actors interpret that scene with different students directing and then John fixing it, and I find it the most interesting of the three we use.

[jindianajonz]

I was going to pick Homicide after the Mamet discussion lately, but Domino's remark about Miss Julie being his biggest discovery has me intrigued. Heaven Can Wait and Broadcast News are both great and I wouldn't mind rewatching them, but Terminal Station left me a bit cold.