criterionforum.org

domino harvey wrote:Other people don't turn around and bitch about it on an internet message board though

Well ain't that the truth!

Svevan wrote:

Luke M wrote:Spidey and Frodo enter the Criterion Collection!! I liked The Ice Storm alright, but I can't stand Ang Lee for the absolutely horrendous Hulk and equally terrible Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

What an advanced form of trolling. I'll bite: you suck for hating CTHD.

Agreed. The Ice Storm is a decent film in my opinion, I've seen it once and it moved me moderately, but I'd never buy it.

But if Criterion were to release Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon I think I'd snap my jaw with excitement. Still can't believe that film was directed by Ang Lee (who I'm really not a fan of) - an intoxicating poem to wuxia that surpasses any of Yimou's recent efforts. Total perfection. I would even say... a masterpiece.

According to the Criterion website, they now have interviews with Sigourney Weaver and Tobey Maguire included in the cast documentary.

Still no Jamey Sheridan. No sale.

-BJ

No sale for me unless they include the 1970s "crying indian" PSA as a bonus feature.

soma wrote:

Svevan wrote:

Luke M wrote:Spidey and Frodo enter the Criterion Collection!! I liked The Ice Storm alright, but I can't stand Ang Lee for the absolutely horrendous Hulk and equally terrible Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

What an advanced form of trolling. I'll bite: you suck for hating CTHD.

Agreed. The Ice Storm is a decent film in my opinion, I've seen it once and it moved me moderately, but I'd never buy it.

But if Criterion were to release Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon I think I'd snap my jaw with excitement. Still can't believe that film was directed by Ang Lee (who I'm really not a fan of) - an intoxicating poem to wuxia that surpasses any of Yimou's recent efforts. Total perfection. I would even say... a masterpiece.

I think Eat Drink Man Woman would be the good one as a Criterion.

The slightly green tinge in those caps is irking me, probably because of that shot in Pierrot Le Fou, but whatever. Also, I had no idea James Schamus was head of Focus Features (which is sorta like Jay-Z declaring himself "head of black music" in 2003), and Ang Lee's writing partner, therefore a laid-back commentary track ribbing. I love those menus, and the cover art lettering finally makes sense. Thanks for listening!

pianocrash wrote:The slightly green tinge in those caps is irking me, probably because of that shot in Pierrot Le Fou, but whatever. Also, I had no idea James Schamus was head of Focus Features (which is sorta like Jay-Z declaring himself "head of black music" in 2003), and Ang Lee's writing partner, therefore a laid-back commentary track ribbing. I love those menus, and the cover art lettering finally makes a sense. Thanks for listening!

He's pretty much co-written and produced every Ang Lee film except Brokeback Mountain and Sense & Sensibility since Eat Drink Man Woman.
James was also head of Good Machine with Ted Hope (which was purchased by Universal after Crouching Tiger, which became Focus).

Why would Criterion use the alchemist method of encoding on this release (if what DVD Beaver claims is true)? They did the same on The Life Aquatic, I believe, but it makes no sense to me (given the resulting combing); what's the advantage to using the alchemist method, if any?

i just watched the interview with rick moody, and i have to say that it's one of the more interesting extras i've seen on a dvd, lately.

Glenn Kenny on the film.

Re. the greenishness of the Criterion picture, maybe that is what Ang Lee intended. The On Five blog said Lee specifically worked on color correction. Given the film's subject matter, maybe a cooler palette is more appropriate. The party scene captures on DVDBeaver show the biggest difference between the Criterion's effort and the other editions. Criterion's picture is dark and a little foreboding, while on the other discs it looks like a typical Hollywood production with bright colors and brightly-lit sets.

Also, keep in mind that Beaver's captures were made with NO calibration (brightness/contrast/hue/saturation at default setting "0" in PowerDVD). A calibrated screen would look different or perhaps better.

Austin Chronicle review.

Ang Lee describes the film as his "Fuck You Movie":

...the highlight so far being his discussion of The Ice Storm, which he says he should have called "The Fuck You Movie," as the choice to do it was a direct response to having made "nice, heartwarming" films. He said, "A lady would come up to me and say, 'I just loved Sense & Sensibility,' and I'd just want to punch her in the face."

Awesome

I never knew that Ang Lee was so awesome.

Faux Hulot wrote:No sale for me unless they include the 1970s "crying indian" PSA as a bonus feature.

That's what youtube is for.

I'd put off watching this for years due to my distaste of all things 70s, even though I've liked all Lee's films except for that atrocious Hulk. I enjoyed this so much that I watched it twice in one sitting.

Although I can't stand 70s cars/clothes/etc., the film wonderfully showed the ripple-effect of the sexual revolution. Early in the film, when Elena is at the book sale, the camera pans over a smattering of formerly counterculture books (I laughed out loud when I saw Camus' Resistance, Rebellion, and Death), some of which have multiple copies lying on the table, it becomes clear that the haute-bourgeoisie's dabbling in this cultural sphere hasn't been to their liking, making the fallout of the key party all the more hilarious, esp. as things get progressively worse for Ben. This movie is really funny, and I think Lee's subtle comic touch is underrated; I laughed a lot during my second viewing.

The idea that Lee made this as a "fuck you" to the chick-flick crowd is awesome, and it's even funnier b/c he portrays the utter horror (and hypocrisy) of this social class when they venture outside their comfort zone. Having affairs is okay as long as nobody talks about it, but the instant it comes out into the open, either at the party or when they catch their kids at it, it turns disastrous and humiliating (not least for the men). I imagined Jack Nicholson's disembodied head hovering over the proceedings, hectoring the characters that they couldn't handle the truth.

[Essay-in-progess]

The Greatest Superhero Art Film Ever?

No, not The Dark Knight or Watchmen or anything as in-your-face as that. I recommend instead The Ice Storm (1997), Ang Lee's bittersweet tale of 70s suburbia, in which an issue of the Fantastic Four plays a slight but pivotal role.

Almost the very first shot of the film is a lingering and extreme close-up of panels from Fantastic Four #141, published autumn 1973. We see one superhero declare angrily to another, "This is the END of the Fantastic Four!"

Then the camera pulls back to reveal the reader, Tobey Maguire, on a train from New York to Connecticut. (This remember is a 1997 movie, 5 years before he was cast as Spider-Man.) Now, it's not simply that Tobey and the comic form the story's framing device, but something much more integral and intriguing -- by the end of the film, we realise that the superheroic quarrels and deaths experienced by the Fantastic Four have been tragically mirrored in real life.

Another character in The Ice Storm describes the interconnectedness of things in terms of molecules. Meanwhile, Christina Ricci plays a Nixon-hating, sexually adventurous teenager whose red poncho can't help but bring Little Red Riding Hood to mind. The similarity goes further, since the original fairytale is after all a metaphor for sexual maturation and predation.

It seems then that Lee (Ang Lee, not Stan ) is invoking fairytales -- surely the ancient equivalent of superhero stories -- as a way of validating the parallels between the events in the comic and those in the film. In other words, tales of the fantastical are nonetheless allegories of actual human experience.

[Does any of this sound convincing or interesting? I'm tempted to expand it some more.]

Very interesting, Caged Horse! (I finally bought a copy of The Ice Storm yesterday, so I'll be watching it again.) More please!

jbeall wrote:Very interesting, Caged Horse! (I finally bought a copy of The Ice Storm yesterday, so I'll be watching it again.) More please!

Many thanks for the thumbs-up, though I probably shouldn't proceed any further without reading Moody's novel. Crediting the adaptation with an intertextuality which in fact comes from the original is a common mistake (see for example the Sight and Sound review of Cronenberg's A History of Violence).

Nice.
And IIRC, both families in the film have 2 children, so both are 4 person units.
Thus the Fantastic Four is the nuclear family, which indeed comes to an end, physically in one case with the death of the son, and psychically/emotionally for both due to adultery and issues of trust.

Run with it, Caged Horse ...

Wow, what a shitty thread for such a good film. Everything prior to the post of the DVDBeaver link should be nuked!

Finally got around to watching the Criterion release and was blown away by this after not having seen it since its release. The film is gorgeously shot, the pacing a slow burn towards a heavy conclusion, and just a masterful piece of story telling. It's Lee's best film by a mile, and it isn't even close. Amazing how it took a Taiwanese director to so perfectly capture the angst and cynicism of the 70s, particularly how Nixon destroyed America's belief in themselves. The pain in this film is palpable, but somehow also infused with brilliant touches of humor. I don't know that i'd concur with the essayist's proclaiming this the best American movie of the 90s, but it's got a very good case to be in the top 10. I think in 50 years, it will be counted among the Great American Movies.

And more amazing than anything, Tobey Maguire didn't annoy me!

Criterion is offering this film for $20 at their online store because of the weather the US is going through:

To grant this weather the proper reverence, for the next 24 hours, Ang Lee's modern classic THE ICE STORM will be 50% off ($19.97) with the promo code SNODAY in our online store. Enjoy!

Great film, and a steal at that price!