Tweet What Did You Get in the Criterion Flash Sale?

This was my first flash sale and I grabbed the following:
The Hidden Fortress - blind
Videodrome - blind
The Uninvited
Carnival of Souls - blind
Seven Samurai - blind
His Girl Friday - blind
Modern Times

A whole lot of blind buys in there, but I'm fairly certain I'll really enjoy them.

So what did you get?

His Girl Friday
Mildred Pierce
The Asphalt Jungle

(wishing I'd gotten One Eyed Jacks, but limit myself to three)

[Mike Gebert]

I decided I needed to watch some of the ones from the last two Flash sales...

I decided I needed to watch some of the ones from the last two Flash sales...

My tactic precisely.

Okay, sit back and take a bracing hit of that Newfoundland Screech rum, 'cause I went wild!

Two separate shopping sprees. First one got me:
- The Browning Version
- Night of the Hunter
- Le deuxieme souffle
- Rififi
- Le million
- Shock Corridor
- The Naked Kiss
- His Girl Friday.

After a 15-hour breather, or one long snifter of Screech, I went back and got:
- Only Angels Have Wings
- Night Train To Munich
- Fiend Without a Face (hello, Frederica, this purchase is blamed on you!)
- Eraserhead
- Basil Dearden's London Underground (4 films)
- Le Samourai

Now all I have to do is stay alive for another 40 years to watch them all and, er, pay for them.

Jim

Screech is....uh, bracing, I'll give it that.

Nothing for me, I just got a look at my latest Visa bill.

On the Waterfront
One-Eyed Jacks

The only Brando films I have now. I think that'll do me.

HIS GIRL FRIDAY (but bought it more for the accompanying THE FRONT PAGE).

Well I just had to get the recommended The Exectioner and His Girl Friday. They were a part of a longer wish list which included All That Jazz (haven't seen it since the VHS-Beta wars); Day For Night (a movie about movie-making, never seen it); Mildred Pierce (boy was I surprised the first time I saw it); The Asphalt Jungle (Marilyn dreams of the beach while each man dreams of wealth); The Killing (don't remember seeing it); a couple of Orson Welles (Chimes At Midnight, The Immortal Story); La Chienne (earlier version of one I'm more familiar with); and My Man Godfrey DVD (I don't like the film much, but I'll have a good copy to give it another shot).

Those purchases, plus prior purchases earned a $50 gift card from them, so I sent another order of all DVDs:
Red Beard (recommended on N'ville); A Canterbury Tale (I've caught parts of it on TV, intriguing); Unfaithfully Yours (I remember enjoying this a lot the last time I saw it with a friend); Sisters (haven't seen it in a long time, remember being scared); and House of Games (keeps you guessing).

Of course by buying some DVDs, I'm doing my part to ensure that some new, improved Blu-rays will be announced soon…

Rick

Rick, what surprised you about Mildred Pierce?

Also, did you like The Immortal Story? I was tempted to get it but then I remembered Barnes and Noble will be coming up with their Criterion half-price sale in about six weeks!

Jim

Rick, what surprised you about Mildred Pierce?

Also, did you like The Immortal Story? I was tempted to get it but then I remembered Barnes and Noble will be coming up with their Criterion half-price sale in about six weeks!

Jim

SPOILER ALERT:


Mildred Pierce: the actions of her daughter with Zachary Scott's character and the slap!

The Immortal Story: Yes, it's not very long and not one of Welles' famous works, but it's Welles and Jeanne Moreau. I've seen it on TCM, but it's been a while. I guess I'm buying it for Jeanne Moreau and Welles equally. Also has a commentary track which I hope is good?

Rick

Thanks, Rick. I didn't read your reply about Mildred Pierce because I haven't seen it yet -- thanks for the spoiler alert! I know it's based on a novel by noir icon James Cain, but with a name like "Mildred" I used to assume it was a ladies' weeper rather than a noir.

As for Welles, I got his Chimes At Midnight at the previous Criterion sale ... ... and was so deeply impressed by him in it. Even though I can't hear, it was apparent to me that he had the gift of making Shakespeare's archaic English poetry sound like a real person conversing. Try watching it with the sound off and just compare the visual speaking of Welles versus Gielguid, who is also pretty adept at making Shakespeare conversational but nothing like Welles's presentation. Seriously, try it someday: I think a lot of viewers will find it an interesting experience.

At the next sale, I'll be picking up a few of Criterion's Welles films including the upcoming Othello. Wish they would tackle The Trial. Somebody out there has released a double-bill DVD of The Trial and The Stranger but without captioning.

Jim

I got Chaplin's The Kid, and the German silent People On Sunday. I wish I had remembered His Girl Friday/The Front Page.

[Mike Gebert]

I know it's based on a novel by noir icon James Cain, but with a name like "Mildred" I used to assume it was a ladies' weeper rather than a noir.

It's a ladies' weeper crossed with a noir.

I know it's based on a novel by noir icon James Cain, but with a name like "Mildred" I used to assume it was a ladies' weeper rather than a noir.

It's a ladies' weeper crossed with a noir.

And it's far better than both the novel on which it is based and the recent HBO mini-series, which I found dutiful but dull.

As a matter of fact, it's one of my favourites, and I'd classify it far closer to noir than weeper. One of Crawford's best performances too.

I know it's based on a novel by noir icon James Cain, but with a name like "Mildred" I used to assume it was a ladies' weeper rather than a noir.

It's a ladies' weeper crossed with a noir.

So, kind of like a biography of Courtney Love?

Jim

I know it's based on a novel by noir icon James Cain, but with a name like "Mildred" I used to assume it was a ladies' weeper rather than a noir.

It's a ladies' weeper crossed with a noir.

I guess "Pierce" is the noir part.

I know it's based on a novel by noir icon James Cain, but with a name like "Mildred" I used to assume it was a ladies' weeper rather than a noir.

It's a ladies' weeper crossed with a noir.

I guess "Pierce" is the noir part.

Good one!

(And applies to Courtney Love, too!)

Jim

[Christopher Jacobs]

My order finally arrived late this afternoon, 12 boxes but actually 24 feature-length movies including the DEKALOG box set, the "Before Trilogy" box set, and the new restoration of THE FRONT PAGE included with HIS GIRL FRIDAY:

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams
Short Cuts
Mildred Pierce
His Girl Friday / The Front Page
Something Wild (1961)
Roma
The Asphalt Jungle
The Tree of Wooden Clogs
The Before Trilogy
One-Eyed Jacks
Dekalog

Over half are blind buys. A wide variety of plenty to watch over the next month or two, and I still have not yet received my Kino "Oscar sale" order yet. And speaking of MILDRED PIERCE, it's been years since I've seen it so I was planning to pair it with DAISY KENYON, which I've never seen, and possibly SUDDEN FEAR for a mini-Crawford/noir festival on Blu-ray.