Cinephile Shopping!

Not sure if you heard, but it is once again time for the twice-annual 50% off Criterion sale at Barnes & Noble! In fact we are already one week in! But don't worry, things are set to run until December 1st so there is still plenty of time to load up on holiday gifts for that special cinephile in your life without breaking the bank. You can even buy for yourself! We won't tell...

Back in 2012 we put together lists from several of our contributors recommending titles that are worth picking up during the sale. While we still highly recommend all of these titles, countless new ones have been released in the intervening two years. That's why Craig has seen fit to put together a list of some newer titles worth checking out on this go around (along with a few classics peppered in)!

He's separated things into three categories with five titles in each. All links will take you to the film's Criterion page so you can get a plot summary and overview of the bonus features before hitting up Barnes & Noble. We'd love to see what you guys pick up. Don't be afraid to post a picture of your haul on Instagram and tag us in it. If you don't already follow us we are @thiscinematiclife.

New Titles

1. The Innocents
2. Picnic at Hanging Rock
3. Eraserhead
4. Y Tu Mamá También
5. A Hard Day's Night

Box Sets

1. 3 Films by Roberto Rossellini Starring Ingrid Bergman
2. The Essential Jacques Demy
3. The Complete Jacques Tati
4. Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
5. America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

Buried Treasure

1. House
2. Lonesome
3. Marketa Lazarová
4. Il Sorpoasso
5. Pierre Etaix

Don't Tell Me What To Do!: The Revenge!

It's that time again. Time for me to tell the fine folks at Criterion what films they should be releasing. As it stands, none of the ten films I have suggested have gone on to join the hallowed ranks of boutique home video. But next week sees the release of a film that I had long planned to include in one of these posts (Michael Cimino's epic western Heaven's Gate) so yeah...I got that going for me. Anyhow, here's the latest crop of films I feel are worthy of a spine number.

Chimes at Midnight

Upon its initial release, this film was viewed by many as out of touch and too old-fashioned. In the years since, it has come to be hailed by many as the second greatest film of Orson Welles' career (Citizen Kane having long held that first place spot). Due to ongoing disputes over ownership rights, this film has not seen release on American home video since the days of VHS. Having already released Welles' Mr. Arkadin and F for Fake, Criterion would be the logical label to release this film after all the dust settles. The same goes for Welles' still unreleased final film, The Other Side of the Wind. Perhaps even release them in the same month. By any means necessary

Essential Purchases

Over the past couple of years, the twice-annual 50% off Criterion Sale at Barnes & Noble has become a full-on of cinephilic event. It's like a gift from Odin himself: the perfect opportunity to pick up any discs or box-sets that were outside your price range as well as a chance to test drive any titles that you might be curious about.

Not sure what to pick up? With over 600 titles, picking simply one or two can be pretty intimidating. Thankfully we here at This Cinematic Life have come to the rescue with some personal Top-5s to help refine your quest. Happy shopping!

'Becca'lise
The Royal Tenenbaums
My Man Godfrey
Pandora's Box
The Great Dictator
Thief of Bagdad

Colin
The Battle of Algiers
Harold and Maude
In The Mood For Love
House
Charade

Craig

High and Low

The Red Shoes

Dazed and Confused

The Royal Tenenbaums

America Lost and Found: The BBS Story (box-set)

John Carlos
8½
Rushmore
Videodrome
Dazed and Confused
The Thin Red Line

Rachel
The Golden Age of Television
Harold and Maude
Paris, Texas
Playtime
Wings of Desire

Buy anything cool? Let us know in the comments!

Running For Cover(s)

Long time readers of this blog should be familiar with our hatred for crappy DVD cover art. Inversely, as you might have guessed, we really really love great cover art. While occasionally a major studio will put out a nice looking disc, the only place to go for consistent quality is The Criterion Collection. With a mixture of film stills, well chosen typefaces and art from brilliant illustrators, the Criterion gang continually impress month after month. Though many try to approximate their style, you simply cannot beat the real deal. Here are 10 favorites in order of their release. Some are out of print, all are worth tracking down.

#137 Notorious

Don't Tell Me What To Do Deaux!

Last May, The Criterion Collection was nearing up on spine #600. The film-geek community was abuzz with speculation as to what that 600th title would be. We even took it upon ourselves to recommend 5 worthy titles. Well now that Otto Preminger's courtroom masterpiece Anatomy of a Murder has entered the pantheon as lucky #600, it's time to start speculating about #700!

Kundun

Scorsese's meditation on the life of the the 14th Dalai Lama would be a perfect addition to The Collection. It's a perfect companion piece to their other Scorsese religion film, The Last Temptation of Christ. Touchstone certainly isn't doing anything with this title and the already existing feature-length documentary In Search of Kundun with Martin Scorsese, would make for excellent bonus material.

Gas Food Lodging

The fine folks over at Criterion already seem to be pretty fond of director Allison Anders. In addition to releasing Border Radio (directed by Anders along with Kurt Voss and Dean Lent) they've also featured her in the bonus material for Magnificent Obsession and Two-Lane Blacktop. So it would make sense for them to release her solo-debut, which also happens to be the only title in her filmography to not have at least a commentary track on the disc.

Flaming Creatures

Criterion has never been one to shy away from controversy (Salò, Antichrist, I Am Curious), so why not release Jack Smith's Flaming Creatures? Can't you already just picture it? Beautiful cover design by someone awesome, an essay by J. Hoberman for the booklet, a featurette on how it was banned? Perhaps even an interview with Mario Montez AKA Dolores Flores! How is this not already a thing? Get on it people!

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
This film has been out of print for far too long! And now with Blu-ray it can look and sound better than ever! Criterion has released plenty of Agnès Varda, so why not add her equally talented late-husband Jacques Demy into the mix as well? Guaranteed to be a top seller since this film is beloved by both cineastes and lovers of great music. Heck, they could even get some musical experts to expound upon Michel Legrand's beautiful score!

The Black Cat
Sure it's short (only 65 minutes), but that's never stopped Criterion before. Island of Lost Souls is only 5 minutes longer and The Most Dangerous Game is only 63 minutes! And this isn't your average Universal horror film. Not only is it the first cinematic pairing of Karloff and Lugosi, it's also the best! Oh and did I mention that it's directed by Edgar G. Ulmer who worked on German Expressionist classics like The Golem and The Last Laugh, in addition to co-directing the legendary People on Sunday?

Don't Tell Me What To Do!

As you've probably gathered already, we here at Cinema Nerds are huge fans of The Criterion Collection. Just last night we were drooling over their new Blu-Ray of Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator. Thanks to them, some of cinema's most important and hard to find films are now available to the masses with pristine transfers and enriching bonus features. As of right now there are 578 films in The Collection with new titles announced each month. Here are some suggestions to get them closer to that 600 mark.

The Chelsea Girls

6 years before Deep Throat, this was the movie that built a bridge between the underground and the mainstream. High society people flocked "downtown" to get a little culture by watching Andy Warhol & Paul Morrissey's 3hr 15min, double projected epic! Criterion already has a history of releasing Paul Morrissey films (Flesh For Frankenstein & Blood For Dracula) so this should be right up their alley. Also, there is apparently no longer a moratorium on releasing Warhol's films on home video so let's make this happen!

Johnny Guitar

Directed by Nicholas (Rebel Without A Cause) Ray, this film was worshiped by many of the men who went on to be known as La Nouvelle Vague. This is one weird little movie. Joan Crawford at her most butch and Sterling Hayden...well...being Sterling Hayden. 1954 audiences looking for a traditional western must have been thrown for quite a loop. Since Criterion has released more New Wave films than anyone else in the game, it would stand to reason that they would want to release one of the films that lead the way.

Crash (1996)

In a career spanning well over 30 years, David Cronenberg has produced more than his share of controversy. In the early days, that controversy was brought about through disturbing visuals. With Crash, it was the result of disturbing ideas. This essentially plotless film is a beautiful and frightening collision point between sex & violence. You'll never be able to look at a car accident the same way again. Obviously not to be confused with that "other" Crash movie.

Don't Look Now

Directed by Criterion favorite Nicolas Roeg, this mostly bloodless film is one of the creepiest and most beloved horror films of all time. A super-de-dooper edition already exists in the film's native England but here in Region 1 we are stuck with a lame "film only" edition. Come on! I demand a documentary on whether or not Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie were actually fucking!

Multiple Maniacs

Recently Criterion has started releasing hard to find black & white first films by respected auteurs (Gus Van Sant's Mala Noche, Allison Anders' Border Radio, etc.) so why not keep the ball rolling with John Waters' extremely hard to find first feature. It isn't fair that only a select few with the old VHS, have the privilege of watching Divine get violated by a giant lobster. Oh and did I mention David Lochary's miraculous moustache?