Criterion Research Project

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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mteller
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:23 pm

Re: Criterion Research Project

#151 Post by mteller » Tue Jul 06, 2010 4:03 pm

B.

The only time I've watched a film at home and wished I had seen it in a theater was GOODBYE DRAGON INN.

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bigP
Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 10:59 am
Location: Reading, UK

Re: Criterion Research Project

#152 Post by bigP » Tue Jul 06, 2010 4:44 pm

I'd honestly have to choose B) these days. Sadly. I find I'm becoming alot less tolerant to the oft-mentioned distracting elements found in the cinema - the lack of comfort, the deafening sound, the pot luck of where I find a seat and praying it's not up front where I physically have to turn my head and lean back a bit to see the far side, the noisy chatterers and, worse still, the shushers. My concentration goes totally out the window unfortunately. I used to absolutely love the cinema, but now with DVD and Blu-ray looking so great and home cinema systems becoming pretty affordable and mighty impressive, I'd much rather curl up on the couch or in bed and get lost in a film under my complete control. My experience of seeing Ghost Busters II at the Odeon when I was 6 or 7 is a pretty cherished memory though that is about the last cherished memory of the cinema that I have with my last outing being to see Ridley's Robin Hood in a cinema with no air-con and a couple of older female (horny) gossipers sat next to me commenting to each other everytime Russell and male co. showed their bare torsos. I won't relate what was said but I did try to drown myself in my warm box of Pepsi.

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HistoryProf
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:48 am
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Re: Criterion Research Project

#153 Post by HistoryProf » Tue Jul 06, 2010 5:45 pm

A for me - but ONLY because we had our old downtown single screen theater completely renovated and re-opened as an all volunteer run art house/community theater about 5 years ago. It has a state of the art projection and sound system that is unparalleled compared to anything i've seen anywhere. Apparently the projector is some 7 figure piece of equipment, one of a handful in use anywhere.

Even better, if you are caught using a cell phone you are banned for life. they have matinees for 25 cents every wednesday and saturday showing classic films from the 30s and 40s (as though it were that time kind of thing). popcorn is a dollar, the seats are incredibly comfortable, it has a beautiful balcony, and it's all been such a labor of love that so many people have volunteered their time to, that no one puts up with any crap from the audience. if you don't play nice, you are gone. It's simply wonderful.

I'm hoping to find something similar in the Rio and Glenwood Arts theaters in Kansas City...what i've read sounds very similar. but if i'm stuck with megaplexes, my answer becomes B - I just can't stand them. Overpriced, loud and obnoxious people everywhere, and crappy systems are the norm. I took my daughter to see the Twilight Movie last week and was appalled at the prices - fucking $15.75 for two sodas and a popcorn! and that was the "combo deal!" We can get the same thing at the State downtown for $5. As it should be.

[/end rant] ;)

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Tom Amolad
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 4:30 pm
Location: New York

Re: Criterion Research Project

#154 Post by Tom Amolad » Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:58 pm

A. Two reasons: (1) The dialectic of cinema as simultaneously social and solitary -- a place where you sense what a group is doing while remaining hidden in the dark -- is too delicious to pass up; (2) No one starting at even a large television screen can really experience what a close-up is.

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fiddlesticks
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:19 pm
Location: Borderlands

Re: Criterion Research Project

#155 Post by fiddlesticks » Tue Jul 06, 2010 11:28 pm

Okay, I've missed out on this thread altogether, but can provide my answers to the earlier questions if you still want them.

Question 1:
Oshima's Outlaw Sixties -- C
Golden Age of Television -- B
M. Hulot's Holiday -- A
Paris, Texas (Blu) -- A
Le Jour se leve (Essential Arthouse) -- B
if Essential Arthouse doesn't count, then
Last Year at Marienbad (Blu) -- B

Question 2:
Hard to say. Films that I own and love that I likely would never have come across w/o Criterion:
Two Lane Blacktop
Ace in the Hole
Ballad of a Soldier
Classe Tous Risques
Green for Danger
Yi Yi
Criterion was my introduction to much more than this list (e.g., all of Bergman, Ozu, Bresson, Powell), but these are the ones I feel I'd have missed out on altogether had then not been Wacky-C-Festooned.

Question 3:
A, in theory--but nothing worth watching ever comes within 250 miles of where I live! The condition of the print is a secondary consideration (at best) for me; the "cinema experience" is not degraded by a scratchy print (within reason, of course.)

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PfR73
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2005 6:07 pm

Re: Criterion Research Project

#156 Post by PfR73 » Wed Jul 07, 2010 11:06 am

Walkabout-B
Stagecoach-A
Vivre Sa Vie-B
Yojimbo-A
Sanjuro-B

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lacritfan
Life is one big kevyip
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:39 pm
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Criterion Research Project

#157 Post by lacritfan » Wed Jul 07, 2010 2:37 pm

Problem for me is you have two separate criteria. If the audience is like-minded and respectful (no talking/texting/snoring) then I would say A. If not, then B.

charliekohller
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:31 am

Re: Criterion Research Project

#158 Post by charliekohller » Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:13 am

Before I started this project I think I would have definitely argued in favour of the home theatre versus going to the cinema. Though the last few times I've been to the movies, I've been very conscious of examining the conditions around me and my opinions are somewhat changed.

I saw Wild Grass at the Curzon Renoir in London a couple of weeks back. What I find interesting is actually how the two experiences are becoming more similar, and not just as home theatre systems move to closer to replicating the cinema experience. Actually I'm finding that the cinema seems to feel more and more like a domestic viewing space. The once big screen at the Curzon Renoir has been spilt into two and all Curzon cinemas in the city have switched over to digital projection systems. In effect it felt like watching a Blu-Ray disc on a very large plasma screen.

What the cinema experience still has, and no technology can rob it of, is its ability to abduct you, as Susan Sontag once described it. Despite whatever annoying distractions you could possibly run into with noisy popcorn eaters etc. the cinema environment commands your attention in a way that even the largest home theatre system cannot. The domestic environment is full of familiar distractions that can, even for the most committed viewer, contribute towards creating a disconnect between viewer and film. In the cinema you are at the mercy of the image. It is all consuming in this darkened strange environment that is not your home.

However in watching Wild Grass I did miss the indexical quality of a real film print. I wanted that grain. The digital presentation of the film was faultless, but it still felt at one remove from the real thing. Perhaps in the home the digital can actually in some ways replicate this film quality more successful than digital cinema projection. Watching at home, you are closer to the image and thus the film like qualities are more easily visible.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who has contributed to this thread. It has all been very invaluable for my project. There will be more questions soon. I'm not sure I've really been asking the right questions yet, but everyone's responses have given me a lot of clarity as to what questions I should be asking. More soon.

charliekohller
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:31 am

Re: Criterion Research Project

#159 Post by charliekohller » Thu Jul 29, 2010 10:02 am

Hello,

Here's a very basic question which I should have probably asked earlier.

Why have you elected to become a member of this forum?

Part of my research is concentrating not only on the Criterion collection but on aspects of internet cinephilia. So I would like to get a clear sense of what motivates today's cinephiles to join groups such as the criterionforum.

Also do you consider yourself a cinephile, and if so what does being a cinephile mean to you?

thanks

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willoneill
Joined: Wed Mar 18, 2009 10:10 am
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Criterion Research Project

#160 Post by willoneill » Thu Jul 29, 2010 12:30 pm

1. I started reading this forum after I had started reading another forum, one which had been connected to a now-defunct website that sold Criterions at a then good price to Canada. By accident (I can't remember how), I discovered that if I actually signed in, I could see a separate section related to deals. Compiling an extensive DVD collection at the time, I have found some really good deals. I started reading more and more of the forum because as my collection exhausted my mainstream wish list, I discovered more and more obscure international and classic titles. The forum also persuaded me to go region-free as I discovered the Masters of Cinema collection.

I've read bits of stuff here and there on other forums, related to not just movies, but current events, hockey and baseball, etc., and this is literally the only one where 80% of the posts don't sound stupid. It's also the least hostile, surprisingly enough, even considering the occasional hilarious meltdown.

2. Sure, I consider myself a cinephile, in that I like film, I like different kinds of film, and I'm always looking to discover new things. I've even broadened my horizons in the past few years to genres/countries I formally had no interest in, such as animation, classic musicals, anything Asian, etc... This forum has certainly helped that.

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Roger Ryan
Joined: Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:04 pm
Location: A Midland town spread and darkened into a city

Re: Criterion Research Project

#161 Post by Roger Ryan » Thu Jul 29, 2010 12:42 pm

My answer is pretty basic as well I guess:

I appreciate the breadth of knowledge presented by the other forum members.

Whether announcing new releases (and rumored ones), discussing the canon of established filmmakers or championing obscure titles I may be unfamiliar with, this forum covers it all. Because of its structure, the Criterion Forum provides a much greater sense of continuity than, say, IMDb which by its nature is unable to provide a focus on film discussion in general.

Inasmuch as I will often view one or more films on a daily basis, I would classify myself as a "cinephile".To me, a "cinephile" is anyone who can appreciate the context of a film, whether that context is an individual filmmaker's body of work, the history of film itself or something else entirely. I've read the postings on this forum for several years, and joined a few months back, because of the many members who know much more than I do. My appreciation of film has increased dramatically since I discovered this site and I enjoy the sharing of information and analysis.

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Criterion Research Project

#162 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Jul 29, 2010 1:32 pm

I had been importing and collecting Criterions for a couple of years and had been looking around mostly just for somewhere to read general reviews of the discs. I found this place by a circuitous route through the long defunct cinenikki site where among the reviews a member called davebert, later a member of this forum for a while, wrote mostly on Criterions. That website linked to the mastersofcinema.org page (which I kept bookmarked as my home page until 2007 or so when the site wasn't updated and eventually became the Masters of Cinema DVD page it is now) and then in the links from that page was a link to criterionforum.org! That was around Christmas 2003, then there was the forum crash in late 2004 (all the previous iterations of the forum are described somewhere), but since then things have run smoothly!

I suppose I would have to call myself a cinephile since a couple of rooms of the house are devoted to VHS tapes, DVDs, Blu-Rays and various devices on which to play them. But I wouldn't really feel comfortable calling myself that partly because I rarely visit an actual cinema so wouldn't want to steal the term from those who do, and also because I still feel a long way from knowledgable on the subject, especially in certain areas - though that is why I still find watching and discussing film so exciting.

I feel that now that I've seen a fair number of films that now comes the exciting stage of not only enjoying the individual works themselves (something which still always needs to be considered first and foremost), but can now start to place them inside particular director's bodies of work, or different eras of filmmaking. This forum is a great place to have discussions on this kind of 'bigger picture' of cinema.

Plus I agree with the above posters. I've not really found many other places where I could do all the following: post general impressions of a film I've just watched; contribute to something wider such as working on a Filmmaker's page, or the lists or noir projects; be able to relatively confidently find someone to have an interesting discussion with about parts of any kind of film or their subtexts; get general film news and DVD information collated together from various other sites (the Criterion Facebook thread has been great to keep me up to date since I'm not a fan of this newfangled social media stuff myself and haven't joined); and even occasionally just post silly stuff (in the appropriate places of course!)

And I like that despite the name, not every post has to be Criterion Collection related - there has always been the new and old films and general DVD sections, but I thought it was quite inclusive of those who manage the forum to set up the BFI and Masters of Cinema sections as well (though Second Run came first!)

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Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Criterion Research Project

#163 Post by Mr Sausage » Thu Jul 29, 2010 2:01 pm

Why have you elected to become a member of this forum?
Well, you have to realize this is not the only incarnation of this forum. I think there have been five so far. I joined it near a decade ago when it was the criteriondvd.com forum, and I joined it because, holy shit, there was actually a place where I could discuss film with people on a level beyond "that movie was cool." A rare thing at that point in my life.
Also do you consider yourself a cinephile, and if so what does being a cinephile mean to you?
I've never given it any thought, but I am probably a cinephile. The name doesn't mean anything to me, tho'.

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tojoed
Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:47 am
Location: Cambridge, England

Re: Criterion Research Project

#164 Post by tojoed » Thu Jul 29, 2010 3:05 pm

I stumbled across the forum and read it for a few months before signing up. I noticed a thread for "Coffret Sacha Guitry" and thought, if this is a place where people not only know, but can talk knowledgably about, a man I'd always revered, then it was the place for me.
Like Mr S, I've never thought about the term cinephile and never use it.
There's a film called "The Music Lovers", but there isn't one called "The Audiophiles". So, I'm just a feller who loves the movies.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Criterion Research Project

#165 Post by zedz » Thu Jul 29, 2010 5:03 pm

I honestly can't remember how I first found out about this place, but I assume it came up in some Google search when I was first looking for information about Criterion DVDs.

The sequence went something like this:
1) Hear about this newfangled DVD format
2) Discover that some films I'd always wanted to see are available in said format
3) Find out about region locking and get a player that's region-free
4) Start getting some longed-for films from Amazon
5) Notice that several titles I want are quite expensive and belong to 'The Criterion Collection'
6) Root around online for reviews of discs I'm interested in and find the information is incredibly patchy but that these 'Criterion' titles are supposed to be reliably good.
7) Figure that I can't go any longer without seeing Double Suicide and splash out.
8) Enter rabbithole
9) Search online specifically for information about certain Criterion releases I'm interested in (it was mainly the high price of the Criterion discs which made me more diligent and cautious about these purchases)
10) Get directed, somehow, to the forum.

That would have been about 2001 or 2, I guess. I think I've been through two crashes. My previous and subsequent experience with internet fora has been dismal and frustrating, with their unsustainable signal-to-noise ratio, but this one was so ferociously moderated (if you think the admins are tough now, you should have been here during the boot camp years!) that interesting discussions occurred often enough to make it worth hanging around.

Sure I'm a cinephile. I wouldn't really describe myself as one, but that's probably the kindest thing outsiders would call me. I actually made a conscious decision to become one when I was about seven years old, and the circumstances just seem more and more bizarre the more I think about it.

Carry on Screaming had been on television and we'd watched it as a family. I thought it was okay. For some reason, my mother got into her head that I liked horror movies, even though I'd never seen one unless you count this spoof, and bought me for Christmas two hardcover picture books by Alan Frank, Horror Films and Monsters and Vampires (this was my first encounter with Mr Sausage). The shot on the back cover of one of them of Dave Prowse with his eye hanging out seriously freaked me out and prevented me getting back to sleep after I pored through my pillowcased presents in the middle of the night. To this day I have no idea what my mother was thinking!

I lapped up the books and immediately decided that I was going to see every horror movie I could find. There was a weekly horror slot on television and the first film I saw was Scream and Scream Again, which I didn't really get at that age, but which did deliver two memorable shocks / scares. I pressed on and soon saw a huge number of Hammer and AIP films, including some, like Masque of the Red Death and The Sorcerers and Dr Phibes Rises Again (which I saw several years before catching up with the first film), which struck me as really good and interesting films regardless of genre. I saw enough to start being able to discern between 'good stuff' and 'bad stuff', and from there it mushroomed. Watching old horror movies made me interested in old movies in general, for example, and I was also applying my television-horror-trained critical eye (however skewed and provisional) to the 'regular' movies I'd see in the cinema. And so on.

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Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Criterion Research Project

#166 Post by Mr Sausage » Thu Jul 29, 2010 5:14 pm

I suppose to should mention how I found the original criteriondvd.com forum. I kept noting in stores that some movies had a banner that said "Criterion Collection." I'd never seen a boutique lable before and assumed this Criterion Collection must be something special. Eventually, I looked them up online (which happened to occur at the same moment I was starting to get into foreign and art house films), became intrigued by all the movies I'd never heard of, started to read about the history of Criterion, learned about laserdics, of whose existence I was until then unaware, and decided to email Criterion to ask where I could find a list of their laser catalogue. Mulvaney kindly directed me to criteriondvd.com, which had them all listed, and from there I found the attached forum.

cinemartin

Re: Criterion Research Project

#167 Post by cinemartin » Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:16 pm

I found this forum when I stumbled upon an announcement here for a screening of Out 1: Spectre in downtown Manhattan, which I would have missed (and actually just barely made) if not for that info. This was before the huge Rivette retro in Queens and I never forgot how this forum pointed me in the direction to see a rare screening of one of the top films on my list. I'll never forget that, and no matter how much trivial arguing goes on here this is consistently the best forum for information on cinema and will often have extremely insightful comments by all kinds of people. A perfect mixture that keeps you coming back for more!

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Saturnome
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2007 5:22 pm

Re: Criterion Research Project

#168 Post by Saturnome » Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:57 pm

In 2006 I was mainly interested into video games, making my own games with a simple program (I was a kid!). Then a collaborative project came up where each section of the game would be based on a film genre. Somehow I got "Western Spaghetti" without even knowing what it was. So I watched a few of them and suddenly saw the potential of films. I absolutely don't remember how I discovered Criterion though, but I remember the first one I deeply loved was Le Samouraï. My passion never stopped ever since, I'm actually kind of amazed at all the knowledge I now have (still pretty far from almost everybody around here, though). I think it's pretty quick to go, in less than a year, from never-heard-of-any-Leone-film to register on this forum via a link on Abel Gance's IMDb forum after watching Napoleon. The amazing topic on Abel Gance here convinced me to stay. I doubt I ever wrote something interesting, but there's so much good stuff to read I'm very glad I found this place. Another reason to stay here are the announcements (OOP, new releases, bargains,etc.).

Am I a cinephile? I'd be surprised to find someone here saying no. I spend most of my time thinking about films, when not watching one. It's a major part of my life.

("tell us your story" topics are kind of fun to read and answer somehow)

lady wakasa
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Re: Criterion Research Project

#169 Post by lady wakasa » Thu Jul 29, 2010 10:32 pm

I originally heard about "Criterion" in the pre-Criterion days in the mid-90s or so, when Voyager put out that CD-ROM of A Hard Day's Night (which is still around here somewhere). I'd check out the site from time to time to see what was going on.

A few years back, maybe about four, the movie site I frequented (mainly because it was the only one not blocked at work) really had drifted too far away from real movie talk. The two other sites I'd tried had ground to a halt. So I came here to find some people who were talking about film instead of trying to alpha-male each other to death, and I started spending more time here. I mostly lurk, and I wish I had 1/10 the depth of knowledge a lot of people here do (although I wish there was a little more going on with some types of film, like Korean), but I like stopping by,

Cinephile? I'll consider myself a cinephile when I have a film degree, corduroy jacket, and pipe, and make my living from talking about film (in other words, pretty much never). No need to get formal; I just like watching good movies.

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movielocke
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:44 am

Re: Criterion Research Project

#170 Post by movielocke » Thu Jul 29, 2010 11:13 pm

this forum? I was curious what else might be released or rumored upcoming releases from criterion, and the aggregated information here was wonderful, the forthcoming discussion thread often had interesting tidbits and responses, and I have occasionally branched out to other forums as well. For the most part, though, I haven't played/posted much on film forums as I did back in college, so I don't really participate in internet cinephilia in any meaningful way.

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eljacko
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:57 am
Location: Tokyo

Re: Criterion Research Project

#171 Post by eljacko » Fri Jul 30, 2010 12:10 am

I found it through the old Criterion website. I was always trying to watch new films through my local video store and netflix, but I was never really attached to the Criterion label as a brand until they released Blast of Silence, which was the first really, really rare film that I absolutely wanted on DVD (before I knew about imports). When I found out about that film, I looked a little more into the Criterion label and the Criterion DVDs I already had. Many of them were my favorites so the connection made sense! Then I found the link to the forum, which I lurked on for awhile to read about new releases and other DVD and movie information.

I didn't join until I realized that I couldn't really talk about films in a serious manner amongst most of the people I was hanging out with - I think I was in Japan at the time, when I had just arrived and didn't know anybody. I mostly read this site for the serious analysis of films since I don't know any other place that focuses on the content of the films (rather than the silly DVD-fandom of most sites). However, I'm also a total newb compared to 99% of this forum, so I can only really lurk and read what others say. If I have something I think is intelligent I'll chime in, but that isn't very often so I'm content to just read what others have to say and comment when I can.

I guess I'm a cinephile, and I've thought of myself as that at times, although I have also been drifting away from that state of mind over the past few months, since I'm still rather young and need to see more of the actual world before I start analyzing its representation on film. I would absolutely love to have the knowledge necessary to regularly engage with the debates on this forum, but I simply haven't seen the number of films most people have, I don't have the energy to catch up, and I don't know when I will so I can generally only watch from the sidelines.

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Salvador
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:37 am
Location: Chicago

Re: Criterion Research Project

#172 Post by Salvador » Fri Jul 30, 2010 3:04 am

I just joined this forum this week and discovered it while trying to find reviews for Criterion titles I was interested in purchasing, especially their Blu-Ray titles, which I just started collecting this year. I am, however, familiar with the Criterion brand from years ago, at least 8 years, when I first started collecting DVDs and have about 20 Criterion titles and rented several of them over the years. My interest in Criterion titles over the years have lessened but now have been rekindled with the advent of Blu-Ray. I have close to 20 Criterion BD titles which I've recently acquired because of the 50% off sale at Barnes and Nobles these last couple of weeks. Interestingly, the sale had made me become aware of the ever-increasing library of Criterion titles over the years on DVD especially the Eclipse box sets that I wasn't aware of until a couple of weeks ago and piqued my interest in films that I would have not known had it not been released through Criterion.

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Steven H
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:30 pm
Location: NC

Re: Criterion Research Project

#173 Post by Steven H » Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:22 am

I discovered Criterion through a friend who showed me the Seven Samurai at his house. After that I went out and actually bought a DVD player along with a few discs. I didn't realize it at the time, but another friend of mine had shown me a few Criterion laserdiscs when I was younger (but that doesn't count).

I don't remember when or how I found this place but I think I recall it crashing twice (I think I was 19 or 20). I remember originally posting a bunch of BS and having a "collector" mindset about Criterion (which, while tacky, helped fuel spreading out my interest in a lot of different directions). Getting a region free player and being enlightened by this place and DVDBeaver showed me a world of DVDs where Criterion was one of many excellent companies (and luckily had great resell values! heh). Making some good friends here also really helped even me out and I ended up directing my energies in ways that I feel have helped me grow as a person.

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bigP
Joined: Thu Mar 20, 2008 10:59 am
Location: Reading, UK

Re: Criterion Research Project

#174 Post by bigP » Fri Jul 30, 2010 12:44 pm

I can't actually remember how I found the forum, but I imagine it was like many others have mentioned, and came about whilst looking for essays and reviews on google for one film or another. I started off as a voyeur for a while, just visiting it a few times a week to read new posts and using it to hear about forthcoming releases from overseas that were often discussed, then I started using it daily and reading back through old posts, using the forums to find new distribution labels and directors I hadn't heard of etc.

I suppose I joined when I felt I could add something to a discussion, which was probably a smarmy, totally misinformed post that suggested I was not quite as knowing as I thought I was at the time, given that I have learnt about 90% of what I know about cinema from this forum and its users. Which leads me on to why I enjoy this forum so much. I found that by sitting back and paying attention, I could get a sense of who was into different areas of cinema than I had previously experienced, and enjoyed finding out why they championed those areas whilst tracking down and watching the films myself. Back when I found the forum, I knew alot among my circle of friends about small areas of cinema (mainly contemporary Japanese, Korean and Spanish cinema), but very little in the reality of the worldwideweb. At this stage now, I'm a little mad at you all for giving me such a massive Kevyip (and indeed for giving me the word Kevyip!) but I have been introduced to a whole world of cinema that I probably would have never have known existed had I not found this forum.

I guess Cinephile is fine though I would probably never call myself that. As I implied, I found myself rather humbled by the breadth of knowledge shared across this forum so I would feel far more comfortable saying that I am more a person who enjoys film, or enjoys collecting film with certain key areas of focus. But if it's got to be boiled down in one word, then Cinephile is fine I guess.

hangman
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:33 am

Re: Criterion Research Project

#175 Post by hangman » Sat Jul 31, 2010 2:56 am

For the first question:
Pretty much the same reason as bigP and numerous others have posted that I was looking for a certain film and essays, which I can't recall precisely on what, through google and ended up here. I stuck around as a lurker for a long time.

Why did I join? Well I simply felt I wanted to start talking with other people online about films, other than criterionforum I've not really joined other film related forums or sites (save one other but...).

Second question:
I don't have any particular definition of it, I mean the term when one translates it to English is pretty self-explanatory. Simply put its a person with a strong love for cinema/films that he/she would passionately seek out both new and old films. I could expound on what I mean by love which is key to the term, as there is a line to obsession (which I don't necessarily see as being a cinephile any longer), but its quite difficult to explain though I guess an aspect of that love is not necessarily blinding oneself to everything else that it becomes detrimental. As for whether I consider myself a cinephile I'd say yes based on how simple I define it.

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