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The Rules of Attraction discussion moved here.

Jeff wrote:The Crispin Glover narration track has been removed from the specs.

fuck...that's disappointing. If there was a track and there was some hang-up with it....or it was an error to begin with and never recorded, ok, but to know that it exists and kept off for some reason?

Maybe they can get the fake Glover from BTTF II to dub it

Not sure why Criterion removed the track from the specs on their site, but Crispin Glover's live track is still on here.

Do Criterion DVDs ever have Easter Eggs?

Secret Crispin Glover commentary track would be a fun discovery.

Sanjuro wrote:Do Criterion DVDs ever have Easter Eggs?

Lots of them, actually. We must have a thread for those somewhere.

cdnchris wrote:Not sure why Criterion removed the track from the specs on their site, but Crispin Glover's live track is still on here.

Great news. I'll put it back in our spec list, even if Criterion is omitting it from theirs.

CSM126 wrote:

Sanjuro wrote:Do Criterion DVDs ever have Easter Eggs?

Lots of them, actually. We must have a thread for those somewhere.

We do.

Quick question: For some reason I have a feeling Maddin has done some interview or commentary for another if not many other releases in the collection. If so what am I thinking of?

LightBulbFilm wrote:Quick question: For some reason I have a feeling Maddin has done some interview or commentary for another if not many other releases in the collection. If so what am I thinking of?

He's done loads of commentaries for his own films (on both sides of the Atlantic), but I suspect you might be thinking of the essay he wrote for Ace in the Hole.

cdnchris wrote:Brand Upon the Brain!

What's with the green line at the right edge of the picture in the last few caps?

That sometimes happens in VLC, which is probably the program that Chris used.

sidehacker wrote:That sometimes happens in VLC, which is probably the program that Chris used.

So I'm not going to see this on my DVD at home? (I have a few DVDs that annoyingly display this exact problem--AE's Fantomas and the German Alice in the Cities...)

sidehacker wrote:That sometimes happens in VLC, which is probably the program that Chris used.

It is an issue with VLC that I only noticed when I was doing caps for Brand and noticed it on a few others looking back. It seems to add it onto caps taken from anamorphic transfers. Unfortunate, but the lines don't show up elsewhere. I may end up going to Cyberlink once I get Vista off of my PC (what a mistake that was, at least I got it for next to nothing.)

Beaver has this up.

cdnchris wrote:Brand Upon the Brain!

Chris, what were your impressions on the comments offered by Toles in the interviews?

Andre Jurieu wrote:Chris, what were your impressions on the comments offered by Toles in the interviews?

Maddin has a majority of the documentary, Toles only appearing every once in a while. His comments lean more towards Maddin's work, influences and his friendship with Maddin and he has a bit to offer. I don't recall much from him in the writing, Maddin mostly covering this.

I just finished watching this and would probably call this my most favorite blind-buy ever, well second to Persona anyway. My only previous Maddin film was Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary which I enjoyed, but it holds no candle to Brand.

I viewed it with Isabella Rossellini's narration, whose provided a perfect sense of the comedic and melancholic and her voice, beautiful. Maddin's portrayal of childhood misery and an adulthood full of regret really connected with me, especially the scenes showing Guy in adulthood and his constant rummaging of memories. A truly surreal and at times whimsical experience as phantasmagorical as anything I've seen. I greatly look forward to watching more of his films, hopefully I'll be able to see My Winnipeg sometime soon, but I most look forward to seeing his earlier work.

Murdoch wrote:I greatly look forward to watching more of his films, hopefully I'll be able to see My Winnipeg sometime soon, but I most look forward to seeing his earlier work.

My Winnipeg and Cowards Bend the Knee are closest in tone to Brand Upon the Brain!.

MichaelB wrote:

Murdoch wrote:I greatly look forward to watching more of his films, hopefully I'll be able to see My Winnipeg sometime soon, but I most look forward to seeing his earlier work.

My Winnipeg and Cowards Bend the Knee are closest in tone to Brand Upon the Brain!.

I certainly got that impression from Winnipeg's trailer, and in an interview on the Brand CC Maddin calls Cowards Bend the Knee a more cynical film when compared to his other autobiographical works, so it will be interesting to see why he describes it that way.

Just received Brand in the mail yesterday, and wow-wow, the design is so pretty. I haven't watched the film yet, but I read the essay and it was very well written, and, to say the least, quite the enjoyable read on my fifteen minute cig break from work.

Also in my order I received some other new Criterion releases-- Mishima and Patriotism. WOW. The packaging and design for all three of these films is beautiful. The foil stamping on Mishima must have been an expensive print job. I feel that Criterion's design for their releases continues to improve with every release.

Do you think that Criterion may save on cost for the packaging of some releases (like throwing a two-disc release like Perriot Le Fou in the standard, clear-plastic casing) to save and stash money, so they can afford to give releases like Mishima the lavish treatment?

I'd like to hears your thoughts.

Received and watched the disc a few days ago. Having never seen a Maddin film before, I absolutely loved everything about. Not sure I`ve ever seen anything like it before.
Everything there`s written about in reviews probably doesn`t do justice to it. This is just a film that has to be seen, in my opinion anyway.
Looking forward to seeing more of Maddin`s work as well, will be getting My Winnipeg when it`s gonna be released next month.
The extra`s on the the disc are excellent as well.
All in all, a well recommended disc.

The short "Footsteps" was pretty awesome for a look inside the foley work on the movie.

This was pretty good. Definitely worlds better than My Winnipeg, bursting with clever ideas and touches. I watched it with the Glover narration. Still not close to being sold on Maddin. And it makes me hate Winnipeg even more because this touches on the same themes and ideas and characters that Winnipeg did, only with far more original ideas, sounds, images, and narration. Makes Winnipeg even more worthless than it already seemed.

Never felt enthusiastic about this new release because I did not care for some of Maddin’s early works (Careful, Twilight of the Ice Nymphs, Archangel). They were chores to get through.

I admired parts of Dracula: Pages From a Virgin’s Diary and The Saddest Music in the World (who would thought of Isabella Rossellini dancing on legs made of glass kegs of bubbling beer!) Because as always I catch up with Criterion releases, I picked up Brand Upon the Brain yesterday. Settled down with the film all by myself as the tropical storm Fay barreling through my home. What a freak-out assault the film threw at me! I was hooked and somersaulted into the sick world of incestuous mom vampires, Dr. Frankenstein-daddies, sappho sisters, and brain-dead orphans. Guy visits his childhood home – a lighthouse on an island and the phantoms of his past come haunting him. Mom is the most frightening thing I've ever seen, more frightening than all Lynch monsters put together! The film is a young boy's odyssey through the sea fog of child abuse - parents transforming into monsters - all reflected by the lighthouse of the grown-up Guy's mind.

I was surprised by how much I loved and enjoyed the film because from my past experiences with Maddin, that type of reaction was unexpected. It was a rental so when it ended, I immediately wanted to buy the DVD for myself. It will make an awesome viewing every Halloween season. It’s downright spooky with images and music drilling through every noodle of your brain, borrowing tons and tons from Horror silents but it still feels completely new. It burns right into your subconscious hundreds times more than INLAND EMPIRE could. Possibly the most mind-fuck film ever. Trust me.

If you are a Maddin skeptic like I was, you are in for the real surprise!