criterionforum.org

Ok, time for a new thread.

Part 1
Part 2

The Midnight Cowboy blu is out of print....

http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Cowboy-B ... ght+cowboy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheapest price on amazon is $25 from a third party seller.

sigh...once again my email was blank, can someone send a link?

The blu for Leaving Las Vegas is out of print. Figgis mentioned on Twitter that he was talking to Criterion about a new edition. Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate also seems to be OOP.

lacritfan wrote:sigh...once again my email was blank, can someone send a link?

http://createsend.com/t/r-7F1FA475C2D84 ... 23F30FEDED" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

11-13 is the date, certainly, but it also points to numbers. 12, as in Midnight (Cowboy), fills the gap, and there are 10 spots on the icepack. A 10 spot is a ten dollar bill, or ten Bucks. 10 Spot used to refer, at least in MTV parlance, to 10 PM, two hours before midnight. A flush of 10, 11, 12, 13? Whatever, this is far more entertaining than this Twilight Time shit.

ianungstad wrote:The Midnight Cowboy blu is out of print....

Even though I didn't think the film held up all that great when I watched on MGMHD a few months back, a CC re-issue would be a good addition. And it's not like John Schlesinger is recording any more commentaries.

George Kaplan wrote:11-13 is the date, certainly, but it also points to numbers. 12, as in Midnight (Cowboy), fills the gap, and there are 10 spots on the icepack. A 10 spot is a ten dollar bill, or ten Bucks. 10 Spot used to refer, at least in MTV parlance, to 10 PM, two hours before midnight. A flush of 10, 11, 12, 13? Whatever, this is far more entertaining than this Twilight Time shit.

And furthermore:
The rat has 1 tail, and 1 tail bandage.
It's got 2 ears.
3 feet are visible
but it has 4 feet, presumably.
The 5th line on the the thermometer is longer than all the others
of which there are 6 in total.
The next Year of the Rat is in 7 years' time.
The rat has got 8 lines drawn in its right ear
and the cat that chewed on its tail has 9 lives.

I think we've cracked the code!

P.S. I think I've also finally figured out why 6 was afraid of 7!

Definitely cracked!!
Coz if 6 was nine and the sun refused to shine we would be SANS SOLEIL. The cat that chewed on the rat's tail belongs to Chris Marker!
It is in other words the Complete Marker. I don't mind I don't mind.

Got over excited and posted twice

zedz wrote:[and the cat that chewed on its tail has 9 lives.

Wouldn't that make it The Cat o'Nine Tails?

ianungstad wrote:The Midnight Cowboy blu is out of print....

I'm crossing my fingers and toes for Criterion to give my favorite film the ultimate treatment.

Ah, I knew there'd be naysayers!
But, I tell you, the attack upon the rat was not the work of a lone cat!

number 9 number 9 number 9

I picked up the mgm blu a while ago, but wasn't very impressed the second time around (it had been a while). It felt very dated, I'd be more inclined to pick up an upgrade of My Own Private Idaho than this. I'd much rather see Criterion release just about any other Schlesinger title (Honkytonk Freeway or earlier) than this.

Last year at the 2012 Wexner Center talkers, it was stated by one of the producers that Criterion was not currently working on Schlessinger's Midnight Cowboy or Darling. If things have changed, the least Criterion could do is consider "The Lost Language of Cranes" as a compaion piece to the release of "Cowboy." Yes, "Cranes" has many dated moments too and a fading tension due to our changing cultural acceptance, but at least it is less ridiculous in comparison to "Cowboy." Ironically, Schlessinger's earlier film "Darling" has always felt totally explicitly trapped by its tone and era- Richard Lester photoplay- "terriblly Chelsea" shallow yuppies- and can be enjoyed if seen as camp, something "Cowboy" just cannot acheive today. Why is it that "Cowboy" leaves me feeling like watching a dated soap opera and yet Sinatra's film The Detective filmed and released the year BEFORE "Cowboy" cuts deeper into showing "underground" sexual identity and emotional tension? I think it is the explicit gay-for-pay ambiguity of "Cowboy," that sexual cutlure comes off as awkward somehow when viewed today, even though we still have hustlers in America today, the hustling plot in "Cowboy" feel unrealistic because they are not in Vegas, where such commerce would be more at home, less quaint and staid, but instead this is filmed in a slice of New York that no longer exists.
Wathing this film today while already aware of the tremendous changes in New York City and American culture- heck New York state has legalized rights for GLBT individuals AND couples- makes the entire huster plot and lead characters of Cowboy appear all the more pathetic and lost, in over their headers with delusions of granduer, bringing out a strong nihlistic enjoyment in watching the film, that they of course will never make their act succeed.

eerik wrote:

lacritfan wrote:sigh...once again my email was blank, can someone send a link?

http://createsend.com/t/r-7F1FA475C2D84 ... 23F30FEDED" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks.

britcom68 wrote: Why is it that "Cowboy" leaves me feeling like watching a dated soap opera and yet Sinatra's film The Detective filmed and released the year BEFORE "Cowboy" cuts deeper into showing "underground" sexual identity and emotional tension?

For me, the problem is that Schlesinger strives to present some type of dramatic realism in Midnight Cowboy and for which the film was praised & received an X rating. But in fact it was only the case because Hollywood never dared to tackle the topic head-on before. In fact, the film is so far removed from the reality of street hustlers in the 60s (and this is actually almost 1970), that it's a quite fanciful portrait (but tries to play it straight). Paul Morrissey's films (Heat, Trash, Lonsome Cowboys...) all portray New York underground/street life much more credibly in spite of their campiness. (and predate MC) At the same time, I find the buddy films of the 50s/60s (Wessterns, crime, sand & sandals etc.) to be much more interesting to watch for the instances of "gay subtext" underlying many a plot developments precisely because they're meant more for entertainment & not striving for "realism".

Ironically, Schlessinger's earlier film "Darling" has always felt totally explicitly trapped by its tone and era- Richard Lester photoplay- "terriblly Chelsea" shallow yuppies- and can be enjoyed if seen as camp, something "Cowboy" just cannot acheive today.

Darling is probably my 2nd favorite Schlesinger (after Sunday Bloody Sunday, where he really gets it right) while not always taking everything so seriously. Darling always strikes me as 1/2 Breakfast At Tiffany's and 1/2 La Dolce Vita. I've never quite liked Breakfast At Tiffany's for many of the same reasons I have problems with Midnight Cowboy, but it plays it for entertainment & is less objectionable. Darling always strikes me as being the movie that Breakfast At Tiffany's should have been.

It's an ace that's in the hole... what could it be.

Ace in the Hole upgrade

For the third month in a row, I've received a blank newsletter. Could someone please post theirs here?

Well that's the easiest one yet - I only had to glimpse the blue part to know what it was referencing.

swo17 wrote:For the third month in a row, I've received a blank newsletter. Could someone please post theirs here?

http://createsend.com/t/r-84AF9DE6D2DC6 ... 23F30FEDED" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ace In The Hole, glad I've held off on buying a copy for so long! This was my first Wilder and I absolutely loved it.

Hhhmm, when was the last time the newsletter hint was of an upgrade?

Maybe it's a double clue and the other movie is The Incredible Burt Wonderstone