The Man Who Knew Too Much (Criterion Collection)

"Too Much" Is More Than Enough
The Criterion Collection has done it again! For several years now, they've been filling in the blank spaces in the collections of film lovers, and now it's a newly remastered version of Alfred Hitchcock's 1934 thriller, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH. As one of Hitchcock's biggest fans, I'm here to tell you that there has never been a really good print of this early masterpiece available on DVD before, to say nothing of Blu-Ray. Now, thanks to Criterion, we have both!

This was Hitchcock's first version of the venerable spy story; he filmed it again in 1955 with James Stewart and Doris Day (The Man Who Knew Too Much). Fans argue about which is the better version, and the director himself preferred the later one, but I love them both equally. There's something truly charming about the earlier film, and it includes one great performance that doesn't have a correlative in the 1955 version.

The story...

Nice Restoration, from someone who actually has the Blu-ray to watch.
We all know the movie, what everyone wants to know is how this new Criterion restoration looks.
I can tell you that this is the BEST The Man Who Knew Too Much has ever looked. An original Nitrate Fine Grain that was made from the Nitrate Camera Original Negatives was used to make this Blu-ray. Apparently the Nitrate Camera Original Negatives are lost or have disintegrated, so this is the best film master available. This Nitrate film Fine Grain was located in the British Archive.

The Gray Tones are perfect, no loss of details in the shadows or light areas.

The focus may not be as sharp as a modern film, but it is very good. Only the original camera negatives would give a sharper image.

The film condition is near flawless. i believe this was a wet-gate transfer (using a liquid that would fill in any scratches when transferring to video). The source film was fairly free of wear to begin with.

Image stabilization was used to steady the...

Very poor picture and sound spoil a good film
A very poor transfer of a very good film.Laserlight have done nothing to restore the print.The picture is dark and washed out.The sound is also very poor.The story has some great scenes,such as the finale in the hall where the assassination attempt takes place,but you have to watch a muddy picture with crackling sound.Wait for another version to come out.

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Pina (Criterion Collection)

Why $ 37.98?
Finally an important show of Great Pina's work. But, why $ 37.98 for a zone 2 dvd - plus shipment charges? You could get it direct from the British Amazon site for 8.99 english sterling pounds - plus about $ 5,00 shipment, which altogether is about half the price what the other sellers for this item are requesting. So far, there is available even a 3D blu-ray - and a regular 2D blu ray - in blu-ray-zone 2. Why not for the USA - blu-ray zone 1? Ah!, the merchants ... When will this nonsense about dvd and blu-ray regions stop. Greed is godd and necessary, but excesive greed is bad and stupid for everybody.

For the love of modern ballet and Pina Bausch
"Pina" (106 min.) is a thrilling documentary about/celebration of choreographer Pina Bausch's work. It is important to note that Bausch herself was involved in the preparations of this movie, but she passed away just before shooting beagan after a short but devastating bout with cancer. Director Wim Wenders halted the production, but the dancers of the Wuppertal Tanztheatre convinced him to carry on and to make the movie as a tribute to Bausch. And that it certainly is.

The movie showcases 4 major pieces by Bausch, starting with The Rite of Spring, in which the dancers perform on a thick layer of dark sand. The other pieces are Cafe Mueller, Kontakthoff, and Vollmond. The latter is truly remarkable: there is a huge rock on the stage, and a continuous waterfall onto the stage, which eventually gets flooded for the most part. The dancers splish and splash their way to, through and onto it and it is an incredible visual experience. A number of scenes are also filmed in and...

Wenders is a talented director: Pina Bausch was a giant.
I've never been entirely convinced by Wim Wenders as a narrative film director-- his talents have always been more situated in the realm of conceptual art than that of the storyteller. Here he gets a chance to apply his conceptual art strengths to one of the few great artists of our time, Pina Bausch. The results are often startling, enthralling, and affirmative.

The opening excerpt from Bausch's RITE OF SPRING ranks as one of the greatest pieces of filmmaking I've ever seen. There is no doubt that Wenders has found the best possible use for 3D. To be frank, I would have preferred to see the entire performance rather than the documentary which enfolds it, but ideally we can have both (hint to distributors: there are at least five DVDs to be gleaned from the various dances here. I'd buy all of them!!)

The central section of the film includes excerpts from Bausch's more cerebral work, and it is here that perhaps the film is less effective. While the work...

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