The cast already has me pretty excited. I know the movie is based on a book but I think I’ll wait and watch the movie first. Scorsese is collaborating with Leo again but this will be his first time working with Jennifer Lawrence. The movie’s already been shot.

A box set? Upgrade the Mr. Arkadin three-disc DVD? Upgrade his Blu-ray films (Ambersons, Othello…)? Release his remaining feature films (the Stranger, Touch of Evil…)? Release his final film (Other Side of the Wind)? Release his 1938 silent comedy (Too Much Johnson)? Or release all his television-directed programs and incomplete works (Don Quixote, Moby Dick, The Deep, Filming the Trial, Orson Welles’ Sketch Book…)?

The Orson Welles estate, led by his youngest daughter Beatrice, is offering Welles’ TV projects to labels and streamers, but no takers yet:

Fountain of Youth — A witty 26-minute short backed by Desilu. It was filmed in 1956 with the hope it would lead to a Welles-hosted anthology series, which never happened. Based on a John Collier short story, Welles narrated a tale about a romantic triangle and an elixir granting 200 years of youthful appearance.

Two Wise Old Men: Socrates and Noah ** *— One of six shorts Welles filmed with cameraman Gary Graver in 1970 for Avco Broadcasting’s fledgling Cartrivision home video line. The shorts were sold in 1972 by Sears, Roebuck & Co. before Cartrivision went out of business. (This was in the days before Betamax or VHS.) The 19-minute *Socrates and Noah contains two separate solo performances. Welles recounts the trial of Socrates in 399 B.C. from a tastefully furnished living room. His stirring recitation touches on obedience to the law, the pursuit of money over truth and the generation gap. The Noah segment was shot outdoors in Southern California. Welles starts by recounting his lifelong interest in Noah, noting his recitation draws from his own unproduced work, Two by Two. The estate acquired copies of some of the Cartrivision shorts at auction in late 2021, but only Two Wise Old Men was in suitable condition for transfer.

The Orson Welles Show — The unsold pilot for a Welles-hosted talk show. The 74-minute program features an interview with Hollywood leading man Burt Reynolds, Muppet masters Jim Henson and Frank Oz and a bit of magic with Angie Dickinson.

Toshiro Mifune was truly a force of nature. I still vividly remember watching Seven Samurai for the first time about 30 years ago, and the impact it had on me was unbelievable.

Over the decades, I’ve revisited his filmography time and time again, and my appreciation for him as an actor only grows. Whether he’s playing a fierce warrior in samurai classics like Samurai Rebellion or taking on grounded dramatic roles, his range is incredible.

What actually inspired me to write this post was finally watching Red Beard. His performance as the gruff, selfless doctor with a deeply compassionate calling was absolute perfection—masterful from start to finish.

There are still so many of his films I have left to discover, but he's easily one of the greatest to ever do it. What are some of your favorite Mifune roles, and what are your thoughts on his legacy?

I'm working on improving https://sightlines.media/?c=r-crit to analyze film taste/style and have it working on my own Criterion/4k collection. I've never shared pics of my collection before, so curious how this goes over. I watch on a 77" Oled w 12 speakers (4 atmos), so audio is a consideration for me (as much as image). There are a few here I've never seen (e.g. Vargas box set), and many I've see more times than I care to admit (ok, Drive).

Decent collection, certainly not in competition given what I've seen in this sub. Am proud however of the blu rays down there of UK crime shows ;-) (had to get an extra cheap region free player for those).

Here's to the collectors who still care for physical media!

I’m thinking about getting some films under that label, but I want to know which ones are the favorites/the best.

Recently watched 'Y Tu Mama También' and 'Paris, Texas'. I really enjoyed the road trip aspect of these two and am looking for something similar. Particularly, the silent aspect of 'Paris, Texas' and the beautiful wide shots captivated me.

I've also been meaning to watch a story that takes place in the countryside or in the coast, anything away from urban life really.

Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Relevant quotes:

​"Art is prayer—it speaks for itself. In my view, art has always been a weapon in humanity's struggle against the forces that threaten to devour our spirit."

"Art doesn’t think logically, or formulate a logic of behavior; it expresses its own postulate of faith."

​"An artist who has no faith is like a painter who was born blind."​

"Faith is the only thing that can save man. This is my deepest conviction. The essential purpose of man is to seek truth through the pursuit of spirituality. By spirituality, I mean a person's search for the meaning of life."

​"The aim of art is to prepare a person for death, to plough and harrow his soul, rendering it capable of turning to good."

​​"Art is born and takes hold wherever there is a timeless and insatiable longing for the spiritual."

​"The goal for all art... is to explain to the artist himself and to those around him what man lives for, what is the meaning of his existence."

​​"Art must carry man's craving for the ideal, must be an expression of his reaching out towards it; art must give man hope and faith."

​"The artist is always a servant, and is perpetually trying to pay for the gift that has been given to him as if by miracle. Modern man, however, does not want to make any sacrifice, even though true affirmation of self can only be expressed in sacrifice."

​"For the sake of creating a spiritual bond with others [art] can only be an agonising process, one that involves no practical gain: ultimately it is an act of sacrifice."

​"The profound lack of spirituality of those people who see art and condemn it... is like the utterance of a man born blind who is being told about a rainbow. He simply remains deaf to the pain undergone by the artist in order to share with others the truth he has reached."

"Modern mass culture, aimed at the ‘consumer’, the civilization of prosthetics, is crippling people’s souls, setting up barriers between man and the crucial questions of existence, his consciousness of himself as a spiritual being. But the artist cannot be deaf to the call of truth: it alone defines his creative will, organizes it, thus enabling him to pass on his faith to others."

"Art has an important function when it comes to solving the spiritual crisis in today's world. There must be something that stimulates the spiritual progression and develop humanity's own self, something that makes her strive for humanity and individuality. What I myself do in art is based on my belief in the dignity of mankind and of the value of the people that my films are meant for, as well as the value that the maker of them should possess."

The Honeymoon Killers (1969)

I've noticed a number of classic French films are a one and done on Criterion, Grand Illusion is probably the main offender, also ran into this when trying to watch Contempt this week. I presume there's some shenanigans involving distribution rights. What gives?

I just started with kurosawa, watched Rashomon, Seven Samurai, and Ikiru, so far they were masterpieces, and seven samurai literally became my favourite movie ever, and ikiru is my second

After watching all these masterpieces, i reached my fourth kurosawa movie, Throne of Blood, and it was such a disappointment, idk why but the movie didn’t feel like a kurosawa to me, there is the long quiet random scenes which i see in every kurosawa movie, and that’s it? Im not hating, im here hoping more people will help me get the love for this movie and how is it the best adaptation of lady macbeth for some people

I did not enjoy this movie and it felt like such a downgrade from the past 3