Writes Lucas Trevor, in "Criterion is streaming movies 24/7. I stayed up all night to see them. The films were from Hollywood and abroad, scripted and unscripted, good, great or unwatchable — and I watched them anyway" (WaPo)(free-access link).
I can't imagine watching movies for 24 hours straight (or even staying up that long), but it's an interesting experiment, because you're accepting what's on — like in the days of TV before Betamax and VHS — instead of selecting what you want. It's a way to push yourself out of your limitations, and Criterion is especially trustworthy. I've made it a free-access link so you can see what the movies were and read Trevor's description of them.
It's a really exciting sequence. He begins at 6 a.m., and by late morning, he's watching 2 of my favorite movies:
10:05 a.m. — ‘Grey Gardens’ (1975)
... In the Maysles brothers’ ingeniously crafted film, the subjects and the fits they throw are undeniably fascinating. But at a certain point my head just started hurting from all the hysterics. Also, at one point they eat ice cream and I’m going to be honest: It’s so gross, it really stresses me out....
11:41 a.m. — ‘The Color of Pomegranates’ (1969)
An experimental film, “The Color of Pomegranates” begins with a promise. “This is not the story of a poet’s life; rather the filmmakers tried to re-create the world of the poet.”...
I’m thinking of a piece of advice someone gave me while watching David Lynch... “Think of why those images are put in that order, and what that makes you feel.” Or, in the immortal words of Christopher Nolan’s 2020 sci-fi film, “Tenet”: “Don’t try to understand it. Feel it.”...
Go to the link to see the amazing collection of movies Trevor exposed himself to, so brutally. I would never do anything like his experiment (other than to write a whole article, which I congratulate him for publishing in The Washington Post), but it's powerfully convincing that letting Criterion choose your next movie will probably serve you better than your own well-worn, circling-the-drain instincts.
The movie I'm currently working on — watching in 20-minute bits — is "Giant." That's because I watched a documentary on Elizabeth Taylor on Max so now I see a lot of Elizabeth Taylor movies on my Max home page.
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The "Color of Pomegranates" video was cool. But...you're going to like "Giant" a lot better.
I guess Lucas Trevor never heard of the TCM channel.
"Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance!"
Subtract the number of years ago that the film was made, from 100 - that's how many minutes you have to watch......
You can really hurt a classic movie by watching when you're in the wrong mood, though.
This guy is going to have seen four or five movies while bored and restless that he might have really enjoyed if he was fresh and open to new experiences when he turned them on.
I was ready to scoff, but that was extremely captivating. I'm always pleased when I encounter something with a closed mind and realize I've made a mistake. Thanks for putting that video up!
The problem with the statement about David Lynch is that he's saying it in reference to the third season on Twin Peaks. I'm a huge David Lynch fan, and my exposure to him started with Twin Peaks. But aside from a few episodes that are vintage David Lynch, most of Season 3 felt like an enormous prank played by co-creator Mark Frost. Agent Cooper trapped in Dougie Jones was amusing for a few episodes, but the gag went on for most of the season.
Stay up for 24 hours? I have done it. The nap afterwards is great, but you want to get back on your schedule.
Back when laserdiscs were a thing, the Criterion Collection laserdiscs were the ones that the collectors really wanted. They had a lot of the best classic, foreign and experimental films out there.
Which is more disrespectful of film - force-feeding a 24 hr block of miscellaneous movies or consuming 1 film in 20 minute segments?
It brings to mind the Schlitz eight-hour Movie Orgy, which I was fortunate to see one evening in a field outside Madison sometime in the mid-1970s.
"Stay up for 24 hours? I have done it."
I do it 1 to 3 times a month, at a dark site with a telescope. Even at 68 years old, it's not that hard.
Although, I imagine if I were to attempt it watching movies I'd never make it.
Grey Gardens from 2009 was surprisingly good and it'll be even better when it's part of the Criterion Collection.
but it's powerfully convincing that letting Criterion choose your next movie will probably serve you better than your own well-worn, circling-the-drain instincts.
My working theory is a few of the Criterion Channel flicks are good but the rest are klinkers repackaged as ‘artsy’….
Pretty much anything by Ford or Renoir is good, or at least watchable. Giant is OK but it goes on way too long - over 3 hours! Hudson and Taylor make an attractive pair, but the movie only comes alive when James Dean is on-screen. It also ends weak, with Dean as some sort of Rightwing kook oilman (boo!) and wealthy Rock beating up a small cafe owner because he doesnt serve Mexicans (LOL).
24 hours? Child's play.
Criterion fails to meet several criteria for sustainable viewing.
One of Giant's best scenes happens early. Hudson arrives in CT and sees Taylor on horseback. She is astonishingly beautiful, captivating him and us. The happy moment is important to remember as the movie becomes more and more relentless and you begin to think you should stop watching something so depressing.
The addition of 24/7 streaming to the Criterion Channel has been great. A little-known feature that the article failed to mention was the link https://whatsonnow.criterionchannel.com.
It will show you the title of what is currently streaming on 24/7, how much time remains, and a More button to the standard Criterion Channel page about the movie.
I use it quite a bit. If something looks interesting, I will add it to my list to watch later.
In one overseas assignment, I had three separate days of over 40 hours (I think the average was about 42). Longest was 44. Wasn’t watching movies, though.
You might need to watch Giant again, if you think Rock was the one giving the beating.
If you like those films, try Guy Madden. He must be on Criterion. He's the Canadian Powell and Pressburger, crossed with David Lynch.
Does Criterion have Eddie Muller?
I was 13 when "Giant" was released, and I first saw it whenever it reached the Greater Hartford (CT) market. I have seen it several times since then, mostly on the tube but at least once more on "the BIG screen". Although I agree with the comment that it was too long, we had more patience in those olden days.
*Althouse, if you haven't seen it before, please remember it was created for entertainment, not "ART". It was the French who made "ART" movies in those days -- you could tell it was "ART" if there were nude women, and there were none in Giant. More's the pity.
RCOCEANII: Rock didn't beat up the cafe owner -- the cafe owner beat the crap out of Rock. That was really an important aspect of the movie.
Someone referred to the early scenes as being set in "CT" (now the accepted abbreviation for Connecticut), but it was actually supposed to be Maryland and was filmed in Virginia. From a Texas point of view it makes no difference, of course.
My neighbor, who wants me to vote for Jon Tester "because he has been good for Montana", said she really hates traveling through the northern part of the state because many restaurants and businesses have signs saying "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" because, she says, these signs are all about being able to act in a prejudiced manner towards minorities. I remarked that the only place I had seen that sign in "Giant" that is the cause of a fistfight -- which Hudson loses badly -- over a half-Mexican grandson the owner refuses to serve. But that film was from 1956. I'm pretty sure the sign today is to keep out drunks, druggies, and people who swear too much.
I saw Giant years ago. I can't recall much of the plot, but many of the images were memorable, as was the beauty of Elizabeth Taylor. I sometimes start movies in small increments, and then either give up on them or finish them in a sitting......I saw the latest Mission Impossible movie. It was good enough to finish in one gulp. Tom Cruise probably isn't a philosopher-king, but his movies are consistently entertaining......I get the sense that Criterion is the place where old Antonioni and Godard films go to die. I'm okay with Bergman and Fellini, but many of the art houses movies of my youth are pretentious dreck. The guy probably saw a couple of Godard movies and thought he had been watching for twenty four hours straight. It's easy to mistake ten minutes of an Antonioni movie for eternity.
Yeah, you're right. Rock Hudson tries to beat up "Sarge" the man who owns a small cafe. And "Sarge" who must be 6-6 finally knocks him out. The scene always stuck in craw. What is Hudson -a wealthy landowner - doing at a small roadside cafe? What right does he have to tell "Sarge" who can he must serve or not serve? Or to fight him?
What would've that scene looked like if "Sarge" had been 5-8? Notice that the Sarge's waitress is blond and unattractive, and that the Mexicans he refuses service to are an old poor very meek and polite couple who just want some water!
I bet this movie made a great impression on George Bush. He probably thinks of himself as Rock Hudson. LOL!
Here's a link to the scene:
https://youtu.be/e4ptm6F2KHQ?si=NWIp6_GlQqCGE7dH
Its a classic piece of anti-racist propaganda. Notice all the cuts to the Cute little half mexican- half white baby. Notice that "Sarge" is aggressive and huge. And that, as I said, his waitress is unattractive. And what if the "Mexicans" had been a couple of rowdy teenagers? The whole point is for us to think: "Look at the horrible racist beat up Rock Hudson. What a monster".
Wrong. The whole point of the "Sarge" scene was showing Bick Benedict finally grasping and accepting the basic humanity of his Mexican daughter-in-law.
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