I’m
not a social media user. I briefly
jumped on Facebook years ago when it seemed everyone was jumping in. When people from high school started asking
to be my friends who were, most emphatically, not my friends in high school, I felt there was something rather
disingenuous about the whole thing. So,
I bailed. Knowing what I know now, my kernel
of info that I put on Facebook, a mere crumble, is still probably in Mark
Zuckerman’s basement, or something. But,
I didn’t even put a photo of myself on it, so I’m not really all that bothered
that the small bit of info that I did abandon on Facebook is still floating out
there somewhere.
So,
any other social media has found me rather apathetic. Except Twitter. Initially, I only followed two people: the Dalia Lama and Bret Easton Ellis. And, is it possible to find two polar
opposites? I added Werner Herzog and
David Lynch, who I believe are aliens from other planets sent here to make
amazing films that few humans can understand.
Unfortunately, Herzog never tweets.
However, Lynch does. He’s a funny
bird, because you are dealing with a limited number of characters, but he
always starts his quotes with “Dear Twitter friends.” That is so great.
But
recently, I added a few, mostly dealing with film (BFI, AFI, and
Criterion). Sometimes they tweet
interesting things, and I’m genuinely glad to get keyed into what they are
broadcasting. However, last Thursday, I
got this:
For
those of you who don’t know, Criterion is one of the two gold standards of DVDs
(the other being Kino). Not only do they
have an outstanding collection of the most important films of all time, but
they also bring in some of the not-so-known-yet-essential films. They restore films as well as (usually) have
a lot of great extras. They are the
reason why I started this blog in the first place.
They
are also expensive. Most single discs
start around $40. And, when you try to
buy them used, the price really doesn’t decrease all that much. They are for
cinephiles. And yeah, we are snobs, so
we expect a lot.
So,
half off? Are you kidding? Christmas comes early this year.
But,
there were restrictions. Stuff had to be
in stock. Not future sales (they’ve got
a series coming out in December from Kinoshita on Japanese WWII film that I’m
so going to get, but couldn’t preorder it for this sale). And I found out that some things are (sadly)
out of print, like Last Year at Marienbad. When did that go out of print? So, I couldn’t go crazy, but I had quite a
bit of leeway. Here’s what I scored.
The Wages of Fear
(1953) – This is such a great film. It
starts slow but when you get to the part where the trucks leave, it is one of
the most, if not the most, suspenseful films ever. I started working on a post for it a few
years ago and will finish it, I promise. And, got it on Blu ray (squee!).
In the Mood for Love
(2000) – Wong Kar-wai. This movie is not
about characters. It is about
atmosphere. And profound longing. It is
such a beautiful film, and this one I got on Blu ray as well. Tony Leung.
Maggie Cheung. Again, not a fast
movie, but so beautiful.
Le Samourai
(1967) – This may be the coolest film of all time. Hit men are, by default, cool. But this film is about a FRENCH hit man. Please.
Pickpocket
(1959) – This one was probably the least passionate impulse buys of the bunch,
but it is still a solidly made film (afterwards, I was like “Why didn’t you buy
The Bicycle Theives?" I fucked that up.).
The Killing
(1956) – This one I actually ordered after I placed my initial order, as I was
like “What are you thinking? Why didn’t
you get that one? Go back!” One of Kubrick’s first films, and such an
amazing one at that. Sterling Hayden does tend to walk away with it, but it’s a
great film noir, and you know how much I love that genre.
Nikkatsu Noir
– This is from the Eclipse Series, and links back up with my previous
entry. Japanese noir. This is the only one out of the group that I
haven’t seen before, but I knew I’d like it anyway (gee, Japan … noir … no-brainer
– if retirement investment were that easy).
So,
thank you to both Twitter and Criterion for my early Christmas. I hope this doesn’t happen often. This could be infinitely more dangerous.
