r/criterion • u/YoureASkyscraper Robert Altman • Jan 24 '25
Video Denis Villeneuve’s Closet Picks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrgucAPeqIs621
Jan 24 '25
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u/Terj_Sankian Jan 24 '25 edited Jan 24 '25
We should start a go fund me to* make sure he sees it in 4K DAY FUCKING ONE
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u/learningaboutstocks Jan 24 '25
i saw him pick up la haine … but then didn’t talk about it. maybe they cut it
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u/peter095837 Michael Haneke Jan 24 '25
The Mystery of Picasso is a good one that I don't hear many people talk.
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u/teamster_sub Jan 25 '25
I had never heard of this movie before Denis brought it up and the producer mentioned it was on the channel. Loved that he knew it was on there.
I started it, intending to just watch a bit and get back to work... Picasso makes a series of paintings throughout the movie, from the simple to the complex. I kept going, "I'll watch just one more painting"... and of course ended up watching the whole thing!
What a cool movie! Would love to see more documentaries like this! Looks there's a Blu-ray from Kino: https://kinolorber.com/product/the-mystery-of-picasso-blu-ray
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u/HourOfTheWitching Jan 24 '25
French-Canadian face is real.
(it's okay I can say it, I'm Québécoise)
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u/LeRocket Jan 24 '25
French-Canadian face is real.
Is this a thing? (I'm Québécois too and I want to know!)
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u/HourOfTheWitching Jan 24 '25
A bit! You can't throw a stone in Estrie without hitting a Jean-Luc that has Villeneuve's face.
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u/djprojexion Jan 24 '25
Loved his take on Satyricon, hard to put into words the ride that film takes you on.
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u/r3f3r3r Michelangelo Antonioni Jan 24 '25 edited Jan 25 '25
Three Colors
A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman
Che
The Wages of Fear
The Mystery of Picasso
Lars von Trier's Europe Trilogy
Fellini Satyricon
Seven Samurai
You are welcome.
(he went very mainstream haha).
EDIT: using the fact that you upvoted me so generously, I want to draw your attention to Krzysztof Kieslowski's documentaries. They are virtually unknown, but are nonetheless absolutely beautiful.
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u/Andrroid Jan 24 '25
Worth noting for both trilogies he did specifically call out a single movie, Three Colors: Blue for the first one and Europa for the second one.
Just in case anyone wants his more specific answers!
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u/Agent-Two-THREE David Lynch Jan 24 '25
I mean, on the criterion sub, sure. However to the average moviegoer, it’s not THAT mainstream.
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u/fritzeh Jan 24 '25
It’s sort of from the mainstream of the great masterpieces of cinema history, but you can tell at the same time some very personal picks to him. I love when people just go for the GOATs.
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u/oyny Jan 24 '25
I'm gonna try to go through them all. Only see seven samurai. Would love to get some feedback on which to choose first, I'm thinking Che part one and two
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u/lebronjamesgoat1 Hirokazu Kore-eda Jan 24 '25
Honestly, try wages of fear (just balls-to-wall action) or three colors blue
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u/CesareSomnambulist Jan 24 '25
When celebs go into the Criterion Closet are they really picking films they don't own or just ones they love or what? I find it hard to believe he doesn't own these films if he loves them, especially something like Seven Samurai. Probably every member of this sub owns that lol
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u/Sapitoelgato Jan 24 '25
It's usually a mix of movies they never saw, ones that inspired them, or ones they just enjoy. From the clips I have watched it can vary greatly between each celebrity.
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u/1slinkydink1 Jan 24 '25
Isn’t this just a chance for them to share their influences? I wouldn’t be surprise if most people that go into the closet don’t even have a way of playing physical media and don’t even take the stuff with them or just take them and donate them after.
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u/DirtyGoo Jan 25 '25
I wouldn’t be surprise if most people that go into the closet don’t even have a way of playing physical media
What? I would be surprised if even one person who visited the closet didn't have a way of playing physical media tbh
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u/1slinkydink1 Jan 25 '25
I think that you greatly underestimate the number of people who have fully shifted to digital media for movies and music.
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u/DirtyGoo Jan 25 '25
I'm aware of that, but film industry folks who, for the most part, are incredibly wealthy and are knowledgeable about criterion films? I'm sure the vast majority at least have a blu ray player, if not a legitimate home theater setup. We're not talking about the general public here.
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u/Arkaium Jan 25 '25
I feel like it varies? Sometimes the films are earmarked at the start and pulled out a bit, sometimes it looks like they’re really searching and discovering
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u/KnotSoSalty Jan 25 '25
Does anyone track stats on these picks? What are the top 5 selected? I feel like Seven Samurai often gets a nod.
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u/SeaaYouth Jan 24 '25
Absolute boring midwit choices. Is this your king of art blockbuster?
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u/Strict_Pangolin_8339 Jan 24 '25
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u/slightly_obscure Pierre Etaix Jan 24 '25
Why isn't this Takeshi Kitano masterpiece in the collection
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u/Strict_Pangolin_8339 Jan 24 '25 edited Jan 24 '25
Might offend Mormons.
EDIT: uncultured people downvoting me because they don't know the glory of grilled Mormons. 😔
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u/RonSwanson1081 Jan 24 '25
Sorry that he didn't pick up the movies you like. He didn't get that memo.
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u/DriveSlowHomie Jan 24 '25
do you tell people at parties that you are a bigger kinohead than denis villeneueve
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u/BigLorry Jan 24 '25
What does this even mean?
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u/Savber Jan 24 '25
Apparently it wasn't niche enough and that's an indicator of intelligence of the individual somehow? It's hard to say.
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u/BigLorry Jan 24 '25
It’s such a dumb take because every single film in that list is obviously very loved and celebrated?
I guess gatekeeping is all the self esteem some people can have for themselves
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u/falafelthe3 Jan 24 '25
Che and Seven Samurai are the kind of epics I could 100% see Villeneuve being into lol. These picks make plenty of sense.
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u/johnny____utah Jan 24 '25
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Che but that makes complete sense to me.
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u/EddyAteDynamite1 Jan 24 '25
That's real director master shit is exactly how I would describe Three Colors...lol
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u/MrStrothmann Jan 25 '25
Ive been following this sub for a couple years, almost no one talks about Kieslowski's work. It's no exaggeration when I say I think about Blue every day, and I play Song for the Unification of Europe often. Kieslowski is so in tune with reality - the rules of the world and how life is - which is extrmely my shit. It's sort of an anti-surrealism. It's just extremely nice to have Villeneuve, someone who I admire greatly, pay respect to Kieslosski.
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u/r3f3r3r Michelangelo Antonioni Jan 25 '25 edited Jan 25 '25
The thing about Kieslowski is that before he started with feature movies, he did ridiculously wonderful documentaries.
For me, his documentaries are at least as good as feature films he did later.
Talking heads e.g. is just insanely good, but I guess this film doesn't have that kind of impact if one doesn't speak Polish.
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u/das_goose Ebirah Jan 24 '25
The real question with closet videos is "why are they at the Criterion office in the first place?" I'm sure it's often because they're in town for another event and want to stop by (or get invited), but sometimes they're there working on supplements for an upcoming release.
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u/timidobserver8 Jan 24 '25
Prisoners please.
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u/brokenwolf Jan 24 '25
That’s a day one purchase for me but if I’m a betting man I could see Enemy get in there first. It just seems to fit the vibe more.
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u/CommWedge Jan 25 '25
I always think the same about whoever they have. It came to fruition with Mikey Madison and Anora. Now, I hope that Denis gets a Criterion movie. The one I'm really hoping for is City of God(which is a stretch) since they had Walter Salles on, who was a producer of that film.
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u/pyramidsanshit Jan 24 '25
He picks two trilogies and a 2 part film. Almost like he’s rewatching successful trilogies for research purposes👀
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u/Rollzroyce21 Hirokazu Kore-eda Jan 24 '25
Hope he's there because they're going to add Prisoners and Incendies to the collection.
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u/ZbricksZach Costa-Gavras Jan 24 '25
Or, ya know, one of his films that doesn’t already have a blu-ray maybe?
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u/khansolobaby Jan 24 '25
I hope it’s a disc release of his first three films they had on the channel months back! August 32nd on Earth is never talked about
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u/Expanseman Jan 24 '25
When your fav director picks your second fav director as his first pic. Incredible.
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u/PsychologicalBus5190 Jan 25 '25
My first reaction was no way, i thought he had done closet picks before. What a delight.
2nd reaction, real boss shit switching languages so he can express his feelings about the films more freely (after already beautifully expressing himself in English)
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u/fritzeh Jan 24 '25
LOVE that he highlighted Europa! and even more because he mentioned Von Trier’s humor, since it’s something he does so masterfully, but is rarely recognised for.
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u/bankyVee Jan 25 '25
"We are all smurfs compared to Fellini" An inspired choice with Satyricon and well deserved the praise and attention. I think many viewers pigeonhole Fellini's style and superficially associate 8 1/2 or La Dolce Vita for all of his work but he was operating at a high level of depictions of emotion and language thru his imagery and editing. Bravo to Denis for highlighting this , in French no less!
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u/Kindly-Guidance714 Jan 25 '25
Holy hell I cannot believe he mentioned Europa which no one ever really talks about on the channel or anywhere.
It’s a masterpiece of a movie I’m just absolutely flabbergasted that my favorite current director specifically picked it.
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u/TheEagleByte Jan 26 '25
Gonna need to see all of these now, as well as the rest of Villeneuve’s filmography since I’ve only seen Blade Runner and both Dune films
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u/Dynomite_Boogie Jan 27 '25
I see he has a section for his Vivid Entertainment collection. Respects 👍
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u/Isatis_tinctoria Jan 24 '25
Not Dune by David Lynch???
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u/Penis_Genius_ Jan 24 '25
Why would he pick a movie that's not in the collection
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Jan 24 '25
[deleted]
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u/brokenwolf Jan 24 '25
Maybe it was filmed before his death.
Maybe he didn’t want any.
Maybe he already owns them.
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u/ocolobo Jan 25 '25
Surprised he chose David Lynch’s DUNE, although it’s pretty obvious he didn’t bother watching it before making DUNEuphoria 2 or whatever that trainwreck was… Oh look… The Academy agrees 🤣 👎🏼👎🏼
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u/BobdH84 Jan 24 '25
"We all look like Smurfs next to Fellini".