THE SPECIAL EDITION: 06.02.09

I had an idea for a subset column for The Special Edition. Many people
want to have Criterions in their collection. Many people pretend to
like half of the films that Criterion releases. But, what about those
people that honestly can’t be bothered to be told what to like. What
about them?

That’s why I want to test the waters and see if
this floats. I want the readers of CHUD and this dear article to head
to the Boards and nominate their Personal Criterion Collection entry. I
want to see explanations and not just mindless listing of entries,
people.

All titles eligible are previously released DVD/BR media that you believe to be essential/necessary to the collection of the Home Entertainment enthusiast.

THE FIRST ENTRIES

1. The Fountain

2. Videodrome

3. Seven Men from Now

4. Stalker

5. The Last Days of Disco
6. Paris, Texas
7. Vanishing Point
8. The Stunt Man
9. The Deer Hunter
10. The Third Man
11. Southland Tales
12. Head
13. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
14. Sorcerer
15. Henry V (1989)
16. The Great White Hope
17. Fixed Bayonets
18. Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary
19. The Ballad of Cable Hogue
20. Gates of Heaven
21. The Dirty Dozen
22. Opening Night
23. Birdman of Alcatraz
24. Elmer Gantry
25. The Band Wagon
26. Five Guns West
27. Detour
28. Jubal
29. Affair in Trinidad
30) Experiment in Terror
31) Seconds
32) Coffy
33) 1984
34) Special
35) Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense
36) The Fortune Cookie
37) Executive Suite
38) Two People
39) The Sand Pebbles
40) The Iron Horse
41) Watermelon Man
42) The Girl Can’t Help It
43) Diner
44) Rumble Fish
45) Pale Rider
46) High Plains Drifter
47) Lady Snowblood
48) Help
49) The Bank Job
50) The Hudsucker Proxy
51) Tommy
52) The Pawnbroker
53) Imitation of Life (1959)
54) Desperate Living
55) In Harm’s Way
56) The Dam Busters
57) The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
58) Blood and Lace
59) Two-Lane Blacktop
60) Saint Jack
61) Saaraba
62) Meet the Feebles
63) Bob Roberts
64) Love Streams
65) Barfly
66) Billy Jack
67) Shock Corridor
68) Jason and the Argonauts
69) Curse of the Demon
70) Basket Case
71) Searching for Bobby Fisher
72) Safe
73) Deep Cover
74) Blow Out
75) The Mission (Johnny To)
76) Fresh
77) The Glass Shield
78) Dolls
79) He Got Game
80) King Rat
81) Zabriskie Point
82) Belle du Jour
83) Johnny Guitar
84) Inserts
85) The 36th Chamber of Shao-Lin
86) Tigerland
87) Duel
88) Last Train from Gun Hill
89) Cross Creek
90) The Last Detail
91) Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
92) George Washington
93) Johnny Belinda
94) Battleground

and today’s entry suggested by Judas Booth.

95) The Five Deadly Venoms. (click on the box art to pre-order the Dragon Dynasty DVD at Amazon)

Despite being more than 30 years old, “Five Deadly Venoms” has not lost
its sting. Directed by Chang Cheh-who is often considered the
“Godfather of Hong Kong Cinema”-and released in 1978, “Five Deadly
Venoms” is a classic in the martial arts genre, with its impressive
display of fight choreography and acrobatics. But the film also plays
out as somewhat of a mystery, as the protagonist must discover who the
five deadly venoms are.

The story is set in ancient China. Yan Tieh is a young martial artist
and member of the Poison Clan. Yan’s teacher–one of the masters of the
Clan-reveals that he had previously taught five students before him.
Each of these five achieved a mastery of a unique kung fu style based
upon the traits of a venomous animal: The Centipede, Snake, Scorpion,
Lizard and Toad styles. Now dying and fearful that his prior students
are using their skills for evil, the master sends Yan to seek out the
Five Venoms-and kill them if necessary.

Of course, nothing in a martial arts flick is ever that easy. The
Poison Clan’s students all wore masks when they trained, so no one ever
knew their true identities. In fact, most of the Five Venoms don’t even
know each other, either. As the Clan is hated and feared by most
everyone, the Venoms will not use their skills in public to make
themselves easy to identify as Clan members.

Making Yan’s task even more difficult is that while he has studied all
five of the styles, he has not mastered any of them. The Five Venoms,
on the other hand, have attained mastery that gives them almost
superhero-like abilities: The Toad is impervious to pain; the Lizard
can run up walls to attack from above and so forth.

Even if Yan can locate his predecessors, he would be no match in a
fight against any or all of them. His only hope is to ally himself with
one and dispatch the other four.

Yan has one lead, though. His master’s colleague-another Poison Clan
teacher-has secretly attained much wealth and has “retired” to a nearby
village. Yan must find this man and, at the request of his teacher,
urge him to donate his wealth to a charity to help pay for some of the
wrongs committed by the Poison Clan. This will draw out the other
disciples of the Clan, who also know of this man and his wealth and
will surely try to kill him. Such treachery, after all, is the modus
operandi of martial artists gone bad.


HERE’S THE LINK TO NOMINATE MORE TITLES.