The Criterion Collection

[CRASHLANDING]

Originally Posted by dvining

I should pick up the Kobayashi and Lubitsch sets.

It seems like my hopes of a Kobayashi Blu-ray boxset are never going to happen, and whoever it was at Criterion that drove Lubitsch releases seems to be gone.

The Smiling Lieutenant on DVD > no Smiling Lieutenant at all in my collection.

I have the Lubitsch set and can recommend it. Though the films aren't on the same level as his later stuff, they're still super fun.

I did not have the Kobayashi set on my wish list, but after checking it out I'll definitely try to grab it during a future sale. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Mushi Minion]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

I know you're joking but dammit if this doesn't work for me every time! The wife is always *****ing "who put another load of Criterions in the wash!"

"Damn it, Rayjg! I said like-colors only!"

[dvining]

Originally Posted by CRASHLANDING

I have the Lubitsch set and can recommend it. Though the films aren't on the same level as his later stuff, they're still super fun.

I did not have the Kobayashi set on my wish list, but after checking it out I'll definitely try to grab it during a future sale. Thanks for the suggestion!

I absolutely love The Smiling Lieutenant and The Love Parade. The Love Parade is one of those very early sound films that has a technical dexterity that makes it feel like it was made 4 or 5 years later. It's also just fun.

Monte Carlo and One Hour With You are definitely what I'd call lesser Lubitsch. The better version of One Hour With You was The Marriage Circle.

But yes, the films in the Kobayashi set are uniformly good, at the very least.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

The UK UHD set has the "B" symbol on the back; apart from a few special cases, Criterion don't seem to dual encode their BDs, even when there are simultaneous UK and US releases.

I have a not-very-good region A Samsung player and it has problems playing quite a few of my US Criterions. I've definitely seen that message before. All of them when tried in my Panasonic UB300 with the top menu trick play flawlessly.

Clearly some pressings are marginal and don't like some players. I'd contact Criterion for a replacement.

This is likely what I'm going to have to do. I obviously have a Samsung player, and this has caused me some problems in the past. Usually it's having difficulty playing PCM sound from DVDs, or tripping over clunky authoring, and now this. I'll have to find another non-Samsung unit to test this disc. AFAIK, every single unit I worked with was a Samsung.

While ideally the answer is replace the player, I'll definitely see if Criterion will replace the disc. I just hope they don't refuse to replace the disc and pawn it all off on the player, because if they do I'm screwed.

[ilenewoodsfan99]

Originally Posted by CRASHLANDING

I have the Lubitsch set and can recommend it. Though the films aren't on the same level as his later stuff, they're still super fun.

I second the recommendation! Here's hoping that they all get upgraded soon!

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

Second, as the entirety of Agnes Varda in California is included within The Complete Films of Agnes Varda (and even takes up one BD-50).

There's several things wrong with The Complete Films of Agnes Varda set. The following are in the WRONG speed rate.

Varda by Agnès - The UK BFI BD is in the correct speed of 25fps.
The Gleaners and I - This film was shot on PAL-speed digital cameras by Varda & the UK Artificial Eye BD is in the correct speed of 25fps.
Agnès de ci de là Varda (Mini-Series) - There appears to be no other BD release of this.

[spiritinblack82]

My Flash Sale order w/2 $10 codes:



I had to go easy since I just recently got back from spending a bunch of money on vacation. Always get more ideas for things I want from seeing people's hauls that I can add to my wish list for next time.

[Dragun]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

There's several things wrong with The Complete Films of Agnes Varda set. The following are in the WRONG speed rate.

Varda by Agnès - The UK BFI BD is in the correct speed of 25fps.
The Gleaners and I - This film was shot on PAL-speed digital cameras by Varda & the UK Artificial Eye BD is in the correct speed of 25fps.
Agnès de ci de là Varda (Mini-Series) - There appears to be no other BD release of this.

Criterion have also presented Dekalog and Berlin Alexanderplatz slowed down to 24p, because 25fps in a 50i container wouldn't be compatible with US TVs.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by Dragun

Criterion have also presented Dekalog and Berlin Alexanderplatz slowed down to 24p, because 25fps in a 50i container wouldn't be compatible with US TVs.

I could've swore they fixed Berlin Alexanderplatz for the Blu-ray. I know the DVD was slowed down, but I thought the Blu-ray was finally right.

This is from the Criterion website:

"Berlin Alexanderplatz was shot at a speed of 25 frames per second. Due to technical discrepancies between PAL and NTSC standards, the film is presented on the DVD edition at a slightly slower speed. On the Blu-ray edition, however, it was possible to present the film at its original speed. This accounts for the difference in run time between the two editions."

Unless the DVD has some special features, which I honestly don't know, I wouldn't touch the DVD with a ten foot pole. The Blu, on the other hand, seems like a safe bet.

I'm not familiar with Dekalog, so I sadly can't confirm the specs of that disc either way.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

I could've swore they fixed Berlin Alexanderplatz for the Blu-ray. I know the DVD was slowed down, but I thought the Blu-ray was finally right.

They did. It in fact runs a tiny fraction faster on the US edition. From DVD Compare:

Note that the film was shot at 25fps for television, and the previous Criterion DVD was slowed down by 4% to yield a progressive 24fps image for transferral to NTSC. Here, Criterion have encoded the discs at 1080i to maintain the same speed.
Blu-ray A America- Criterion Collection - No cuts (900 mins - 25fps->30fps).

Link

[CRASHLANDING]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

I could've swore they fixed Berlin Alexanderplatz for the Blu-ray. I know the DVD was slowed down, but I thought the Blu-ray was finally right.
...

Unless the DVD has some special features, which I honestly don't know, I wouldn't touch the DVD with a ten foot pole. The Blu, on the other hand, seems like a safe bet.

I'm not familiar with Dekalog, so I sadly can't confirm the specs of that disc either way.

Maybe I'm just fortunate, but I've never been bothered by these type of frame-rate conversions. Both video and audio generally seem fine to me.

My bigger concern is for Mr. Rollins, who is missing out on a masterpiece by being unfamiliar with The Dekalog. I strongly encourage you to remedy that situation immediately.

[Shane Rollins]

Martin Scorsese is on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight. He just namedropped the Criterion Channel and said he has something on there. It might've been Italianamerican, it might've been KOTFM.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

Martin Scorsese is on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight. He just namedropped the Criterion Channel and said he has something on there. It might've been Italianamerican, it might've been KOTFM.

The Age of Innocence and his Scorsese Shorts shorts are on there.

Killers of the Flower Moon should be on Apple TV on Friday.

[Akibiyori]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

Unless the DVD has some special features, which I honestly don't know, I wouldn't touch the DVD with a ten foot pole. The Blu, on the other hand, seems like a safe bet.

Another difference between the two is that the DVD can play more smoothly slowed down for 24 FPS. The Blu-ray has slightly jerky motion to accommodate the original 25 FPS speed (the same kind of thing a North American would see on a region free player making 25 FPS discs visible on NTSC systems.) There’s always a trade off if you’re not watching these types of productions on native 50 hz equipment. The old Criterion DVD was hardly bad, it certainly isn’t going to give you cooties. Don’t be dramatic. The Blu-ray is also fine for what it is.

Either way it can’t be perfect (again, neither would importing a 50i European release.)

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by CRASHLANDING

Maybe I'm just fortunate, but I've never been bothered by these type of frame-rate conversions. Both video and audio generally seem fine to me.

My bigger concern is for Mr. Rollins, who is missing out on a masterpiece by being unfamiliar with The Dekalog. I strongly encourage you to remedy that situation immediately.

In the Dekalog, the Criterion disc is slowed down to 1080p24, while the UK release is 1080i/50Hz to match original broadcast speed of 25fps. Also, the Arrow blu-ray has a slightly wider AR of 1.39:1 with more horizontal image area (as opposed to 1.33:1). Arrow's stance is that this is the AR of the masters approved by the DoP's, while Criterion is sticking to the original TV broadcast ratio. A couple of the episodes are presented in 1.66:1 on both sets.

If anyone can play region B discs then the Arrow set is more representative of the original presentation in terms of frame-rate. Also, if you can get it at a reasonable price, the original LE which also includes the other TV works of Kieslowski is a massively superior package.

Edit: Looks like both editions of Dekalog from Arrow are OOP. So the Criterion may be the only good English-friendly option still widely available.This is actually the best thing about Criterion, they try to keep things in stock for much longer than other labels, even the less popular stuff.

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by Scottie

Killers of the Flower Moon should be on Apple TV on Friday.

No no, this is theater exclusive for a while. Streaming on Apple down the line.

[Mike0284]

Originally Posted by ravenus

In the Dekalog, the Criterion disc is slowed down to 1080p24, while the UK release is 1080i/50Hz to match original broadcast speed of 25fps. Also, the Arrow blu-ray has a slightly wider AR of 1.39:1 with more horizontal image area (as opposed to 1.33:1). Arrow's stance is that this is the AR of the masters approved by the DoP's, while Criterion is sticking to the original TV broadcast ratio. A couple of the episodes are presented in 1.66:1 on both sets.

If anyone can play region B discs then the Arrow set is more representative of the original presentation in terms of frame-rate. Also, if you can get it at a reasonable price, the original LE which also includes the other TV works of Kieslowski is a massively superior package.

Edit: Looks like both editions of Dekalog from Arrow are OOP. So the Criterion may be the only good English-friendly option still widely available.This is actually the best thing about Criterion, they try to keep things in stock for much longer than other labels, even the less popular stuff.

So glad I bought this off Amazon in 2018.

[Scottie]

Originally Posted by jshaide

No no, this is theater exclusive for a while. Streaming on Apple down the line.

I swear they were being released simultaneously. I guess plans changed.

Thanks for letting me know.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Mike0284

So glad I bought this off Amazon in 2018.

[Show spoiler]

Good for ya, I think it might be even less than my pre-order price. But absolutely no regrets, what a towering achievement this set is, a fantastic compendium of efforts from an undisputably brilliant auteur. Between this, the Walerian Borowczyk set and their first Fassbinder compendium, that defined the salad days of the Academy line for me.

[Macatouille]

Originally Posted by ravenus

In the Dekalog, the Criterion disc is slowed down to 1080p24, while the UK release is 1080i/50Hz to match original broadcast speed of 25fps. Also, the Arrow blu-ray has a slightly wider AR of 1.39:1 with more horizontal image area (as opposed to 1.33:1). Arrow's stance is that this is the AR of the masters approved by the DoP's, while Criterion is sticking to the original TV broadcast ratio. A couple of the episodes are presented in 1.66:1 on both sets.

If anyone can play region B discs then the Arrow set is more representative of the original presentation in terms of frame-rate. Also, if you can get it at a reasonable price, the original LE which also includes the other TV works of Kieslowski is a massively superior package.

Edit: Looks like both editions of Dekalog from Arrow are OOP. So the Criterion may be the only good English-friendly option still widely available.This is actually the best thing about Criterion, they try to keep things in stock for much longer than other labels, even the less popular stuff.

Frame rate issues aside, I’ve been hesitant to pull the trigger on the Dekalog set recently because I assume it’ll get a 4K upgrade soon, like Three Colors and Double Life. Any rumors about it yet?