The Criterion Collection

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by DimitriL

Also, you know, I’m happy for the twenty-six US residents who are buying UK discs at double their list price with shipping (and who knows with tariffs), but I’d like to have a proper US edition on a format newer than the 8-track pretty please

[Show spoiler]

[DavidRoylance]

I'd buy 26 Men on blu-ray!

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

[Show spoiler]

[The Sovereign]

Since I’ve never owned it, Carnal Knowledge is the headliner of this excellent batch. But the potentiality that Criterion can improve on Indicator’s Big Heat or their own Barry Lyndon is tantalizing.

[sherlockjr]

Originally Posted by poisonmail

Norma to me is one of the best and most beautiful of the classic starlets. And A Free Soul and Smilin’ Through on BD would be a dream.

Norma Shearer had six Best Actress Oscar nominations--including one win--in nine years. Even after Irving Thalberg's death she got a new six picture contract from MGM for $150,000 for each film. I'd say that pretty much makes her a star, not a starlet!

What led to her lower modern visibility was her retirement from acting in 1942. Most well-remembered classic Hollywood actors today are those who's careers were more prominent in the 40s, 50s and later since their films were run on broadcast TV much more often than films from the 1930s. Especially pre-Code films which mostly didn't appear on TV until the 1970s or even the 1990s.

Shearer had been acting in films since 1919 at the age of 17, so maybe she'd just had enough? She certainly had enough money--not only her own earnings but she had forced MGM to pay the Thalberg estate Thalberg's contractual profit percentage on films he'd supervised that were released from 1924-1938--so she could certainly afford to live well for her next 41 years.

[WillieMLF]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

Man, any month with the Big Heat can't be disappointing. It's one of the all time great! It's a kickass cover too!
Time to sell my Indicator blu ray. :P

Really love everything about it. I'm planning on keeping the Indicator for the Rayns extra, but I'm definitely going to pickup the 4K. Looking forward to the new commentary track.

[WillieMLF]

Originally Posted by bergman864

As long as you recognize your whining is based on your opinion.

I was most excited because we could potentially get a 3 month reprieve from the whining.

[WillieMLF]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

The stacked UK Indicator edition is still in print, region free and budget priced.

And, it looks great!

[MifuneFan]

Indicator's release apparently goes out of sync for 10 minutes, so there is that.

[WillieMLF]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Criterion doesn't even advise when titles go OOP, never mind in advance. It'll just be someone going to the film's page on their website and discovering that it's listed as OOP now.

Well back in the day Criterion Forum, before the big crash, had a very active section on OOP speculation/rumors. There were a few instances where some announcements were officially made, but that was a VERY long time ago and my memory isn't as good as it used to be, but that's what I remember.

[Egbert Souse]

Criterion probably has one of the lowest amounts of OOP titles in the Blu-ray era out of all the boutiques.

First StudioCanal purge (2010):
The Third Man
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Pierrot le fou - returned to Blu-ray in 2020

Second StudioCanal purge (March 2013):
Army of Shadows - returned to Blu-ray in 2020, 4K likely coming soon
Le cercle rouge - returned to 4K/Blu combo in 2022
Last Year at Marienbad
Leon Morin, Priest
Playtime - returned to Blu-ray in 2014 as part of Complete Tati set

Paramount purge (2021):
La dolce vita - still available in Essential Fellini
Don't Look Now - returned to 4K and Blu in 2023
Nashville
Rosemary's Baby
Days of Heaven - returned to 4K and Blu in 2023
Harold and Maude

Merchant-Ivory purge (2017?)
Howards End

Reverted to Steven Soderbergh for long-rumored box set:
And Everything is Going Fine
Gray's Anatomy

Reverted to Lars von Trier/Zentropa:
Breaking the Waves
Europa Trilogy

Reverted to MK2 from Warner:
Day for Night

Reverted to Costa-Gavras?:
The Confession

Replaced with upgrades:
Monterey Pop
The Wages of Fear
Three Colors - 4K box set or individual Blu-rays

[MifuneFan]

Yeah, compared to other labels, they definitely keep Blu-rays in print longer, which is something that doesn't get touched on enough. Hundreds of Kino titles, and so many of Eureka's Masters of Cinema line are OOP now for example. Even if it's a rarer occurrence, I do think Criterion should always give advanced warning when something is going OOP though. That's something that Kino, Indicator, and Shout do really well. It's also unfortunate that they're now letting so many of their DVD's go OOP now, as it'll likely be the last physical release for many of them.

[apricissimus]

When a title goes OOP, do the labels typically still retain the rights to them? (Not counting the situation where a title goes OOP with a label because they've lost the rights.)

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by apricissimus

When a title goes OOP, do the labels typically still retain the rights to them? (Not counting the situation where a title goes OOP with a label because they've lost the rights.)

In most cases, they go OOP mostly because their physical rights have expired. There are instances, with Criterion at least, where they still hold some digital/streaming rights to titles that went OOP physically. As a random example, Criterion lost the physical rights to the Costa Gavras film Z (1969), but it's still available on their streaming channel.

With regards to the many DVD's going OOP by Criterion, they still hold the rights to most of them, and they're just going OOP because they don't feel there's any financial incentive to press more copies. There will undoubtedly be a growing number in the future, and it stands to reason that eventually most, if not all of their DVD's will go out of print.

I made a post earlier in the thread about the many DVD's going OOP if anyone missed it:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...stcount=229814

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by DavidRoylance

I'd buy 26 Men on blu-ray!

Yeah, it's a pretty good show. I just watched the DVD sampling of episodes last year and wound up enjoying a lot of it. Only a certain number of episodes are in the public domain and that's what's out on DVD everywhere, but a whole series set on Blu would be awesome!

[jw007]

I remember a decade ago or more I was scouring different Barnes & Nobles for recent OOP Criterions and hiding a few in the store so I could come back and buy them. Totally immoral of me but it was a treasure hunt where I had a lot of time on my hands. I even spent a pretty penny for The Third Man blu-ray online and love to see how much it's worth every few years (of course what makes this special is the supplements). Sought after items like OOP Criterions are still going on today.

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by WillieMLF

Well back in the day Criterion Forum, before the big crash, had a very active section on OOP speculation/rumors. There were a few instances where some announcements were officially made, but that was a VERY long time ago and my memory isn't as good as it used to be, but that's what I remember.

Oh how I recall you in those days, Willie!

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by poisonmail

You guys are speaking my language. Norma to me is one of the best and most beautiful of the classic starlets. And A Free Soul and Smilin’ Through on BD would be a dream.

I love ESCAPE from 1940. Very suspenseful and great performances! Also THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG from 1927 which never even made it to DVD!

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by speedracer5

I love that Norma's husband, MGM bigwig Irving Thalberg, didn't want to cast her in "The Divorcee" because he didn't think she was sexy enough. She had to seek out the services of famed Hollywood photographer, George Hurrell. He used special lighting and angles to photograph Norma, all so she could convince her own husband that she was sexy. Ouch!

It figures. Thalberg was a jackass.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

So I guess not enough people bought Half a Chance to warrant a recall?

Dang you're hating on Criterion so much, you're blaming them for Kino's screw-ups

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Dang you're hating on Criterion so much, you're blaming them for Kino's screw-ups

Haha. Wrong thread! I'll delete that one and move it.