The Criterion Collection

[agoofykindasuperman]

Originally Posted by Roninblues

April 1

hardee-har-har lol!

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by nametag

That's unfortunate, I hate it when directors try to overwrite history like that. They need to deal with the fact that there was a version lots of people watched/loved/studied/applauded, etc, and that one shouldn't be totally suppressed.

Michael Mann does this and it drives me nuts.
It'd be fine if they seamlessly branched different cuts, but instead it becomes a sort revisionist approach to their art.
For some reason he took out two lines from the Heat blu-ray and they were lines I love.
I've also got the Australian edition of Miami Vice, because it is the theatrical cut and the US edition because it is the so-called director's cut. I like both versions, but they should be seamlessly branched on one disc.
As for Last of the Mohicans, my friend's US DVD was different to my Australian disc. I believe he changed it again for the blu-ray.

[drbikeshorts]

Originally Posted by oildude

Someone using different user names has been spamming this thread continuously, three or more times a day now, repeating previous posts from real members. It has gotten to where the past few weeks just about every thread by a "new member" is spam. It is also going on in a few other of the other stickied threads. Just a public service announcement, folks, because the troll seems to get off on your responding to him.

Hahaha! That's awesome!
I've barely got time to catch up with this thread on a daily basis, but someone has the time to trawl through our conversations and re-post? I wish I had the time.
It's also so lame that it barely constitutes 'trolling'. Small things for small minds, I guess.

[Hendershot737]

Originally Posted by deepbreathsanddeath

Except epileptics... :P haha

Haha! Very true!

[TJS_Blu]

For those of you who don't read the Criterionforum, I thought I'd post a link to an archived Criterion site ca. late '98/early 99 (my guess).


Good stuff. Be sure to check out the raging debate over LD vs DVD and those freaking prices. I'm glad I was poor back when LDs were around.

[tonylopez]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

For those of you who don't read the Criterionforum, I thought I'd post a link to an archived Criterion site ca. late '98/early 99 (my guess).


Good stuff. Be sure to check out the raging debate over LD vs DVD and those freaking prices. I'm glad I was poor back when LDs were around.

LD was some dark times. People complain now about prices but then some Criterions were $125.00 , no bull.

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by tonylopez

LD was some dark times. People complain now about prices but then some Criterions were $125.00 , no bull.

exactly, everytime I hear someone say I'd buy it but for $10.00 for a good Blu I kind of just think Um ok. yep I was a LaserDisc buyer and I'm not rich so prices on Blus I can handle.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

exactly, everytime I hear someone say I'd buy it but for $10.00 for a good Blu I kind of just think Um ok. yep I was a LaserDisc buyer and I'm not rich so prices on Blus I can handle.

That old Criterion thread was great.

I remember when VHS movies were not widely available for sale, and the ones that were available were $100 or so.

Funny thinking about all of this.

I'll never forget the first time I saw a DVD picture. I visited a friend at his IBM laboratory job sometime back in the early 1990s, and a bunch of people there were showing off the "cool new format." The DVD in question was of a Sting concert, and I was amazed that I could see the beads of sweat falling off Sting's face. My friend and I were both speechless watching that DVD.

Stepping farther into a way back machine...

I'm old enough to remember when, if you missed a movie at the theater, then that movie was gone. No Blu-ray, no DVD, no VHS, no laserdisc, no HBO or cable movie channels. Nope. If you missed a movie at the theater when it was in your town, then you missed out forever. If you were extremely lucky, you might see an edited version of Jaws for the Sunday Night Movie on a network TV channel four or five years after the theatrical release, but that was about it.

[TJS_Blu]

For everyone that enjoys going to B&N in July and November with a fistful of coupons, here's an interesting read. Enjoy it while it lasts.

[octagon]

Is it already time to mourn the passing of B&N? It feels a little early.

Then again, between zero inches of snow in Chicago and the whole NHL lockout thing I don't know which end is up this winter.

[tonylopez]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

That old Criterion thread was great.

I remember when VHS movies were not widely available for sale, and the ones that were available were $100 or so.

Funny thinking about all of this.

I'll never forget the first time I saw a DVD picture. I visited a friend at his IBM laboratory job sometime back in the early 1990s, and a bunch of people there were showing off the "cool new format." The DVD in question was of a Sting concert, and I was amazed that I could see the beads of sweat falling off Sting's face. My friend and I were both speechless watching that DVD.

Stepping farther into a way back machine...

I'm old enough to remember when, if you missed a movie at the theater, then that movie was gone. No Blu-ray, no DVD, no VHS, no laserdisc, no HBO or cable movie channels. Nope. If you missed a movie at the theater when it was in your town, then you missed out forever. If you were extremely lucky, you might see an edited version of Jaws for the Sunday Night Movie on a network TV channel four or five years after the theatrical release, but that was about it.

Oh man! You just reminded me of back in the day those rental prices on VHS. I actually paid $100 for Die Hard and They Live and at about that time I discovered LD.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

For everyone that enjoys going to B&N in July and November with a fistful of coupons, here's an interesting read. Enjoy it while it lasts.

*awaits all the people who come on here and ***** about B&N's prices being too high, and how they're a shitty company because many stores are cracking down on coupon usage, and they're glad that B&N are shutting down, etc, etc.

This is pretty sad. As the article points out, this will have a major impact on online sales as well.

[Xtempo]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

*awaits all the people who come on here and ***** about B&N's prices being too high, and how they're a shitty company because many stores are cracking down on coupon usage, and they're glad that B&N are shutting down, etc, etc.

This is pretty sad. As the article points out, this will have a major impact on online sales as well.

looks like I'll have to get everything I want in the next sale which probably isn't that many I really want but a lot of them would be more AK. I seem to buy more books and Manga from them since the last Criterion sale. I hope this doesn't happen I've only had the membership I think for 2 or 3 years now anyway. I would love to get more books

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Xtempo

I hope this doesn't happen I've only had the membership I think for 2 or 3 years now anyway. I would love to get more books

And over that two or three years how many times have you read that the next sale might be the last? Pretty much every time?

Don't get me wrong, if you give the same patient six months to live enough times sooner or later you're gonna be right.

[Xtempo]

Originally Posted by octagon

And over that two or three years how many times have you read that the next sale might be the last? Pretty much every time?

Don't get me wrong, if you give the same patient six months to live enough times sooner or later you're gonna be right.

I don't have much more of Criterions but my book and manga list keeps growing.

For some reason I bought Criterions at least 2 sales prior without bothering with the membership. Truly that was act of idiocy since having the membership is very valuable because I'm back into reading like I was when I was in middle school I love books.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by Xtempo

I don't have much more of Criterions but my book and manga list keeps growing.

For some reason I bought Criterions at least 2 sales prior without bothering with the membership. Truly that was act of idiocy since having the membership is very valuable because I'm back into reading like I was when I was in middle school I love books.

Competely OT but yeah, I've really been reading a lot more lately too. I used to browse used book stores and thrift stores but kind of got away from that and then last year I stumbled across gohastings and that was like striking gold.

[The Great Owl]

General musings about Barnes & Noble (partly on topic, because I do mention Criterion)...

1. I never buy newly-published hardcover books at Barnes & Noble, because the new book prices there are hideous. Instead, I generally spot a book in the store while browsing, and then buy it for half as much from Amazon. That's what I did with the two brand-new novels that I purchased this year (Lance Weller's Wilderness and Justin Cronin's The Twelve).

2. I do, however, love buying the leatherbound classics that Barnes & Noble publishes themselves in hardcover. The Complete H.P. Lovecraft, Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales, The Complete Sherlock Holmes, Jules Verne: Seven Novels, Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, The Complete Hans Christian Anderson, and H.G. Wells: Seven Novels are all in my collection. Self-indulgent, and painfully so, but I love them.

3. The vast majority of my Barnes & Noble purchases are from the Movie section of the store. I always take advantage of the Criterion sales, and I usually browse the store at least every couple of weeks looking for cool prices on underrated movies. I did this for DVDs, and I now do the same for Blu-rays.

4. Barnes & Noble is, by far, the best place in Atlanta to purchase new Blu-ray movies. I can often browse up and down the shelves of Best Buy, Target, or Walmart without finding a single Blu-ray that I'd like to purchase (because I already most of the decent movies from those stores...I'm not joking). I always find many more great movies than I can afford to purchase each time I set foot in the Movies section of Barnes & Noble, though. In addition to their Criterion offerings, Barnes & Noble really shines when it comes to finding old-school greats (Assault on Precinct 13, The Poseidon Adventure, Flash Gordon, Dune, etc.) that one does not readily find at Best Buy.

5. If you're looking for a slice of pumpkin cheesecake around the season, you could do a lot worse.

6. Barnes & Noble does not have the insanely comfortable sofas that they used to have. The store had those from the very beginning, because they wanted people in the store at all times. That was the secret to their success...having people in that store and keeping people in that store. It's a bit less comfy nowadays, but they still have chairs, and they still want you to stay. I love that.

7. I'll really miss Barnes & Noble if the store down the street disappears. It's the only classy place left in my neck of the woods, sad to say. I have always dreaded the day that Barnes & Noble dries up and is replaced by another tattoo parlor, another custom tire rim shop, or another pawn store. I love browsing through Barnes & Noble, I love meeting cool people at that store, and I love the general feel of the place.

8. The evaporation of Borders Bookstore left a big hole in my area as well, and I do not want Barnes & Noble to leave a similar hole. My friends and I used to browse Borders Bookstore all the time, because it was next to a theater down the street. Borders announced their closing two years ago, started slashing prices, and even ultimately started selling their bookcases and shelves just before the close. I bought a wooden box shelf during the store's last week. It's a big sturdy thing, and I use it for leg step-ups and stretches before I go running around the neighborhood several times a week. I have a part of Borders Bookstore at home to remember them forever. I do not want to collect a piece of Barnes & Noble like that.

9. I am well aware of the flaws in my logic in this post, because my #1 musing clearly admits that I am complicit in one of the reasons why Barnes & Noble may be having financial trouble. It's something that I would hope that the store chain would think through for adaptation, though.

10. I never became a Barnes & Noble Member until just a few months ago. That membership paid for itself in a short time. $25 is a hard pill to swallow to become a member of a store, but I took a chance and it paid off. It will not pay off as much in 2013, because I'm picking and choosing more, but it will pay off eventually just the same.

[TAC]

Originally Posted by drbikeshorts

Michael Mann does this and it drives me nuts.
It'd be fine if they seamlessly branched different cuts, but instead it becomes a sort revisionist approach to their art.
For some reason he took out two lines from the Heat blu-ray and they were lines I love.
I've also got the Australian edition of Miami Vice, because it is the theatrical cut and the US edition because it is the so-called director's cut. I like both versions, but they should be seamlessly branched on one disc.
As for Last of the Mohicans, my friend's US DVD was different to my Australian disc. I believe he changed it again for the blu-ray.

Is the Australian edition of Miami Vice region free? Thanks

[The Great Owl]

Steering this big ship back on course...

I saw a copy of the Two-Lane Blacktop Blu-ray today. This Blu-ray was on the shelf at a Movie Stop that a co-worker and I stopped by at lunch break. I did not buy it, because they wanted $32.99 or something for it. This was one of the rare instances when yours truly exercised fiscal restraint.

I love that Two-Lane Blacktop comes in the standard clear case, instead of being released in the same packaging as Dazed and Confused, Godzilla, Seven Samurai, and so on. Because of the packaging on the Two-Lane Blacktop DVD (my copy of which I've already sold to make room for the inevitable Blu-ray), I feared that they would utilize a similar packaging with the Blu-ray, but they thankfully did not. I was afraid that I would have to go to medical school and undergo a five-year surgeon residency in order to extract the Godzilla Blu-ray inlet from the cardboard slipcase. I am happy that I will not have to do that when I buy Two-Lane Blacktop.

[Whirlygig]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

1. I never buy newly-published hardcover books at Barnes & Noble, because the new book prices there are hideous.

There's a yearly periodical hardcover I used to purchase there every year as close to release as possible. I do like being able to see the exact condition of a book and for that reason often prefer buying them in B&M stores.

But, last year I found a white security sticker stuck in the book. Worse, it was in a stupid spot that obscured artwork inside the cover (the book is an art book), but personally I don't want any book with one of those stuck in it no matter how inconspicuous it may be.

I decided to tell the cashier, in a polite manner (no skin off my back, I'd order from Amazon and save a ton instead), that they had lost a sale because of that -- in case the complaint might make its way up the chain somehow to someone who could stop this senseless destruction of merchandise. They just stared at me like I was crazy and insisted they could "probably do something about it". What, peel off the sticker and ruin the book for me? I don't even bother going to look anymore after that.

Don't know why I shared that, but since I am among other perfectionist collectors I thought I might hear an "amen".

I don't want to see them disappear, but I also wouldn't be all that sad if they do. But I read that article and it sounded a bit alarmist and biased to me. I think they still have some years left in 'em.