The Criterion Collection

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

That's impossible. We all know "Jon Mulvaney" doesn't exist.

Leetle late there with the reply, twas covered a few pages back. Also, it was said by someone who just joined the site to hurl derogatory comments at Dunham.

[Brad1107]

Since we've had all the Cronenberg talk i thought i'd mention that Umbrella in Australia (they who released Picnic At Hanging Rock) are releasing Scanners on Feb 6th and The Brood on Mar 6th.

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[The Great Owl]

I am learning early on that I will have to stay away from the "Region Free" stuff on Amazon UK unless I want to deplete my bank account entirely. There are so many outstanding movies to choose from that are not readily available here.

I want Melville's Le Silence de la Mer, for instance. I'm going to wait a little while longer, but it's not far over the horizon for the price. I wish that Criterion would release this one though.

The same with readily-available StudioCanal movies. What's up with Grand Illusion? Is there a chance of Criterion releasing a Blu-ray of this, or is it no longer in their licensing realm? The current StudioCanal version looks enticing.

[rkish]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I am learning early on that I will have to stay away from the "Region Free" stuff on Amazon UK unless I want to deplete my bank account entirely. There are so many outstanding movies to choose from that are not readily available here.

I want Melville's Le Silence de la Mer, for instance. I'm going to wait a little while longer, but it's not far over the horizon for the price. I wish that Criterion would release this one though.

The same with readily-available StudioCanal movies. What's up with Grand Illusion? Is there a chance of Criterion releasing a Blu-ray of this, or is it no longer in their licensing realm? The current StudioCanal version looks enticing.

Studio Canal currently owns the rights...it's been released in both the US and UK.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I want Melville's Le Silence de la Mer, for instance. I'm going to wait a little while longer, but it's not far over the horizon for the price. I wish that Criterion would release this one though.

I've never regretted pulling the trigger on Le Silence De La Mer.

[SammyJankis]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

The same with readily-available StudioCanal movies. What's up with Grand Illusion? Is there a chance of Criterion releasing a Blu-ray of this, or is it no longer in their licensing realm? The current StudioCanal version looks enticing.

It is. The transfer is stunning. Definitely one of the best black and white transfers I've seen.

[JHas]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

The same with readily-available StudioCanal movies. What's up with Grand Illusion? Is there a chance of Criterion releasing a Blu-ray of this, or is it no longer in their licensing realm? The current StudioCanal version looks enticing.

Doubtful they will get the rights back, no reason to hold out hope with such a great transfer already available.

[Brad1107]

I'd like to suggest Terry Gilliam's Tideland for Criterion. They already have a relationship with him, it's his most bizarre and least accesible film so I can't imagine anyone else would give it a blu release. Saw it at the Brisbane Film Festival years ago where a severly elderly lady sitting next to me flopped over onto me. I started full on panicking that she had died, but she had just fainted and the film was stopped while the ambulance came. Just added to the surrealness of the film. Maybe it's terrible and i'm letting external elements colour things. Who knows?

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[Whirlygig]

Originally Posted by Brad1107

I'd like to suggest Terry Gilliam's Tideland for Criterion.

Maybe it's terrible and i'm letting external elements colour things. Who knows?

Have it on HD-DVD; watched it only once so far. I remember really liking it, and I don't really like all Gilliam films.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

The same with readily-available StudioCanal movies. What's up with Grand Illusion? Is there a chance of Criterion releasing a Blu-ray of this, or is it no longer in their licensing realm? The current StudioCanal version looks enticing.

Originally Posted by SammyJankis

It is. The transfer is stunning. Definitely one of the best black and white transfers I've seen.

Originally Posted by JHas

Doubtful they will get the rights back, no reason to hold out hope with such a great transfer already available.

Okay. This situation did not take long to address.

I found the StudioCanal edition of La Grand Illusion (Grand Illusion) at Best Buy for $24.99 during lunch break and used an Upgrade & Save coupon to bring it down to $19.99. I did not expect to find this movie at Best Buy, so this was a nice surprise.

I honestly did not want to pay that much for a Blu-ray today, but this particular movie is not any cheaper on Amazon right now, and it was right there in my hand at the store without additional shipping costs. Happy to have another one of my favorites on Blu.

I'm hesitant to trade in my old Criterion DVD of Grand Illusion, because it's #1 on the Criterion number list, but I probably will, since I'm a big fan of free space. Somebody with a loving home will get more use out of that standard definition copy.

[Snicket]

Criterion Cast has better pics of the April covers and Repo Man is a Digipack...not sure if I like that.

[Monty70]

Originally Posted by Brad1107

Since we've had all the Cronenberg talk i thought i'd mention that Umbrella in Australia (they who released Picnic At Hanging Rock) are releasing Scanners on Feb 6th and The Brood on Mar 6th.

Sent from my GT-S6010 using Tapatalk 2

I liked The Brood, Oliver Reed is (was) a force of nature.

[Monty70]

Originally Posted by Snicket

Criterion Cast has better pics of the April covers and Repo Man is a Digipack...not sure if I like that.

I think the color of the cover art may be making the plastic frame hard to see. Look at the pic on the homepage, (2nd Repo Man pic down) I see a plastic border on the bottom of the case. (odd that the same is not visible on the top of the image)

[Simple Lines]

Originally Posted by monty70

i think the color of the cover art may be making the plastic frame hard to see. Look at the pic on the homepage, (2nd repo man pic down) i see a plastic border on the bottom of the case. (odd that the same is not visible on the top of the image)

s-h-a-d-o-w

[Yojimbo]

Actually their site does say "3D cover art for the April 2012 Criterion Collection films. Hooray for a Repo Man digi-pak!" below the artwork.

[Monty70]

Originally Posted by Yojimbo

Actually their site does say "3D cover art for the April 2012 Criterion Collection films. Hooray for a Repo Man digi-pak!" below the artwork.

Yep, I saw that. The release could very well be a digi, I was just pointing out that the homepage shows two different pics of the cover. The second one on the right seems (to my eyes anyway) to have the same plastic looking case bottom that the other April discs have.

I may be being influenced by my dislike for digipacks in general.

[The Great Owl]

Digipak...meh. I prefer the Criterions in the standard cases, because they won't be damaged. As much as I love my Godzilla and Seven Samurai Blu-rays, I'd love 'em even more if I could just snap a plastic case open to get the disc.

I'm an odd bird, though. I love Blu-rays to come in the standard plastic blue cases or the standard Criterion plastic cases, and I actually prefer to avoid the slipcovers and steelbooks that many on this site are enthusiastic about collecting.

Will this keep me from buying Repo Man? No way! Haha.

It's an annoyance, though. As much as I want to upgrade my beloved Dazed and Confused Criterion DVD, the Blu-ray cardboard layout irritates me even more than the DVD cardboard layout.

I also think that the Blu-ray package for Last Year at Marienbad is absymal. Such a great movie does not deserve such a flimsy package. If a feather fell on that package the wrong way, it would be destroyed.

[andsoitgoes]

I have never seen repo man, so I'm still unsure. Maybe I need to check it out, Wim Wenders seems pretty darn versatile.

I am surprised Criterion hasn't been more consistent. 400 blows drives me completely insane, I truly hate how out of place it looks, and am baffled why they went that route.

The extra booklet size, though, makes a load of sense as to why they'd need to change the packaging. I'm just so thankful that Criterion has kept those booklets alive. Every time I open a blu, even though I KNOW there won't be a booklet, I'm still sad. Just to compare, Fight Club had a great bit of packaging for the DVD, and the blu is completely void of anything. Yet the standard blu cases just mock us with the tongs where the booklet could be. It's another reason that continues to make me worried about losing physical media.

I would kill to have all the blu cases to be solid like the Criterion movies.

As for Steelbooks, I'm with you, although I used to be much more into it. When Future Shop here started selling the Pixar Steelbooks, I went a little crazy and got into the addiction, but it did not take long before I gave up and asked myself why I was going through the headache. I've snagged one or two since then, Avengers and Lion King, but those were due to the fact that the price was the same as the non SB ...

All this talk about Godzila... Maybe I actually need to check that one out . I think I may have seen part of it on channel 50 on a Sunday afternoon when I was 6

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Digipak...meh. I prefer the Criterions in the standard cases, because they won't be damaged. As much as I love my Godzilla and Seven Samurai Blu-rays, I'd love 'em even more if I could just snap a plastic case open to get the disc.

I'm an odd bird, though. I love Blu-rays to come in the standard plastic blue cases or the standard Criterion plastic cases, and I actually prefer to avoid the slipcovers and steelbooks that many on this site are enthusiastic about collecting.

Will this keep me from buying Repo Man? No way! Haha.

[Simple Lines]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

...the Blu-ray package for Last Year at Marienbad is absymal. Such a great movie does not deserve such a flimsy package. If a feather fell on that package the wrong way, it would be destroyed.

I agree.

Thankfully, THIS is currently offered.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by andsoitgoes

All this talk about Godzilla... Maybe I actually need to check that one out . I think I may have seen part of it on channel 50 on a Sunday afternoon when I was 6

Godzilla is awesomeness, pure and simple. The Blu-ray is one of the most worthwhile possessions in my collection. The original Japanese version of Godzilla is just downright mind-blowing and surprisingly somber. I saw it at an indie theater here several years ago, and it was a treat to watch on a big screen.

The crude special effects in Godzilla work to its favor, especially with Godzilla's Tokyo rampage (I don't think that I'm giving anything away to those who have not yet seen the movie.). That Tokyo rampage scene, in its black-and-white glory, actually resembles real WWII-era footage, and that lends a strange sort of realism to the whole affair. The modern-day CGI effects of such movies are an epic fail by comparison.

The commentaries for both versions of Godzilla on the Criterion edition are fun and informative. This movie lends a great deal of class and cerebral legitimacy to the Criterion reputation, and it was a great choice for the company to pick it up as a title.

I just wish that the Blu-ray were packaged in a standard plastic Criterion case.