The Criterion Collection

[Reddington]

Originally Posted by traths

How far in advance do they announce the flash sale. I've never ordered anything directly from Criterion before.

Usually a day before at most. Make sure you sign up for emails, follow them on social media, etc.

The Flash Sales are great. They run from 12PM Eastern for 24 hours. Shipping is free over a $50 threshold (net; not including sales taxes if applicable). You also earn loyalty points for every dollar spent. After spending $500 (500 points) you get a $50 gift certificate to use against future purchases.

[traths]

Originally Posted by Reddington

Usually a day before at most. Make sure you sign up for emails, follow them on social media, etc.

The Flash Sales are great. They run from 12PM Eastern for 24 hours. Shipping is free over a $50 threshold (net; not including sales taxes if applicable). You also earn loyalty points for every dollar spent. After spending $500 (500 points) you get a $50 gift certificate to use against future purchases.

Nice!

[DukeTogo84]

For some reason I thought the Barnes and Noble sale was for 30 days. Walked in today to find out the sale ended. Oh well.

[Hellspawn28]

It's awesome that Bill Plympton's movies are coming to the Criterion channel. I hope we can get a collection of them in a boxset in the near future.

[Crow T. Robot]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

I noticed that three titles I wanted that were oos for most of last week suddenly were available for shipping today post sale. Hmmmmmm

Yeah....color me slightly disappointed also...2 of the 3 were the same.

Steve

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by nitin

Trouble in Paradise is charming enough Lubitsch but it didn’t knock me out as much as any of his 40’s trifecta of To Be Or Not To Be, Heaven Can Wait or The Shop Around the Corner.

It’s a very likeable film with smooth performances that ooze sex appeal and are beautifully in sync with each other, witty one liners, sublime set design and tight direction. Miriam Hopkins is delightful towards the start (her entry scene is dynamite) and end of the film but gets sidelined through the middle. Thankfully Herbert Marshall and Kay Francis have enough sparkling chemistry that Hopkins’ absence isn’t too sorely missed. But I do wonder what could have been if there more interplay between the three of them.

As it is, I found it clever and charming but neither as zanily hilarious as To Be or Not To Be or parts of Heaven can Wait nor as affecting as The Shop Around the Corner.

I saw it off the Eureka DVD which is sourced from a HD master and is a much better option than the Criterion DVD. It looks pretty good but with Universal quite busily restoring their classic film catalog, hopefully those gets a blu upgrade from a Criterion via a new restoration sometime soon. The Art Deco set design alone would make it a must purchase.

One reason I want Trouble in Paradise is Kay Francis! She was a big star in the early to mid ‘30s, especially at Warner Brothers. They probably have control of most of her films but I’m not sure about her Paramount ones. Are any of her films on Blu? The Coconuts is the only one I can think of and that’s in a supporting role. I’d love to see another of her films with William Powell show up-One Way Passage no matter who releases it.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

One reason I want Trouble in Paradise is Kay Francis! She was a big star in the early to mid ‘30s, especially at Warner Brothers. They probably have control of most of her films but I’m not sure about her Paramount ones. Are any of her films on Blu? The Coconuts is the only one I can think of and that’s in a supporting role. I’d love to see another of her films with William Powell show up-One Way Passage no matter who releases it.

Just the one other film, as part of Kino's Western Classics set:

[ilenewoodsfan99]

Adore the wit of Trouble in Paradise. Really really looking forward to a Blu Ray for it.

[UnionJackMix]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

One reason I want Trouble in Paradise is Kay Francis! She was a big star in the early to mid ‘30s, especially at Warner Brothers. They probably have control of most of her films but I’m not sure about her Paramount ones. Are any of her films on Blu? The Coconuts is the only one I can think of and that’s in a supporting role. I’d love to see another of her films with William Powell show up-One Way Passage no matter who releases it.

Count me in as well, I love Kay Francis! I've been buying all her movies and mostly are on the WAC DVD-R service sadly. Some one-offs too, wasn't aware When Daltons Rode was on BD as I bought a German DVD.
Still have to watch that. Would love to have more of her on BD, such a beauty, and I always thought Isabella Rossellini looks a whole lot like her.
Sad that she disappeared in the 40s and died at a relatively young age. Her way of life was also quite interesting, she said she couldn't wait to be forgotten and left no heirs, right?

[funker]

From reading the accounts of what others ran into, I was lucky the B&N stores around me were really well stocked. After my initial haul of Ace In The Hole, Rumble Fish, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Scorsese Shorts, along with blind buys Brazil, The Story of Temple Drake, The Asphalt Jungle, Blow-Up, The Killers, and Gilda with the new member 20% off coupon, I came back several times for the 10% extra off in store member discount and also ended up with:

Detour, Night and the City, A Raisin in the Sun, His Girl Friday, Dressed To Kill, It Happened One Night, The Great Escape, Mildred Pierce which I caught first in the hidden Criterion section on HBO Max and was blown away by, and blind buy Rififi. I also ended up snapping up In A Lonely Place via Amazon after a botched trip to get it at a further away B&N where the closing time for the store was wrong on site. With how much I loved Dressed To Kill I would have blind bought Blow Out, but it wasn't available at any stores in the area and the Amazon price was too rich for my blood. Then I remembered it was streaming on Prime. I'm glad I wasn't able to find it, since it was just OK for me. Similarly, I ended up renting The Fisher King and while I liked it and it's message, I'm not sure I see myself wanting to watch it again and again. Over the weekend I got around to seeing Baby Face with Barbara Stanwyck and have to hope Criterion or someone is restoring this controversial pre-code classic!

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by UnionJackMix

Count me in as well, I love Kay Francis! I've been buying all her movies and mostly are on the WAC DVD-R service sadly. Some one-offs too, wasn't aware When Daltons Rode was on BD as I bought a German DVD.
Still have to watch that. Would love to have more of her on BD, such a beauty, and I always thought Isabella Rossellini looks a whole lot like her.
Sad that she disappeared in the 40s and died at a relatively young age. Her way of life was also quite interesting, she said she couldn't wait to be forgotten and left no heirs, right?

She had no immediate family but did leave the bulk of her estate to The Seeing Eye, an organization that raises and trains seeing eye dogs. She made nearly 70 films and thank goodness for sources like TCM and WB for making a lot of those available to see.

[UnionJackMix]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

She had no immediate family but did leave the bulk of her estate to The Seeing Eye, an organization that raises and trains seeing eye dogs. She made nearly 70 films and thank goodness for sources like TCM and WB for making a lot of those available to see.

Oh that's the part I forgot but remember reading, that she left everything to The Seeing Eye! How nice ))

[nitin]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

One reason I want Trouble in Paradise is Kay Francis! She was a big star in the early to mid ‘30s, especially at Warner Brothers. They probably have control of most of her films but I’m not sure about her Paramount ones. Are any of her films on Blu? The Coconuts is the only one I can think of and that’s in a supporting role. I’d love to see another of her films with William Powell show up-One Way Passage no matter who releases it.

Warner has the bulk of the more well known ones AFAIK.

[Shanghai Express]

In a perfect world, Criterion upgraded Trouble In Paradise the same month they announced Design For Living, Kino licensed Kay's best Paramount Pre-Codes (Girls About Town, 24 Hours) during their first deal with Universal, and Warners released a "Kay Francis At Warner Bros. 1932-1937" Collection instead of From Hell It Came or Action Of The Tiger.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by mrmikefern

In a perfect world, Criterion upgraded Trouble In Paradise the same month they announced Design For Living, Kino licensed Kay's best Paramount Pre-Codes (Girls About Town, 24 Hours) during their first deal with Universal, and Warners released a "Kay Francis At Warner Bros. 1932-1937" Collection instead of From Hell It Came or Action Of The Tiger.

I'd love Blu-rays of My Bill, Confession and I Found Stella Parish but I wouldn't hold my breath for WAC... My Bill, one of my favorite Dickie Moore or John Farrow films, has never even had a DVD release.

[Hellspawn28]

I'm surprised that Criterion has not picked up Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003) yet. It feels right up their alley.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by Gunsnroses092789

I'd love Blu-rays of My Bill, Confession and I Found Stella Parish but I wouldn't hold my breath for WAC... My Bill, one of my favorite Dickie Moore or John Farrow films, has never even had a DVD release.

My Bill is a terrific little film. Bonita Granville (another favorite of mine) has made it into the CC with Now, Voyager.

[jjlikesonions]

Originally Posted by Hellspawn28

I'm surprised that Criterion has not picked up Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003) yet. It feels right up their alley.

I'm sure them or another distributor will pick it up soon. IIRC it was recently restored and the new restoration supposed to be screened at a festival somewhere.

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by jjlikesonions

I'm sure them or another distributor will pick it up soon. IIRC it was recently restored and the new restoration supposed to be screened at a festival somewhere.

There's an entire sea of Hou Hsiao-Hsien/Tsai Ming-Liang/Taiwanese films that haven't been released on Region A Blu-ray yet. I'm guessing it may be because of China's tensions with America but knowing that these films are Taiwanese, I don't think that would be a logical answer. I really do wonder why it took so long. Or it probably was that whoever had the rights to the movies just decided to do nothing about it keep it away from the public so they couldn't watch it.

Also, The Time to Live and the Time to Die looks wonderful on Amazon Prime with what I'm 99% sure is a restoration. However, the sound quality is below average, even for a Chinese film which I know they dubbed but this movie sounds like it's Dragon Inn (1967) level bad in audio even though it's 18 years older. I hope when the film (possibly) gets released in Region A territories, they would do something about the audio and at least clean up a bit.

Btw, Flowers of Shanghai got a 4K restoration last year on a Chinese Blu-ray. I'm guessing Film Movement can release it since they released Shanghai Triad.

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by NeoNical

There's an entire sea of Hou Hsiao-Hsien/Tsai Ming-Liang/Taiwanese films that haven't been released on Region A Blu-ray yet. I'm guessing it may be because of China's tensions with America but knowing that these films are Taiwanese, I don't think that would be a logical answer. I really do wonder why it took so long. Or it probably was that whoever had the rights to the movies just decided to do nothing about it keep it away from the public so they couldn't watch it.

Also, The Time to Live and the Time to Die looks wonderful on Amazon Prime with what I'm 99% sure is a restoration. However, the sound quality is below average, even for a Chinese film which I know they dubbed but this movie sounds like it's Dragon Inn (1967) level bad in audio even though it's 18 years older. I hope when the film (possibly) gets released in Region A territories, they would do something about the audio and at least clean up a bit.

Btw, Flowers of Shanghai got a 4K restoration last year on a Chinese Blu-ray. I'm guessing Film Movement can release it since they released Shanghai Triad.

You're overthinking it with the geopolitical implications as I promise you that has nothing to do with the lack of Hou Hsiao-Hsien and other Taiwanese films. My guess would be poor sales or the rights could be with someone other than Criterion. Also, Criterion is notoriously slow releasing some films that they have. BTW, Cohen released Daughter of the Nile in 2018.