The Criterion Collection

[cropduster]

Top 5 upgrades:

Le Trou
The Face of Another
La Strada
The Spirit of the Beehive
Au Hazard Balthazar/Stranger Than Paradise

Upgrades I'd like that weren't mentioned:

Pitfall
Alphaville
Fiend Without a Face
Equinox
Haxan
Coup de Torchon
White Dog
Z
Dillinger Is Dead
Vagabond
Jigoku
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm
WR: Mysteries of the Organism
The Hit
Blast of Silence
The Fugitive Kind
All the rest of Jean-Pierre Melville's films

[Rory]

I wish the original INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS was a Criterion Blu-ray. They'd give it the treatment it deserves. Their laserdisc edition was the first thing on video that made me aware of letterboxing -- and that is was a must!

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by Rory

I wish the original INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS was a Criterion Blu-ray. They'd give it the treatment it deserves. Their laserdisc edition was the first thing on video that made me aware of letterboxing -- and that is was a must!

I wouldn't be surprised if Olive released a Signature edition of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. They've hinted at more releases, and that seems like it would be a good seller.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by belcherman

I wouldn't be surprised if Olive released a Signature edition of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. They've hinted at more releases, and that seems like it would be a good seller.

Any chance it would include a well informed commentary? I don't own any Olive Sigs.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by malakaheso

Why are so many people hoping for Criterion to release Chasing Amy on blu, which is quite possibly the least cinematic film in their entire collection? What are they looking forward to exactly? Sharper images of flannel shirts polluting Smith's poorly composed two shots?

Unless you are a huge Smith fan, I just don't get it.

Smith was one of the most important cinematic voices of the 90s. His films heavily influenced a lot of indies afterwards. Chasing Amy is universally considered his best film, so I don’t see why it’s a problem for it to be on the Collection.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by Poya

Smith was one of the most important cinematic voices of the 90s. His films heavily influenced a lot of indies afterwards. Chasing Amy is universally considered his best film, so I don’t see why it’s a problem for it to be on the Collection.

My experience here at Blu-ray.com is that an awful lot seem to have a problem with a movie being in the Criterion Collection if they think a current Blu-ray edition from another company is fine. If you're a Criterion fan, it's rather dispiriting.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by Rory

My experience here at Blu-ray.com is that an awful lot seem to have a problem with a movie being in the Criterion Collection if they think a current Blu-ray edition from another company is fine. If you're a Criterion fan, it's rather dispiriting.

Exactly, I mean I would understand if it was Armageddon (which was there due to nepotism than anything else), but Chasing Amy is a symbol of the 90s culture and it, along with Clerks, influenced the mumblecore genre. Smith may be more of a geek who makes films for the sake of it than the auteur he once was but you can’t deny what he accomplished in his prime.

[Rory]

Originally Posted by Poya

Exactly, I mean I would understand if it was Armageddon (which was there due to nepotism than anything else), but Chasing Amy is a symbol of the 90s culture and it, along with Clerks, influenced the mumblecore genre. Smith may be more of a geek who makes films for the sake of it than the auteur he once was but you can’t deny what he accomplished in his prime.

Since they paid Fox for whatever the license was for VALLEY OF THE DOLLS -- which I don't own because I'm not a fan of that movie -- I can't imagine they'd have a prejudice against anything like CHASING AMY or CLERKS, which are better movies.

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by Poya

Exactly, I mean I would understand if it was Armageddon (which was there due to nepotism than anything else)

Not sure what you mean by "nepotism", but Michael Bay pulled strings to get Disney to license it to Criterion the same way that Kevin Smith pulled strings to get Disney to coordinate the release through Criterion (which is why the DVD was so cheap compared to most Criterions, it was an arrangement similar to Fincher with "Benjamin Button").

[Funny side story there: Scott Mosier, the producer of "Chasing Amy", is thanked on the "Rushmore" DVD because he is the person who suggested to Criterion that they go after it; I think he knew the right person to contact or something like that. Nowadays, Wes Anderson has it built into his contract via the same "nepotism", but in some ways that is down to "Chasing Amy" having been released via Criterion.]

I wouldn't mind "Chasing Amy" getting a Criterion Blu. There are a lot of titles with no blu-ray release that I'd rather see upgraded, but I'm sure if Smith is involved, it will be a fun disc with some new stuff on it.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

Not sure what you mean by "nepotism", but Michael Bay pulled strings to get Disney to license it to Criterion the same way that Kevin Smith pulled strings to get Disney to coordinate the release through Criterion (which is why the DVD was so cheap compared to most Criterions, it was an arrangement similar to Fincher with "Benjamin Button").

[Funny side story there: Scott Mosier, the producer of "Chasing Amy", is thanked on the "Rushmore" DVD because he is the person who suggested to Criterion that they go after it; I think he knew the right person to contact or something like that. Nowadays, Wes Anderson has it built into his contract via the same "nepotism", but in some ways that is down to "Chasing Amy" having been released via Criterion.]

I wouldn't mind "Chasing Amy" getting a Criterion Blu. There are a lot of titles with no blu-ray release that I'd rather see upgraded, but I'm sure if Smith is involved, it will be a fun disc with some new stuff on it.

One of the higher ups at Criterion at the time knew Bay personally and had them release The Rock (the only Bay film I’ve ever tolerated) and Armageddon.

Changing the subject a bit: why are there certain films in the Collection, like Benjamin Button, released to public markets like Best Buy?

[repulsed]

Just came across this. This a definite thing?
That'd be nice. Been wanting to own that for some time now

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by Poya

One of the higher ups at Criterion at the time knew Bay personally and had them release The Rock (the only Bay film I’ve ever tolerated) and Armageddon.

Changing the subject a bit: why are there certain films in the Collection, like Benjamin Button, released to public markets like Best Buy?

To the nepotism point, fair enough, I see what you meant now. With Benjamin Button, Criterion supervised the release but it was actually distributed by Paramount with their usual pricing rather than Criterion's. Back in the DVD days, Chasing Amy had the same kind of deal (in that case, it was just repackaging what Criterion had done for the LD). I believe there are a few other examples, though I don't remember which off-hand -- EDIT: "Life Aquatic" had something like that on the DVDs, I think there was a 1-disc and a 2-disc and both had Criterion branding but Disney was distributing at least the 1-disc.

[Poya]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

To the nepotism point, fair enough, I see what you meant now. With Benjamin Button, Criterion supervised the release but it was actually distributed by Paramount with their usual pricing rather than Criterion's. Back in the DVD days, Chasing Amy had the same kind of deal (in that case, it was just repackaging what Criterion had done for the LD). I believe there are a few other examples, though I don't remember which off-hand -- EDIT: "Life Aquatic" had something like that on the DVDs, I think there was a 1-disc and a 2-disc and both had Criterion branding but Disney was distributing at least the 1-disc.

Would be great if some contemporary films got that treatment. That way, we wouldn’t need to double dip on such films as Inside Llewyn Davis or Wes Anderson films. Couldn’t the studios and Criterion split the profits on them or is that too naive?

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by repulsed

Just came across this. This a definite thing?
That'd be nice. Been wanting to own that for some time now

We've waited so long for this! not sure what Criterion is waiting for though, I remember this leaking from one of the supplements from another disc...

[Poya]

OK, did more research on Benjamin Button. Turns out that Criterion had nothing to do with the extras. Fincher films always have Criterion-levels of extras for each film that isn’t Alien3, all supervised by the same person, David Prior. At the time, Paramount and Criterion had a 10 film deal where Paramount let Criterion license their films, with only one of them being a contemporary film, and Benjamin Button was the one chosen, due to Fincher’s relationship with Criterion. The extras were already finished before the BD’s release. All Criterion did was give it an essay and put their logo on the packaging, endorsing it into their library, as it is on the site.

Whether it’s a true Criterion release regardless of Paramount’s pricing and distribution, is up for debate. Though it does answer my question on why some contemporary films that get an eventual Criterion release don’t do this. The Coens aren’t exactly well-known for putting tons of extras like Fincher does.

[thatguamguy]

That makes sense, I was wondering why the Paramount/Criterion disc had the same extras as the overseas release distributed by Warner.

[DaBargainHunta]

Did Benjamin Button ever get released in a clear Criterion case at any point? By the time I bought it, for $4 from Walmart on Black Friday, it was already in a traditional blue Blu-ray case.

Originally Posted by Rory

My experience here at Blu-ray.com is that an awful lot seem to have a problem with a movie being in the Criterion Collection if they think a current Blu-ray edition from another company is fine. If you're a Criterion fan, it's rather dispiriting.

It's simple math. Most people don't see the logic in double-dipping, especially when the first release is perfectly fine.

Perfect solution right here:

Originally Posted by Poya

Would be great if some contemporary films got that treatment. That way, we wouldn’t need to double dip on such films as Inside Llewyn Davis or Wes Anderson films. Couldn’t the studios and Criterion split the profits on them or is that too naive?

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Rory

Any chance it would include a well informed commentary? I don't own any Olive Sigs.

Possibly. Hannie Caulder and Johnny Guitar both have commentaries. High Noon does not, unfortunately.

[20th Century Boy]

Originally Posted by cropduster

Top 5 upgrades:

Le Trou
The Face of Another
La Strada
The Spirit of the Beehive
Au Hazard Balthazar/Stranger Than Paradise

Upgrades I'd like that weren't mentioned:

Pitfall
Alphaville
Fiend Without a Face
Equinox
Haxan
Coup de Torchon
White Dog
Z
Dillinger Is Dead
Vagabond
Jigoku
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm
WR: Mysteries of the Organism
The Hit
Blast of Silence
The Fugitive Kind
All the rest of Jean-Pierre Melville's films

I would swoon over a Haxan upgrade.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Poya

Whether it’s a true Criterion release regardless of Paramount’s pricing and distribution, is up for debate.

Criterion had barely anything to do with the production of the disc and its store doesn't stock it, only gives you an Amazon link. I would regard it as mostly a parasitic piggy-backing onto Paramount's efforts. At the most you could say, a small bunch of people who would otherwise have dismissed the film as Oscar twaddle may have picked it up because Cwitewion.