The Criterion Collection

[jw007]

Originally Posted by ravenus

But of course they do. If you didn't restrict to region A, Arrow has been putting out amazing releases in the past few years, especially in boxsets. Within region A, the Cohen Media group has put out some terrific stuff from Euro film-makers on blu. In fact TT is less of a Criterion competitor because they do not have any restoration capabilities and are entirely dependent on external sources for the quality of their transfers.

Interesting that they don't do any in-house restorations! I bet if they did, they'd really be a serious player in the video distribution market. I noticed they receive excellent transfers from Columbia/Sony though.

Originally Posted by mja345

I'd definitely agree that Arrow is the closest competition to Criterion. Their releases are uniformly stellar. The releases of "La Grande Bouffe", "Society" and "The Battles Without Honour and Humanity" box were three of the best of the year.

Another indy label that does incredible work when they do put releases out is Grindhouse. Their releases of "The Big Gundown" and "The Swimmer" are beyond stellar. They also released a couple of long-lost Duke Mitchell gangster films in remarkable overall packages.

All of these indy labels do a great job though IMO and am more than happy to patronize them. It's been said before, but this really is the golden age to be a film buff/collector.

Very cool. Also, Olive Films isn't bad either from what I recall. I own Ironweed from that company...very depressing but good film.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by jw007

Thanks for the info.

I like some of these films that TT has come out with recently, especially Born Free and 1984. Additionally, a movie I love from Oliver Stone, Salvador, is available through them too that I can find nowhere else. And there's also American Buffalo which I remember enjoying when I first watched it.

I see they also released Alamo Bay, from one of my favorite French directors, Louis Malle. Has anyone seen this film?

Yeah, I picked up "American Buffalo" during the recent sale and really enjoyed it. You have to be a David Mamet fan and, if you are, it's right up your alley. They release a nice mixture of films. All of the Woody Allen stuff, a lot of Peckinpah movies. Then, classics dramas like "A Man For All Seasons" or "Judgment at Nuremburg" to go along with very good contemporary dramas like "Mississippi Burning" and "At Close Range". Just a wide range of excellent films for the most part.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by mja345

Yeah, I picked up "American Buffalo" during the recent sale and really enjoyed it. You have to be a David Mamet fan and, if you are, it's right up your alley. They release a nice mixture of films. All of the Woody Allen stuff, a lot of Peckinpah movies. Then, classics dramas like "A Man For All Seasons" or "Judgment at Nuremburg" to go along with very good contemporary dramas like "Mississippi Burning" and "At Close Range". Just a wide range of excellent films for the most part.

I noticed Mississippi Burning too! Very powerful film and I absolutely love Gene Hackman. Only thing is, can I see myself revisiting this film more than once? It's a difficult and painful movie to watch from what I remember.

On the other hand, if I had picked up TT's Rollerball before it sold out, there's a movie that is very easily re-watchable.

[mja345]

[quote=jw007;11680879
Very cool. Also, Olive Films isn't bad either from what I recall. I own
Ironweed from that company...very depressing but good film.[/quote]

Olive's fine. The two common complaints about them are the lack of bonus features and subtitles. But the A/V quality is usually fine and you're paying usually 12-14 bucks for an Olive disc unless you're pre-ordering for some reason.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jw007

On the other hand, if I had picked up TT's Rollerball before it sold out, there's a movie that is very easily re-watchable.

For what it's worth, Kino Lorber Studio Classics have released Rollerball on DVD. They couldn't release it on Blu-ray because of TT's rights for that format. I suspect that when TT's 3-year window is up (which should be 'round about Spring 2017) KLSC will release a Blu-ray edition if TT doesn't reissue it in the meantime.

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

Hugo is excellent. I love Tree Of Life, but didn't begrudge Hugo taking the cinematography prize that year. It's a beautiful looking film and as big a fan I am of Lubezki I do think of Robert Richardson as on the same sort of tier as him, as cinematographers go.

I like Richardson a lot, but to me he isn't quite on the same level as Lubezki, Deakins or Delbonnel. He is one of the best cinematographers working in Hollywood right now though, no question.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by ravenus

You do know that there was no original music score, right? Carl Dreyer intended that the film should be watched in utter silence. The score used on the Criterion release is a special edit of the album Voices of Light (1995), composed by Richard Einhorn as an inspiration / tribute to the Dreyer film.

For me this is something I can not do even if it was a filmmaker intention, I refuse to see silent films without a music score, or some kind of soundtrack that was adapted.

I guess part is because I get so easily distracted by any noise, I would end up hearing the projector noise, the refrigerator, the dialog on another TV, the outside noises, etc.

But most importantly the music is what gives some of these films the cinematic feeling I adore on some of those silents, so I can't imagine seeing one without it.

Anyway apart from this movie, was this actually a usual thing to do? or was it more common to have some kind of music arrangement even if it was not composed for the film exclusively?

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by jw007

If Criterion ever had competition, would it be the Twilight Time label?

Looking at their website, they've released a lot of really cool movies that are otherwise unavailable from any other video distributor. They produce different colored jewel cases and supply beautiful and original artwork too. They seem to put a lot of work and effort into making sure their redistributed films look and sound good, but the only problem is, many of their titles lack quality supplements, making them bare bone releases, but good ones at that, often being limited to 3,000 copies, making them truly "limited edition" and collectible. And like Criterion, they are not cheap, mostly priced at $29.95 on their website.

Does Twilight Time offer sales like Criterion does though? Does anyone admire this distributor too? http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/

I once tried to catch up with their releases from what I could see in online services because of fear of missing their limited releases but compared to Criterion I ended up loving very few of them so decided it was not worth the time.

They still have some titles I am interested from time to time like the Woody Allen stuff, but I keep hoping they don't release anything I really care for, because the quality per buck (considering the whole package, supplements and all) is just inferior compared to Criterion, guess I am spoiled by them now.

Maybe I am simply not the target for the majority of their catalog, I know there are tons of good US and UK films out there, but I like to view more world cinema so I have to filter a lot of stuff from these countries unless they are from directors I really admire.

On the other hand Arrow, and MoC are pretty good competition.

[jayembee]

Since this is off-topic, and can easily get out of hand, I thought I'd mention that there's a dedicated TT thread at

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=182882

Post #1 in that thread contains a list of all TT titles, plus information about ordering, and announced forthcoming titles. TT tends to announce two months worth of titles on the first weekend of even numbered months (the March/April titles were announced earlier this month; the May/June titles should be announced in early February). Such announcements are first made to the Home Theater Forum, but they quickly get posted here.

It also includes the latest Low Quantity Alert list. Generally, TT adds a title to this list when the number of available copies drops below 500-600. TT said that they'd issue a new list after Screen Archives's Nov/Dec sale, but it has yet to appear. They tend to post the LQA list first on their Facebook page. As of the beginning of November, there are 10 titles on the LQA list.

And if you look at my .sig, you'll see that I maintain two TT-related lists that people might find useful.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by ravenus

You do know that there was no original music score, right? Carl Dreyer intended that the film should be watched in utter silence. The score used on the Criterion release is a special edit of the album Voices of Light (1995), composed by Richard Einhorn as an inspiration / tribute to the Dreyer film.

I'm in the process of re-editing the Masters of Cinema Region B restoration to "fit" the Criterion edition/Voices of Light soundtrack. I assume (possibly) this is why they haven't released it yet. Pretty much every subtitle card is a different length in the MOC, so in order to make the Voices of Light soundtrack match up, the whole film needs to be re-edited (it's mostly just title card lengths that need adjusting, the film itself is pretty much there down to the frame). I'm about 30 minutes complete.

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

I'm in the process of re-editing the Masters of Cinema Region B restoration to "fit" the Criterion edition/Voices of Light soundtrack. I assume (possibly) this is why they haven't released it yet. Pretty much every subtitle card is a different length in the MOC, so in order to make the Voices of Light soundtrack match up, the whole film needs to be re-edited (it's mostly just title card lengths that need adjusting, the film itself is pretty much there down to the frame). I'm about 30 minutes complete.

I vaguely remember Criterion was waiting another restoration and not sure why there would be the need for completely different groups working to restore the same film (without it being a collaboration), although I can't imagine it looking better than the MoC, who knows?, maybe I am wrong though.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Since this is off-topic, and can easily get out of hand, I thought I'd mention that there's a dedicated TT thread at

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=182882

Post #1 in that thread contains a list of all TT titles, plus information about ordering, and announced forthcoming titles. TT tends to announce two months worth of titles on the first weekend of even numbered months (the March/April titles were announced earlier this month; the May/June titles should be announced in early February). Such announcements are first made to the Home Theater Forum, but they quickly get posted here.

It also includes the latest Low Quantity Alert list. Generally, TT adds a title to this list when the number of available copies drops below 500-600. TT said that they'd issue a new list after Screen Archives's Nov/Dec sale, but it has yet to appear. They tend to post the LQA list first on their Facebook page. As of the beginning of November, there are 10 titles on the LQA list.

And if you look at my .sig, you'll see that I maintain two TT-related lists that people might find useful.

Superb! Thanks. (I ran out of thank you's).

I just took a look at the TT thread and even posted in there. I saw what you meant by the "running low" part, but apparently that list needs to be updated as I noticed movies such as Used Cars, The Blue Lagoon and Sleepless in Seattle are no longer listed or available on TT's website. I might do a search on Ebay, and see if I can find a deal on anything.

Also, regarding an older post of yours, I might wait until 2017 for a Kino/Lorber blu release of Rollerball... or maybe not. We'll see how much patience I have. I found a new TT blu copy on Ebay going for $55, but that's not cheap and I have to be a big fan of this movie to shell out that kind of $.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

I vaguely remember Criterion was waiting another restoration and not sure why there would be the need for completely different groups working to restore the same film (without it being a collaboration), although I can't imagine it looking better than the MoC, who knows?, maybe I am wrong though.

Yeah, supposedly Pathé was doing their own restoration. The MOC looks amazing though. Can't really see it looking much better.

[tenia]

It's not Pathé, it's Gaumont and the restoration is tremendous and probably blows away the MoC BD.

[Marlow27]

I'm so excited for The American Friend, right up my alley and the review sounds great.


Also recently got Gate of Hell, pretty excited to check out that sumptuous colour!

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jw007

If Criterion ever had competition, would it be the Twilight Time label?

Looking at their website, they've released a lot of really cool movies that are otherwise unavailable from any other video distributor. They produce different colored jewel cases and supply beautiful and original artwork too. They seem to put a lot of work and effort into making sure their redistributed films look and sound good, but the only problem is, many of their titles lack quality supplements, making them bare bone releases, but good ones at that, often being limited to 3,000 copies, making them truly "limited edition" and collectible. And like Criterion, they are not cheap, mostly priced at $29.95 on their website.

Does Twilight Time offer sales like Criterion does though? Does anyone admire this distributor too? http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/

I've become a big devotee of Twilight Time over the past three years. I do not collect everything from the label, like some do, just as I do not collect everything from Criterion, but I noticed that they always seem to have at least one title a month that strikes my fancy. Many of the Twilight Time Blu-rays rival some of the better Criterion titles, with some of my personal favorites being The Big Heat, Breaking Away, The Driver, House of Bamboo, Violent Saturday, Man Hunt, Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mysterious Island, Picnic, and Experiment in Terror.

If I had to pick a favorite Blu-ray label from the past couple of years, though, then I'd have to go with Kino Lorber. Kino Lorber has done a magnificent job of releasing good old "Saturday afternoon movies" that I tend to revisit most often, and I love their business model.

I'm really impressed with the quality of the U.S. region A releases that Arrow Video have released this year, and I'm looking forward to more from this studio. Some of their titles are a little too icky for my tastes, but my less responsible horror/slasher film aficionado self really loves what they've done with Eaten Alive, Blood Rage, Contamination, and others. Also, their releases of Spider-Baby, Pit Stop, and Edgar Allan Poe's Black Cats are top-notch all around.

I've also spent a heck of a lot of money on Blu-rays from Code Red and Scorpion Releasing this year. They both do a fantastic job with their discs, but I wish that their discs were easier to purchase. The whole "sporadic availability" thing gets really old really fast.

[Darkthrone]

Lady Snowblood can't wait for this to arrive! Already have the arrow steelbook, but this transfer should be quite superior.

[Outlaw1986]

Ordered my 1st criterion a couple days ago! Should be in today hopefully. I got Hidden Fortress.

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

Have you seen Greed?

Greed is one of my favorite silents! I saw this discussed on The Story of Film: An Odyssey and DVR'd it from TMC. I don't think I could sit through the original 8 hour version, but the 2 hour was wonderful.

For the time, I'm sure the film was epic. Plot, theme, location, characters, etc. Other than Chaplin this was my only other silent for a long time.

Is this available on blu-ray here in the States?

[baheidstu]

Originally Posted by jw007

Superb! Thanks. (I ran out of thank you's).

I just took a look at the TT thread and even posted in there. I saw what you meant by the "running low" part, but apparently that list needs to be updated as I noticed movies such as Used Cars, The Blue Lagoon and Sleepless in Seattle are no longer listed or available on TT's website. I might do a search on Ebay, and see if I can find a deal on anything.

Also, regarding an older post of yours, I might wait until 2017 for a Kino/Lorber blu release of Rollerball... or maybe not. We'll see how much patience I have. I found a new TT blu copy on Ebay going for $55, but that's not cheap and I have to be a big fan of this movie to shell out that kind of $.

oildude does a stellar job of keeping that OP up-to-date. The three titles you mention may not be available at the Twilight Time site, but they ARE all still available at http://www.screenarchives.com. The actual Twilight Time site is newer and some of the older catalogue titles are not available there.

As for Rollerball, if you are region free capable, you'd be better off ordering the British version from Arrow.