The Criterion Collection

[colbyw]

Originally Posted by oildude

Blood Simple is my absolute favorite Coen film, just above Fargo.

Would I buy it again on Blu-ray if Criterion does indeed release it?

Yes.

Am I becoming disappointed when every other announcement these days seems to be a title already out on BD?

Yeah, I have to admit I am.

Would I prefer upgrades of much anticipated DVD titles, especially when we have been waiting for years for many favorites to arrive on Blu-ray and some have been out overseas in Region B for months already?

YES!! YES!! YES!!

I am very happy Bicycle Thieves got an upgrade. I am, however, disturbed it is the only upgrade five months in to 2016. That just ain't right.

Couldn't agree more! My 3 favorites in order:

Blood Simple
Fargo
Miller's Crossing

I was that person that felt like he discovered Blood Simple because he saw it before everyone else - I remember renting it on VHS on initial release and telling everyone about it. Nobody cared, lol.

* Just like my 3 favorite Wes Anderson films; by far, are:

Bottle Rocket
Rushmore
Royal Tennabaums

[soarinsteven]

Ahhhh so great to get confirmations on The New World and Dr. Strangelove. CANNOT wait to add them to my collection.

[Roninblues]

Originally Posted by kwillard37

Has anyone's Flash sale purchases shipped, or arrived yet? Mine seemingly hasn't shipped yet

Received mine today. 6 movies to view and one is done.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by soarinsteven

Ahhhh so great to get confirmations on The New World and Dr. Strangelove. CANNOT wait to add them to my collection.

Heh. Two films I already own.

Well, have to see what the extras are, what the packaging is. I'd be far more likely to pick up The New World, since Dr. Strangelove is part of my Stanley Kubrick box set.

[Snicket]

I would love for Criterion to release Daughters of the Dust. It's long OOP from Kino and has not been released on blu ever. It's a film that desperately needs Criterion TLC. Additionally, it was the first wide release film of an African American woman director (in 1991, which is crazy because that's way too contemporary) so it's an important piece of film history.

[theater dreamer]

My Flash sale buys arrived today, haven't opened them yet, though.


"Come to Butthead...."



BTW, if any of you guys are aware of somebody selling the Digipak for The Leopard Blu-ray, please ask them to PM me with a price. UPS treated my new copy like a doggy chew toy. I only need the packaging (the outer slip cover, the digipak, and the insert booklet). I suppose I can get the booklet from Criterion still, assuming that is the same they are putting in the 2014-issued edition.

I am starting a topic on the trading forum, but I know here I might get a few extra eyes, so what the heck. I hope you guys will indulge me this one time. Danke!

[deepseababy]

Originally Posted by Wooden Lens

As I get older and my taste in cinema grows. I'm starting to not get too hung up on plot and story anymore. I'm realizing that if I took a fine tooth comb and picked through even some of the greatest films ever made I'd have problems with plot mechanics and character motivation... but then I'd be denying myself of some really wonderful art.

Lately I've been fascinated and drawn more towards mood, tone, intention. I can be transported by movies that to the average viewer might go 'nowhere' or is about 'nothing' but I feel completely different.

Most 'plots' and narratives have been done a million and one times. It's not so much what's happening, but how it's happening.

But that's just me

I always felt this way about Gummo. The most common criticism that people report for that film is the "lack of a story". But a plot heavy, narrative driven film was clearly not something Korine was going for. It's more about imagery, fleeting moments and feelings, exchanges between people that would otherwise go into the ether. For example, there's a scene in a hospital where a girl recounts about how she has or is about to have her breasts removed, and that no boys will want to talk to her anymore. The loneliness is palpable. It's just so rich and poignant, but the film does not linger on a single character for very long at all so in that sense it's just easier to let it wash over you. You either love it or hate it... a lot of people deride it as trash, but it felt strangely familiar and almost warm to me. Like Korine wasn't presenting these characters as though he was above them, rather he just presented them for who they were.

[theater dreamer]

/squeals with delight like a five year old.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

[Show spoiler]

/squeals with delight like a five year old.

yowza!

[BagheeraMcGee]

Originally Posted by oildude

Blood Simple is my absolute favorite Coen film, just above Fargo.

Would I buy it again on Blu-ray if Criterion does indeed release it?

Yes.

Am I becoming disappointed when every other announcement these days seems to be a title already out on BD?

Yeah, I have to admit I am.

Would I prefer upgrades of much anticipated DVD titles, especially when we have been waiting for years for many favorites to arrive on Blu-ray and some have been out overseas in Region B for months already?

YES!! YES!! YES!!

I am very happy Bicycle Thieves got an upgrade. I am, however, disturbed it is the only upgrade five months in to 2016. That just ain't right.

Agree completely. I already have "Blood Simple", "The New World", "The Player" and "Dr. Strangelove", so those announcements don't really move the needle for me (although I eventually would consider them if the extras and the transfer make it worth the money).

And meanwhile, I still wait for "House Of Games", "Short Cuts", "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being" and more that were Criterion DVDs at one point to be upgraded. Those three would be day 1 for me.

[Snicket]

Originally Posted by Snicket

I would love for Criterion to release Daughters of the Dust. It's long OOP from Kino and has not been released on blu ever. It's a film that desperately needs Criterion TLC. Additionally, it was the first wide release film of an African American woman director (in 1991, which is crazy because that's way too contemporary) so it's an important piece of film history.

Ok this is odd. I just saw on Twitter the director Julie Dash said the blu ray was in production as we speak, she tagged @Criterion in a tweet but I'm not sure if it's a criterion release. Exciting news!

[jmclick]

Originally Posted by oildude

Blood Simple is my absolute favorite Coen film, just above Fargo.

Would I buy it again on Blu-ray if Criterion does indeed release it?

Yes.

Am I becoming disappointed when every other announcement these days seems to be a title already out on BD?

Yeah, I have to admit I am.

Would I prefer upgrades of much anticipated DVD titles, especially when we have been waiting for years for many favorites to arrive on Blu-ray and some have been out overseas in Region B for months already?

YES!! YES!! YES!!

I am very happy Bicycle Thieves got an upgrade. I am, however, disturbed it is the only upgrade five months in to 2016. That just ain't right.

Don't you suppose that Criterion might be treating the single disc releases of Easy Rider and Brief Encounter as upgrades? If what many people have suspected is true, and the America Lost and Found: The BBS Story box set is going out of print because they've lost the rights to Head, I can cut them a little slack there.

I'm a little mystified as to why Brief Encounter is receiving a single disc release (and haven't read any theories on the subject), but if Criterion has lost the rights to one of the David Lean/Noel Coward titles, and that box set's days are numbered, then it may be that the dearth of other upgrades is just a temporary anomaly.

Let's hope so.

[joie]

Originally Posted by jmclick

[...]

I'm a little mystified as to why Brief Encounter is receiving a single disc release (and haven't read any theories on the subject), but if Criterion has lost the rights to one of the David Lean/Noel Coward titles, and that box set's days are numbered, then it may be that the dearth of other upgrades is just a temporary anomaly.

Let's hope so.

Some don't prefer a box set. One reason is that "Brief Encounter" is all that is wanted from that set. I only wanted "Journey to Italy" from another set and the "Last Picture Show" from another. There are others of the same opinion, and we are prepared to wait for every dissolution of every boxset.

Only Criterion could make a definitive statement, but I think that many DVD owners aren't interested in an upgrade to Blu-ray because they don't want to buy something already seen ... so those upgrades don't sell as well as a new title will sell.

add: Another reason for the dearth of DVD to Blu-ray upgrades is that it is smart to wait for a new master (recent scan), even a new restoration. New restorations should even warrant -- now! -- some Blu-ray to Blu-ray upgrades; for example "8 1/2" and "The Leopard."

[Scottie]

Every time a box set is announced, do you folks think Criterion should offer a standalone option, as well?

[BagheeraMcGee]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Every time a box set is announced, do you folks think Criterion should offer a standalone option, as well?

I think that would be really good, actually. Let me put it this way: if a standalone was available for "Koyaanisqatsi", I would've been all over it.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Every time a box set is announced, do you folks think Criterion should offer a standalone option, as well?

Yes, even though I guess I understand why they don't. I'm not sure if it would have ever mattered to me since I don't have much in the way of their sets, but it still would be a nice option either way.

[Knaldskalle]

Originally Posted by jmclick

I'm a little mystified as to why Brief Encounter is receiving a single disc release (and haven't read any theories on the subject), but if Criterion has lost the rights to one of the David Lean/Noel Coward titles, and that box set's days are numbered, then it may be that the dearth of other upgrades is just a temporary anomaly.

Well, to be fair, Brief Encounter was originally a standalone release (#76) that was later included in the Lean box set.

I'm sure there are lots of people who'd love to buy this but who aren't willing to cough up for the box, thinking (wrongly, imo) that the other movies in the set aren't worth it. Brief Encounter is by far the most famous title in the set, so it makes perfect financial sense to give it a separate release.

[RickDee]

Originally Posted by iScottie

Every time a box set is announced, do you folks think Criterion should offer a standalone option, as well?

Box sets should be an after thought. Why force films on people just to get a single one? Box sets are fine but only as a side release lets keep them separate please.

[belcherman]

If Criterion had offered a standalone version of The Last Picture Show, I would have bought that and the Sony Easy Rider and been done. That would have been a shame, though, because both Five Easy Pieces and The King of Marvin Gardens were better than I remembered, and Head is good for a hoot, when I'm in the mood (it helps that I grew watching the Monkees).

I bought the set during a B&N sale with a 20% coupon and member discount, so the cost was just a little more than two single releases.

[ThatOneGuy]

My Criterion purchases just got here.