The Criterion Collection

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by jshaide

Went to see John Waters' birthday show yesterday and during his Q&A I asked him if there's anything going on with Desperate Living/new disc. And he said something like:

"I really don't know. I don't know what Criterion would want to put out next, but if I had to guess they want to put out Hairspray".

I guess that means nothing currently in the works at the moment since Waters would likely be aware, and involved.

[amputd]

So I watched the Criterion 4k of I Am Cuba and really feel it could have used an HDR pass. Black levels just weren’t where they needed to be and contrast needed improvement. HDR would have helped with these issues imo. The 4k was almost indistinguishable from the blu ray. Why release this as a 4k I if it looks like the blu ray? I guess Criterion was too lazy/ cheap to release this with HDR. I’d like to hear other people’s opinions on this.

[mclellandj]

Originally Posted by amputd

So I watched the Criterion 4k of I Am Cuba and really feel it could have used an HDR pass. Black levels just weren’t where they needed to be and contrast needed improvement. HDR would have helped with these issues imo. The 4k was almost indistinguishable from the blu ray. Why release this as a 4k I if it looks like the blu ray? I guess Criterion was too lazy/ cheap to release this with HDR. I’d like to hear other people’s opinions on this.

I think HDR makes older stuff look too much like Planet Earth sometimes. I like a little bit of wear and tear and view HDR as a less intense version of what James Cameron did to his movies with AI.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by mclellandj

I think HDR makes older stuff look too much like Planet Earth sometimes. I like a little bit of wear and tear and view HDR as a less intense version of what James Cameron did to his movies with AI.

Speaking as someone who hasn't yet made the jump to 4K, this sounds rather like when a friend of mine during the time when Criterion had just started putting out BD's (circa 2k9) was asking me "Don't you think that blu-rays will look TOO detailed and sharp and digital compared to film?"

NO man, that's not how it works, at least when it's done by people who know what they're doing.

[Rayjg]

I can remember when Criterion was poo-pooing anamorphic widescreen DVDs. The more things change...

[Richard--W]

74 days to wait for Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

I can remember when Criterion was poo-pooing anamorphic widescreen DVDs. The more things change...

Haha, I remember reading a rumor that they were hesitant about anamorphic because they were not sure how individual DVD players will handle anamorphic flags. Maybe they're hesitant about HDR because they are not sure about people's HT brightness / ambient light levels

[karpulus]

need

Trailer | YouTube

[amputd]

Why not provide a 4k with HDR if you’re also bundling it with a blu ray? I get it that the whites might be too blown out, but there’s no harm in giving people a choice. If something is being sold as a 4k disc there is a premium added to the price. There should be a noticeable bump in quality to justify the added expense. Just my opinion. There are people I respect on this forum who will likely see it differently.

Criterion has just frustrated me somewhat recently- from weird packaging, to uninspired covers, and a reticence to apply HDR on a lot of their 4k’s. I think complacency has slipped in. I owe Criterion a great debt for introducing me to foreign cinema, but the marketplace has changed and a lot of boutique labels seem to be putting more care into their releases

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by amputd

Why not provide a 4k with HDR if you’re also bundling it with a blu ray? I get it that the whites might be too blown out, but there’s no harm in giving people a choice. If something is being sold as a 4k disc there is a premium added to the price. There should be a noticeable bump in quality to justify the added expense. Just my opinion. There are people I respect on this forum who will likely see it differently.

Criterion has just frustrated me somewhat recently- from weird packaging, to uninspired covers, and, lastly, a reticence to apply HDR on a lot of their 4k’s. I think complacency has slipped in. I owe Criterion a great debt for introducing me to foreign cinema, but the marketplace has changed and a lot of boutique labels seem to be putting more care into their releases.

Criterion are licensing the restoration done by Milestone films.

[amputd]

Perfect Days is a perfect example of a really unimaginative cover.

[amputd]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Criterion are licensing the restoration done by Milestone films.

So they can’t do an HDR pass on that? Is that contractual?

This is not the only time this has happened.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by amputd

So they can’t do an HDR pass on that? Is that contractual?

This is not the only time this has happened.

No, they can't. That's usually how licensing works, unless they are directly involved with the restoration/scanning process themselves.

[Egbert Souse]

Criterion has had 50 releases with Dolby Vision, 16 with SDR, and seven with regular HDR so far. And five of the SDR releases are director-approved.

[shimmy]

Originally Posted by amputd

The 4k was almost indistinguishable from the blu ray.

I have yet to import myself a copy so this is valuable information, might just get the regular blu ray. Does anyone else feel the same way about the 4k disc?

Originally Posted by amputd

Perfect Days is a perfect example of a really unimaginative cover.

For me its the cover for Mirror, its something I could accurately replicate in a few minutes in MS Paint and its disgustingly literal, almost as bad as that one art of Blade Runner that has a silhouette of a man running on the edge of a knife.

[kmhofmann]

Originally Posted by shimmy

I have yet to import myself a copy so this is valuable information, might just get the regular blu ray. Does anyone else feel the same way about the 4k disc?

No, that statement is absolutely not true.

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by amputd

Why not provide a 4k with HDR if you’re also bundling it with a blu ray? I get it that the whites might be too blown out, but there’s no harm in giving people a choice. If something is being sold as a 4k disc there is a premium added to the price. There should be a noticeable bump in quality to justify the added expense. Just my opinion. There are people I respect on this forum who will likely see it differently.

Criterion has just frustrated me somewhat recently- from weird packaging, to uninspired covers, and a reticence to apply HDR on a lot of their 4k’s. I think complacency has slipped in. I owe Criterion a great debt for introducing me to foreign cinema, but the marketplace has changed and a lot of boutique labels seem to be putting more care into their releases

I am glad that I am not the only one with your perspective. A few years ago, my home film purchases were mostly Criterion. Lately, I catch myself hoping that Arrow video or Kino will release the film in 4k (Kino 4k releases almost always have the original poster art).

I still plan to purchase I am Cuba 4k from Criterion (I cannot imagine another company attempting 4k release) because I am big fan of Sergey Urusevsky.

Although there is room for improvement, I really liked how Criterion started this year with excellent film releases.

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

Criterion has had 50 releases with Dolby Vision, 16 with SDR, and seven with regular HDR so far. And five of the SDR releases are director-approved.

The two scariest words in the English language

[Fellini912]

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

Criterion has had 50 releases with Dolby Vision, 16 with SDR, and seven with regular HDR so far. And five of the SDR releases are director-approved.

The recent True Lies 4k is “director-approved”

Jean-Pierre Jeunet has the opinion that 4k is a gimmick to sell more TVs.

risposte

[MifuneFan]

Wasn't sure where to post this. I was watching Jeopardy on Monday, and they had this $2000 clue for the category "AND THE ROLE ALMOST GOES TO..."

Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" helped inspire "Star Wars", & the role of Obi Wan was reportedly offered to this star

Along wih his picture. And no one rang in