The Criterion Collection

[Sommerswerd]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I'm thrilled that there are people out there who feel that way, don't get me wrong, but that's not me.

With their premium pricing, I don't look to Criterion to be introduced to films I don't know, it's too expensive and risky, I've been burned that way before.

I look to Criterion for five-star presentations of classic films I already know and love.

So yep, count me among those who only get excited about movies I've heard of.

I almost never blind-buy Criterion titles because my library gets most the new titles on Blu-ray and/or DVD every month and I would just borrow it from them. If I end up loving the film and feel like it has re-watch value then I would buy it. For the above reason, I am in definitely in the camp that appreciates Criterion when they release lesser known films.

[UnionJackMix]

Originally Posted by KMR

I did the same on Thursday night. Looked like the last copy in stock. Even though I wasn't really all that concerned, I have to admit I was getting a little nervous when the sales associate was having a hard time removing the spider wrap. It was taking quite a while, and he even had to move over to another register and try another removal tool. I was almost getting ready to say "Don't you just have a pair of heavy duty scissors?" Everything turned out OK in the end...

What's the spider wrapping?

[NeoNical]

Probably gonna go B&N shopping for my first haul tomorrow. Just found out my friend got into Criterion lately and started his collection off with Marriage Story, Le Samourai, Seven Samurai, and Silence of the Lambs. Glad I am not the only person who collects Criterions that I know of.

Just watched Muriel or the Time of Return for the first time and I am mentally drained right now. Shame there wasn't much analysis on Muriel because I'm curious to see some interpretations on this film. It's one of those films I think that should get some scholarly talk.

Which reminds me that there are a bunch of Resnais films that still haven't gotten a release in the US nor in the UK I believe as well. I'd be down for more Resnais, especially La Guerre Est Finie.

In a nutshell:

[Show spoiler]

Anyone know any other film that has mentally drained you like Muriel?

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by UnionJackMix

What's the spider wrapping?

The security wire that's wrapped around the Varda and Bergman boxsets in this photo:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...stcount=201345

[drownsoda]

Originally Posted by Sommerswerd

I almost never blind-buy Criterion titles because my library gets most the new titles on Blu-ray and/or DVD every month and I would just borrow it from them. If I end up loving the film and feel like it has re-watch value then I would buy it. For the above reason, I am in definitely in the camp that appreciates Criterion when they release lesser known films.

I personally have less hesitance about blind-buying Criterion titles only because they tend to retain their value. I've bought more than a few sight-unseen, and on the rare occasion that I don't like/don't think I'll rewatch it again, I just sell it. Granted, if you paid the B&N retail price of $39.99, you can maybe recoup a little more than half of that by reselling it, so you'll lose a bit. I suppose if you're going to blind buy a Criterion disc, doing so during their 50% off sale would be the time to do it, as you are pretty much guaranteed to get your money back if you sell it—most Criterion Blu-rays go for around $20 used, sometimes more.

[Azores26]

I wonder if I should take advantage of the sale to upgrade some of my Kurosawa DVDs or if I should hold on for a possible Kurosawa box set next year. Several of his films have seen new 4K restorations recently, so I think this could be indicative that a new box set is indeed coming soon.

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by Azores26

I wonder if I should take advantage of the sale to upgrade some of my Kurosawa DVDs or if I should hold on for a possible Kurosawa box set next year. Several of his films have seen new 4K restorations recently, so I think this could be indicative that a new box set is indeed coming soon.

Yeah, I'm on like a Kurosawa buying freeze---either because of suspicion that a box set will actually come out or if this site has just corrupted me into assuming one will.

[sabdo]

Originally Posted by acroyear2

The release announcement today of Man Push Cart and Chop Shop got me thinking about how many times has Criterion released two separate (consecutive) spines by the same director/subject in the same month?

I came up with these (in no particular order)...

Crumb and Louie Bluie (Terry Zwigoff)
Black Moon and Zazie dans le métro (Louis Malle)
Sweet Movie and WR: Mysteries of the Organism (Dušan Makavejev)
Jubal and 3:10 to Yuma (Delmer Daves)
Charulata and The Big City (Satyajit Ray)
Gray's Anatomy and And Everything Is Going Fine (Steven Soderbergh/Spalding Gray)
L’humanité and La vie de Jésus (Bruno Dumont)
Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter (Seijun Suzuki)
Westfront 1918 and Kameradschaft (G. W. Pabst)

I'm not including combined films released under a single spine (such as The Shooting/Ride In The Whirlwind or the Lady Snowblood films)

Bergman with Summer Interlude and Summer with Monika, Clouzot with Diabolique and The Wages of Fear, Costa-Gavras with The Confession and State of Siege, De Sica with Umberto D. and Indiscretion of an American Wife, David Lean with Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, Mungiu with Beyond the Hils and Graduation, Sirk with All That Heaven Allows and Written on the Wind, Welles with Chimes at Midnight and The Immortal Story. There are plenty of other examples as well. They've been doing it forever.

[metsfan1545d]

are criterion sales usually this crazy on amazon this time of year?

been buying a bunch for around 14-5 dollars with the coupons and promos but dont remember this happening last year

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by metsfan1545d

are criterion sales usually this crazy on amazon this time of year?

been buying a bunch for around 14-5 dollars with the coupons and promos but dont remember this happening last year

No idea. But I think Amazon started doing it this year because I didn't hear any last year. Now that Amazon is price-matching with Barnes and Noble WITH coupons, they may end up putting B&N out of business, which I do not want to see because B&N is the only way I can see Criterion movies physically and I like to check everything physically instead of buying online and getting a broken case.

[bergman864]

Originally Posted by metsfan1545d

are criterion sales usually this crazy on amazon this time of year?

been buying a bunch for around 14-5 dollars with the coupons and promos but dont remember this happening last year

Originally Posted by NeoNical

No idea. But I think Amazon started doing it this year because I didn't hear any last year. Now that Amazon is price-matching with Barnes and Noble WITH coupons, they may end up putting B&N out of business, which I do not want to see because B&N is the only way I can see Criterion movies physically and I like to check everything physically instead of buying online and getting a broken case.

Amazon is not only price-matching B&N, but, if you aren't aware, they're trying to match the price of Target's B2G1 free sale. Once that's over, the coupons probably won't work. If they do, great.

[mediocre]

Originally Posted by KMR

I did the same on Thursday night. Looked like the last copy in stock. Even though I wasn't really all that concerned, I have to admit I was getting a little nervous when the sales associate was having a hard time removing the spider wrap. It was taking quite a while, and he even had to move over to another register and try another removal tool. I was almost getting ready to say "Don't you just have a pair of heavy duty scissors?" Everything turned out OK in the end...

Those things make an ungodly noise when cut, by the way. I used to work at Target years ago and every once in awhile someone would slice one with a box cutter. You could hear it on the other side of the store

[Member-222782]

I should've read some reviews for The Hit before purchasing the Blu-ray. No difference in PQ between the DVD and the BD. Tsk, tsk, Criterion. This is unbecoming of you.

Anyone having issues checking out at B&N? I had 4 titles in my cart and couldn't complete the purchase. A note in red popped up telling me to contact customer service, which I tried, but after holding for 10 minutes I decided to say screw it and ordered the same titles from Amazon, which were price-matched. But then I was looking for an unrelated email in the spam folder and saw a shipping notification with tracking updates for two of the titles so I had to scramble over to Amazon to cancel them! WTF What kind of BS is this?

[castor]

Originally Posted by NeoNical

Just watched Muriel or the Time of Return for the first time and I am mentally drained right now. Shame there wasn't much analysis on Muriel because I'm curious to see some interpretations on this film. It's one of those films I think that should get some scholarly talk.

Muriel is a masterpiece, it's one of my favorite films. I think this article is a pretty good analysis of it.

https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2005/...ited/muriel-2/

[Joeyseven]

Originally Posted by Reddington

Criterion is a niche label selling mostly to film buffs and collectors who aren't returning product en masse. There are undoubtedly re-wraps, but nothing like the scale that has been implied in many posts over the years. Whenever there's a question raised about the type of wrap used, or a missing sticker, the suggestion it's a re-wrap is often not far behind - even though there's little evidence to support it.

Good post.

I ordered a bunch of Criterions from the Target and Amazon sales this past week and received about 10 with loose shrink wrap. Unless the artwork is damage and all looks good, I plan on keeping them. As I did not see any post of damaged or missing product. And I usually do not open a movie until ready to watch or I would not care as much about these rewraps.


Also I do not recall getting so many loose shrink wrap CC in past orders.

Be following this thread when I have more time.

liked the sale ,so bought a little more than planned.

The Heiress
Festival
Cold War
A Matter of Life and Death
Paris Belongs to Us
The Emigrants / The New Land
Insomnia
Death in Venice
Hopscotch [Blu-ray]
Matewan
Now, Voyager

Le samouraï
Manila in the Claws of Light
Secret Sunshine
A Poem Is a Naked Person
L'eclisse [Blu-ray]
Memories of Underdevelopment

[diskspinner]

Satyajit Ray's favorite actor Soumitra Chatterjee (Charulata, Apur Sansar, The Home & the world, An Enemy of the People & many more), who played adult Apu passed away. He had COVID-19.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54500364

[Martin_31]

I watched Satyajit Ray's The Music Room which I found enthralling but cold. Specifically one cut in the film was absolutely phenomenal, when the musician beats the dream and then its the feet of the dancer with bells--the entire scene was incredible.

[Scholer]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

I watched Satyajit Ray's The Music Room which I found enthralling but cold. Specifically one cut in the film was absolutely phenomenal, when the musician beats the dream and then its the feet of the dancer with bells--the entire scene was incredible.

Cold?

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

I watched Satyajit Ray's The Music Room which I found enthralling but cold. Specifically one cut in the film was absolutely phenomenal, when the musician beats the dream and then its the feet of the dancer with bells--the entire scene was incredible.

You mean drum, I think. The Music Room is a great film and quite emotional too, I like it more than some of the Visconti films I've seen that capture the decadence of an older order. Perhaps it's because the music is foreign to you. Indian classical music is for unfamiliar ears an acquired taste, but it is a deeply emotional and even spiritual genre, and the music of the film is very organic to its story.

[Martin_31]

Originally Posted by Scholer

Cold?

Yea Roy's attitude toward his subjects, Ganguli, his wife, and himself to a certain extent. I felt no sympathy toward what had happened to him, so I felt cold, distant.