The Criterion Collection

[Reddington]

Snow globe-related. And clearly a shoo-in for a Criterion 4K release...

[GrouchoFan]

(....tiptoes into the thread...)

What if....

Just suppose.....

To make their 4K releases stand out...

Criterion starts using... SLIPCOVERS!!!

(...runs out of thread to hide...)

[prior]

Even more for Amazon to damage.

[MifuneFan]

An admin at Wellesnet says the upcoming Citizen Kane UHD release may be from a new restoration

Fairly reliable source tells me this is a NEW restoration, the first in a decade.

[Hellspawn28]

Too bad Criteron probably won't be releasing Europa on Blu-ray for the 30th anniversary.

[nathan_h]

Originally Posted by Cinematt

iTunes doesn't sell separate HD and 4K versions, you simply get the best quality available at the time. When a 4K version is added by the studio to a previous version it has the same ID number so essentially you own the licence to the ID number and get to watch the best quality one if you want. The studio can also remove the 4K version that was available when you made your purchase, essentially downgrading you to HD only. In practice this usually only happens when they're tweaking the files somehow and the 4K usually returns in short order, but it's a theoretical problem area for consumer rights.

When a different studio lists the same movie it has a different ID number, this has recently happened with Paramount buying the Miramax catalogue, everything has been re-listed and people that own the Miramax versions won't get free upgrades. (Everyone will soon be complaining about this when Scream hits iTunes in 4k.)

So if you've bought a Criterion version on iTunes and Criterion then start selling the 4K then you should get it for free, if the Criterion licence lapses then any subsequent listing from any other studio won't upgrade your Criterion one.

Exactly.

My point was sort of the reverse: I welcome and hope that Criterion starts selling/renting their 4k editions via places like iTunes. But there are so many instances of cross studio ownership that overlap, the feature of getting 4k when you already have 1080p when the 4k is released may not be a huge benefit for this corner of the hobby.

Originally Posted by Dollar Colonel

How else are you going to get a $10 subscriber coupon for the store?

I always ignored those because it seems like the 50% off sales were a better deal. Am I missing something with that line of thought?

Originally Posted by KubrickKurasawa

Kubrick, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, Lumet
All are Day 1's for me
1. Barry Lyndon
2. Ugetsu
3. Rashomon
4. Solaris
5. 12 Angry Men (1957)
6. Stalker
7. Yojimbo
8. Seven Samurai
9. Dreams
10. Ikiru

I am super excited! So ya...the wait begins....

Stalker....one of my all time favorites, but since IIRC is was shot on 16mm and the scans Criterion has access to were 2k, I am skeptical and not too hopeful.....and hope I am proved wrong.

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

An admin at Wellesnet says the upcoming Citizen Kane UHD release may be from a new restoration

Wow. Cool.

Frankly surprised WB didn't do this one themselves. I wonder whether that means their other classics on UHD have sold poorly enough they figure there is more money in licensing it, rather than releasing it directly?

[yoloswegmaster420]

Barry Jenkins' 'Medicine for Melancholy' and Theodore Witcher's 'Love Jones' are going to released by Criterion:
https://twitter.com/theodorewitcher/...88547265863683
https://twitter.com/theodorewitcher/...0608805974016/

[nathan_h]

Originally Posted by bradnoyes

Now that the dust has settled I've come to terms with the fact that I'm obviously going to be buying each and every one of Criterion's UHD releases. Gotta start saving up some money and my criterion channel subscription is the first thing on the chopping block. Not gonna need that anymore!

I'm finding that access to the CC via the service is nice, but its really been useful for the other stuff they bring through there each month. Always seems to be a few gems that make me feel like I got my $8.25 worth for the month.

[Audiopusher]

Originally Posted by AdmiralNoodles

I heavily prefer original cinema audio, especially in lossless. The titles which Criterion doesn't need to bother releasing on 4K UHD disc and should remain on BD are in this thread. Easier to compare those 4K disc titles Criterion only has on BD.
Other companies have better priced sales. I do own quite a few monochrome titles on the format, especially The Elephant Man released by Studio Canal in the UK. Would much rather see the films presented as originally were in cinemas without any tweaks and I'm calling out the weird Storaro (spelling?) aspect ratio nonsense. There's another thread comparing compression but a lot of titles were released early on the BD format with outdated masters.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has a better master, being from a new 4K scan, from Arrow compared to Criterion. BUT, the master used for the Criterion is a far older one and the Arrow much newer. Being John Malkovich is better compressed through Arrow compared to Criterion but once again exclusive bonus features on both. The former I bought in one of Arrow's far more affordable sales through their site. (No wonder why I have so many of their releases in my collection compared to Criterion.) etcetera with comparisons and compression, being I have far more releases through other boutique labels compared to Criterion since said boutiques are far more affordable (through sales once again.)
Will still buy majority of Criterion BDs second hand since the MSRP is still ridiculous, but will of course want to buy many of the 4K+BD packs when the wallet permits. Glad that Criterion is managing to re-license the a lot of titles which originally were on Laserdisc on current formats.

Thanks for the reply, AdmiralNoodles. I appreciate the insight, and the link.

Your point expands upon my thoughts on supplied source materials. A new 4k or 8k scan from the negative is going to look far better than a 2k of the interpositive. You’d think that each studio, given the desire to actually preserve their titles, would supply THE BEST possible materials from which to make a master. It’s possible that was done in many cases, but I doubt it. That said, I’ve been impressed with Warner Archive. The titles I have from them are very good! I too like Arrow. I just wish they’d do a region A of DePalma’s “The Fury”.

[aloop]

Originally Posted by nathan_h

I always ignored those because it seems like the 50% off sales were a better deal. Am I missing something with that line of thought?

You can use the coupons during the 50% off sale.

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by aloop

You can use the coupons during the 50% off sale.

I dunno, they’ve been really cutting down on that.

[tama]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

An admin at Wellesnet says the upcoming Citizen Kane UHD release may be from a new restoration

Makes sense. A newer scan on newer equipment may yield better results. Sony rescanned the same elements for e new HDR pass for Easy Rider.

[AdmiralNoodles]

Originally Posted by Audiopusher

Thanks for the reply, AdmiralNoodles. I appreciate the insight, and the link.

Your point expands upon my thoughts on supplied source materials. A new 4k or 8k scan from the negative is going to look far better than a 2k of the interpositive. You’d think that each studio, given the desire to actually preserve their titles, would supply THE BEST possible materials from which to make a master. It’s possible that was done in many cases, but I doubt it. That said, I’ve been impressed with Warner Archive. The titles I have from them are very good! I too like Arrow. I just wish they’d do a region A of DePalma’s “The Fury”.

Glad I already own their release of THE FURY and not Twilight Time because of this comparison. Glad I'm multi-region but also not because a lot of titles I only want one release for and other titles I don't mind having multiple releases of. But then there's the research.
So to me, Criterion has been off of my 'radar of interest' for quite a long time. Still going to wait for the comparisons, price, etc. regarding Criterion on UHD since they're very late showing up. Titles I'm already interested in but I'll bide my time.

[Audiopusher]

Originally Posted by AdmiralNoodles

Glad I already own their release of THE FURY and not Twilight Time because of this comparison. Glad I'm multi-region but also not because a lot of titles I only want one release for and other titles I don't mind having multiple releases of. But then there's the research.
So to me, Criterion has been off of my 'radar of interest' for quite a long time. Still going to wait for the comparisons, price, etc. regarding Criterion on UHD since they're very late showing up. Titles I'm already interested in but I'll bide my time.

Holy cow that difference is ridiculous. Thanks for that link.

I was looking at multiregion players, but settled on the US Panasonic DP-UB9000. I wanted a tank of a player that actually supported Dolby Vision without having to manually select it (as Sony’s latest player at the time did). And, the Oppo UDP-203 was no longer available. Further, the multi-region version was an extra $500.

I usually grab the Criterion discs at the twice a year Barnes and Noble sales. Sometimes I see them at used record stores in Los Angeles, but they’re few and far between.

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by aloop

You can use the coupons during the 50% off sale.

Not for the last year or two.

[NeilZ]

I still don't get it. Why would Toho hold off Criterion from doing UHD releases of Kurosawa (or even Godzilla for that matter), and more importantly why don't they do one themselves already?

Pretty sure importing Criterion discs to Japan must be pretty costly unless you're a savvy consumer and know when and how to get them at the best prices (B&N sales). But for most consumers I'd think it would hardly be a saving once they factor in shipping (and the possibility of custom taxes). Criterion releases aren't cheap, and I expect the 4K UHD's to be even more expensive. All this to say, reverse import shouldn't frighten Toho unless they're too lazy to do a local release giving desperate consumers no other choice.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by NeilZ

Pretty sure importing Criterion discs to Japan must be pretty costly unless you're a savvy consumer and know when and how to get them at the best prices (B&N sales). But for most consumers I'd think it would hardly be a saving once they factor in shipping (and the possibility of custom taxes). Criterion releases aren't cheap, and I expect the 4K UHD's to be even more expensive. All this to say, reverse import shouldn't frighten Toho unless they're too lazy to do a local release giving desperate consumers no other choice.

Traditionally Japanese releases have been more expensive than imports (I don't know why, maybe national taxes are much higher or they have less volume sales). I've seen that in music, many artists are contractually obliged to put in a bonus track for the Japanese release so that it has USP over a cheaper import. This is also why normally Japanese studios mandate that international region A releases of Japanese films be permitted after a significant delay so that the home release is not cannibalized.

[aloop]

Originally Posted by jshaide

I dunno, they’ve been really cutting down on that.

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

Not for the last year or two.

During the flash sale on criterion.com? Barnes and Noble have limited coupon use yes, but the thing I quoted was referring to the coupons that have been given out to Criterion Channel subscribers for criterion.com.

[BunyipPouch]

Originally Posted by yoloswegmaster420

Barry Jenkins' 'Medicine for Melancholy' and Theodore Witcher's 'Love Jones' are going to released by Criterion:
https://twitter.com/theodorewitcher/...88547265863683
https://twitter.com/theodorewitcher/...0608805974016/

Nice for Love Jones. Medicine for Melancholy is an easyyyyyyyyyyyyy pass for me though, terribly boring movie.

[Hellspawn28]

Other titles that I would like to see be released in 4K UHD from Criterion:

Clerks (1994)
King Kong (1933)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Seven Samurai (1954)