The Criterion Collection

[filmlover22]

My understanding is that scratches normally don't affect blurays, but they do impact UHDs.

That is one of the negatives about UHD that doesn't get a lot of press.

[BunyipPouch]

I buy used a lot of the time and scratches never affect playback for me (or practically never, maybe a tiny skipping issue every 100 discs or something negligible, it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the movie at all). To me, it's definitely not worth the hassle/returns/worrying/time waste to make sure every disc is 100% perfect every time. I even have a hundred or so ex-library discs in my collection so you can imagine the wear some have gone thru. But I think the same way even when it's new.

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I really don't stress out that much about it. Discs are built pretty strong and can withstand a good amount of light scratching.

It might (read: probably will) come back to haunt me in a decade, but for now it's hardly worth returning a scratched disc 99% of the time in my opinion.

Although, while paying a premium for a new product I can definitely understand why some care. It's not like you'd go to a car dealership, buy a new car, and just accept that there's scratching all over it, as long as it still runs fine. But yeah, my advice is just to not be obsessed about it, unless you've played it and it actually affects playback.

[MifuneFan]

A couple days ago I watched Kurosawa's Stray Dog (1949). I swear every Kurosawa film I watch briefly ends up being my favorite, or high up on the list, and Stray Dog is no different. That's credit to just how incredible Kurosawa's filmography is. Nearly every one of his films could be someone's favorite. Stray Dog is the third collaboration between Mifune and Kurosawa, after Drunken Angel, and the underrated The Quiet Duel (released the same year as Stray Dog).

Mifune plays a rookie detective named Murakami, and the story centers around a pistol that was stolen from him. On the surface, a stolen gun doesn't seem like a lot to work with for a 2 hour film, but as Mifune's character traces the possible whereabouts of the gun, from underground weapons dealers, to bigger players, it leads him further down the rabbit hole, and we see some of the horrible ramifications of that gun in the wrong person's hands.. In some ways, that simple outline is reminiscent of Bresson's L'Argent (1983) where the story starts off following the path of a counterfeit bill, and how it impacts various people's lives along the way.

Mifune hasn't reached the point in his career where he had taken on and/or was expected to have a more macho/rugged persona, so his performance is quite understated compared to many future films. I'd also argue that he's probably his most dashing in this role.. Co-starring with him is Takashi Shimura, who doesn't really show up until 40 mins into the film. From then on however, Shimura's character, acts as an incredible mentor for the young cop. He's a seasoned cop whose rather jaded about criminals, unlike Murakami who still has a lot of idealistic views on them. Shimura is such a calming presence to watch in films. His performances are rarely ever the center of any film (other than Ikiru) but he's often the foundation holding the characters of a film together.

I've had the Criterion DVD for ages, but this is only my second time seeing the film. One thing that stuck out to me right after watching it was realizing that this famous image wasn't in the film:

I popped back in my DVD to see if I somehow missed it, but could not find it. It's been my avatar for like a decade, it's the main picture featured at Janus' website, and has been on various posters and covers of home video releases, but as far as I can tell it was just a promo stil, and not in the movie itself. I actually got a Mandela Effect happening, because I could have sworn I saw it in the film the first time I watched it, anyone else?

One last thing I'll mention is that Stray Dog is set in the midst of a heatwave in Japan, and that's one of the reasons I felt like revisiting the movie, since many parts of the world are going through that right now too. In hindsight, probably not my brightest moment, as the heat coming off the screen was palpable, and made me feel even clammier than I already was. But anyway, still a great watch regardless of which season you watch it in! Also, I always plan on just writing a sentence or two about a movie, and end up writing giant-ass paragraphs, so, sorry about that

[Sifox211]

I loved Stray Dog when I first saw it, during a short Kurosawa season at my local art house. I found it incredibly atmospheric. I bought the Criterion DVD but sold it when they started releasing BDs, expecting an upgrade. I guess that was a mistake

[JasonMichael]

I just bought a copy of Criterion's Stray Dog DVD at a thrift store for a dollar a couple of weeks ago. Haven't watched it yet and it's buried in my unwatched pile, but this review has me wanting to dig it out and watch it tonight or tomorrow. Thanks!

[Member-682067]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

My understanding is that scratches normally don't affect blurays, but they do impact UHDs.

That is one of the negatives about UHD that doesn't get a lot of press.

What's compounding the problem is UHD has had significantly more sales than either BLU or DVD over the past year.

I just read in an article overall sales of discs has gone down dramatically since 2019--by over 2 billion dollars.

This trend of rereleasing the classics on UHD at the expense of another movie even getting a home video release from a back catalog will continue.

I don't think anyone can say for sure whether our niche of home video, particularly concerning older or more special interest and obscure stuff, will be as viable anymore in 3-5 years. It's looking grim.

[Member-682067]

Originally Posted by dkelly26666

After Hours, of course.

"

"Spellbound" has been a common one that comes up as well.

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by TV2693

What's compounding the problem is UHD has had significantly more sales than either BLU or DVD over the past year.

Incorrect.

[Member-682067]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Incorrect.

Tell that to the author of the article then. Where did you get your insight?

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

One last thing I'll mention is that Stray Dog is set in the midst of a heatwave in Japan

Even High and Low was set in the middle of summer, and the film contrasts between the sweaty, smelly environment of the criminal with the isolated air-conditioned comfort of the rich guy. While not central to Drunken Angel, I think that film is also set in a hot and humid setting. I guess Kurosawa sees criminals as sweaty, slimy people and wants to present them as such.

[Stewynewy]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

[Show spoiler]A couple days ago I watched Kurosawa's Stray Dog (1949). I swear every Kurosawa film I watch briefly ends up being my favorite, or high up on the list, and Stray Dog is no different. That's credit to just how incredible Kurosawa's filmography is. Nearly every one of his films could be someone's favorite. Stray Dog is the third collaboration between Mifune and Kurosawa, after Drunken Angel, and the underrated The Quiet Duel (released the same year as Stray Dog).

Mifune plays a rookie detective named Murakami, and the story centers around a pistol that was stolen from him. On the surface, a stolen gun doesn't seem like a lot to work with for a 2 hour film, but as Mifune's character traces the possible whereabouts of the gun, from underground weapons dealers, to bigger players, it leads him further down the rabbit hole, and we see some of the horrible ramifications of that gun in the wrong person's hands.. In some ways, that simple outline is reminiscent of Bresson's L'Argent (1983) where the story starts off following the path of a counterfeit bill, and how it impacts various people's lives along the way.

Mifune hasn't reached the point in his career where he had taken on and/or was expected to have a more macho/rugged persona, so his performance is quite understated compared to many future films. I'd also argue that he's probably his most dashing in this role.. Co-starring with him is Takashi Shimura, who doesn't really show up until 40 mins into the film. From then on however, Shimura's character, acts as an incredible mentor for the young cop. He's a seasoned cop whose rather jaded about criminals, unlike Murakami who still has a lot of idealistic views on them. Shimura is such a calming presence to watch in films. His performances are rarely ever the center of any film (other than Ikiru) but he's often the foundation holding the characters of a film together.

I've had the Criterion DVD for ages, but this is only my second time seeing the film. One thing that stuck out to me right after watching it was realizing that this famous image wasn't in the film:

I popped back in my DVD to see if I somehow missed it, but could not find it. It's been my avatar for like a decade, it's the main picture featured at Janus' website, and has been on various posters and covers of home video releases, but as far as I can tell it was just a promo stil, and not in the movie itself. I actually got a Mandela Effect happening, because I could have sworn I saw it in the film the first time I watched it, anyone else?

One last thing I'll mention is that Stray Dog is set in the midst of a heatwave in Japan, and that's one of the reasons I felt like revisiting the movie, since many parts of the world are going through that right now too. In hindsight, probably not my brightest moment, as the heat coming off the screen was palpable, and made me feel even clammier than I already was. But anyway, still a great watch regardless of which season you watch it in! Also, I always plan on just writing a sentence or two about a movie, and end up writing giant-ass paragraphs, so, sorry about that

Possibly top 5 Kurosawa for me, a big part of that is the setting. The combination of the heat and tense situations makes for a perfect combo. I mentioned this film to a co-worker a couple of weeks ago whilst working in this heatwave, got them to put it on their watchlist. Will they watch it? Probably not.

[CRASHLANDING]

Originally Posted by TV2693

Tell that to the author of the article then. Where did you get your insight?

Can you link your article? Because what that author is saying would contradict everything we've heard over the past several years, including other published articles and insiders in the disc industry.

For example, here's an article from 2021 showing 4k sales severely lagging the older formats (with DVD still leading by a wide margin):
www.flatpanelshd.com

[JasonMichael]

Originally Posted by TV2693

Tell that to the author of the article then. Where did you get your insight?

What article did you read? This is what I have found:

HD Blu-rays accounted for 13.4 per cent of all video discs sold in the US in the second quarter of 2022 – that's the highest since the format launched.

But this growth comes at the expense of regular Blu-ray discs.

UHD and standard Blu-rays account for almost 50 per cent of the US market. The rest are DVDs.

https://www.whathifi.com/us/news/dvd...ue-to-nosedive

So DVDs still account for over half of units sold, followed by Blu-ray with UHD bringing up the rear.

[strumdogg]

Originally Posted by BunyipPouch

It's not like you'd go to a car dealership, buy a new car, and just accept that there's scratching all over it, as long as it still runs fine. But yeah, my advice is just to not be obsessed about it, unless you've played it and it actually affects playback.

That's the exact argument I use to justify (to myself) getting exchanges/replacement discs.

[strumdogg]

Originally Posted by TV2693

What's compounding the problem is UHD has had significantly more sales than either BLU or DVD over the past year.

Walk into any Walmart or Target, and you'll see in real-time how wrong you (or "the article[s]") are.

[Member-682067]

Originally Posted by JasonMichael

What article did you read? This is what I have found:



https://www.whathifi.com/us/news/dvd...ue-to-nosedive

So DVDs still account for over half of units sold, followed by Blu-ray with UHD bringing up the rear.

Since you and the other two posters present evidence to the contrary, I'm inclining towards thinking that the article I read was crap.

Regardless of which type of discs account for total sales, the thing to take away from all of the sources is that disc sales in general are plummeting.

Times are changing.

[Member-682067]

Originally Posted by strumdogg

Walk into any Walmart or Target, and you'll see in real-time how wrong you (or "the article[s]") are.

Walking into any two specific stores wouldn't necessarily be indicative of the overall financial performance of any particular product(not even discs or type of discs.). At a brand or industry level.

Apple is the leader in the technology market, but 'walking into Walmart or Target" and seeing what they have for sale in the electronics department wouldn't be indicative of that.

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by TV2693

Since you and the other two posters present evidence to the contrary, I'm inclining towards thinking that the article I read was crap.

Regardless of which type of discs account for total sales, the thing to take away from all of the sources is that disc sales in general are plummeting.

Times are changing.

They are but it hasn't slowed down physical releases, especially from boutique labels. There will be an audience for physical media for the foreseeable future, even if it is niche. If not, Criterion, Via Vision, Arrow, Second Sight, Shout and all the other boutique labels wouldn't be releasing the volume of discs they are. And selling out limited editions.

[Rayjg]

Originally Posted by strumdogg

That's the exact argument I use to justify (to myself) getting exchanges/replacement discs.

I was always told scratches make a car more aerodynamic.

[dvining]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

I was always told scratches make a car more aerodynamic.