The Criterion Collection

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by dvining

Fingers crossed for a Little Children release.

In the Bedroom is great too. Would love to upgrade both of my dvds.

[Nori]

Originally Posted by bigdrudogg

Does anyone know if Criterion lost the rights to some of the Japanese titles they've Released on DVD like Red Beard or Samurai Rebellion etc.
I was just curious if any of those films would ever get a Blu-Ray release

Thanks for any info!!

Been wanting those forever. Pretty confident they still have the rights to all the Kurosawa movies at the very least.

I think many believe a Kurosawa box collection is in the works (similar to the Fellini one).

As for Samurai Rebellion good question. I've been hoping they'd upgrade that for a long time.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by TheHighRoller

OMG Eyes Wide Shut 4K commentary/interview.

They let Cate Blanchett pick up the Bergman box as ONE pick? That's a steal.

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

In the Bedroom is great too. Would love to upgrade both of my dvds.

Wishlist for years!

Screw it, “Three by. . .” And let’s do this!

[prkchopexpress]

Originally Posted by Nori

Been wanting those forever. Pretty confident they still have the rights to all the Kurosawa movies at the very least.

I think many believe a Kurosawa box collection is in the works (similar to the Fellini one).

As for Samurai Rebellion good question. I've been hoping they'd upgrade that for a long time.

but weren’t the other sets releases on their respective 100th birthdays?

this is one boxset i would pass on, but that’s only because i already have ran, rashomon, seven samurai, kagemusha, high and low, hidden fortress, ikiru, dreams, sanjuro, yojimbo and throne of blood.

[TheHighRoller]

Originally Posted by ravenus

They let Cate Blanchett pick up the Bergman box as ONE pick? That's a steal.

I think it was Barry Jenkins who went full Supermarket Sweep on them once, that was so funny. At least I think it was him. Alfonso Cuaron also did it on a budget, but what was so funny is that he didn't elaborate on his picks, so it was just kinda stuffing them in the bag. I was sad cause he's one of my favorite directors and I would have loved seeing his reasoning behind his choices.

I think Matthew Modine provided like 20 minutes worth of commentary for his. Or at least it seemed like it. But I like him so I don't mind lol.

[prkchopexpress]

you could really make it a full on show and i would watch it every week.

i’ve never seen a bad one.

[NeilZ]

Originally Posted by TheHighRoller

I think it was Barry Jenkins who went full Supermarket Sweep on them once, that was so funny. At least I think it was him. Alfonso Cuaron also did it on a budget, but what was so funny is that he didn't elaborate on his picks, so it was just kinda stuffing them in the bag. I was sad cause he's one of my favorite directors and I would have loved seeing his reasoning behind his choices.

I think Matthew Modine provided like 20 minutes worth of commentary for his. Or at least it seemed like it. But I like him so I don't mind lol.

Also Bong the director of Parasite. I think he left with as many movies as he could carry.

[TheHighRoller]

Originally Posted by NeilZ

Also Bong the director of Parasite. I think he left with as many movies as he could carry.

Yes I remember that, too.

Personally I don't think Criterion minds considering that the closet visits basically work as advertising for film fans (I remember wanting to get Refn's picks at one time, and managed to get half before I started focusing on what I liked). Plus with certain visitors, their stuff is in the collection already, so it only adds to the relationship they have with Criterion. Plus I doubt the discs cost much to make in regards to materials (maybe $5 each for a Blu-ray release- probably less?). That box set Cate Blanchett walked away with cost maybe what, $20 at most to make? In the end, it works as an ad because now people are going to be curious about it if they haven't been before.

[Rayjg]

Cate don’t mess around

[mande2013]

I personally don't understand why streaming and physical media can't peacefully coexist. It doesn't have to be a zero sum game. For me, the issue is I don't want to have to spend 20-odd bucks every time I'm in the mood to watch a certain film, but I'll physically buy my absolute favorites, along with films that have a lot of replay value. but making all those rare and obscure films available at people's fingerprints on the Criterion Channel should only be seen as a good thing by cinephiles I think. I'm not going to argue regarding the inferior A/V quality. I certainly acknowledge that, but I just don't understand the zero sum game attitude personally. Should the ability to plow through Ozu's or Kurosawa's filmography only be for the affluent who can afford to drop a few hundred dollars on a stack of blu-rays.

With that said, the streaming quality of Apple TV rentals is generally quite good in my experience.

[TheHighRoller]

Originally Posted by mande2013

I personally don't understand why streaming and physical media can't peacefully coexist. It doesn't have to be a zero sum game. For me, the issue is I don't want to have to spend 20-odd bucks every time I'm in the mood to watch a certain film, but I'll physically buy my absolute favorites, along with films that have a lot of replay value. but making all those rare and obscure films available at people's fingerprints on the Criterion Channel should only be seen as a good thing by cinephiles I think. I'm not going to argue regarding the inferior A/V quality. I certainly acknowledge that, but I just don't understand the zero sum game attitude personally. Should the ability to plow through Ozu's or Kurosawa's filmography only be for the affluent who can afford to drop a few hundred dollars on a stack of blu-rays.

With that said, the streaming quality of Apple TV rentals is generally quite good in my experience.

That's how I feel. I used to own like 110 Criterion Blu-rays (incuding OOP titles I got for less than $20), and now I have like maybe 50?

I recently watched A Room with a View on Blu-ray through my library, which I owned for years and never saw and eventually sold. I regretted selling it when I saw it, but other than that there's too many things I never saw and just decided to sell. I also saw Howard's End (I did an MKV of it before selling it- but my library does offer requests for the original OOP Blu-ray) and I didn't feel the same way about it, so it's like if I had kept it I wouldn't really have cared. So for me I can understand both arguments.

Physical media is important, but at the same time I think its silly when people shame others for downsizing or going the digital route. Personally, I stick to movies that I think benefit from a physical presentation, films that I like, or box sets/releases that look nice- more so if they're something I already like or can assume I will like.

[prkchopexpress]

Originally Posted by mande2013

I personally don't understand why streaming and physical media can't peacefully coexist. It doesn't have to be a zero sum game. For me, the issue is I don't want to have to spend 20-odd bucks every time I'm in the mood to watch a certain film, but I'll physically buy my absolute favorites, along with films that have a lot of replay value. but making all those rare and obscure films available at people's fingerprints on the Criterion Channel should only be seen as a good thing by cinephiles I think. I'm not going to argue regarding the inferior A/V quality. I certainly acknowledge that, but I just don't understand the zero sum game attitude personally. Should the ability to plow through Ozu's or Kurosawa's filmography only be for the affluent who can afford to drop a few hundred dollars on a stack of blu-rays.

they have a lot of half off sales, through their own website and barnes and noble. amazon frequently has stuff for half off. target has them for their buy two get one free. you can ever earn gift certificates by buying through them direct.

i don’t think $20 is too much to ask for a movie for a physical copy on blu and it’s not twenty buck every time you watch a movie. it’s twenty bucks to have a copy that you can watch whenever you want.

restoration and rights are expensive. these are all licensed. as someone who remembers when it was $20 for vhs tapes are more dvd, i don’t think $20 is too much for a blu ray in HD with original aspect ratio, extras and decent packaging.

i do agree with you about physical and streaming together being great. it doesn’t have to be one or the other. love the criterion channel. i can’t buy all the movies i want, and their curation is second none. i watched all the ingrid bergman movies when they had them on last year. was super into harold lloyd after checking out safety last for the first time. dove into douglas sirk on there this year. have watched a ton of noir (easily 50 titles) since they launched. if that’s not enough, there is a ton of stuff that shows up there that doesn’t have a physical release. (the keep being the most obvious right now, but i know they had spirits of the dead at one point too)

probably wouldn’t have bought safety last or speedy blind during a sale. but was still able to watch like ten of his movies thanks to the streaming.

[dkelly26666]

Originally Posted by Cinema84

Apparently Best Buy are now carrying Criterion titles. Well, at least the NOTLD 4K as I saw on a recent Youtube video. At a time when brick & mortars are drastically cutting back on their physical media footprint it just seems incredibly odd to see that.

Back in the good ole glory days of the DVD explosion, when half the damn Best Buy store was DVDs and even still some VHS, they used to have most Criterion titles in store. Good old days...

I remember buying "Videodrome", "I Vitelloni", "La Commare Secca", "My Own Private Idaho", "Kagemusha", and many others on DVD there at Best Buy. I also still had Media Play, Borders, and FYE around, too. Stocked and loaded. I'd have to be looking for a REALLY obscure title to have to order it, back then.
On Tuesdays, I'd just run around town and pick up everything I wanted that was coming out, that day.


Ah, the old days.... LOL

[jw007]

I'm trying to restrain myself from commenting on these last few posts about physical media vs. streaming, but... I... cannot...help...myself! Lol

mande2013: I agree with what you wrote for the most part. I have my own (expensive) collection of blu-ray/dvd and I think almost half of my blu-ray collection are Criterions! I spent a FORTUNE on these (got over 300 Criterions now I believe, but haven't bought a new release in at least 1.5 years). I think streaming is great if you're traveling around the world and don't have access to your Criterions though... IN FACT... earlier tonight, while looking for new movies to watch on HBO Max, I came across hundreds of Criterion titles that are on the streaming platform. I was amazed to see so many titles on here. So it really is nice to be able to watch classic films from the collection without needing to access one's blu-rays!

I used to buy physical media in the unlikely scenario that suddenly all the streaming services will black out or get wiped out by some cyber warfare, leaving the masses without a way to watch movies anymore unless you had physical media. I laugh at that notion, but somehow in the back of my head, I still feel empowered to have all these classic/contemporary films archived on physical media should one day the grid collapse (from some sort of nuclear armageddon or crippling cyber attack) and I could watch all my favorite films still on discs (assuming I have my own power source still!).

Does anyone think about any of this too? (I bet I'm the only one here who does)

[George Kaplan]

Originally Posted by jw007

I used to buy physical media in the unlikely scenario that suddenly all the streaming services will black out or get wiped out by some cyber warfare, leaving the masses without a way to watch movies anymore unless you had physical media. I laugh at that notion, but somehow in the back of my head, I still feel empowered to have all these classic/contemporary films archived on physical media should one day the grid collapse (from some sort of nuclear armageddon or crippling cyber attack) and I could watch all my favorite films still on discs (assuming I have my own power source still!).

Does anyone think about any of this too? (I bet I'm the only one here who does)

I do, because I actually had a situation of losing a digital property. A few years ago, I went through my iTunes looking for a song that I had previously bought (I recall it was a Christmas song) and couldn’t find it in my iTunes library. It was gone! I looked for it in the iTunes store and it was not available. I assume that Apple may have lost the rights to that song? I hope I got a refund. Anyway that experience has prompted me to buy all films I wish to own on physical media.

[koberulz]

My internet went out for three hours the other day. It didn't affect my disc collection in the slightest.

[mande2013]

Originally Posted by prkchopexpress

i don’t think $20 is too much to ask for a movie for a physical copy on blu and it’s not twenty buck every time you watch a movie. it’s twenty bucks to have a copy that you can watch whenever you want.

Well I live in Europe, so standalone Criterion blu-rays cost quite a bit more for me than $20 a pop. I can't justify spending $35+ on a blu-ray of something like High and Low that's sourced from a God knows how old master. So in the case of someone like Kurosawa, I'll just stick with the Channel versions of his films until they get UHDs/4K-sourced blu-rays.

However, I'm willing to settle for a 4K digital purchase on Apple TV for films where the UHD is far from reference quality (i.e. The 400 Blows, The Wolf of Wall Street).

[jw007]

Originally Posted by George Kaplan

I do, because I actually had a situation of losing a digital property. A few years ago, I went through my iTunes looking for a song that I had previously bought (I recall it was a Christmas song) and couldn’t find it in my iTunes library. It was gone! I looked for it in the iTunes store and it was not available. I assume that Apple may have lost the rights to that song? I hope I got a refund. Anyway that experience has prompted me to buy all films I wish to own on physical media.

Smart.

[drush9999]

Need to distinguish between buying something digitally and streaming in general which is basically the equivalent of renting. The former I would never do, unless there was no DRM on the downloaded file.