The Criterion Collection

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by DrasticHandprint

Holy moly, my sale order is out for delivery this morning! I’ve been having a lot of issues with usps lately with getting packages fairly slow/meandering in sorting facilities way past the holidays, so this is a nice surprise.

Very cool. Just in time for the weekend!

[Cheddar Goblin]

Just earned my first $50 credit. Question for the vets: can I apply that to my account and just let it sit there or should I save this email til the next sale?

[dvining]

Originally Posted by Cheddar Goblin

Just earned my first $50 credit. Question for the vets: can I apply that to my account and just let it sit there or should I save this email til the next sale?

It's good until you use it. Wait as long as you want, or as long as Criterion exists as a company.

[RojD]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

More René Clair added at Janus. I wonder if a box set could be planned?

The Italian Straw Hat (1928)
Directed by René Clair
https://www.janusfilms.com/films/2259

Les Deux Timides (1928)
Directed by René Clair
https://www.janusfilms.com/films/2260

14 Juillet (1933)
Directed by René Clair
https://www.janusfilms.com/films/2261

According to the Clair Retrospective (starts Friday) page at Film Forum all of these are from new 4K restorations.

https://filmforum.org/series/rene-clair

Wondering the same thing. Some great titles in that 20-film series.

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by RojD

Wondering the same thing. Some great titles in that 20-film series.

I hope so---all these big director grabs that Janus makes should be box sets, the individually releases get on my nerves when they tour like a dozen film series, etc.

[BobSimms]

Originally Posted by MovieBuff647

Yeah I fully expect SISTERS to eventually get a 4K as it is a 4K restoration, hence why I have not bought the Criterion yet despite it being my favorite De Palma.

You and I might be the only ones who say that about SISTERS.

[sherlockjr]

Originally Posted by jshaide

I hope so---all these big director grabs that Janus makes should be box sets, the individually releases get on my nerves when they tour like a dozen film series, etc.

Individual releases are a whole lot more affordable than a dozen film box set. Especially if you're not interested in several of those dozen.

Note that many of these films will likely be streaming on The Criterion Channel, as are many of the titles where Janus owns the North American distribution rights.

[MifuneFan]

I don't feel like Criterion could sell many of these Clair titles individually, so if they're coming out physically, I would guess it would be a box set. Sort of the same like the Bergman set in that regard.

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by sherlockjr

Individual releases are a whole lot more affordable than a dozen film box set. Especially if you're not interested in several of those dozen.

Note that many of these films will likely be streaming on The Criterion Channel, as are many of the titles where Janus owns the North American distribution rights.

Streaming is fun and all, but owning a compact set with a bunch of movies by a single director with writings about the films and maybe some commentaries and going on a little journey with them and it only being like a hundred bucks at sale time is clutch.

[Blacknapkins]

I stopped buying Criterion and Scream Factory titles because of garbage QC. I decided to give Criterion another shot, and well, it seems like QC is still non-existent. I bought Bound and Farewell My Concubine And artwork on both is torn on the spines from the artwork sitting too high, and Bound has a nice tear at the top, and the 4K disc has a nice long scratch. Sigh, such a shame.

[DrasticHandprint]

Originally Posted by Blacknapkins

I stopped buying Criterion and Scream Factory titles because of garbage QC. I decided to give Criterion another shot, and well, it seems like QC is still non-existent. I bought Bound and Farewell My Concubine And artwork on both is torn on the spines from the artwork sitting too high, and Bound has a nice tear at the top, and the 4K disc has a nice long scratch. Sigh, such a shame.

These are all Vantiva issues, not Criterion QC. Criterion will also replace all of damaged item issues for free if you contact CS.

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by jshaide

Streaming is fun and all, but owning a compact set with a bunch of movies by a single director with writings about the films and maybe some commentaries and going on a little journey with them and it only being like a hundred bucks at sale time is clutch.

Rene Clair would especially be a lot of fun with such a varied filmography. It would be especially neat if Criterion could include his American films, but I'd be happy with at least his 20s and 30s work.

[MifuneFan]

Film Forum's April to June Schedule (PDF) is now up. Not a whole lot as far as Criterion/Janus goes. They will be showing René Clément’s Forbidden Games (1952) from a 4K restoration. Criterion's DVD is currently OOP, but it feels like a title they will re-release on BD if not 4K as well.



They'll be showing a few films from Claude Lelouch as well, most notably A Man and A Woman (1966). Not sure what the rights are for all of them, but I could see one or more going to Criterion too.

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

Rene Clair would especially be a lot of fun with such a varied filmography. It would be especially neat if Criterion could include his American films, but I'd be happy with at least his 20s and 30s work.

Totally, would be great. Be a ton of DVD upgrades all at once too.

And some directors make sense to me to stagger releases, but some of the deeper cut names they've been touring, or the discovery names for many---the people buying *those* individual releases will probably want to check out the other films.

[Blacknapkins]

Originally Posted by sfmarine

Shipping confirmation this morning.

Good luck, my friend. Your luck is almost as bad as mine. Haha

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Film Forum's April to June Schedule (PDF) is now up. Not a whole lot as far as Criterion/Janus goes. They will be showing René Clément’s Forbidden Games (1952) from a 4K restoration. Criterion's DVD is currently OOP, but it feels like a title they will re-release on BD if not 4K as well.

I sure hope so. A couple of other OOP dvd titles that I’d like are: The Fallen Idol and Diary of a Country Priest. I was kind of bummed during the Flash Sale to see that la Bete Humaine had gone OOP. Every once in awhile I’d be tempted to get the dvd but it was always Currently Unavailable.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by DimitriL

This might not have anything to do with a label’s decisions - Scorsese and Spielberg have been trying to get a series adaptation of Cape Fear made for awhile. Now that it’s going into production at Apple, I’d guess we probably won’t see a Cape Fear disc until that hits.

"Capest 2 Fearest" perhaps?

I love people in Hollywood having a job and all but we need new ideas. Aside from perhaps Living, I can't name the last foreign remake of an Asian film I loved. Most of them are middling at best if not outright dreadful, with the American version of Oldboy being one of the worst atrocities in cinema history.

Originally Posted by Sifox211

My big regret is never managing to visit a B&N during the sale

My big regret is going to B&N days before the sale started, when I was a teenager (ie, no money), paying full-price for the DVD of Videodrome even after I made the jump to Blu-ray, and not realizing my mistake until I got home, broke the seal, played it, and wondered why it looked like a DVD.

Originally Posted by MaxPalmer

I am looking at box-sets to get during the B&N 50% sale since I found a way to ship to the UK. People say the Bergman sets is one of the essential ones to get. I have all the volumes of the BFI collection that they put out so I was wondering if the Criterion is worth it or is it better to get something new.

I don't have the BFI sets, but the Bergman set is a beauty. Absolutely get it.

I have never ordered through the B&N website, but if it's coming from a brick and mortar store, make sure it hasn't been spider-wrapped. Having seen many of their sets spider-wrapped (Bergman, AK100, Bruce Lee, Godzilla, Zatoichi, the Olympic films set, BBS, Pasolini, and many more), those spider-wraps mercilessly eff the package, and kindly asking them to get you one that doesn't look awful won't work.

[SeanJoyce]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

I sure hope so. A couple of other OOP dvd titles that I’d like are: The Fallen Idol

Agreed, I'd love to finally complete Reed's marvelous 1-2-3 trifecta.

I still maintain that the shot of

[Show spoiler]Sonia Dresdel in full psychotic mode hovering over Henrey in bed

is absolutely terrifying.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by jshaide

Streaming is fun and all, but owning a compact set with a bunch of movies by a single director with writings about the films and maybe some commentaries and going on a little journey with them and it only being like a hundred bucks at sale time is clutch.

I've streamed four movies in my life. The first three (Reservoir Dogs, A Clockwork Orange, Scarface 83) were terrible. The fourth one (Goodfellas) was okay.

The same four on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K looked and sounded better than the streams.

Knowing that, and knowing how amazing many of Criterion's films are, I wouldn't dare take a step down and watch them on streaming.

I'll bring Bergman back into this. I'm waiting for Wild Strawberries and The Virgin Spring to make the jump to 4K. They're likely not next in the Bergman queue, but I still love them. I'd rather they go up to 4K resolution with DV and HDR and uncompressed sound, then down to maybe a few hundred kilobytes of blocky data, whatever uber-compreesed lossy version of DV exists, and DD mono sound.

[apricissimus]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

I've streamed four movies in my life. The first three (Reservoir Dogs, A Clockwork Orange, Scarface 83) were terrible. The fourth one (Goodfellas) was okay.

The same four on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K looked and sounded better than the streams.

Knowing that, and knowing how amazing many of Criterion's films are, I wouldn't dare take a step down and watch them on streaming.

I'll bring Bergman back into this. I'm waiting for Wild Strawberries and The Virgin Spring to make the jump to 4K. They're likely not next in the Bergman queue, but I still love them. I'd rather they go up to 4K resolution with DV and HDR and uncompressed sound, then down to maybe a few hundred kilobytes of blocky data, whatever uber-compreesed lossy version of DV exists, and DD mono sound.

Streaming does offer poorer quality in general than watching movies on disc. That's true.

But some streaming services are better than others. And even with the lower quality, streaming offers access to a huge number of movies that honestly look pretty darn good overall. Good enough that you should still be able to enjoy the movie.

If slightly worse video or audio quality ruins the movie for you, I suggest you might be in it for the wrong reasons.

Just consider that people made due with VHS, and were still able to enjoy movies. Or a UHF broadcast on a CRT TV.. Or on a beat up old print in crappy theater.

It's reasonable to prefer better video and audio quality, all else being equal. But I don't know man, I would have missed out on so many things if I limited myself only to the best possible presentation available.