The Criterion Collection

[Shane Rollins]

But we can admit that this flies directly in the face of this "streaming is so profitable" bollocks that's been going around for years now, can we not?

[Driver78]

Originally Posted by apricissimus

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.

I only have Amazon Prime Video atm but rarely even use it. Used to have Netflix. Dunno, most of what I've watched on streaming has looked great to my eyes - maybe it really does depend on where you live and the signal strength. I really hate surfing through these services looking for something to watch, though. It's weird. In principle, I should be happy to have so much content at my disposal and I press a button then Presto! Some movie or TV shows starts playing, but the joy isn't there. Maybe it's because so much of the offerings feel like junk to me, while my collection is 95% movies or TV shows I actually want to watch - perhaps for the 5th or 6th time. That's just WAY more appealing to me. But, yeah, PQ wasn't really an issue for me when I had several services. Satellite TV was way more problematic.

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

But we can admit that this flies directly in the face of this "streaming is so profitable" bollocks that's been going around for years now, can we not?

There’s a lot of nuance - you have Apple, who got into the business for its own reasons, and you have Netflix, which is shoveling in cash - but in short, yeah, this is true. Disney and Paramount are finally reliably profitable, but it took them way more work than they dreamed to get there. It’s not a natural slam dunk, to be sure.

[Sommerswerd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVhzNXX1GIk

[zackisthewalrus]

Originally Posted by dwk

I wonder if it is still in a digipak?

Can confirm that the restock of Babette’s Feast is still in a digipak

[Querelle]

Originally Posted by Driver78

I only have Amazon Prime Video atm but rarely even use it. Used to have Netflix. Dunno, most of what I've watched on streaming has looked great to my eyes - maybe it really does depend on where you live and the signal strength. I really hate surfing through these services looking for something to watch, though. It's weird. In principle, I should be happy to have so much content at my disposal and I press a button then Presto! Some movie or TV shows starts playing, but the joy isn't there. Maybe it's because so much of the offerings feel like junk to me, while my collection is 95% movies or TV shows I actually want to watch - perhaps for the 5th or 6th time. That's just WAY more appealing to me. But, yeah, PQ wasn't really an issue for me when I had several services. Satellite TV was way more problematic.

Prime Video has some good stuff on there, and the quality is fine. I have the Mubi subscription add-on, and there are several Lav Diaz titles, among other things. Some solid on-demand offerings as well, like I recently rented HD versions of The Day of the Owl (they also have the other two Cosa Nostra set titles) and Moses and Aaron

[SleazyForWeasley]

Originally Posted by DimitriL

There’s a lot of nuance - you have Apple, who got into the business for its own reasons, and you have Netflix, which is shoveling in cash - but in short, yeah, this is true. Disney and Paramount are finally reliably profitable, but it took them way more work than they dreamed to get there. It’s not a natural slam dunk, to be sure.

Paramount+ posted a $286 million loss in Q4 2024.

[HenryHill]

I should have bought the Basil Dearden and Alexander Korda Eclipse sets. Come July, I will focus on Eclipse boxes before they disappear.

[DimitriL]

Originally Posted by SleazyForWeasley

Paramount+ posted a $286 million loss in Q4 2024.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/bu...ce-1236053997/

(Yes, they posted a Q4 loss, but they project operational profitability after two profitable quarters in a row before that.)

[MifuneFan]

Just came back from seeing Soderbergh's Black Bag in theaters (great movie btw!) and one of the trailers that accompanied the movie was for Cronenberg's The Shrouds. It's an awesome feeling seeing Janus' logo at a major theater chain like AMC theaters. Their new trailer also has more of a mainstream feel than the usual ones they do for the films they acquired/licensed. The movie will be released in select theaters on April 18th, and wider on April 25th.

Here's the trailer:

THE SHROUDS - Official Trailer - YouTube

[regeyer]

Mine arrived today.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by HenryHill

I should have bought the Basil Dearden and Alexander Korda Eclipse sets. Come July, I will focus on Eclipse boxes before they disappear.

I can't speak for the B&N website, but I haven't seen any Eclipse DVDs in the brick and mortar stores in literally years. Like...when I went there for the initial 4K drop with Kane, there were none then. Turned the whole store upside down too.

2023 I went there for five films, found three, and turned the store upside down again for the other two. We found neither the two I was looking for nor any Eclipse DVDs.

When I finish with the laserdisc opus (which it's not finished, but it's still coming), I might write something about the Eclipse DVDs, that is if someone doesn't beat me to it.

[MovieBuff647]

Originally Posted by speedracer5

I'd love for Criterion to release "Sideways."

Just noticed SIDEWAYS was upgraded to 4K digitally—maybe there's a possibility it gets licensed out to Criterion?

[speedracer5]

Originally Posted by MovieBuff647

Just noticed SIDEWAYS was upgraded to 4K digitally—maybe there's a possibility it gets licensed out to Criterion?

Fingers crossed! I would pick up a Criterion Sideways in an instant!

[Jaymole]

Originally Posted by HenryHill

I should have bought the Basil Dearden and Alexander Korda Eclipse sets. Come July, I will focus on Eclipse boxes before they disappear.

If you have a multi-region player, 3 of the 4 films in the Basil Dearden set are on blu-ray in the UK, the other (Sapphire) is on DVD.

[Shane Rollins]

Who owns Sideways? Does Disney own it outright by way of the Fox deal, or did Fox only have temporary rights to it ergo Disney/Fox no longer has it?

[dwk]

Sideways is a Fox Searchlight title, so it is Disney via Fox.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by dwk

Sideways is a Fox Searchlight title, so it is Disney via Fox.

This is definitely an interesting development. Here's hoping we do get a 4K from someone.

I still can't figure out what is so enjoyable to Disney about not releasing films. They're gaining something from this, but I can't figure out what it is.

[Shane Rollins]

Does anyone have caps or clips of the new Salo restoration?

I'm not exactly the biggest fan of it, but I'll happily snap up the old Blu-ray this July if it means we have the original color grade.

[Colonel Blimp]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

They're gaining something from this, but I can't figure out what it is.

I don't think it's that complicated - they aren't gaining and they aren't willing to lose.

It's somebody's job to oversee any physical media decisions. They have certain titles that they figure "okay, we'll release those."

Anything else is a risk - sure it might make some unknown profit to license or release something, etc etc. BUT it might also lose a dollar off the balance sheet. The guy who's job it is might look bad and get fired.

Nobody's pushing them to do anything. That person is not going to earn a promotion because he licensed Sideways to Criterion. Maybe the transfer goes wrong and people complain that Disney mistreats their negatives. Who knows. They can ONLY lose.

So some version of that is the reason, not any sort of 5-dimensional chess. I don't ever ascribe malice to what can be blamed on apathy.