The Criterion Collection

[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

Then you've got to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, hipster?

Not a hipster. And I did. Took a chance and bit, fingers crossed...

[ShellOilJunior]

Criterion would assert they already knock $8 off the list price for their blu-rays.

Their price isn't terrible. It's fair (especially if the order is $50 or more).

[rkish]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

Thanks! Like rkish I'm on a Bergman kick at the moment.

+1 on MOC and Amazon.co.uk.

I own their Fantastic Planet DVD (region 0, NTSC) as the Blu-ray is zone B locked. Criterion-esque in its special features and booklet.

I've ordered from Amazon.co.uk numerous times and have had nothing but good experiences with them. In my experience they are more consistently reliable than Amazon.com. When I lived in NYC I would receive orders within a couple of days. Even now in middle America I still get deliveries in 7-10 days.

What's the latest Bergman, that you've watched?

Ditto on MoC and Amazon UK.

I have bought all my Eureka/MoC releases from them and not only do they have free shipping, but their customer service is second to none!

I'm starting to pick up BFI's Ozu BDs and have been buying them from Amazon UK. They may give a long date for delivery, but I got "Tokyo Story" in about 5-7 days and expect the same for "Late Spring" and "Early Summer".

MoC delivery has been as good or better...and I live in upstate NY.

HEY JOE! Ya got to buy a region free BD player. La planete sauvage (Fantastic Planet) is what finally pushed me to do it. I had the DVD version that was released years ago in the US and always hoped that someone would release it on blu...I was initially heartbroken when I found out that MoC had to region lock it.

I saw it as a much younger man, when it was released in US theaters years ago, so it's always been an important film for me.

[TJS_Blu]

If you follow the B&N coupons thread over at DVDTalk, you probably already know this...but a few of us will be deciding on whether to renew our memberships in the coming months and so thought it might be worthwhile to post here...

This year's coupons have changed. Last year the two coupons were 1)5 bucks off a 25 dollar DVD/Blu-Ray & 2) 5 bucks off a 50 dollar purchase. These have been replaced by 1)8 bucks off a 40 dollar blu-ray/dvd & 2) 5 bucks off a DVD (that's right, no mention of blu!) with a price of 20 dollars.

The folks at DVDTalk seem to think these changes were aimed specifically at the Criterion sale since the MSRP for most Criterion Blu-Rays is 39.99, So this 8 dollar coupon will not apply to anything but multi-disc titles (Blu-Rays, Eclipse, and the obsolete & redundant format). I guess the really good news is that this would tend to confirm that the sales will continue in 2011, the memberships just won't pay for themselves as easily as in the past.

[BasicGreatGuy]

Originally Posted by rkish

What's the latest Bergman, that you've watched?

Ditto on MoC and Amazon UK.

I have bought all my Eureka/MoC releases from them and not only do they have free shipping, but their customer service is second to none!

I'm starting to pick up BFI's Ozu BDs and have been buying them from Amazon UK. They may give a long date for delivery, but I got "Tokyo Story" in about 5-7 days and expect the same for "Late Spring" and "Early Summer".

MoC delivery has been as good or better...and I live in upstate NY.

HEY JOE! Ya got to buy a region free BD player. La planete sauvage (Fantastic Planet) is what finally pushed me to do it. I had the DVD version that was released years ago in the US and always hoped that someone would release it on blu...I was initially heartbroken when I found out that MoC had to region lock it.

I saw it as a much younger man, when it was released in US theaters years ago, so it's always been an important film for me.

I didn't see a way to order from MoC.

[greekak229]

Originally Posted by whbinder

Well, I've got mad respect for that collection. If my guess is right, you wouldn't want to keep this movie, but I think you'd enjoy catching it once and kind of admiring that they did something decent out of a corny little project.

I appreciate that. Maybe if I have enough cash on me, at the time, I might consider getting it. If not, then maybe during the next sale or something.



Talking about Robinson Crusoe on Mars, for anybody who wants to add any thoughts on it.

[greekak229]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

I'm with you - saw a little bit of it a long time ago, but the BD doesn't elicit any excitement for me. Will probably give it a rent, though.

I actually kind of like being way behind on purchasing the titles I want (NEED). Sucks to have so few BDs, but gives me way more options when I do go shopping! I can tell those of you who are "caught up" are chomping at the bit for the next wave to hit.

What are some of the titles that are a top priority for you?

[BasicGreatGuy]

The last time I saw "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" was on t.v. many, many years ago. In my opinion, it is a B-movie. It is sci-fi cheese. It is not a priority movie for me.

[rkish]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

Winter Light, though I'd seen it before. The most recent new (to me) Bergman I've watched is Sawdust & Tinsel, which I'd place near The Magician in the middle of the pack as far as favorites. Also recently watched and liked Hour of the Wolf.

I love The Seventh Seal, but I forget how much I enjoy Bergman's other films until I break down and watch them again. I remember loving Wild Strawberries when I first saw it years ago so I'll put that one on again soon in anticipation of the BD release.



I would love to go region-free, except at the moment I can't even afford to buy discs much less another, more expensive player. You've probably mentioned it before, but remind me what kind of region-free player you have. Is is a Momitsu?

On the subject, has anyone tried buying a cheap entry-level R2 BD player and using a power adapter to plug it into a US outlet? Seems like an inexpensive way to go (mostly) region-free. Would it require more power than the adapter could handle?



Me, too - I remember seeing it on late night TV, probably on USA's Night Flight. I love MoC's DVD - the isolated soundtrack is a cool feature, and considering both the DVD and the soundtrack are OOP, it was a good buy.

I think we seem to be drawn to some of the same Bergman films. I was initially going to rent (NetFlix) "Winter Light", but a respected member of this thread suggested that I view the trilogy in order, so I started with "Through a Glass Darkly", then "Winter Light" and finally "The Silence" tonight.

As intense and deep as "The Silence" was, I think "Winter Light" is my favorite of those three. A masterful performance by Gunnar Bjornstrand, who I think is my favorite of Bergman's regular troupe.

Being that I liked "The Magician", my Bergman mentor suggested that I give "Sawdust and Tinsel" a shot and I wound up loving it as well. I came very close to buying the DVD, but I really feel that it will be released on blu in the next year or so. The Janus film connection certainly can't hurt. I haven't seen "Hour of the Wolf", but it's in my Instant Queue, so maybe I'll stream it this weekend.

It took me a few viewings of "The Seventh Seal" to warm to it. My third viewing on blu was quite enjoyable. I think that, that is what got me started on my interest in Bergman. "Wild Strawberries" should be another winner on blu as well.

Yes...my region free player is a Momitsu 799 that I purchased on EBay for $219.00 plus shipping. It's played everything I've thrown at it and allowed me to finally purchase the region B blu of "Fantastic Planet".

Wow...USA's Night Flight...what a blast from the past! How come NO ONE has duplicated that show in any way. They used to show a lot of unusual content and I also remember seeing "Fantastic Planet" one Saturday night many years ago. I had never realized that the MoC DVD was region free...a shame that they were forced to release the blu as region locked.

Next rental will be "The Double Life of Veronique" for the weekend.

As I'm trying to stick with blus as much as humanly possible, I'm currently pursuing the Ozu blus from BFI. I've already got "Tokyo Story" and am waiting on orders of "Late Spring" and "Early Summer". I consider these to be good deals as they are about $22 shipped from Amazon UK and you get two films per package, so $11 a film ain't bad.

[greekak229]

That Momitsu 799 looks like a beast.

[italy12]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

I'm with you - saw a little bit of it a long time ago, but the BD doesn't elicit any excitement for me. Will probably give it a rent, though.

I actually kind of like being way behind on purchasing the titles I want (NEED). Sucks to have so few BDs, but gives me way more options when I do go shopping! I can tell those of you who are "caught up" are chomping at the bit for the next wave to hit.

Oh man, it is quite the opposite. While I do plan on collecting the entirety of CC Blus, I thought the other day...it will actually never end! Just when I'm caught up, as I am now, the next month will mean more titles to buy (and watch, of course...I'm lookin' at you CC).

It seems as though I'll never get ahead. And yes, while it is an obsession, I actually do plan on watching all of them, and have been trying to watch 2-3 per week now to catch up.

I have all the Jan. titles ordered from the B&N store, and will pick them up 3 at a time with this month's sale (need a third non-Criterion for the 11th to make the sale), and have 2 ordered from February when Borders had that 40% coupon. The rest, I'm afraid, will have to wait until July! (Unless some other really insane sale comes up!)

[italy12]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

I'm resigned to the fact that even though there are easily 30 or so CC Blu-rays I'd like to own, I probably won't ever own half of them. Considering my very modest home theatre and the volume of movies I watch via Netflix/stream/public library/my own DVD & BD collection, it actually doesn't make any sense for me to buy (even though I want to!) anything I won't watch repeatedly. I loved Olivier Assayas' Summer Hours, for example, and it's on my wishlist, but I doubt I'd watch it more than a couple of times over the next few years. So right now there are about a dozen titles I'm shooting for, and maybe a dozen non-CC BDs I want.

I hear ya on that. With Best Buy cutting hours after Christmas, and my other "real" job paying the "real" bills, I've had to cut back my spending this month and probably the next 2 or 3 as well. So...I will use this time to catch up on what I haven't already seen.

On another note...my brother was down for Christmas and he used my PS3 to log on to his Netflix account so we could watch movies, and he left me his log-in info so now I can stream movies. I'm looking for a few good suggestions from anyone who uses Netflix and watches older, more obscure films...

Thanks!

[herzog4life]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

If you follow the B&N coupons thread over at DVDTalk, you probably already know this...but a few of us will be deciding on whether to renew our memberships in the coming months and so thought it might be worthwhile to post here...

This year's coupons have changed. Last year the two coupons were 1)5 bucks off a 25 dollar DVD/Blu-Ray & 2) 5 bucks off a 50 dollar purchase. These have been replaced by 1)8 bucks off a 40 dollar blu-ray/dvd & 2) 5 bucks off a DVD (that's right, no mention of blu!) with a price of 20 dollars.

The folks at DVDTalk seem to think these changes were aimed specifically at the Criterion sale since the MSRP for most Criterion Blu-Rays is 39.99, So this 8 dollar coupon will not apply to anything but multi-disc titles (Blu-Rays, Eclipse, and the obsolete & redundant format). I guess the really good news is that this would tend to confirm that the sales will continue in 2011, the memberships just won't pay for themselves as easily as in the past.

A day that will live in infamy. I really hope you can still use the coupons on the 40 dollar titles, or this is going to seriously cut into my Criterion buying.

[Cocophone]

Originally Posted by italy12

It seems as though I'll never get ahead. And yes, while it is an obsession, I actually do plan on watching all of them, and have been trying to watch 2-3 per week now to catch up.

You must not have kids. I'm lucky if I can watch 2-3 per MONTH. I will never catch up!

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by Cocophone

You must not have kids. I'm lucky if I can watch 2-3 per MONTH. I will never catch up!

A new dedicated room which is nowhere near my kids' bedrooms has "helped" me be able to watch more films during the evening hours...... but even so, by the time I'm done doing the various duties of life/family/hobbies, I'm usually too worn out to stay awake through an entire film.......

I put on some "Big-Action-Blow-up-the-world" blockbuster the other night, and my wife said she could hear it OUTSIDE of the house..... but that didn't keep me from falling asleep

When I do have the time and energy..... it's great to enjoy a nice little piece of cinema.

[italy12]

Originally Posted by Cocophone

You must not have kids. I'm lucky if I can watch 2-3 per MONTH. I will never catch up!

My kid is on the left there...he is 8 months old, and he goes to bed early. My wife goes to bed around 8 or 9, and once we're done hanging out, I retreat to my man-cave and watch TV and movies and play video games. It's my only down time when I'm not at Best Buy.

I actually had to get the 2nd job to help pay for day care and other baby-related paraphernalia...and blu rays.

[italy12]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

A new dedicated room which is nowhere near my kids' bedrooms has "helped" me be able to watch more films during the evening hours...... but even so, by the time I'm done doing the various duties of life/family/hobbies, I'm usually too worn out to stay awake through an entire film.......

I put on some "Big-Action-Blow-up-the-world" blockbuster the other night, and my wife said she could hear it OUTSIDE of the house..... but that didn't keep me from falling asleep

When I do have the time and energy..... it's great to enjoy a nice little piece of cinema.

Exactly! I can imagine when my son is old enough to walk (or run) around, I will probably be more tired, but I do occasionally fall asleep during a movie. Lately, coffee has been helping me stay awake at night. I don't drink it in the morning. I'd rather sleep through work and stay up for my movies!

[Arkadin]

this causes confusion all the time because what MoC does is send out email links to people that have signed up for their free monthly online newsletter.
so just sign up at the Eureka site and you'll start getting the emails each month.
For some unknown reason Eureka does not have a "shop" tab on their online site, even though they do sell their discs direct.
(btw: anyone can send you the link or you can just look for a posting of it; iow you don't have to be signed up to access the link)

[JediFonger]

you have to email moc directly, get their paypal email and send the payment that way to buy it. that's how i've done it.

[italy12]

Originally Posted by Joe Dalek

Depends on what you consider old and obscure. Do you have any Criterion DVDs? If not, there are lots of Criterion titles on Netflix streaming that aren't available on BD.

On DVD, I only own Armageddon (don't ask) and The Vanishing.

I guess I was looking for pre-1970's films, foreign or American, just some favs from the bunch on here. It's a good time to try and expand on what I already know and like (mostly stuff from the CC).