The Criterion Collection

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by horseflesh

Still, if you're not in you can't win!!

Made a single order for the December title, if they cancel, thay cancel.

[Pyoko]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

I don't think the January titles are in the system yet, right?

They are, but the images are a bit misleading since they're not using the correct cover art.

[rkish]

Pleasantly shocked as well about the preorders coming after the sale ends...will probably at least get the Gorin Eclipse set and 12 Angry Men (will get these through the mail...others during the sale I'll get at the store). Damn...will likely spend more money than I wanted to.

Oh well...

[exolstice]

Originally Posted by Pyoko

Now I remember why I hated BN, they reserve the entire amount at once and it's impossible to cancel items from the order page even if they're not scheduled to ship for weeks.

There are a bunch of pre-orders I'm interested in but not certain of, not sure I should risk ordering them in case I change my mind. Any international people ever been successful in canceling parts of an order with their customer service?

Nope. Last time I tried cancelling it took them days to reply at which point the order was 'ready to ship.'

[Arkadin]

well I guess maybe 4 orders is enough for now.

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by Pyoko

They are, but the images are a bit misleading since they're not using the correct cover art.

You are right!

[italy12]

Well, it's 8:30 am here on the east coast, and bn.com is still listing the pre-orders after the sale ends at the $19.99 price point.

Someone mentioned this happened before as an error. Anyone remember how long it was before it was corrected?

[Drag0nFly]

Originally Posted by Cinemach

That's true, the SC release of Mulholland Drive and the UK release of Inland Empire are region-B locked. If you're not region-free than my post above is not really of much help. I forget to take that into account because I've been region-free for a few months.

However the German boxset of those two plus Lost Highway is region-free, though I don't believe they have all of the extras entailed in the other releases. Still recommended though.

The German box set is indeed region-free. That is about the only thing it has going for it, though, as the transfers themselves leave a lot to be desired.

They are all mid-bitrate VC-1 encodes. Mulholland Drive looks the best of the bunch, but it could be vastly improved IMO. For such a mind-blowing piece of work that is is, it certainly deserves better.

Inland Empire looks very, very, marginally better than the DVD (compared to the NTSC/R1). But this is all cancelled out by the lack of extras. The Quinoa bit from the U.S release, for instance, is worth buying the film for IMO.

Have to disagree with the improvement in sound, though. I thought both the 'near field' & 'far field' tracks on the DVD sounded pretty astonishing. They're not in DTS HD MA, but the difference is negligible. Main concern is the picture, but considering it was shot digitally in SD, there is very little anyone could do about that. Such a waste considering the performance of Laura Dern, et al.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by italy12

Well, it's 8:30 am here on the east coast, and bn.com is still listing the pre-orders after the sale ends at the $19.99 price point.

Someone mentioned this happened before as an error. Anyone remember how long it was before it was corrected?

I don't recall this happening with B&N (although it may have)

I recall it happening directly with Criterion, and it was 50% off their already discounted price of $31.96 each..... I ordered every pre-order that day

[Dragon Tattoo]

What are you people talking about? Preorders after the sale ends are not included. Tokyo Drifter is only at 22% off and I'm looking at it right now.

[exolstice]

Originally Posted by Dragon Tattoo

What are you people talking about? Preorders after the sale ends are not included. Tokyo Drifter is only at 22% off and I'm looking at it right now.

They've updated the site obviously, or maybe it was just a mass hallucination... I wonder which scenario is more likely?

[jcs913]

Damn, they just changed all the pre-orders back to the non-19.99 price, except for the 3 still in the sale..

Kudos to those that got in before they changed the prices. I hope they do not cancel those orders, as you guys made out nicely.

[P@t_Mtl]

If they actually change prices for the pre-order (I have my email saying scheduled to ship and The Lady Vanishes is at $19) do they notify you of the change in price?

[EddieLarkin]

For anyone interested Carlos Saura's Flamenco Trilogy is available here for around $45:

http://www.dvdworldusa.com/shopexd.asp?id=59550

The set used to go for around $200 but recently came back in stock at amazon for the regular price. It is no longer in stock and is offered for $100 by third party sellers.

[Arkadin]

well they better not cancel my orders.
I pre-ordered all the Dec releases at $19.99 each, and I plan on them honoring that. It is ridiculous that they have so much time to prepare for this sale, and apparently have still screwed it up.
I mean give me a break.
EDIT: wow, they have indeed changed all the Dec pre-orders back to $30 as well as Rushmore and 12 Angry Men which I also ordered for $19.99 each.
well they really screwed up.
amazing.

[Darkcritic]

What a great way to start a day. Criterion "Buying Frenzy", a nice weather and my birthday (So many Criterion for gifts ). Going to get the following:
- Carlos
- Che
- Leon Morin, Priest
- The Battle of Algiers
- The Complete Jean Vigo
- Hunger
- Eclipse Series 3: Late Ozu
- Eclipse Series 18: Dusan Makavejev Free Radical
- Eclipse Series 29: Aki's Kaurismaki Leningrad Cowboys
Freakin' awesome day !!!

[Beta Man]

Please keep the B&N stuff here:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/movie-tv-d...1-21-11-a.html

Thanks.

And Pat.... they would have to notify you of the price change by law, so the most feasible options are 1) Cancel as pricing error, and 2) Honor it.

I'm guessing they will honor it, since it wasn't that big of an error.

[italy12]

Originally Posted by Dragon Tattoo

What are you people talking about? Preorders after the sale ends are not included. Tokyo Drifter is only at 22% off and I'm looking at it right now.

That means you missed out. The Nov 22 through Jan. preorders were all $19.99 up until a short while ago, according to the forums.

The Moment of Truth was $14.99.

[PowellPressburger]

I have Harakiri, Identification of a Woman, and Island of Lost Souls on hold at my local Barnes to grab during lunch today.

[Cinemach]

Originally Posted by ROclockCK

Interesting jcs913 and CineMach. I'm curious though which HD-DVD you're referring to...the UK version from Optimum or the French one by Studio Canal? I have the latter, and my experience with that disc was pretty darn sweet, although admittedly I was more impressed by the lossless audio than its very good but not reference quality video. As for pitch problems? None that I noticed; of course I'm no expert, just a movie fan. But if it was as blatant and pervasive as Cinemach claims, I'm sure I would have heard an earful from the perfect pitch musician I watched it with. I mean, dude's always no-holds-barred about such issues. At times, brutally so. Narry a peep out of him.

So each to his own I guess. In any case, it's all academic and sidebar to this Criterion discussion - the consensus of opinion being "they aint gettin' it any time soon". The vehemance of your criticisms were just a bit startling is all...they simply didn't jibe with my experience watching the French Studio Canal disc on a virtually new full 1080p HD-DVD deck. Truth be told, I'd rather own and watch Mulholland Drive on Blu, and will probably end up springing for the German box (no region-free player yet, so the UK Region B release is a non starter for me, although you do make it sound enticing). Despite my reservations about the double-dip, I think I'm more frustrated by the fact that none of the existing Blu's offer what the cine-geek in me r-e-a-l-l-y wants...the ability to view this film along with its original unaired TV pilot to better understand the creative process Lynch went through in decontructing it into such a great film.

To return to Mulholland Drive and things David Lynch...^above^ I'm talking the US HD-DVD. I wasn't aware the ones produced in other countries would be different. Reading the reviews of the US disc, there's a pitch problem with the audio due to it being mastered from a PAL source and being played back at 25 instead of 24 frames per second (I think, going from memory here). And the PQ, as enumerated before, is problematic.

Really can't recommend the SC blu (and going region-free) here more highly, if you can.

Inland Empire looks very, very, marginally better than the DVD (compared to the NTSC/R1). But this is all cancelled out by the lack of extras. The Quinoa bit from the U.S release, for instance, is worth buying the film for IMO.

Have to disagree with the improvement in sound, though. I thought both the 'near field' & 'far field' tracks on the DVD sounded pretty astonishing. They're not in DTS HD MA, but the difference is negligible. Main concern is the picture, but considering it was shot digitally in SD, there is very little anyone could do about that. Such a waste considering the performance of Laura Dern, et al.

I have both the 2-disk DVD and the UK blu of Inland Empire, and the blu has better AQ. If it's marginal to you than okay, but I thought the blu was more dynamic. And the blu has its own set of extras, too - they're more of the interview variety but esp since Lynch doesn't do commentaries those are of interest. And both versions can be had for fairly cheaply (I spent ~$20 for both) to make your own deluxe version - which is what I recommend.