The Criterion Collection

[Tin Drum]

Originally Posted by waxHead

I quickly read reviews on almost every Criterion that DD had in stock that night, including Insignificance. I passed on it as the review made it sound depressing, so I figured I'd try to rent it before buying. Maybe I should've grabbed it anyway...

Insignificance is definitely a title that should be rented first (that's what I did and ending up falling in love with it).

Wow, 13 titles?

[Sinthetic]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

You may recall some of us posted our concern over melted plastic/glue on the spines of several Criterion releases.... I got a response back from Criterion regarding the issue...



Personally I just want a near clear Criterion case and honestly don't feel like mailing back my cover artwork to get one. I don't order direct from Criterion enough for the 10.00 Gift Certificate to be of a benefit. But for others there you have it.

There is a really good seller on eBay, he sells batches of new cases. Get some for back up if stuff like case defects piss you off. I did.

[Tin Drum]

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

Personally I just want a near clear Criterion case and honestly don't feel like mailing back my cover artwork to get one. I don't order direct from Criterion enough for the 10.00 Gift Certificate to be of a benefit. But for others there you have it.

I'm confused about the pessimism, to be honest. They are making up for it and more, IMO.

Things like that happen. Criterion isn't the first to have the 'plastic spine' curse and probably won't be the last. They are always super cool and bend over backwards for their customers. They didn't even have to give out a gift cert and they really didn't have to offer up a new case either. It's not like Fox every did when darned near every dvd they brought out had the plastic spine curse.

[BohemianGraham]

Harold and Maude is in the mailbox now, I just need to get dressed and go get it. Hopefully Fanny and Alexander might be there too.

[waxHead]

Originally Posted by Tin Drum

Insignificance is definitely a title that should be rented first (that's what I did and ending up falling in love with it).

Wow, 13 titles?

I'll keep Insignificance on my "Criterion radar", though my film backlog is so large that I'm not sure when I'll get to it. Maybe sometime in the next... year or two?

Yeah, I picked up a bunch. Those were the lowest prices I'd seen for new Criterion Blu-rays, and I'd read a lot of the reviews after Amazon's repeated sales on them. I ended up buying:

[Show spoiler]Black Orpheus, Blow Out, Broadcast News, Carlos, Charade, Cronos, Days of Heaven, Kiss Me Deadly, M, The Red Shoes, Rules of the Game, Seven Samurai, and Traffic. I didn't average out the prices, but including both Carlos and Seven Samurai, I probably paid just under $17 shipped per title.

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by Tin Drum

I'm confused about the pessimism, to be honest. They are making up for it and more, IMO.

Didn't mean it in a negative... I think it is great but I honestly don't feel like going thru the trouble... I also don't purchase direct from C that much since it is usually one title at a time and w/ shipping cost it doesn't make it the cheapest purchase on the web. (In fact in the last 3 years I may have spent 90.00 at CC.com Store.

Also if I didn't care I probably wouldn't have posted this info for others...

Thank you for your email. We are aware of the shrink-wrapping issue and are sorry to hear that you received one of the affected cases.
During the manufacturing of some of our recent Blu-ray releases, the outer shrink wrap melted to the case spine because of excessive heat in the wrapping equipment. If you received one of the damaged cases, we would be happy to send you a replacement case for the following affected Blu-ray titles: ¡ALAMBRISTA!, SHALLOW GRAVE, HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE GOLD RUSH, and SUMMER WITH MONIKA. Please note that these are the only titles that were affected.

If you have one of these damaged titles, please send the cover art sleeve (cover art only) to my attention at the address below. Please include your email and postal address, and please do not include any additional packaging. When we receive the cover art, we will send you a new Blu-ray case and cover art, and a $10 gift certificate to Criterion.com. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, and thank you for supporting Criterion!

Jon Mulvaney

The Criterion Collection
Attn: Jon Mulvaney
215 Park Avenue South
Floor 5
New York, NY 10003

[BluPix]

Originally Posted by kazama

It's one of my all time favs, so I'm really happy when I see people discovering this little gem. If you like the director's style then I strongly recommend you to check Kassovitz's other masterpiece, Assassin(s).

I also read that his new film, L'Ordre et la Morale (english title: Rebellion) is just as good as his older films, so I can't wait to see it.

Thanks for the tips, kazama. La Haine was the first film by Kassovitz that I've seen and I very much liked his style in that film. I'll have to check out those other pictures you mentioned.

[BluPix]

Originally Posted by RojD

I thought this was an amazing film, too, so understated and so intense. What impressed me here is that Melville manages to show how the characters displace their sexual desire for each other into religious terms--a grand Catholic tradition-- and he manages to grow their love for each other and their religious life simultaneously. I don't know of another film that works on both levels so seamlessly. And he does it mostly through dialogue.

And another thing I like here is the excess. Films often like all the detail clipped and tucked in, but you get a big range of excess characters here (collaborator supervisor, child's friendship with Nazi officer) and lots of "unnecessary" context detail. For somebody like me, this really adds to the film.

Glad you found your post. Great film I'd heard very little about before it appeared on Crit blu.

Leon Morin, Priest is one of those titles I've been very interested in blind buying, but haven't yet. I'm likely going to pick it up during one of the upcoming B&N sales.

[santasangria]

Off topic -- Isn't June the month for the big Barnes and Noble sale?

[blkhrt]

Originally Posted by santasangria

Off topic -- Isn't June the month for the big Barnes and Noble sale?

July.

[broganreynik]

Originally Posted by DarkRyder

I only got the chance to see Pierrot le fou today, but what a hell of a film. I've only seen it once more when I wasn't too well educated in Godard, and it bored and infuriated me; now, I can honestly say it's one truly amazing film. The way Godard mixes so many different styles at once, it's almost like every film before hand was him practicing and experimenting with multiple styles in order to perfect this one film.

In a weird way, it reminded me a lot of a cartoon. I couldn't get the idea out of my head. The way Godard uses colors, the way characters acted, the scenarios, it all felt like something out of Looney Tunes. Definitely fun and entertaining, but still not for a casual viewer.

I definitely agree with this. This was the first Godard film that I watched, and I was turned off by it. I followed it up with Breathless and just came to terms with maybe I don't like Godard. I had a similar experience with Fellini after watching Nights of Cabiria and La Dolce Vita. I've still yet to enjoy either of these filmmakers' films. Then again, I've only seen two of each, so maybe I need to watch more accessible fare first.

[SlickDamian]

I wonder what will be announced tomorrow? I know that many are hoping for Wild Strawberries and City Lights, although I think both may be unlikely due to Bergmans and a Chaplin being released recently. I think that Picnic at Hanging Rock, Insomnia, and Bicycle Theives are all possible upgrades. Personally I'd really like to see Do the Right Thing but that already has a solid blu-ray. And Rosemary's Baby could get announced any time now.

[NexusVerbal]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

I wonder what will be announced tomorrow? I know that many are hoping for Wild Strawberries and City Lights, although I think both may be unlikely due to Bergmans and a Chaplin being released recently. I think that Picnic at Hanging Rock, Insomnia, and Bicycle Theives are all possible upgrades. Personally I'd really like to see Do the Right Thing but that already has a solid blu-ray. And Rosemary's Baby could get announced any time now.

Well, I've been waiting for them to announce Le Samourai for months now. *Fingers Crossed*

[Adrock]

Originally Posted by NexusVerbal

Well, I've been waiting for them to announce Le Samourai for months now. *Fingers Crossed*

+1.

[broganreynik]

Originally Posted by NexusVerbal

Well, I've been waiting for them to announce Le Samourai for months now. *Fingers Crossed*

That'd make my week.

[PowellPressburger]

I would love Le Samourai out on blu.. would be cool to get Summertime out on blu as well... My upgrade list like most everyone's is huge I'm sure. I always have a few titles I want more than most anyone like Antonio Gaudi and Jeanner Diehlmann 1080....

Will be interesting to see what does get announced hopefully Friday... and have they posted any clues at all? Usually they tease us with something.

[Brad1963]

Originally Posted by NexusVerbal

Well, I've been waiting for them to announce Le Samourai for months now. *Fingers Crossed*

I hope it is being worked on. They have to know by now how much it is desired.

[Brad1107]

Bit off topic, but I just put in a huge order with twilight time for 12 titles. I had the first 4 they released and had wanted to collect them all, so now i'm up to date.

I'm a bit of a completist so it feels good to be able to start a collection from the very beginning, especially since they don't have too many titles coming at you at once.

And yes, I do watch my titles. They're not just pretty ornaments for my shelves. Really interesting choices so far. Hoping for more undiscovered gems like Rapture rather than some of the more 'light' movies they've released.

[Banned User]

Originally Posted by Brad1107

And yes, I do watch my titles. They're not just pretty ornaments for my shelves. Really interesting choices so far. Hoping for more undiscovered gems like Rapture rather than some of the more 'light' movies they've released.

IMO Rapture is their best release. Followed by The Big Heat & Bell, Book and Candle. The others IMO range from enjoyable to mediocre. Rapture would have been a perfect fit for the Criterion Collection.

[BluPix]

Originally Posted by SlickDamian

I wonder what will be announced tomorrow? I know that many are hoping for Wild Strawberries and City Lights, although I think both may be unlikely due to Bergmans and a Chaplin being released recently. I think that Picnic at Hanging Rock, Insomnia, and Bicycle Theives are all possible upgrades. Personally I'd really like to see Do the Right Thing but that already has a solid blu-ray. And Rosemary's Baby could get announced any time now.

If Rosemary's Baby is indeed to be released this year by Criterion (which would make me and a lot of people very happy), I imagine it would be announced next month for the October slate of releases.