The Criterion Collection

[ElliesDad]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

I knew someone was going to rub that phrase in

Someone had to do it...

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

I saw that. It's like Katrina 2.0. I also saw that they're still looking for the captain of The Bounty, which, as you all know was built in Lunenberg in the 1960s for the Brando version of Mutiny in the Bounty, and it was used in Pirates if the Caribbean as well.

The incredible thing about it is that the captain, Claudene Christian, is reported to be a descendant of Fletcher Christian. So a descendant of Fletcher Christian perishes during the sinking of the Bounty replica (if that is in fact the case) two hundred odd years after the loss of the original? Who could script that? Or would dare to?

[TJS_Blu]

Originally Posted by Schonfelder

Is anybody having problems with the orders on the B&N sale?
Do i need to worry about this?

Yep, ordered an eclipse title, never received the confirmation email and it's not in my order history. I do have the paypal receipt. I'm not going to worry about it, but I'll be calling next week if I don't get a package.

[broganreynik]

Originally Posted by pittpanthersfan

Is there any hope of Criterion releasing blus for editions that already have a blu from another studio? I'm thinking Armageddon, Withnail & I, etc.? I'm sure that it's a rights issue of some sort, so I'm not sure anyone here would even know.

There's definitely hope. Especially if it's a Universal title. Off the top of my head, they've released Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Brazil, and Traffic after there were already Universal releases. With both of those having been in the collection on DVD, I'd say there's a chance.

[rkish]

FYI...for those with access to TCM...The Big Heat will be starting at 8:00 PM EST tonight.

[Judex]

Originally Posted by Antonmassacre1

Here's a 15% off code for B&N if anyone needs it.

L24PGDYM6KR11

Thanks for posting that, saved a little more.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by rkish

I wound up streaming "The Artist" on NetFlix and really enjoyed it. I might even consider purchasing it at some point. Please let me know how the supplemental material is.

I have yet to pick this up which I strange, really like the movie. I wasn't BLOWN away by it like some many others but it was very good and I am a big fan of Jean Dujardin, I have a few of his other movies already as well

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by ElliesDad

Someone had to do it...

It's alright I am a big boy I can take it!

[pittpanthersfan]

Originally Posted by broganreynik

There's definitely hope. Especially if it's a Universal title. Off the top of my head, they've released Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Brazil, and Traffic after there were already Universal releases. With both of those having been in the collection on DVD, I'd say there's a chance.

That's right! Thanks.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by rkish

FYI...for those with access to TCM...The Big Heat will be starting at 8:00 PM EST tonight.

The classic movie channel up here had 12 Angry Men and I forgot to place it on my DVR, in HD as well. I use to complaint about our classic channel up here but it's seem to be getting better in recent months. Still not TCM (who I so wish my cable provided had in HD) but they seem to really be adding movies that were made before the 90's

[joie]

Has anyone taken business school courses? It seems there must be some way to price a product to maximize profits. It doesn't make sense to price every movie at $39.95, does it? (I know some are priced even higher.) Is it possible to price a movie at a lower price and generate more profit? Yes, if more movies can be sold at the lower price.

Here are just two examples of outstanding classics available on Blu-ray: "Lawrence of Arabia" lists at $26.99 and is available at Amazon for $18.99.
"What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (a digibook) lists at $34.99 and is available from the same seller for $29.99. Both have excellent transfers and are loaded with extras.

Aren't Criterion's movies too expensive? Shouldn't they list for $29.99 and regularly sell for between ten and twenty dollars? Wouldn't they sell more at a lower price point? Don't business schools teach how to price an item to maximize profit?

Let's not forget "Blade Runner," another timeless, important example of world cinema. There is a new digibook with five -- FIVE! -- cuts and lots of extras selling for $24.86, and it has a list price of $39.99.

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by joie

Has anyone taken business school courses? It seems there must be some way to price a product to maximize profits. It doesn't make sense to price every movie at $39.95, does it? (I know some are priced even higher.) Is it possible to price a movie at a lower price and generate more profit? Yes, if more movies can be sold at the lower price.

Here are just two examples of outstanding classics available on Blu-ray: "Lawrence of Arabia" lists at $26.99 and is available at Amazon for $18.99.
"What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (a digibook) lists at $34.99 and is available from the same seller for $29.99. Both have excellent transfers and are loaded with extras.

Aren't Criterion's movies too expensive? Shouldn't they list for $29.99 and regularly sell for between ten and twenty dollars? Wouldn't they sell more at a lower price point? Don't business schools teach how to price an item to maximize profit?

Let's not forget "Blade Runner," another timeless, important example of world cinema. There is a new digibook with five -- FIVE! -- cuts and lots of extras selling for $24.86, and it has a list price of $39.99.

The primary difference is that your examples were put out by major studios. Although I'm sure in some cases the cost of bringing them to Blu-ray may have been more expensive than the average Criterion disc, the cost will have been insignificant from the studios point of view. They rake in billions.

Criterion on the other hand, whilst probably the biggest independent art house label, operate on a much much smaller revenue. Couple that with the fact that a great many of their titles are pretty obscure and will probably only sell a few thousand copies, it's necessary they price higher.

And regardless of how you argue it, Criterion have been in this business for 3 decades. If pricing their titles lower would get them more profit, they would be pricing their titles lower. They're not stupid.

[Page14]

Originally Posted by marctheshark

I bought it on amazon a few weeks ago at 28$.....I feels ya.

Thanks ...

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by pittpanthersfan

Is there any hope of Criterion releasing blus for editions that already have a blu from another studio? I'm thinking Armageddon, Withnail & I, etc.? I'm sure that it's a rights issue of some sort, so I'm not sure anyone here would even know.

Withnail & I video rights are no longer with Criterion. They're still selling Armageddon on DVD but I'm doubting they'd be very interested in that sort of movie now as a catalog upgrade . It's too bad for fans of this film that Disney didn't license the extras for this one from Criterion like they did for The Rock.

[Lino11]

I tested my Carlos disc 2 and it plays just fine. Someone mentioned an issue with it.

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by Lino11

I tested my Carlos disc 2 and it plays just fine. Someone mentioned an issue with it.

The left surround channel is apparently mixed significantly lower in volume than the right surround channel.

[Brian81]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

Yep, ordered an eclipse title, never received the confirmation email and it's not in my order history. I do have the paypal receipt. I'm not going to worry about it, but I'll be calling next week if I don't get a package.

I called this morning. They had some website maintenance going on, and had no record of the orders I made yesterday (which were orders that didn't show up in my recent orders).

[Dragun]

Picked up Chungking Express (in the plastic case) today.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by RojD

My three favorite Eclipses (so far) are Nikkatsu, Mizoguchi and Lubitsch. The 20s-30s musicals aren't like the 50s-60s ones: The earlier ones have fewer songs and there's often a motivation for the music. If you like the deftness in Design for Living, you'll like these, especially the latter two. Smiling Lieutenant is one of my fav Lubitsch's, and I'm sorry it's exiled in an Eclipse collection. Better than oblivion, I guess. You gotta love "Jazz Up Your Lingerie" from that film, too. I-tunes has yet to add that track, unfortunately, or it would be on my movie music playlist. And who knew? Maurice Chevalier was sexy.

Thanks for your feedback. I bought the Lubitsch Musicals Eclipse Set tonight. Your description of the films and comparisons with Design for Living sealed the deal, especially after watching a few clips online. Also, the fact only two of the 14 B&Ns in my city had a copy - with one being down the street - gave me a sense of urgency.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by joie

Has anyone taken business school courses? It seems there must be some way to price a product to maximize profits. It doesn't make sense to price every movie at $39.95, does it? (I know some are priced even higher.) Is it possible to price a movie at a lower price and generate more profit? Yes, if more movies can be sold at the lower price.

They don't. Some are $29.99 MSRP, some are $49.99, $59.99 and up for box sets...

[Dragun]

Originally Posted by joie

Aren't Criterion's movies too expensive? Shouldn't they list for $29.99 and regularly sell for between ten and twenty dollars? Wouldn't they sell more at a lower price point? Don't business schools teach how to price an item to maximize profit?

Criterion releases movies which are inherently aimed at a niche market. They won't sell a ton more copies of a Dardenne brothers film if it had a lower MSRP. Regardless of price, the market for most of their films is pretty small, so they make fewer copies of each title (most of which have good extras and the best possible transfers), thus, they have to sell them for a higher price.