The Criterion Collection

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Grethiwha

The Bad Sleep Well .

Actually if I hadn't bought the Essential Art House DVDs, Ikiru would be my #1 choice for sure and Hidden Fortress would be #3 after TBSW. But god there are so many... I also particularly love Drunken Angel and Dodes'ka-den... and I'd love to blind-buy The Lower Depths or Madadayo or some of the others not already in the collection... Ack! Maybe by 2020 or 2030...

The Lower Depths is great, and very underrated. The DVD comes with both the Kurosawa, and the Jean Renoir adaptations too, so it's a great pick-up. Madadayo is good too, but very different from most of his other films. It's mostly entertaining, but has some sad moments too.

[shortmartin]

just got to my computer to check the announcements. holy schnikes, what a great roster. i'm definitely most psyched about Thief, and it's my favorite cover art of the bunch.

i'm also stoked about It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World . . . i've never seen it, but this is one of my dad's favorite movies from his childhood and it'll be nice to bond over this particular release, and will no doubt make a nice Father's Day gift come springtime (for either him or me, or both).

[jw007]

Originally Posted by alien2010

You've got that right. Criterion should be in the transportation business, pretty much nothing comes along for ages, and then suddenly three come along at once.

Thief is very much a pre-order for me. Finally at least one of the films on my Criterion wishlist gets a release.

Damn, Throne of Blood just had to be released in January, right after Christmas. I'm still in two minds whether to get it straight away or wait till February.

As for, Rififi. I already own the brilliant edition that Arrow Academy released back in 2011, so I have no interest in the Criterion edition whatsoever. It's great that Criterion have finally released this film.

I've never seen Rififi yet so this will be another blind buy purchase. Glad I waited until Criterion released it.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

We shouldn't have to though. 5 discs, 3 of them DVDs, is insane. Of course not as insane as that Zatoichi set, where out of 27 discs half are presumably coasters for most people, one way or the other.

I wonder what the true reason for the switch to dual-format was. I'm certainly not a fan.

I'm not a fan either but I think I'll get used to this new packaging, as long as the height/width/depth is still the same as a standard Criterion BD release (which it is). As for the extra DVDs, it wont bother me. I just wonder though how much longer DVDs will be relevant now with the BD market really gaining strength. Might be less than 5 years until DVDs go by the wayside like VHS did in the late 1990s/early 2000s.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by jw007

I've never seen Rififi yet so this will be another blind buy purchase. Glad I waited until Criterion released it.

Rififi is awesome 10/10 in all aspects. I own the Arrow release which is great in its own right. I would recommend Rififi to any movie lover without any hesitation.

[14728]

No ones talking about mad mad mad mad world, even though there is a new cut of the film on board. I'm most excited for this

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by 14728

No ones talking about mad mad mad mad world, even though there is a new cut of the film on board. I'm most excited for this

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=229547

[14728]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=229547

Ohhhh...

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by jw007

I've never seen Rififi yet so this will be another blind buy purchase. Glad I waited until Criterion released it.

You should make it a Pepe Le Moko/Rififi double feature this January.

[Brad1963]

Rififi and Thief - order has been placed with Criterion. It will make a great double feature. I'm psyched about the Davies and Kaurismäki films, those weren't discussed prevously. Another great month from Criterion.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

Rififi and Thief - order has been placed with Criterion. It will make a great double feature. I'm psyched about the Davies and Kaurismäki films, those weren't discussed prevously. Another great month from Criterion.

Yes sir! The Aki Kaurismäki film is another big one on my list. I'm most excited for that and Rififi and Thief. All day 1 purchases for me.

[smoss469]

Originally Posted by shortmartin

just got to my computer to check the announcements. holy schnikes, what a great roster. i'm definitely most psyched about Thief, and it's my favorite cover art of the bunch.

i'm also stoked about It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World . . . i've never seen it, but this is one of my dad's favorite movies from his childhood and it'll be nice to bond over this particular release, and will no doubt make a nice Father's Day gift come springtime (for either him or me, or both).

Watch the extended release with him, it will most likely be a new experience for him (as well as you).

After being really disappointed by last month's release announcement, they redeemed themselves (in my opinion of course) for January!

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by retablo

The reason is simple. They cut overhead of producing alternative DVD packaging (and the packaging is the biggest cost in disc reproduction) and give people who still own DVD only (and there are millions) the option of having copies they can watch. It also helps DVD only watchers adapt to blu-ray by giving them the discs should they decide to upgrade their format.

I'm OK with it on the single disc movies - such that "dual format" ends up being 1 blu-ray and 1 DVD.

But the more discs, the worse of an idea it is to combine them. I'm with the person you quoted. The Zatiochi set is just the ultimate case of stupidity. What would have been a 9 disc set ends up being 27 discs.

I realize that it's a bit of a catch 22, in that the bigger box sets are likely to sell less numbers (and the size of print runs is their justification for going dual format in the 1st place). But one would hope that with a set requiring that many combined discs, common sense would prevail over cost cutting.

[brandon_260]

I'm glad my interest in December is generally muted, because it looks like I'll be going all in for January, excluding the Eclipse set. Haven't seen any yet, but between the descriptions and my familiarity with the works of some of the directors, it looks like a fantastic month. The Long Day Closes is the one I'm most eager to explore.

[AgentOrange]

Originally Posted by Roninblues

No one is forcing you to buy them. This is a Criterion choice. If you find it offensive, perhaps you should be on a different thread. Why torture yourself and others?

I know, right. How dare he question Criterion's decisions. Just who does he think he is?

All hail Criterion.

[soarinsteven]

I've seen Rififi once before, and loved it. Never ended picking up the dvd, but will happily finally own this on blu!

[CraigThom]

Originally Posted by jw007

I'm not a fan either but I think I'll get used to this new packaging, as long as the height/width/depth is still the same as a standard Criterion BD release (which it is). As for the extra DVDs, it wont bother me. I just wonder though how much longer DVDs will be relevant now with the BD market really gaining strength. Might be less than 5 years until DVDs go by the wayside like VHS did in the late 1990s/early 2000s.

I'm not convinced that's going to happen. The switch from VHS to DVD brought more than an increase in quality; it also brought a lot of convenience. DVDs take up less shelf space, are easier to load, require no rewinding, allow random access, and are less likely to die in the player. For many people I think the extras and the PQ are just gravy. Since most people listen through their TV speakers, I don't think audio quality is a big factor, either.

Blu-ray offers better PQ and AQ and some new extras, but those are huge leaps, especially for smaller TVs. The discs are less likely to scratch, but that's it for convenience.

I may be wrong, but I just don't see Blu-ray taking over.

(As an example, my parents are getting a new TV, but it won't be over 42" because it wouldn't fit the space they want. They also don't want any kind of improved sound because it, too, would take up space they don't want to give up. They know a bigger TV and better sound would improve their enjoyment of the movies and sports they watch, but they don't care.)

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Same here. Speaking of waiting, I'm trying really hard to resist the temptation to buy Blow Up, L'Eclisse & L'Avventura.

I might pick up L'Avventura, I have seen the film and loved it so I really want a copy. Not sure when Criterion will be releasing it though....

[blkhrt]

CriterionCast just posted some of the unused covers for Thief.







http://blog.criterioncast.com/post/6...covers-for-the

It sounds like Mann played a big role in the cover design.

[zkirkland]

I might have to get Thief and Rififi. I've never seen them but I love a good heist movie.