The Criterion Collection

[Prof. Lumpcicle]

I went crazy this year on the sale. I usually spend about $100-$120 but I kicked up a notch and spent about $250

Eagerly awaiting..

Ace in the Hole
Foreign Correspondent
Vivre Sa Vie
A Man Escaped
Zatoichi set(the big money gobbler)
Two-Lane Blacktop
Nashville
Ministry of Fear

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Which reminds me...we need us some John Sayles in the Collection...

And MGM, or whoever has them, doesn't seem to be in any hurry to upgrade Eight Men Out.

Originally Posted by Polaroid

It is a repeat with 1D though - I watched a documentary about it and the girls are really scary, what they think and what they actually do - its shocking how a boyband can have that effect on people.

Watch the first hour and a half before posting next, Raymond. Seriously.
We could explain it some more, but it wouldn't do any good. It's one of those "What things were like before you were born" things.

(When people generally talk about AHDN, they tend to refer to the decade-iconic NON-musical scenes like:

A Hard Day's Night Train Ride (Mister, Can We Have Our Ball Back?) - YouTube

And yes, it may be said, there's a reason for that.)

[SilentDawn]

Originally Posted by jhiggy23

Just watched Mulholland Drive for the first time. Good film. I subscribe to the

[Show spoiler]theory that the majority of the film is Diane's "dream," which seems to be the most widely held view. I think it makes the most sense factually and thematically. However, I also agree with most critics' belief that there is not a definitive interpretation because there are a lot of loose ends, likely due in part to it being an abandoned tv show.

That being said, I don't understand the effusive praise. While a very good and interesting film, I certainly don't think it's an all-time great.

That's a common feeling about Mulholland Drive when you watch it for the first time. However, the film is just so opaque and mysterious that I just stopped trying to understand it all together.

I just fall under its spell over and over again.

[brandon_260]

Originally Posted by aes3728

I plan on picking up Scanners during the sale. I've never seen it, but have heard it talked about enough by people to give it a blind buy. I was wondering if I should pick up any more Cronenberg or not. I have seen The Brood, The Fly, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises. Didnt know if Videodrome or Naked Lunch were worth a pickup during the sale or not.

I prefer Naked Lunch of the two, but both are well worth owning if you know you like Cronenberg. Both sit safely in my top 10 Cronenberg films.

[jlk5844]

I watched Revanche last night and I liked it, excellent film. I had imagined that this was some tense art house thriller with a highly stylized look and moments of sudden violence, something along the lines of Drive or even more so The Place Beyond the Pines. But it's not that at all.

This is a movie that captures life as it is, using solely still or slow moving shots, only diegetic music, moving at a slow pace, holding on shots to showcase nature how we see it without any fast cuts, and relying on emotions rather than dialogue to tell its story. There aren't any of the clichés and other aspects of Hollywood films and most films in general in this. Specifically, nothing is sensationalized or overly dramatized or overly sentimental. Everything is natural. There's a beauty in that, and I respect that. It's a very simple film, one that requires you to drop all of your expectations of traditional narrative and just settle into it. The ADD 12 year old in me was calling it boring and saying not much is happening, but the mature, refined taste side of me was drawn into these characters' existences. There is drama, though it is subtle and never artificial or manufactured. The turning point in the movie is unexpected and changes the movie from then on, so it's a spoiler to even mention it. This film brilliantly and realistically demonstrates the aftermath of such an event, thanks to Gotz Spielmann's restrained, calculated direction. Because of the minimalist approach, so to speak, without much exposition, there is room for interpretation of symbolism and the themes and thoughts/actions of the characters. The shot of an object falling into a lake and creating ripples can represent a few different things.

This is a movie that you think higher of once you finish it, and I can see why others think so highly of it here. The interview with the director and the behind-the-scenes doc, coupled with the booklet, were great too and articulated a lot of what I was thinking while watching the film. Spielmann made some good points about life and showing that through cinema that I agree with.

Thank you to the members who talked up this film and kept my interest in it as a blind buy, for I never would have seen this movie otherwise.

[mdonovan]

Just started watching Picnic at Hanging Rock .. Not sure it's my kinda film ... If not it will be for sale at a discount :-) I'm only 15 or so minutes in.

[filmmusic]

I'm sorry but i just learned about this, that didn't know!!
How come there are OOP Criterion BLurays?
I didn't know they were limited (like TT's Blurays)!!

So, that means I should rush and buy all the Blurays in my wishlist?
Is there any warning when a Bluray is close to being OOP?

[mdonovan]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

I'm sorry but i just learned about this, that didn't know!!
How come there are OOP Criterion BLurays?
I didn't know they were limited (like TT's Blurays)!!

So, that means I should rush and buy all the Blurays in my wishlist?
Is there any warning when a Bluray is close to being OOP?

It really is not like TT .. Criterion will usually reprint a sold out title. And not that many blus go out of print.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by mdonovan

It really is not like TT .. Criterion will usually reprint a sold out title. And not that many blus go out of print.

Well, there are already 10!
http://www.criterion.com/lists/13869...erion-blu-rays

maybe i should buy the oldest released films first?
eg. Paris, Texas which was released in 2010!

[Helikaon]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

I'm sorry but i just learned about this, that didn't know!!
How come there are OOP Criterion BLurays?
I didn't know they were limited (like TT's Blurays)!!

So, that means I should rush and buy all the Blurays in my wishlist?
Is there any warning when a Bluray is close to being OOP?

Sometimes they only have a license for a movie for a limited amount of time.

[Helikaon]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Well, there are already 10!
http://www.criterion.com/lists/13869...erion-blu-rays

maybe i should buy the oldest released films first?
eg. Paris, Texas which was released in 2010!

Don't worry. Criterion gives advanced notice when a title is going out of print, so you have time to buy them .

[mdonovan]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Well, there are already 10!
http://www.criterion.com/lists/13869...erion-blu-rays

maybe i should buy the oldest released films first?
eg. Paris, Texas which was released in 2010!

Not a bad idea if you really want the film ... It has more to do with their rights to the material and when they run out. Not a limited print.

[Judex]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Well, there are already 10!
http://www.criterion.com/lists/13869...erion-blu-rays

Most of those if not all are Studio Canal owned. Criterion's licence expired with them. Lionsgate I believe now have an exclusive deal with SC.

Originally Posted by filmmusic

maybe i should buy the oldest released films first?
eg. Paris, Texas which was released in 2010!

That's what I did, went for the older releases first whilst buying the odd new releases as well.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by jayembee

A film that was like that for me was Twilight Samurai, which I'd caught on Netflix. I expected to like it, as Netflix is scarily accurate in how they think I'll like a given film, but I also expected it to be a fairly typical samurai film. It was anything but.

Twilight Samurai has a nice inexpensive Hong Kong blu-ray available if you are looking to add it to your collection (Hidden Blade too).

[blufellas]

So far in this sale I got:

Mystery Train
Cronos
La Haine
Branded to Kill

Might get 3 or 4 more.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by Helikaon

Don't worry. Criterion gives advanced notice when a title is going out of print, so you have time to buy them .

Thanks.
So, where do i see this?
Is it announced in the news here? (I check them regularly)

By the way, the Criterions I have in my wishlist (and were released prior to 2014) are:

The 39 steps
The Lady Vanishes
The Man who knew too much
On the Waterfront
Paris, Texas
Purple Noon
Seconds
Three Colors Trilogy
Weekend

I'm glad then I bought in this sale Days of Heaven instead of Seconds, since the first one is around for a few years.

[Helikaon]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Thanks.
So, where do i see this?
Is it announced in the news here? (I check them regularly)

By the way, the Criterions I have in my wishlist (and were released prior to 2014) are:

The 39 steps
The Lady Vanishes
The Man who knew too much
On the Waterfront
Paris, Texas
Purple Noon
Seconds
Three Colors Trilogy
Weekend

I'm glad then I bought in this sale Days of Heaven instead of Seconds, since the first one is around for a few years.

Last time was a while ago, and I believe it was announced on their website, in a newsletter and on Facebook. As was mentioned above, I don't think there is a correlation between the release date and how soon a film will go OOP. I would just go on buying whatever title strikes your fancy!

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

I'm sorry but i just learned about this, that didn't know!!
How come there are OOP Criterion BLurays?
I didn't know they were limited (like TT's Blurays)!!

So, that means I should rush and buy all the Blurays in my wishlist?
Is there any warning when a Bluray is close to being OOP?

Criterion is not like Twilight Time in that respect. Criterion will keep a title in print for as long as they are able. For example, Criterion has kept Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes in print since they first released them on laserdisc in early 1985.

When a Criterion title goes OOP, it's because they've lost the rights to it, and are therefore not legally entitled to produce and sell more copies. In one case, Kurosawa's Ran, they were actually in the process of producing a Blu-ray when the rights lapsed, and they weren't able to renew them. Sometimes they are able to regain the rights, most times not.

The only instance I know of in which Criterion knew going in that their rights were short term was their DVD of Straw Dogs, which they licensed from MGM for one year.

As for warnings, yes, Criterion does announce when a title will be going OOP. It's usually (maybe even always) less than a month's warning. I assume because they keep trying to renew their license up to the last possible moment.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Twilight Samurai has a nice inexpensive Hong Kong blu-ray available if you are looking to add it to your collection (Hidden Blade too).

I'm aware of that, but thank you. I will keep it in mind. There are enough domestic releases to keep me happy that I haven't felt compelled to fill in my collection with imports, with a couple of rare exceptions.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Thanks.
So, where do i see this?
Is it announced in the news here? (I check them regularly)

I don't know if I've ever seen it announced in blu-ray.com's News section, though I imagine that they'll be mentioned in this forum thread by one person or another. In any event, OOP announcements are published on Criterion's website, such as the following from a couple of years ago:

http://www.criterion.com/current/pos...t-announcement

By the way, the Criterions I have in my wishlist (and were released prior to 2014) are:

The 39 steps
The Lady Vanishes
The Man who knew too much
On the Waterfront
Paris, Texas
Purple Noon
Seconds
Three Colors Trilogy
Weekend

I'm glad then I bought in this sale Days of Heaven instead of Seconds, since the first one is around for a few years.

I don't imagine that any of those will be going OOP in the foreseeable future, especially the Hitchcocks.