The Criterion Collection

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

I'm definitely upgrading to a 4K TV this year :-)

We'll if you're upgrading to a 4K.... I guess I must as well.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by hoytereden

When the monthly announcements are made two things I now look for in the special features are: audio commentaries and booklets. One is getting scarcer and the other is seemingly near extinction.

Originally Posted by Vinyl

Well, for me I love the booklets but only really read them once. It may be that the majority of people are like me. That might be the reasoning behind dropping the booklets.

Have you guys (or anyone else here for that matter) seen that film Idiocracy? Do I sense that people today don't read as much as they used to? Is it that people no longer have the time or patience to sit down and read booklets and essays that accompany home video releases? Maybe its just a current trend of paper no longer being viable or "cool" for reading now with e-books and tablets with digital books being more convenient. I'm thinking modern society is slowly getting more illiterate or stupid and the latest sign is with Criterion (a most scholarly-minded video distribution company) nixing extensive booklets from their video releases.

Okay, I know I just wrote something incredibly "far out" and ludicrous to even suspect all this, but its still something to "chew on". Think about it, maybe people just want to watch the movie and no longer care about essays these days.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by lordmorpheus72

Thanks, that's all good to hear. Depending on prices, I may upgrade late this year... just to make sure I can still get a plasma in case I go that direction. I really love my Panasonic, I wish they still made them.

You and me both. I was saddened to discover late last year that Panasonic had gotten out of the plasma business. Looks like my Viera is the last one I will ever own. From what I read, plasma doesn't adapt economically to 4K in current consumer sizes, so bye-bye plasma technology. I watched Persona last night and was blown away by how gorgeous it looked on my Panasonic.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Andrew13

Apologies if this was noted when the article was first published a few weeks ago, but it looks like a blu-ray release of Chimes at Midnight, whether via Criterion or some other company, could be coming in the near future:

https://distribpixblog.wordpress.com...s-at-midnight/

It would certainly make a nice pairing with Criterion's impending release of Othello this fall...

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Of course. I *just* bought Chimes of Midnight on dvd this week.

Thank you for taking one for the team.

[lordmorpheus72]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Thank you for taking one for the team.

Just glad it wasn't me this time.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jw007

Have you guys (or anyone else here for that matter) seen that film Idiocracy? Do I sense that people today don't read as much as they used to? Is it that people no longer have the time or patience to sit down and read booklets and essays that accompany home video releases? Maybe its just a current trend of paper no longer being viable or "cool" for reading now with e-books and tablets with digital books being more convenient. I'm thinking modern society is slowly getting more illiterate or stupid and the latest sign is with Criterion (a most scholarly-minded video distribution company) nixing extensive booklets from their video releases.

Okay, I know I just wrote something incredibly "far out" and ludicrous to even suspect all this, but its still something to "chew on". Think about it, maybe people just want to watch the movie and no longer care about essays these days.

I have seen Idiocracy, and it's really amazing how many things in that movie have already come to pass.

I do not think that the Criterion leaflets are an indication of things going in that direction, though. The leaflets have just as much essay information that most of the booklets had. I quite enjoyed the literature in the leaflets for A Day in the Country and Don't Look Now.

(I'll pitch my enthusiastic recommendation once again for A Day in the Country, since it does not get a lot of mention here. It's really an amazing little film. Besides...I'm not sure if I adequately conveyed this in my User Review, but Sylvia Bataille is hot.)

As far as books, paper, and all of that stuff are concerned, I've fallen into the recent habit of ordering hardcovers for one cent from third party used dealers on Amazon. The catch is that these one-cent hardcovers have a $3.99 shipping price, but, hey, four dollars for a great condition hardcover book with a recent publication date is still pretty sweet. Right now, I'm almost finished reading The Tilted World by Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly, and I'm loving it.
I'm about to start reading The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale, one of my favorite authors.

I'm still into the old-school book thing, yessiree.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jmclick

I don't know if anyone else might be interested, but there's an eye-opening series being published by The Hollywood Reporter this week, in which they interview a series of Oscar voters who candidly discuss how they cast their ballots this year and why. The series is called "Brutally Honest Oscar Ballots", and in the installment published today (which was the fifth), the voter admitted that he hadn't seen any of the Best Foreign Film nominees this year, but he voted for Leviathan because the carcass in the film's poster "looked cool." The entire series has been pretty revelatory, and certainly confirms my worst suspicions about how the process plays out.

That's surprising. I was under the impression that "Best Foreign Language Film" was one of a handful of categories (also including the documentary and short film categories) where AMPAS held special screenings, and one had to attend them for all the films in a given category in order to vote in that category.

[tisdivine]

Whats the chance of Criterion getting Klute? Its never been released on blu but Im unsure of studio situations or "people" situations that could be holding it up. Just watched Don't Look Now and it made me think of Klute. Gave me that 70's suspense-y dark feeling lol

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by bstv69

Yea I'm sure there will always be debate regarding the best TV, but I have absolutely no complaints about the 4k. Even motion blur, I turned off the auto motion stuff and haven't noticed any issues. But the pictire quality is outstanding, I'm not an expert so I'm sure there are better TVs but I am completely satisfied with this one. Also they have the best bluray player, that upscales to 4k and though I know it's not true 4k it looks amazing, way better than my Lcd (which was top of the line when I bought it)

Originally Posted by Polaroid

I'm definitely upgrading to a 4K TV this year :-)

If you are both going to be on the market soon, I would strongly recommend saving a bit more if you can and invest into a nice 4K projector. While the current line of 4K TVs is very nice, projecting in 4K will offer you a completely different experience.

Even without native 4K content at the moment on a disc, the upscaling produces very impressive results -- especially if a transfer has been struck from an excellent 4K restoration (as it is the case with the Petri film, which bstv69 mentions). In terms of color reproduction, you will see massive improvements -- and these also will affect your perception of image depth.

4K will be an extension to Blu-ray, so you won't have to worry about anything. But I would encourage you to actually wait a bit and when finalized 4K Blu-ray players are on the market, spend a good amount of time testing projectors and TVs.

If a new 4K TV is all you can afford, then find a showroom in your city and compare LG's OLED line with the rest of the 4K displays. This upcoming set is definitely worth taking a look at:

http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-77EG9700-oled-tv

And one last note, don't discard your DVDs. There are many films on DVD that are mastered quite well, and you will be surprised to see how good 4K upscaling can be if the studio did a decent job.

Have a great weekend, guys.

Pro-B

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

If you are both going to be on the market soon, I would strongly recommend saving a bit more if you can and invest into a nice 4K projector. While the current line of 4K TVs is very nice, projecting in 4K will offer you a completely different experience.

Even without native 4K content at the moment on a disc, the upscaling produces very impressive results -- especially if a transfer has been struck from an excellent 4K restoration (as it is the case with the Petri film, which bstv69 mentions). In terms of color reproduction, you will see massive improvements -- and these also will affect your perception of image depth.

4K will be an extension to Blu-ray, so you won't have to worry about anything. But I would encourage you to actually wait a bit and when finalized 4K Blu-ray players are on the market spend a good amount of time testing projectors and TVs.

If a new 4K TV is all you can afford, then find a showroom in your city and compare LG's OLED line with the rest of the 4K displays. This upcoming set is definitely worth taking a look at:

http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-77EG9700-oled-tv

And one last note, don't discard your DVDs. There are many films on DVD that are mastered quite well, and you will be surprised to see how good 4K upscaling can be if the studio did a decent job.

Have a great weekend, guys.

Pro-B

Thanks! I'm just so used to school projectors I can't imagine them beig better than an actual TV! I'll have to have a good look as I was re commended a projector before and I'm very interested!

How do they compare to OLED curved TVs? I've seen a curved one in store and it's mind blowing how incredible it is!

I also want a 3D TV/projector just for Pina haha!

[CBHampson]

Originally Posted by TJS_Blu

OT - but kind of cool, wouldn't mind seeing a CC edn!



Distribpix Inc. discovers a hidden cinema treasure……



ps. Apologies to Andrew13, missed his post from yesterday!

Holy shit. This is the best news I've heard in a long time. There are few films I want more to receive an HD upgrade

[jw007]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

If you are both going to be on the market soon, I would strongly recommend saving a bit more if you can and invest into a nice 4K projector. While the current line of 4K TVs is very nice, projecting in 4K will offer you a completely different experience.

Even without native 4K content at the moment on a disc, the upscaling produces very impressive results -- especially if a transfer has been struck from an excellent 4K restoration (as it is the case with the Petri film, which bstv69 mentions). In terms of color reproduction, you will see massive improvements -- and these also will affect your perception of image depth.

4K will be an extension to Blu-ray, so you won't have to worry about anything. But I would encourage you to actually wait a bit and when finalized 4K Blu-ray players are on the market, spend a good amount of time testing projectors and TVs.

If a new 4K TV is all you can afford, then find a showroom in your city and compare LG's OLED line with the rest of the 4K displays. This upcoming set is definitely worth taking a look at:

http://www.lg.com/us/tvs/lg-77EG9700-oled-tv

And one last note, don't discard your DVDs. There are many films on DVD that are mastered quite well, and you will be surprised to see how good 4K upscaling can be if the studio did a decent job.

Have a great weekend, guys.

Pro-B

Thanks a lot for your insight. I'm actually one of those people who wants to save up his money for a high quality projector in watching my blu-rays in the future. I was leaning on just going with a current high end Epson projector (Epson 5030 UB 2D/3D 1080p 3LCD Projector $2,300) but at this point I'd rather just wait until good 4k projectors come out.

I feel that screening films through a top quality projector will be the ultimate movie experience for me. Not only can I make the screen different sizes (and up to 120 inches!) but its small & portable (unlike a large, heavy OLED tv) and a more natural way to view films (healthier for the eyes as light is projected to the screen as opposed to being pushed to you).

Ultimately, my eye will be on 4K projectors for any future purchase. I'm done with TVs.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by jw007

Have you guys (or anyone else here for that matter) seen that film Idiocracy?

I haven't.

Do I sense that people today don't read as much as they used to? Is it that people no longer have the time or patience to sit down and read booklets and essays that accompany home video releases? Maybe its just a current trend of paper no longer being viable or "cool" for reading now with e-books and tablets with digital books being more convenient. I'm thinking modern society is slowly getting more illiterate or stupid and the latest sign is with Criterion (a most scholarly-minded video distribution company) nixing extensive booklets from their video releases.

Virtually nobody is issuing booklets with Blu-rays. Certainly not the "majors". Criterion, Twilight Time, and Cohen all do. Maybe Cinema Guild (I'd have to check the ones on my shelf). My family used to laugh back in the early days of DVD when some of the labels would include "collectible booklet" in their list of special features. Nowadays, nothing.

As for the general trend, certainly kids are still reading a lot, as suggested by the number of extremely popular young adult franchises (I've heard that YA books are the "go to" category if you want to make a good living at writing).

Anyway, most of my friends and acquaintances read books. My wife and I spend more at the local Barnes & Noble on books than we do video. And judging from the number of people we see in the local B&N scanning the book shelves, there are a goodly number of people who still enjoy reading. (Whether they will actually buy the books, or just see what's new and interesting that they can then pick up for their e-reader of choice is another question.)

Okay, I know I just wrote something incredibly "far out" and ludicrous to even suspect all this, but its still something to "chew on". Think about it, maybe people just want to watch the movie and no longer care about essays these days.

I think most of the mainstream films don't really need accompanying essays, which is likely why the major labels have dropped the booklets. And a lot of vintage catalog films don't really need them. They can be entertaining in their own right, but even some of the best classic films don't need an essay telling you why it's a great movie -- that should be obvious from watching the movie itself.

I'm fairly knowledgeable about the films I buy on BD, so to be honest, more and more I find less and less need for the essays. These days, I mostly just scan over them looking for tidbits of info I didn't already know.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Thanks! I'm just so used to school projectors I can't imagine them beig better than an actual TV! I'll have to have a good look as I was re commended a projector before and I'm very interested!

How do they compare to OLED curved TVs? I've seen a curved one in store and it's mind blowing how incredible it is!

I also want a 3D TV/projector just for Pina haha!

Polaroid, obviously with projectors you have to spend a lot more time researching because if you go in the upper end of the table, there are some incredibly impressive models. But you obviously have to have the space to take advantage of what the best ones have to offer.

TV sets -- I am unsure about your country, but if you live in a big metro area in the U.S., there are many showrooms where you can test the latest models. LG's OLED sets are everywhere. Also, the reason I encouraged you to actually go and see what you like is because it is an absolute myth that you have to buy a very big set (65'/70'+) to see a difference.

Pro-B

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by tisdivine

Whats the chance of Criterion getting Klute?

Not very good, I'm afraid. It's owned by Warner Bros.

[Vinyl]

Originally Posted by jw007

Have you guys (or anyone else here for that matter) seen that film Idiocracy? Do I sense that people today don't read as much as they used to? Is it that people no longer have the time or patience to sit down and read booklets and essays that accompany home video releases? Maybe its just a current trend of paper no longer being viable or "cool" for reading now with e-books and tablets with digital books being more convenient. I'm thinking modern society is slowly getting more illiterate or stupid and the latest sign is with Criterion (a most scholarly-minded video distribution company) nixing extensive booklets from their video releases.

Okay, I know I just wrote something incredibly "far out" and ludicrous to even suspect all this, but its still something to "chew on". Think about it, maybe people just want to watch the movie and no longer care about essays these days.

I agree with seeing more and more people wanting more digital media like Idiocracy. But, we are on a movie site in the forums talking about people not reading. Yes, we are talking high-brow movies; but at the end of the day it's just fancy pictures and sound.

As I said earlier, I love reading the booklet. That said, I will read it when I first get it and than maybe a few months to a year or more later. I will watch the movie and supplements many times in that same period, though.

I understand that they view the content on disc as what people spend the extra money for. It makes sense to them to still supply great on disc content at the expense of something that a large percent of the people who buy the product don't care that much about.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Polaroid, obviously with projectors you have to spend a lot more time researching because if you go in the upper end of the table, there are some incredibly impressive models. But you obviously have to have the space to take advantage of what the best ones have to offer.

TV sets -- I am unsure about your country, but if you live in a big metro area in the U.S., there are many showrooms where you can test the latest models. LG's OLED sets are everywhere. Also, the reason I encouraged you to actually go and see what you like is because it is an absolute myth that you have to buy a very big set (65'/70'+) to see a difference.

Pro-B

Yeah I heard when you are a certain distance from he TV set certain sizes make no real difference - I will have a shop around and see if I can find any nice projectors I have the space for one and it would be a nice option!

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by jw007

Thanks a lot for your insight. I'm actually one of those people who wants to save up his money for a high quality projector in watching my blu-rays in the future. I was leaning on just going with a current high end Epson projector (Epson 5030 UB 2D/3D 1080p 3LCD Projector $2,300) but at this point I'd rather just wait until good 4k projectors come out.

I feel that screening films through a top quality projector will be the ultimate movie experience for me. Not only can I make the screen different sizes (and up to 120 inches!) but its small & portable (unlike a large, heavy OLED tv) and a more natural way to view films (healthier for the eyes as light is projected to the screen as opposed to being pushed to you).

Ultimately, my eye will be on 4K projectors for any future purchase. I'm done with TVs.

Yes, jw007, in this case you should save as much as you can and wait a bit longer until prices come down. Right now Sony have some enormously impressive 4K projectors announced but they are well over the 10K mark. You will also need a high-quality projector screen, but prices there are very affordable.

With TVs you are paying for a much wider range of features, though I personally am not a fan of the interactive offerings. But I understand that TVs are a lot more practical if space is an issue.

Pro-B

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by jmclick

I don't know if anyone else might be interested, but there's an eye-opening series being published by The Hollywood Reporter this week, in which they interview a series of Oscar voters who candidly discuss how they cast their ballots this year and why. The series is called "Brutally Honest Oscar Ballots", and in the installment published today (which was the fifth), the voter admitted that he hadn't seen any of the Best Foreign Film nominees this year, but he voted for Leviathan because the carcass in the film's poster "looked cool." The entire series has been pretty revelatory, and certainly confirms my worst suspicions about how the process plays out.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rac...Top+Stories%29

Ive stopped caring about Oscars, just because a film or actor has an oscar it doesn't make it amazing.

Look at Lubezski - he has lost so many times and he is one of the greatest cinematographers working today (IMO!) he even lost to Hugo... I mean come on.

I support and respect other indy film festivals much more though burt yeah I couldn't care less if a film has an oscar or not lol

-

If I ever won the lottery i'd hire Pro-B to do my entertainment shopping haha!

[The_Iceflash]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

TV sets -- I am unsure about your country, but if you live in a big metro area in the U.S., there are many showrooms where you can test the latest models. LG's OLED sets are everywhere. Also, the reason I encouraged you to actually go and see what you like is because it is an absolute myth that you have to buy a very big set (65'/70'+) to see a difference.

Pro-B

A myth indeed. More like reality.

Of course though if you're sitting 3 feet from the screen...