The Criterion Collection

[jw007]

I bought a ticket to see Bob Dylan perform here over a decade ago and he was astounding. I also saw Robert Zimmerman (aka "Bob Dylan") a 2nd time when he came back to my city as part of an ill-conceived 1 year music festival ("The New American Music Union" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_American_Music_Union ) as the headliner of the festival which included the bands: The Raconteurs, The Roots, Gnarls Barkley, Spoon, The Black Keys and a few others.

As great as Dylan is, he's still not my favorite all-around singer/songwriter. That would go to Mr. Leonard Cohen.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

I don't know about the average consumer, but it seems from this forum, the average collector does end at some point purchasing all the movies they really love, so if they release more, maybe they don't buy everything at once but eventually.

At least I see it working this way for movies we have already seen, blind buys are probably different.

but "eventually" doesn't sustain a business when you're putting out more titles per month than what people are buying. given your example, the average collector (which is different than the average consumer) will never catch up and the labels are left with excess inventory on their hands and titles that haven't sold so well.

and another point that goes along more so w/ my previous reply - profitability is not measured in units sold. it is measured in percentages.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

that's true, but do you figure that you are the average consumer?

taking it to an extreme hypothetical, if an announcement were to be made that every film we ever wanted on Blu-ray will be released in January, will you buy everything?

the average consumer for just about any consumer good has a set budget for those products. in an over-saturated market, he/she has to decide which titles to spend his/her money on.

I already do that because a) I choose to not spend a fortune on Blu-ray movies even though I love them so and b) there just isn't enough time in a lifetime to watch all the films in an enormous collection.

at some point, consumers are drawing a line and saying that they won't buy more than x titles or spend more than y dollars - regardless of the selection.

keep in mind, too, that you can't look at it one month at a time because 4 titles is not the market. the market is everything out there in print and even out of print with secondary marketplaces like eBay and Amazon.

I'm trying to get back to 'need to own' as opposed to owning a BR because I can.

Owning - will watch at least 1 time a year (The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, Wages of Fear, Mystery Train, etc)

If I own a film and only watch it every 5 years the question is: Why do I own it? At that rate I'm better off just watching it at the cinematheque in the classics series or borrowing from library.

These are some things I've been mulling over lately.

[belcherman]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

I don't know about the average consumer, but it seems from this forum, the average collector does end at some point purchasing all the movies they really love, so if they release more, maybe they don't buy everything at once but eventually.

At least I see it working this way for movies we have already seen, blind buys are probably different.

I don't know how average I am, but I buy only the movies I want. If Criterion releases two movies in a month, then I buy those two regardless of whether they've released four or five that month. Maybe not immediately, but as you say, eventually. Of course, five releases would increase the odds of there being more movies that I would want, but I don't really base my purchase decision on how many total movies are available. I base it on what I really want and what fits in my budget at the time of purchase.

There are some movies I want that I defer buying, either because they don't fit into my budget at the time, or because I'm waiting for a price drop. As time goes by, however, I eventually come to accept that I'm never going to buy them, otherwise I would have bought them before.

The various labels release what they do based on what they believe they can make a profit on. I buy what I do based on my personal preferences and my budget. Those are really two separate and, for me, unrelated forces at play.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

that's true, but do you figure that you are the average consumer?

taking it to an extreme hypothetical, if an announcement were to be made that every film we ever wanted on Blu-ray will be released in January, will you buy everything?

the average consumer for just about any consumer good has a set budget for those products. in an over-saturated market, he/she has to decide which titles to spend his/her money on.

I already do that because a) I choose to not spend a fortune on Blu-ray movies even though I love them so and b) there just isn't enough time in a lifetime to watch all the films in an enormous collection.

at some point, consumers are drawing a line and saying that they won't buy more than x titles or spend more than y dollars - regardless of the selection.

keep in mind, too, that you can't look at it one month at a time because 4 titles is not the market. the market is everything out there in print and even out of print with secondary marketplaces like eBay and Amazon.

I think it's the opposite. I don't think the average consumer has a budget for buying movies because they don't buy enough movies to warrant it's own budget category. Maybe collectors budget for movies since they may consistently want to purchase more they can afford. I don't have a movie budget at all. I buy the stuff I like if it comes out, and of nothing else I like comes out, I pick up the Criterions and that's about it. If less I movie I want are released, I spend less on movies.

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by BixmanJ

Do you have pictures of your collection? Not that I don't believe you, I would just really like to see that many lined up.

Big chunks of my collection are organized by director, so my Criterions aren't all displayed together.

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

Big chunks of my collection are organized by director, so my Criterions aren't all displayed together.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Not sure if it was mentioned, but The 400 Blows is getting a re-release on January 10th, making it the third edition to come out. I imagine this one will be switched to a standard case,, which is presumably what is happening with the third iteration of Breathless coming out next month.

https://www.amazon.com/400-Blows-Cri...=%5Bblu-ray%5D

Looks like it's a Blu-ray only reissue. The current one is dual-format (tho in a plastic case).

Speaking of The 400 Blows, I've just had a tattoo of Antoine Doinel.

The perspective is skewed, so it makes the thing look huge, but you get the idea.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

I think it's the opposite. I don't think the average consumer has a budget for buying movies because they don't buy enough movies to warrant it's own budget category. Maybe collectors budget for movies since they may consistently want to purchase more they can afford. I don't have a movie budget at all. I buy the stuff I like if it comes out, and of nothing else I like comes out, I pick up the Criterions and that's about it. If less I movie I want are released, I spend less on movies.

whether they have a conscious budget or not is beside the point. they still have a budget.

back to my previous hypothetical example, if everything we ever wanted is coming out in January, where does the money come from for the consumers to buy those titles? if they are indeed going to limit output, then they seem to believe that the sweet spot is fewer titles. the money or the willingness to buy more than a certain number of titles just isn't there.

aside from who is or who isn't average... I've never seen the Bogart Bacall movies other than The Big Sleep. I'd like to see them. The Warner releases have all received glowing reviews. even so, I haven't bought them because I'm preoccupied w/ other things that I'm more interested in.

when DVD first came out, I can recall a very small percentage of movies being available in the format. I was very excited about the format, so I found myself buying titles like Bad Boys (the Sean Penn flick) and Rumble Fish. two decent movies, but soooo incredibly far down on my list of favorites that I haven't even had a passing thought about buying them on Blu-ray. but I bought them on DVD because the market was very unsaturated.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

Looks like it's a Blu-ray only reissue. The current one is dual-format (tho in a plastic case).

Speaking of The 400 Blows, I've just had a tattoo of Antoine Doinel.

The perspective is skewed, so it makes the thing look huge, but you get the idea.

[Show spoiler]

I really fell in love with that character while watching the entire Adventures of AD on Hulu a few months ago.

He's one of my favorite movie characters of all time.

He's just so...odd.

Especially in the later entries like Stolen Kisses and Bed and Board, when the comedy element gets ratcheted up a bit.

...he has this Chaplinesque quality that's just adorable.

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by Ray Jackson

I really fell in love with that character while watching the entire Adventures of AD on Hulu a few months ago.

He's one of my favorite movie characters of all time.

He's just so...odd.

Especially in the later entries like Stolen Kisses and Bed and Board, when the comedy element gets ratcheted up a bit.

...he has this Chaplinesque quality that's just adorable.

I love Stolen Kisses, and consider it easily the equal of The 400 Blows. Doinel is probably my favourite character of all time actually.

[SkyAntoine]

Just another reason I love living in Kentucky...


8 DVDs from the Flash Sale here today and my other 19 titles will be here tomorrow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Scottie]

I hope Criterion continues to re-issue films in BD-only releases. The DVDs are useless.

[easydreamer]

I wish Criterion includes a Blu-ray upgrade every month rather than limiting the number of releases to 4. 4 new titles + 1 upgrade = 5 titles per month.

[Feiereisel]

Originally Posted by easydreamer

I wish Criterion includes a Blu-ray upgrade every month rather than limiting the number of releases to 4. 4 new titles + 1 upgrade = 5 titles per month.

Mm. Wouldn't you rather have them wait on new restorations so they aren't forced to upgrade older, potentially inferior masters?

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by Feiereisel

Mm. Wouldn't you rather have them wait on new restorations so they aren't forced to upgrade older, potentially inferior masters?

I agree with this, although there are several titles we already know have good masters out there that are yet to be upgraded.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

Looks like it's a Blu-ray only reissue. The current one is dual-format (tho in a plastic case).

I have the old digipak release. Wish I could replace that with a proper case.

Speaking of The 400 Blows, I've just had a tattoo of Antoine Doinel.

The perspective is skewed, so it makes the thing look huge, but you get the idea.

[Show spoiler]

That's awesome!!!

400 Blows is an amazing movie. It was my first Criterion, and a real bargain at $13 or $14. But I've never seen the others. I really wish they'd release the Doinel set on Blu-ray.

[octagon]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

If I own a film and only watch it every 5 years the question is: Why do I own it? At that rate I'm better off just watching it at the cinematheque in the classics series or borrowing from library.

They also serve who sit and wait.

For me, one of the main benefits to having titles sit on a shelf for literally years between viewings is that they're available if/when the mood strikes.

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

How do you guys feel about distributors dialing down their output?

I would much rather they continue cranking out titles.

Even if we assume consumers are only going to buy X number of titles per year (and that's a fairly reasonable assumption) in order to draw any conclusions about oversaturation wouldn't we have to also assume that there's a fair degree of overlap with regard to which titles consumers are interested in buying?

My chances of me getting the releases I want are higher if more labels are releasing more titles.

And that's really the only market segment I care about.

[Feiereisel]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

I agree with this, although there are several titles we already know have good masters out there that are yet to be upgraded.

True, the wait is tough. At least it's not as galling as having to import sparkling new titles like The Third Man due to studio stinginess.

There's definitely a balance to be struck--at least this year has had some standout new releases to compensate for the fewer-than-usual upgrades.

Ebb and flow, ebb and flow.

[Ray Jackson]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

I love Stolen Kisses, and consider it easily the equal of The 400 Blows. Doinel is probably my favourite character of all time actually.

What's your opinion of Day For Night?

The character Jean-Pierre Léaud plays is somewhat reminiscent of Antoine imo.

...if Antoine had become an actor instead of a writer.