The Criterion Collection

[tehthomas]

When's the next sale -- excited to pick some more discs. Also, has anyone else here became a Charter member the streaming service.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by tehthomas

Also, has anyone else here became a Charter member the streaming service.

I have, but it's a mess so far...

The movies don't load on my Chromebook because the site thinks it's connected to an external monitor (it's not).

Support for the VHX Roku app was dropped after the first week because nothing loads anymore after DRM was turned on. It worked perfectly before that with the movie Mikey and Nicky.

(Supposedly, the Safari and Edge browsers work, and VHX on Apple TV still works, but don't quote me on that.)

It doesn't help that Criterion Channel's Twitter account is beyond useless and ignores everyone's posts about these issues, and the Criterion Channel site itself has not addressed any of them either. (With that said, my one e-mail to their support team about the renewal date issue was answered quickly and corrected on the site a few weeks later.)

But these are still early days yet...

Luckily, there will be a separate official standalone app released on April 8th that should hopefully fix all of these issues, and we all have a free month after that. But you'd think they'd be using these past few months to beta test. Why they're not doing that is beyond me.

Ultimately, I'm hoping for the best. I think we can all agree that we want and need this service to succeed.

[yoloswegmaster420]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuhEjzxlCx4/

Criterion/Janus is working on the restoration of some of Li Lihua's films. Glad to see more Chinese films entering the collection!

EDIT: Can anyone ID the films posted?

[professorwho]

I’m re-watching Truffaut’s Shoot the Pianist (or as Criterion translated it- Shoot the Piano Player) right now via the UK BD in the Truffaut box set. Criterion really needs to put this on BD. The dialogue is impeccable, and the cinematography is superb. (Plus, DP Raoul Coutard’s commentary is one of the best ever- so informative. It’s practically a history lesson of the New Wave)

The UK BD is very good. I wouldn’t mind if Criterion used the same transfer- it’s very nice. The only change I see they’d do is take the subtitles and convert to American English spellings.

[The Great Owl]

I watched the first hour and 15 minutes of White Material tonight, and then my Blu-ray froze. I cleaned the disc off and tried again, but got the same result, with the disc freezing at exactly the same moment.

I no longer have a sales receipt for this Blu-ray, because I bought it at a used music/movie store, but I still emailed Mulvaney at Criterion to request a replacement disc and included a photo of mine. I hope that they can make it happen.

I'm peeved right now, though, because I was thoroughly engaged in this movie and invested in what was happening, only to be unable to finish it. It's annoying to have my Sunday evening plans dashed like that. I am excited about going to see Greta (starring Isabelle Huppert) tomorrow evening, and I wanted to watch this movie first.

I'm looking forward to finishing White Material...whenever I can. Argh.

[sawdustandtinsel]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I watched the first hour and 15 minutes of White Material tonight, and then my Blu-ray froze. I cleaned the disc off and tried again, but got the same result, with the disc freezing at exactly the same moment.

I no longer have a sales receipt for this Blu-ray, because I bought it at a used music/movie store, but I still emailed Mulvaney at Criterion to request a replacement disc and included a photo of mine. I hope that they can make it happen.

I'm peeved right now, though, because I was thoroughly engaged in this movie and invested in what was happening, only to be unable to finish it. It's annoying to have my Sunday evening plans dashed like that. I am excited about going to see Greta (starring Isabelle Huppert) tomorrow evening, and I wanted to watch this movie first.

I'm looking forward to finishing White Material...whenever I can. Argh.

That was one of the first Criterion Blu-rays I ever bought so it'll always hold a special place for me, the last 1/2 hour of that film is really something. Sorry to hear that.

[javy]

I watched Paris Belongs to Us tonight. What an amazingly beatiful film. The cinematography is exquisite with very detailed shots of Paris, and the score is very dark and foreboding. Right as soon as the movie starts both of these aspects are made plain.

Speaking as a character in the film, my take is this:

[Show spoiler]"There are secret organizations, but we are not being conspired against. All these conspiracy theories are delusions in our friend's head. The incidents that are about us are coincidental. We're merely confused by all the chaotic political ideologies and turmoil in the world. We don't know what to believe. Whatever may be be going on here, Paris belongs to us." Ironically, that isn't true either. When we go right back to the beginning of the film, Paris belongs to no one.

I also want to add that Betty Schneider is a pure delight to watch with all her facial expressions and the way she carries herself throughout the film.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I watched the first hour and 15 minutes of White Material tonight, and then my Blu-ray froze. I cleaned the disc off and tried again, but got the same result, with the disc freezing at exactly the same moment.

Clean the disc with dish soap and warm water. Dry it thoroughly with a clean towel. That always works for me. If that doesn't work then try running a cleaner in your player. Make sure it's for Blu-Ray players only.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I watched the first hour and 15 minutes of White Material tonight, and then my Blu-ray froze. I cleaned the disc off and tried again, but got the same result, with the disc freezing at exactly the same moment.

I no longer have a sales receipt for this Blu-ray, because I bought it at a used music/movie store, but I still emailed Mulvaney at Criterion to request a replacement disc and included a photo of mine. I hope that they can make it happen.

I'm peeved right now, though, because I was thoroughly engaged in this movie and invested in what was happening, only to be unable to finish it. It's annoying to have my Sunday evening plans dashed like that. I am excited about going to see Greta (starring Isabelle Huppert) tomorrow evening, and I wanted to watch this movie first.

I'm looking forward to finishing White Material...whenever I can. Argh.

That's the one problem about physical media: They don't last forever (unlike digital). Nevertheless, the tradeoff for mortal shelf life is worth every second, because, disc rot or not, I still enjoy caressing that smooth blu-ray disc in my hand like its a baby's butt.

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

Originally Posted by kwisatzhaderach

Oh please let this be true. My Criterion DVD badly needs retiring!

Same here, been waiting forever for this. Ran was the first Kurosawa film I saw back in like 91 or so, probably the first live-action film in Japanese I ever saw. Opened up a whole world to me.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jw007

That's the one problem about physical media: They don't last forever (unlike digital). Nevertheless, the tradeoff for mortal shelf life is worth every second, because, disc rot or not, I still enjoy caressing that smooth blu-ray disc in my hand like its a baby's butt.

I hope that the Blu-rays in my collection have a long shelf life, since I have put a lot of money and effort into the collection. I have only seen a handful of defective discs in my time, thankfully.

I’m still irritated that I spent an hour and 15 minutes enjoying White Material before the disc freeze, and that I do not get to have closure for the next few days at least.

I cleaned up the disc a second time, but to no avail.

[jw007]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I hope that the Blu-rays in my collection have a long shelf life, since I have put a lot of money and effort into the collection. I have only seen a handful of defective discs in my time, thankfully.

I’m still irritated that I spent an hour and 15 minutes enjoying White Material before the disc freeze, and that I do not get to have closure for the next few days at least.

I cleaned up the disc a second time, but to no avail.

It's too bad you weren't able to finish that film on the first go around. I don't even remember how it ends because its been so many years since I've watched it (and I own this release too). By any chance did you inspect the underside of the disc to see if there was bronzing or disc rot? If not, then this might be a fluke/bad disc you have. Also, have you tried playing this on another blu-ray player?

I still have yet to mail in my defective/bronzed discs to "Jon Mulvaney" (aka Criterion), so thanks for reminding me. Here's hoping when you get to watch the end of White Material, it will have been worth it.

[jrsl76]

Originally Posted by jw007

I still have yet to mail in my defective/bronzed discs to "Jon Mulvaney" (aka Criterion), so thanks for reminding me.

Same here

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by jw007

By any chance did you inspect the underside of the disc to see if there was bronzing or disc rot? If not, then this might be a fluke/bad disc you have. Also, have you tried playing this on another blu-ray player?

I did not see any bronzing on the White Material disc.

I only own one Blu-ray player, but I have never had a problem with it, and the White Material disc freezes at exactly the same split second spot every time.

[Page14]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I did not see any bronzing on the White Material disc.

I only own one Blu-ray player, but I have never had a problem with it, and the White Material disc freezes at exactly the same split second spot every time.

I wonder ... could you skip past it ... like with a chapter jump or something ... and then "rewind" back to the spot where it's freezing, and then start playing it again from that point?

[Castor18]

Does anyone know if Criterion is or will be working on Bertolucci's The Sheltering Sky with the stupendous actors Debra Winger and John Malkovich?. Considering the movie and director caliber, there should be a proper american BD release. France and other countries released it sometime ago (Region B).

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by Page14

I wonder ... could you skip past it ... like with a chapter jump or something ... and then "rewind" back to the spot where it's freezing, and then start playing it again from that point?

I tried that, and it does not work. There are two or three chapters that are out of whack on the disc after that same point where it first freezes.

[MifuneFan]

I think there will be no problems getting Criterion to give you a replacement disc. Even if it's not a bronzing issue, they should take care of it. Just contact Mulvaney just to confirm this, and they'll provide the mailing address to mail it to them.

[Page14]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I tried that, and it does not work. There are two or three chapters that are out of whack on the disc after that same point where it first freezes.

Yeah, I figured that would be too easy of a fix. Although I had to do that at least once before ... I think with Spartacus. A pain in the butt.

[bsend]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I watched the first hour and 15 minutes of White Material tonight, and then my Blu-ray froze. I cleaned the disc off and tried again, but got the same result, with the disc freezing at exactly the same moment.

I no longer have a sales receipt for this Blu-ray, because I bought it at a used music/movie store, but I still emailed Mulvaney at Criterion to request a replacement disc and included a photo of mine. I hope that they can make it happen.

I'm peeved right now, though, because I was thoroughly engaged in this movie and invested in what was happening, only to be unable to finish it. It's annoying to have my Sunday evening plans dashed like that. I am excited about going to see Greta (starring Isabelle Huppert) tomorrow evening, and I wanted to watch this movie first.

I'm looking forward to finishing White Material...whenever I can. Argh.

That's one of the most annoying things as a movie collector. When you are fully engaged in a movie and then the disc stops working. You have invested time in watching it, and you are invested in the characters/story. You don't really want to watch something else and have that feeling of "Now what?". Plus your mind starts thinking of how or if you can get a replacement. Hopefully it's far and few in between friend.