The Criterion Collection

[borntorun_intheusa]

Apologies if this post sounds ranty or even "whiny" but I just wanted to get some frustration off my chest so don't hate me too much, heh.

As much as I enjoy going to Barnes & Noble to look for titles, I can't lie when I say the limited quantities, lack of restocking titles and concerning amount of damaged cases / box sets has taken some of the fun of going in person away.

I was really hoping to grab a copy of Come and See but the shelves were a mess and there was almost no new releases out. I asked the (very kind) employee there if they had a copy and they said they did but it was on hold for someone over the phone. Why wouldn't the store get in more copies of a new release? It also kind of blows someone can just reserve it over the phone when there weren't a lot of copies to begin with. That really sucks. Even recent titles like The Great Escape and An Unmarried Woman were nowhere to be found. I actually finally found a copy of Andrei Rublev after looking for a few years.

I understand they're not gonna have 30 copies of some obscure French film that maybe only a handful of people will buy but even something like the recent Godzilla set I've only ever seen once since it was released. I still walked out with a handful of titles so I'm not like mad or anything, I've just stopped getting my hopes up for titles that I'm looking to buy in person.

Anyways, sorry if this was ranty! Just had to get it off my chest!

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by borntorun_intheusa

[Show spoiler]Apologies if this post sounds ranty or even "whiny" but I just wanted to get some frustration off my chest so don't hate me too much, heh.

As much as I enjoy going to Barnes & Noble to look for titles, I can't lie when I say the limited quantities, lack of restocking titles and concerning amount of damaged cases / box sets has taken some of the fun of going in person away.

I was really hoping to grab a copy of Come and See but the shelves were a mess and there was almost no new releases out. I asked the (very kind) employee there if they had a copy and they said they did but it was on hold for someone over the phone. Why wouldn't the store get in more copies of a new release? It also kind of blows someone can just reserve it over the phone when there weren't a lot of copies to begin with. That really sucks. Even recent titles like The Great Escape and An Unmarried Woman were nowhere to be found. I actually finally found a copy of Andrei Rublev after looking for a few years.

I understand they're not gonna have 30 copies of some obscure French film that maybe only a handful of people will buy but even something like the recent Godzilla set I've only ever seen once since it was released. I still walked out with a handful of titles so I'm not like mad or anything, I've just stopped getting my hopes up for titles that I'm looking to buy in person.

Anyways, sorry if this was ranty! Just had to get it off my chest!

It's alright if you need to release some of that weight off your chest! I RARELY had this type of experience where I have a title I'm trying to look for that is not there in Barnes & Noble physically. At the Barnes & Noble store that I go to, there isn't any broken case but there is a limited quantity mostly for smaller titles. Only on one occasion did I not find something I was planning to buy at the store and it was Dr. Strangelove but I found it in the next sale so I was perfectly fine with that. Yes, the limited quantity IS a problem with Criterion unless if the community you live in doesn't have a lot of Criterion fans there probably like me. Every now and then, I do see a few people coming in and out. I saw a couple shopping in the Criterion aisle after I finished choosing all the titles I was planning to buy. But limited quantity is NOT a problem at my local Barnes & Noble. Before Trilogy?
We have that. Red Shoes? We have that. Only problem is that there is only one Blu-ray for each title and rarely two Blu-rays. It's always one Blu-ray, one DVD version of each title.

I never had to experience this because a lot of people don't shop at my local Barnes & Noble store for Criterion which is probably why I never had this problem. But, it seems like your area has a LOT of Criterion fans. And I never had to deal with broken cases or anything like that so I'm glad it didn't happen and hoping it will never happen

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Seriously? It seems like you want to argue just for the sake of arguing. What I choose to do isn't relevant to what someone else might choose to do.

This discussion started because someone recommended avoiding the Criterion version of Barry Lyndon on account of the inevitable Warners UHD. That's the entire reason the likelihood of the latter came under discussion. So yes, it's highly relevant, as I was never arguing "Barry Lyndon will never get a UHD release", merely "Barry Lyndon is not nearly likely enough to get a UHD release to justify avoiding the Criterion".

Originally Posted by Bn43

I don't see most other companies cramming as much data on single discs as Criterion, sometimes five HD hours (Berlin Alexanderplatz, Dekalog, Fanny and Alexander, all of which suffer compression artifacts). Even the loads of supplements on the same disc hurt the picture. You can bet Lawrence of Arabia in 4K would be on a single disc if Criterion had printed it.

If it'd beeen a Criterion release it wouldn't have needed all the alternate audio tracks, and thus would've fit on a single disc even with the exact same encode Sony gave it.

[jshaide]

Surprise box set announcement today??? I'm on a high from the Friday the 13th set.

[bsend]

Originally Posted by jshaide

Surprise box set announcement today??? I'm on a high from the Friday the 13th set.

Where did they announce this?

[bsend]

Originally Posted by spiritinblack82

I was going to share a pic of my B&N haul from yesterday but computer is having issues uploading the pic at the moment. Anyways here's what I managed to grab:

The Red Shoes
The Lady Eve
The Cranes Are Flying
Wings of Desire
Come and See
Bruce Lee Boxset

I've seen all of these at least once except for Wings of Desire and the Bruce Lee films (have only ever watched Enter the Dragon). I wasn't planning on grabbing this box set but couldn't resist once I spotted it. I went in looking for Until the End of the World but didn't see it so I grabbed Wings of Desire instead. I've heard that this is actually a better film so don't expect to have any regrets. I'll probably end up placing an online order before the sale is over.

Ohhh they put out the Bruce Lee set early. Nice!

[jw007]

Originally Posted by Bn43

Eh.

I don't see most other companies cramming as much data on single discs as Criterion, sometimes five HD hours (Berlin Alexanderplatz, Dekalog, Fanny and Alexander, all of which suffer compression artifacts). Even the loads of supplements on the same disc hurt the picture. You can bet Lawrence of Arabia in 4K would be on a single disc if Criterion had printed it.

I also wouldn't buy nearly as many movies if they all cost as much as Criterion's.

It's hypothetical to think Criterion would cram 4K movies on a single disc with supplements, but then again they may never release 4K UHD discs. I still prefer more information in terms of substance rather than from a technical standpoint. But yeah, losing a few megabytes in bitrates may or may not be visible to someone's eye, when determining overall quality of the video transfer. It's getting to the point now where the difference between 4K and 8K may be negligible in terms of quality to a viewer's eye. And I'm certainly happy sticking with 1080p HD if suddenly all 4K discs vanished.

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by bsend

Where did they announce this?

They didn't. It's entirely wishful thinking.

[jshaide]

Originally Posted by bsend

Ohhh they put out the Bruce Lee set early. Nice!

My store had it last Friday! I was shocked!

[spiritinblack82]

Originally Posted by jshaide

My store had it last Friday! I was shocked!

Meant to quote bsend post on last page: Well it wasn't exactly out on sales floor yet but let's just say it was in an accessible area.

That's cool that your location had them out though!

[Scottie]

Janus Films update

#2001 does not exist yet.

Beau Travail (1999, Claire Denis)
http://www.janusfilms.com/films/2002

Shogun Assassin (404'd page)
http://www.janusfilms.com/films/2003

Smooth Talk (1985, Joyce Chopra)
http://www.janusfilms.com/films/2004

[Bn43]

Originally Posted by jw007

It's hypothetical to think Criterion would cram 4K movies on a single disc with supplements, but then again they may never release 4K UHD discs. I still prefer more information in terms of substance rather than from a technical standpoint. But yeah, losing a few megabytes in bitrates may or may not be visible to someone's eye, when determining overall quality of the video transfer. It's getting to the point now where the difference between 4K and 8K may be negligible in terms of quality to a viewer's eye. And I'm certainly happy sticking with 1080p HD if suddenly all 4K discs vanished.

It's not a few megabytes, but several gigabytes of data that you're losing, and the visual difference should be perceivable even for someone who doesn't pay much attention to compression as long as they are provided a comparison. What I find weird is that my re-encodes (I don't re-encode anymore, because I got paranoid about losing too much quality.) have fewer compression artifacts and none of the color banding that Criterion gets when they encode the master scans at such low bitrates (16 to 18 mbps).

I wasn't really trying to say anything about 4K. Lawrence of Arabia was just an example. I don't see why Criterion would treat 4K compression any differently, why they wouldn't put a four hour movie that Sony encodes at, say, 70 mbps on two discs at 35 mbps on one disc if they're already cramming five hour shows on single Blu-rays.

[Partyslammer]

Well, I'm glad I picked up whatever titles I was looking for at the Barnes and Nobel 50% sale this weekend as California is shuttering all indoor businesses again as of today.

I don't see how B&N survives into 2021.

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by Partyslammer

Well, I'm glad I picked up whatever titles I was looking for at the Barnes and Nobel 50% sale this weekend as California is shuttering all indoor businesses again as of today.

I don't see how B&N survives into 2021.

Wait, you're telling me we can't go inside B&N anymore.

[Show spoiler]

I was waiting to get the Bruce Lee boxset tomorrow when the stores open.

[Sommerswerd]

Originally Posted by Partyslammer

Well, I'm glad I picked up whatever titles I was looking for at the Barnes and Nobel 50% sale this weekend as California is shuttering all indoor businesses again as of today.

I don't see how B&N survives into 2021.

I don't think that is entirely true. Unless your county is on CA's COVID-19 “watch list”, only the following need to be closed:

Dine-in restaurants (indoor)
Wineries and tasting rooms (indoor)
Movie theaters (indoors)
Family entertainment centers (indoors)
Zoos and museums (indoors)
Cardrooms (indoors)
Brewpubs, breweries, bars and pubs (indoor and outdoor)

https://covid19.ca.gov/roadmap-counties/

[NeoNical]

Originally Posted by Sommerswerd

[Show spoiler]I don't think that is entirely true. Unless your county is on CA's COVID-19 “watch list”, only the following need to be closed:

Dine-in restaurants (indoor)
Wineries and tasting rooms (indoor)
Movie theaters (indoors)
Family entertainment centers (indoors)
Zoos and museums (indoors)
Cardrooms (indoors)
Brewpubs, breweries, bars and pubs (indoor and outdoor)

https://covid19.ca.gov/roadmap-counties/

Seems like my area is part of the watchlist. Guess I'll have to wait 'till November I guess

[Sommerswerd]

Originally Posted by NeoNical

Seems like my area is part of the watchlist. Guess I'll have to wait 'till November I guess

From what I understand as long as the B&N store is a stand-alone location and not part of a mall, you should be good.

[Partyslammer]

Originally Posted by Sommerswerd

From what I understand as long as the B&N store is a stand-alone location and not part of a mall, you should be good.

This is correct. I just confirmed with two local Orange County stand-alone stores and as of now, they will be staying open for indoor shopping unless things change further.

[Bn43]

Just watched Make Way for Tomorrow, Criterion DVD rental. Kept thinking of Tokyo Story, so was unsurprising when I read it was an inspiration after. Why does the Criterion cover have this listed as 1936, yet everywhere else including their own website the release date is 1937?

[Hintermann]

Just Arrived: Tokyo Olympiad

On the way: The Manchurian Candidate

Just Ordered: Downhill Racer

Next order: Days of Heaven