The Criterion Collection

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

Got another $10 off certificate for being a Criterion Channel subscriber!

Do you know if they expire and if they stack?

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

Got another $10 off certificate for being a Criterion Channel subscriber!

So did I, and I don't plan on using it. I'm not sure if it's a unique code or not, it kind of looks like it is, but the first person to PM me can have it.

Edit: codes been claimed.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by Bradsdadg

Anyone know if Les Enfants Terribles DVD is OOP? I noticed it is unavailable on the Criterion site, and also off Amazon but not sure how to verify?

If it was OOP the Criterion site would state "out of print". "Currently unavailable" is out of stock.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Do you know if they expire and if they stack?

According to the e-mail, they do not expire.

[NeoNical]

I think you can just stack them up which is great for the flash sale. I'll be using my $20 worth of coupons to get myself either a low tier Criterion Blu-ray (With little to no supplements) or a highly wanted one but I don't know what I should spend it on!

Hope Criterion does more of these but they've been way too kind!!!

[LPMA]

Originally Posted by NeoNical

I think you can just stack them up which is great for the flash sale. I'll be using my $20 worth of coupons to get myself either a low tier Criterion Blu-ray (With little to no supplements) or a highly wanted one but I don't know what I should spend it on!

Hope Criterion does more of these but they've been way too kind!!!

I remember not being able to stack more than one $50 reward certificates, as that field didn't allow for more than one entry. Might have changed since!

[dwk]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Do you know if they expire and if they stack?

I had three that I was able to stack when I pre-ordered the Bruce Lee set, but I think shortly after I got my order in they made it so they could no longer stack them.

[c-donz]

Originally Posted by dwk

I had three that I was able to stack when I pre-ordered the Bruce Lee set, but I think shortly after I got my order in they made it so they could no longer stack them.

Sounds like I am going to need to make three orders if that is the case.

[hariseldon]

They're like Gift Cards so not sure why you can't stack them once they're added to your cart. I know I've done it a couple times and once with as many as 3 -- a $50 and two $10's

I've got a $50 and a 10 added to my Account now so I guess I see how it works at the next sale

Thanks RCRochester

[erlinmeyer]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

They're like Gift Cards so not sure why you can't stack them once they're added to your cart. I know I've done it a couple times and once with as many as 3 -- a $50 and two $10's

I've got a $50 and a 10 added to my Account now so I guess I see how it works at the next sale

Thanks RCRochester

The $50 is different from the $10 Fall code. From their email " you can only use one Fall 2020 gift certificate per order." Think dwk was right in that they stopped it.

[randian]

How do sales at Criterion itself compare to the semi-annual Barnes & Noble sales, in terms of price and breadth?

[StarDestroyer52]

Originally Posted by randian

How do sales at Criterion itself compare to the semi-annual Barnes & Noble sales, in terms of price and breadth?

They are essentially the same.

[Bradsdadg]

Originally Posted by randian

How do sales at Criterion itself compare to the semi-annual Barnes & Noble sales, in terms of price and breadth?

All films are 50% off. You also get loyalty points for each purchase. For every $500 you spend, you get $50 to use in the future.

[hariseldon]

Originally Posted by randian

How do sales at Criterion itself compare to the semi-annual Barnes & Noble sales, in terms of price and breadth?

Breadth -- every in print and in stock Criterion is included with both including DVD, BD, Eclipse. Neither generally allow backordered titles or preorders releasing after then end of the sale.

24 hrs vs 4 weeks is the biggest different

Both are 50% off MSRP so identical prices.

BN has instore items, Criterion doesn't

BN has it's 10% off member discount for store purchases, Criterion has the Loyalty GC which requires a cumulative $500 (even if it takes 5 years or more) so approx 9% discount.

If you add a new $25 Annual membership in store the first purchase gets a 20% discount so if you're going to buy a lot, I'd suggest doing one large purchase and add that new membership on the spot. i know it's not unheard of for members to make a $500 or $1000 batch over a month (or JULY+NOV combination) so $100-200 discount obviously makes that $25 membership quite cheap. With the new Fellini and Varda sets alone those kind of numbers aren't even hard to get to.

You haven't been able use BN coupons for several years (not that there are many anymore at all), but BN often has Gift Cards discounts esp in November/BF and from various sources so you can something end up with an extra 10/20/ even 30% extra discount.

Alliance Warehouse ships most of the items from both so the packaging/shipping speed should be the same

Sales Tax used to be a big advantage, but it appears Criterion now collecting tax in around 27 states + DC

now required for "Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Washington D.C., and Wisconsin."

Originally Posted by erlinmeyer

The $50 is different from the $10 Fall code. From their email " you can only use one Fall 2020 gift certificate per order." Think dwk was right in that they stopped it.

I see. I misunderstood that folks were specifically talking about stacking multiple Streaming Rewards.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by theater dreamer

By the way, I watched Downhill Racer yesterday. I don't see this gem ever being discussed, but it's instantly near the top of my favorite sports films. It does a magnificent job of capturing the tedium between races. Redford is good as the aloof superstar on the rise, and the cinematography is absolutely dazzling.

I have no idea how they shot those scenes in 1969. Granted, my knowledge of cinematography is still growing, but...wow. It felt like I was flying down the course. I loved it.

"Downhill Racer" is a great film, one that I grew to appreciate more with a rewatch. Three sports films I recommend that have a bit of the same vibe are the classic "North Dallas Forty" and two recent films, "The Program" about Lance Armstrong directed by Stephen Frears and featuring an incredible performance by Ben Foster and "Borg vs. McEnroe", about the rivalry between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. Like "Downhill Racer", all of these films cut through the bullshit a lot of sports films tend to wade in and use sports as a vehicle to make pointed observations on a more macro level. "Downhill Racer" surprised me in how uncompromising it is in refusing to bend to cliche.

[ihaveblink]

No clue if anyone has mentioned this anywhere, but The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and Criterion was mentioned by Marc Maron recently on his podcast. It was at the end of one with John Cusack about a week or so ago. I'm assuming he's involved with an interview for it possibly with Charles Grodin.

[billy pilgrim]

Originally Posted by mja345

"Downhill Racer" is a great film, one that I grew to appreciate more with a rewatch. Three sports films I recommend that have a bit of the same vibe are the classic "North Dallas Forty" and two recent films, "The Program" about Lance Armstrong directed by Stephen Frears and featuring an incredible performance by Ben Foster and "Borg vs. McEnroe", about the rivalry between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. Like "Downhill Racer", all of these films cut through the bullshit a lot of sports films tend to wade in and use sports as a vehicle to make pointed observations on a more macro level. "Downhill Racer" surprised me in how uncompromising it is in refusing to bend to cliche.

Although I haven't seen the other two films that you mentioned, I certainly agree that both Downhill Racer and North Dallas Forty are two of the best in the sports genre.

Another one is This Sporting Life with Richard Harris as a thuggish amateur rugby player. One of Harris's great performances and also one by his costar, Rachel Roberts as his landlady and target of his affection and considerable abuse. It's appropriately filmed in gritty black and white and set amidst the poverty and desperation of a bleak northern England coal mining community during the 1960s. Arguably though it might be considered as much a British kitchen sink drama as sports.

Unfortunately I believe that the Network Region B Blu Ray release may now be OOP. This is a film that would greatly benefit from a new transfer in a future release.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by billy pilgrim

Although I haven't seen the other two films that you mentioned, I certainly agree that both Downhill Racer and North Dallas Forty are two of the best in the sports genre.

Another one is This Sporting Life with Richard Harris as a thuggish amateur rugby player. One of Harris's great performances and also one by his costar, Rachel Roberts as his landlady and target of his affection and considerable abuse. It's appropriately filmed in gritty black and white and set amidst the poverty and desperation of a bleak northern England coal mining community during the 1960s. Arguably though it might be considered as much a British kitchen sink drama as sports.

Unfortunately I believe that the Network Region B Blu Ray release may now be OOP. This is a film that would greatly benefit from a new transfer in a future release.

"This Sporting Life" is a brilliant film, Harris' performance is truly a tour de force. I held off on the Network release in hopes Criterion would upgrade the DVD. It's definitely one of my most-wanted upgrades from Criterion.

Definitely check out the two I mentioned. "The Program" was way better than I thought any Armstrong movie would be and Foster, one of my favorite current actors, just nails Armstrong's aloof sociopathy. It also makes relevant points about how easily people can be manipulated, particularly by con men and sociopaths.

[Bn43]

Are any of Criterion's PCM 2.0 tracks matrixed surround? I'm annoyed with distributors almost never showing on the package, the menus or their website if it's matrixed surround. I've listened to so many of those tracks with my receiver set to Direct instead of Dolby Surround or DTS Neural:X, because I wasn't aware or didn't understand how to decode them at the time.

[malakaheso]

Originally Posted by ihaveblink

No clue if anyone has mentioned this anywhere, but The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and Criterion was mentioned by Marc Maron recently on his podcast. It was at the end of one with John Cusack about a week or so ago. I'm assuming he's involved with an interview for it possibly with Charles Grodin.

I hope that's true. Would love to see a good transfer of that film.