The Criterion Collection

[Gacivory]

Does anyone think there’s a chance of a Blu upgrade of the set, Monsters and Madness?

[gbm82]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

Does anyone think there’s a chance of a Blu upgrade of the set, Monsters and Madness?

I doubt it but day one...

[regeyer]

According to the USPS tracker my recent order was supposed to arrive by 9pm tonight. When our mail came earlier today, and there was no Criterion package, I just assumed that the package was not arriving today. But the USPS website kept saying it would arrive by 9pm.

Not surprisingly, 9pm came and went, with no package. And suddenly, the USPS website now says the package will arrive on Tuesday. Tuesday? March 14 is not a holiday, so why wouldn't it arrive Monday. The package is at the local post office now. Weird.

BTW, I'm not upset, and I certainly don't blame Criterion. Just a little disappointed by the false promise by the PO.

[karsten]

What's this? The Criterion Channel features a 1080p transfer of The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934).

Now, there's a film I'd like to purchase on blu-ray.


EDITED TO ADD: Is it odd that they would have a film in 1080p on their branded streaming channel but not have issued it on blu-ray? Or does that happen with them frequently?

Pity if so.

[Rayjg]

I wish Criterion had a saucy insider like KL posting on here to straighten us all out

[NeilZ]

Originally Posted by karsten

What's this? The Criterion Channel features a 1080p transfer of The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934).

Now, there's a film I'd like to purchase on blu-ray.


EDITED TO ADD: Is it odd that they would have a film in 1080p on their branded streaming channel but not have issued it on blu-ray? Or does that happen with them frequently?

Pity if so.

That’s another of my highly wanted releases. It’s been on their streaming channel for a year or so, but if Criterion have the rights for a blu ray release it’s probably one more that’s in that queue so to speak.

[andantelise]

Originally Posted by karsten

What's this? The Criterion Channel features a 1080p transfer of The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934).

Now, there's a film I'd like to purchase on blu-ray.


EDITED TO ADD: Is it odd that they would have a film in 1080p on their branded streaming channel but not have issued it on blu-ray? Or does that happen with them frequently?

Pity if so.

It's a common occurrence with them, i.e. The Fire Within, Jigoku, and A Story of Floating Weeds (1934), among many more. That's also one of the reasons why I keep my subscription, for films that don't have a blu-ray release.

[tatterdemalion]

Originally Posted by bergman864

But you've chosen them based on country of origin. Thanks for proving my point.

Where else are Japanese films supposed to come from? Italy? What an idiotic strawman statement. I also love films from Japan, thus my avatar from Sansho the Bailiff. That's why I started buying Criterion releases back in the 90's on laserdisc. Anime is readily available and so are horror films from Japan, but the "serious/artsy" side seems to be exclusively with Criterion. Kino, Arrow and other boutique labels have so few too none that they almost don't count in finding films from there. Now let's please get back to talking about films we love without being criticized for it. You buy what you want and we'll buy what we want.

[TolerancEJ]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

I wish Criterion had a saucy insider like KL posting on here to straighten us all out

The Code Red guy should drop by as well, sad to say.

[Matt89]

Lol my order that I placed at 12:01 just shipped. I think that’s the longest I’ve ever waited for a flash sale order to ship. Guess they had a huge turnout. Should have it in a couple days tho they’re super fast once your order ships.

~Matt

[SGFfilmfan]

Originally Posted by iamnoone

Thanks for that! Never ordered from Vintage Stock before; I wish they were out here in the west!!! A couple of the stores above didn't actually have it in stock, or couldn't find it, but at least one did have it, so I got it shipped for under $20. Great deal. Very nice and friendly people, too! Thx again for the tip.

You should get a $5 credit in the package to cover the shipping.

[jw007]

Hey everyone, I haven't been on here in a few days but I just scrolled through 4 or 5 pages of recent drama and this "jw" here isn't sure what's going on with that other "JW", but from one jw to another, in the famous words of Rodney King: "Can't we all get along?"

With that said, I didn't buy a single Criterion during the flash sale because I moved overseas over 3 months ago and all my blu-rays are in boxes back in my storage locker in NJ. However, I have been enjoying watching an assortment of streaming movies on my new Epson EF-12 projector! I kicked it off with Blade Runner! Man, who remembers that Criterion laserdisc? Don't worry, I didn't watch the laserdisc here!



NOTE: Not my photo.

[ShellOilJunior]

One way to increase the monthly output would be to bring back the $29.95 SRP blu-rays. Back in 2012, Criterion started releasing movies on blu-ray that were light on extras but priced less than a typical blu-ray release.

For example: The Moment of Truth, The Organizer, Blue is the Warmest Color ($24.95 SRP), Summer Interlude, Letter Never Sent, etc.

It seems like these releases were replaced with the streaming service (Filmstruck then the Criterion channel) and boxed sets.

[MifuneFan]

Another thing to keep in mind is just because something is streaming in "1080P" does not mean it's Blu-ray ready. A Story of Floating Weeds was brought up as an example earlier, but one look at that stream and it clearly is still in need a proper restoration. Warner Archive's George Feltenstein touched on that for Warner's catalog, stating that even though plenty of films were in HD on their streaming services, they weren't really Blu-ray ready, and they still needed to go back to the start and scan the original negatives to get a proper restored master out on BD. I know some are in the group that are willing to accept "good enough HD masters" on Blu-ray, but are they the majority of Criterion customers? Criterion also has to contend with the possibility that doing that could hurt their brand/image, if it appears they're not really putting much effort in hundreds of potential future releases.

I also think Criterion has greatly benefited from having their streaming service to the point where there is less incentive to churn out Blu-rays of their catalog at any increased rate.

[JupiterMission]

Originally Posted by bergman864

[Show spoiler]I don't want to start up this argument again but I will say this. It's pretty remarkable that the only time anyone complains about diversity it relates to race or sexual identity. I remember a time when they had very few female directed films in the collection. They recognized a weak spot and addressed it. The same could be said for their lack of Czech films in the collection. No one complained about the lack of Japanese films and "diversity" when more Czech films were being released. Don't act like this is just people pining for the old days of Criterion releases.

All that article did was point out a weak spot in Criterion's lineup. And if the tone of the article bothered you it's clear it struck a personal nerve you seem unwilling to confront. People need to stop identifying with these labels and take any criticism as a personal attack on them.

This is Criterion's mission statement.

And yet their releases leaned heavily toward only a few countries and very few black directors, female directors, or world films. Who knows if Criterion was already rectifying the first of those things before the article. It really shouldn't matter. They recognized these as an issue and are working to fix them.

But honestly, would we have even had this conversation if there was an NYT article about Criterion not releasing enough films from South America? Or a lack of contemporary films in their mission statement?

And I don't think NYT has to mention that another label is doing better about releasing diverse films. Making that comparison would only make the article seem negative and not constructive.

1) I assume some of what you wrote was aimed at Neil, but speaking for myself: please just call me a racist if you think I'm a racist. Things like "it's clear it struck a personal nerve you seem unwilling to confront" are so slimy when I am here trying to have an honest conversation with you. Also, the very post of mine that you quoted positively recognized Kino for diversity, and Neil's post said he's happy for people that love the new releases that he doesn't care for. So if we're the self-deluded racists you've written us off as, take comfort knowing we're not going to make the cut at the next KKK tryouts or whatever.
2) The reason misogyny was mentioned in my post was because people do/did complain about the under/over representation of female filmmakers in the collection and in film. The NYT didn't specifically write a hit piece about it, but it's definitely been a part of the pro/anti-diversity conversation you seem to think is limited to race and sexual identity. (Notice I am not calling you or insinuating that you are a sexist for this blind spot.)
3) We disagree about how innocuous the NYT article was. That's fine, but I think the tone and timing were not merely "pointing out a weak spot." That article came out in August 2020, when the entire country Criterion is based in was in the middle of months of state and media-approved destructive (sometimes deadly) riots and anti-racist style witch-hunts.

At the end of the day, I think we agree that Criterion has the right to release any film they want (...well, provided they have the rights to it), and take the company in any direction they want. The point I've tried to make where we seem to disagree is that it's also fine if people ***** about it, and doing so does not automatically make them racist, anti-LGBTQIA2S+, misogynist, etc. (They might just be disappointed fans of Japanese cinema.)

People who resort to name-calling and shaming like this tend to be wrong and simply unable to defend their position through other means. It gets results, so I understand why they continue to engage like this, but they're still wrong.

And for fun, here is my comment on the NYT kerfuffle at the time. Some classic virulent racism for us all to enjoy.

[Show spoiler]Got my wish on Deep Cover.

Originally Posted by JupiterMission

I'd love to get Dead Presidents out anywhere. That's an underrated one. Belly would fit right into the collection too. And it might be a stretch, but how about Deep Cover and Mr 3000? :^)

However, I find this critique (of everything) very tiresome. Criterion doesn't just get its pick of whatever they want to release, and the NYT knows this. The bulk of the Janus Films are old European and Asian arthouse movies. Although it's hard to believe, there just weren't a lot of black people - let alone African Americans - directing movies in mid 20th century Europe and Asia. There are apparently plenty of people that measure everything by racial "equity" standards, and they should certainly have their say, and oh how they do every single day in every corner of the culture. But there are also people that value things other than the tone of a person's skin, and it's getting to be like a game to smear them as racist. There you are, minding your own business, putting out crap like The Breakfast Club on blu-ray, when this terrible shadow of "you're racist because you don't fixate hard enough on skin color" is cast over you. To what end?

Criterion is a company, and they have to balance financial along with artistic and historical considerations for their releases, or they'll cease being a company. Based on their Criterion Channel communiques, I have no doubt that they are sufficiently "woke." They really do a great job on the CC selecting and highlighting a diverse (racially and otherwise) array of films, but I sometimes wonder how many people are actually watching those. Seriously: For everybody sharing that NYT article, I sincerely hope you picked up Kino's Pioneers of African American Cinema set. Vinegar Syndrome's Sweet Sweetback (and the Rudy Ray Moore pictures, of course). Scream Factory's Demon Knight. Twilight Time's Devil in a Blue Dress. Olive's Hoodlum, Meteor Man, and Cooley High. Etc. Put your money and time where your mouth is, or else this is all just useless hipster posturing.

Also, while I'm here: Ava DuVernay is an absolute hack. Selma was directed like a below average TV movie, and A Wrinkle In Time is an awful mess and one of the biggest flops in movie history. Her documentary work makes Michael Moore at his worst look perfectly reasonable. Of course she's retreated to Netflix where box office doesn't matter.

[regeyer]

Originally Posted by regeyer

According to the USPS tracker my recent order was supposed to arrive by 9pm tonight. When our mail came earlier today, and there was no Criterion package, I just assumed that the package was not arriving today. But the USPS website kept saying it would arrive by 9pm.

Not surprisingly, 9pm came and went, with no package. And suddenly, the USPS website now says the package will arrive on Tuesday. Tuesday? March 14 is not a holiday, so why wouldn't it arrive Monday. The package is at the local post office now. Weird.

BTW, I'm not upset, and I certainly don't blame Criterion. Just a little disappointed by the false promise by the PO.

Now I'm getting email saying it will be delivered tomorrow. Although we usually don't get mail on Sunday, I wouldn't be shocked if it arrives today.

[koberulz]

Your compulsion to add random letters to the end of "LGBTQ" makes it pretty clear what your position is.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Your compulsion to add random letters to the end of "LGBTQ" makes it pretty clear what your position is.

And you thinking they're random letters just shows you haven't been keeping up.

[dressedtokill]

Honestly, everyone should just move on and call it a day. While a lot of interesting points were raised it is pretty much clear that no resolution of any kind will be reached. Team A thinks a certain way, as does B and C, so it's just a lot of people giving their two cents on a matter, name calling, etc. The truth is we can speculate all we want, but none of us knows what is happening when it comes to the decision making over at the Criterion lair.
What I do know it's that this whole discussion has been going on for far too long and is clogging the thread. I don't mind debating certain issues, but unfortunately in this case, it is going nowhere.
Anyway, let's get back on track.

[bergman864]

Originally Posted by JupiterMission

1) I assume some of what you wrote was aimed at Neil, but speaking for myself: please just call me a racist if you think I'm a racist. Things like "it's clear it struck a personal nerve you seem unwilling to confront" are so slimy when I am here trying to have an honest conversation with you. Also, the very post of mine that you quoted positively recognized Kino for diversity, and Neil's post said he's happy for people that love the new releases that he doesn't care for. So if we're the self-deluded racists you've written us off as, take comfort knowing we're not going to make the cut at the next KKK tryouts or whatever.
2) The reason misogyny was mentioned in my post was because people do/did complain about the under/over representation of female filmmakers in the collection and in film. The NYT didn't specifically write a hit piece about it, but it's definitely been a part of the pro/anti-diversity conversation you seem to think is limited to race and sexual identity. (Notice I am not calling you or insinuating that you are a sexist for this blind spot.)
3) We disagree about how innocuous the NYT article was. That's fine, but I think the tone and timing were not merely "pointing out a weak spot." That article came out in August 2020, when the entire country Criterion is based in was in the middle of months of state and media-approved destructive (sometimes deadly) riots and anti-racist style witch-hunts.

At the end of the day, I think we agree that Criterion has the right to release any film they want (...well, provided they have the rights to it), and take the company in any direction they want. The point I've tried to make where we seem to disagree is that it's also fine if people ***** about it, and doing so does not automatically make them racist, anti-LGBTQIA2S+, misogynist, etc. (They might just be disappointed fans of Japanese cinema.)

People who resort to name-calling and shaming like this tend to be wrong and simply unable to defend their position through other means. It gets results, so I understand why they continue to engage like this, but they're still wrong.

And for fun, here is my comment on the NYT kerfuffle at the time. Some classic virulent racism for us all to enjoy.

[Show spoiler]Got my wish on Deep Cover.

I took issue with NeilZ's "overly diverse" complaint. And his response told me exactly what he meant.

I'm not sure why you think mentioning Kino absolves Criterion of the lack of releases of certain films, and I'm not just speaking about black directed films. Movements like New Queer Cinema or other contemporary independent films outside of Linklater, the Coens, Jarmusch and Anderson. They've mad strides to release more diverse films but the only bit of diversity anyone seems to want to complain about is black directed films.

I hope to see more Korean films in the collection, like Boat People. Or more films from the Dogme 95 movement, or 80s and 90s independent cinema or Blaxploitation films.

Like you said, Criterion isn't the end all be all when it comes to boutique labels. But they're not above critique. And if it helps them look for some films outside of their usual fare, then I'm all for it.