The Criterion Collection

[Hawkguy]

Originally Posted by oildude

I thought Criterion was moving exclusively to hulu plus. Did I miss something? I don't have a netflix account but I did a trial with hulu plus and am thinking of signing up for it.

There's actually a lot (really, A LOT) of Criterion titles on netflix....and most of them have the Criterion art for the cover. Not just Blu-rays, but DVD titles too.

[trombone dixie]

Does anyone foresee CC releasing The Killer and Hard Boiled on blu-ray any time soon? I received an $11 gift card from BestBuy and was thinking about ordering both of them. I just don't want to do it and three months later CC re-releases them.

[monque]

Originally Posted by trombone dixie

Does anyone foresee CC releasing The Killer and Hard Boiled on blu-ray any time soon? I received an $11 gift card from BestBuy and was thinking about ordering both of them. I just don't want to do it and three months later CC re-releases them.

I wish.

[retablo]

Originally Posted by trombone dixie

Does anyone foresee CC releasing The Killer and Hard Boiled on blu-ray any time soon? I received an $11 gift card from BestBuy and was thinking about ordering both of them. I just don't want to do it and three months later CC re-releases them.

I wouldn't, they are horrible blu-rays.

[Darkcritic]

It seems the latest hint (This one:

[Show spoiler]

) isn't Mann's Thief after all ! Check out this photo gallery from Frampton's Winter Solstice... http://landscapesuicide.blogspot.com...-industry.html

This confirms the Hollis Frampton box-set/Eclipse discussed a few months ago. In my opinion these are really great news . I know Thief will also come eventually maybe even the same month .

(All credit goes to a member at Criterionforum.org who posted the link, not my discovery but just wanted to point it out )

[Todd_Gaines]

Originally Posted by trombone dixie

Does anyone foresee CC releasing The Killer and Hard Boiled on blu-ray any time soon? I received an $11 gift card from BestBuy and was thinking about ordering both of them. I just don't want to do it and three months later CC re-releases them.

Actually I had a dream where Criterion released Hard Boiled on BD. But I think there is a .001% chance it will actually happen. But would I love to have a copy of Hard Boiled on BD that had real subs and great PQ.

[Criterion Collector]

Originally Posted by CoopFilm

There's actually a lot (really, A LOT) of Criterion titles on netflix....and most of them have the Criterion art for the cover. Not just Blu-rays, but DVD titles too.

There really are a lot of Criterion films streaming on Netflix. In fact, I was shocked to see just how many there are. As CoopFilm says, a lot of them even have the Criterion cover art, all the way down to everyone's favorite letter C. Other films from the collection happen to be on there as well, but seem to have no connection with the "official" Criterion release.

Originally Posted by trombone dixie

Does anyone foresee CC releasing The Killer and Hard Boiled on blu-ray any time soon? I received an $11 gift card from BestBuy and was thinking about ordering both of them. I just don't want to do it and three months later CC re-releases them.

The chance of Criterion releasing The Killer or Hard Boiled on BD (any time soon) is literally zero percent. Criterion has lost the rights to these two films and therefore the DVD versions are now oop and getting difficult to find, due to bootleggers and a high demand for these two titles. I had one heck of a time trying to track down copies of these two DVDs and had to pay through the nose when I did find legitimate copies.

Both The Killer and Hard Boiled are now licensed to The Weinstein Company/Vivendi Entertainment and were released on BD under the Dragon Dynasty label. As stated, both of these releases are very, very poor. They look as if they were sourced from the poorest prints the studio could find.

Little to no restoration work was done to these and it shows. The video and the audio are both sub-par and The Killer has only 1080i resolution. The video on Hard Boiled is a tiny bit better (not a compliment) and is 1080p, but is still very, very poor.

I have not watched the DVD release of these editions (same cover art and everything), but if they were pressed from the same master (which is more than likely) I would say that they aren't any better.

If you already own the Criterion DVD editions (or ANY DVD editions) of these two films, I suggest hanging on to them and finding a way to compare them to these Dragon Dynasty travesties before making a purchase.

If you do not have these films in any other format, wait until you can buy them cheap and hope for an upgraded/restored release of these two excellent action flicks somewhere down the line. Sadly, I honestly don't see that happening though, so these two BDs may just be your best (only) option at the moment.

[TylerDurden]

I also saw Army of Shadows is now on Netflix.

[AgentOrange]

Charade is/was on Netflix, it even had the Criterion cover art, but I'm fairly certain the version they used had absolutely nothing to do with the Criterion copy. I watched it for about 5 minutes before deciding to just save it for later if I ever get the blu-ray. The quality was very poor, more akin to VHS (this title is Public Domain perhaps?). I've checked out a number of Criterions via Netflix that are not available on blu-ray but had watchable quality on Netflix - other than Charade many of them seemed to be about the right quality for Criterion DVD. Some of the actual films were good enough be on my list for when they do get upgrades to blu-ray .

Vudu has an impressive selection of titles but those are $3 per rental if I'm not mistaken, you can't just get a monthly subscription with them. I have gotten a few credits via buying blu-rays from Wal-Mart, and I've watched a few Criterion's on Vudu that way. I guess Hulu+ must have the most Criterion available? I'll probably check them out eventually as well... I just have a huge backlog on Netflix, and getting that way on blu-ray that I don't have time for another subscription right now.

I'm actually more impressed with the rotation of Kino DVD's on Netflix. Especially enjoy watching the silents. A number of them expired at the end of October, It seems like they rotated a bunch of new ones but I'm not really sure if I merely missed them before or if they were really additions....

[moumou1210]

I haven't seen a 1 of those movies on that list!

[Criterion Collector]

Hey all.

I just finished watching Tiny Furniture and thought I would post a little review/synopsis.

I want to start off by saying that what sparked my interest in this film was the trailer. There was a bit of chatter about it on this very thread, I became interested in seeing what it was about, and decided to check out the trailer. It provided me with quite a few chuckles, and looked to be an interesting little indie pic, so I concluded that I definitely wanted to watch it. It just so happens that I noticed earlier today that it is now streaming on Netflix and immediately I put it in my queue, eager to give it a spin. After I got home from some Christmas eve engagements, I fired it up.

Tiny Furniture is a film about a recent college graduate who moves back in with her mother and teenage sister, in New York City's Tribeca neighborhood. She quickly takes up with an old childhood friend, and gets a job at a local restaurant. She has a bit of a love/hate relationship with her younger sister, and often finds herself at odds with her mother as well.

Meanwhile, she gets introduced to a bit of an internet celebrity who happens to be in town shopping around his you tube videos to various networks, in hopes of getting a television contract.

The two immediately begin hanging out, but they do not have a romantic relationship.

She also meets a chef at her job, whom she is attracted to, but he seems almost indifferent acting toward her. Mostly just asking her to score pills for him.

Anyway, that is the setup...

Believe me here when I tell all of you that it sounds a lot more interesting than it actually plays out.

Tiny Furniture isn't a bad film by any means, and I would be easily convinced to watch it again, but it wasn't anywhere close to being as funny as the trailer led me to believe. It's really what I would call a slice of life type of movie. A bit like What's Eating Gilbert Grape, but with less interesting characters, inexperienced actors, and hardly any budget.

The locations look good, the camera work is ok, the acting is passable, dialog not too bad (I was expecting it to be more witty, though) but I have to be honest and say that it kind of felt like watching really well made home videos.

Tiny Furniture rang true, so to speak, with it's dialog and characters. Nothing seemed like it was really forced, or unrealistic in any way. In my mind, though, a movie is a way of telling a story, or transporting the viewer to another time/place. The biggest pitfall in Tiny Furniture is there is stuff going on, and the characters are doing their thing...but none of it is terribly interesting IMO. True to life, yes, but these "adventures" aren't what I would consider ones that present themselves as "movie worthy" if that makes sense. It's just a slice of life, but not a particularly exciting slice. Perhaps I was just expecting something different...I don't know...

It is engaging enough that I never felt bored, and all of the characters feel like they could easily be someone you know, but their lives aren't any more of a movie than mine would be. I do get the feeling that this one could really grow on you with repeated viewings though, maybe even becoming a favorite, due to the "familiarity" quality it possesses. It's like hanging out with modern 20 somethings.

I know it seems as if I am ripping this film apart, but that is not my intention. I am just trying to accurately portray to the reader, what they have in store for them, should they decide to watch this film. If I had to give Tiny Furniture a rating, I would give it a 2.25/4. I do want to add here that I will definitely be on the lookout for future offerings from it's director Lena Dunham. Based on the strength of this debut outing, she seems as if she could develop into a great writer/director with a real flair for realistic dialogue and genuine reactions, she just needs to give her characters something more exciting to do.

[nathan_393]

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

Charade is/was on Netflix, it even had the Criterion cover art, but I'm fairly certain the version they used had absolutely nothing to do with the Criterion copy. I watched it for about 5 minutes before deciding to just save it for later if I ever get the blu-ray. The quality was very poor, more akin to VHS (this title is Public Domain perhaps?). I've checked out a number of Criterions via Netflix that are not available on blu-ray but had watchable quality on Netflix - other than Charade many of them seemed to be about the right quality for Criterion DVD. Some of the actual films were good enough be on my list for when they do get upgrades to blu-ray .

Vudu has an impressive selection of titles but those are $3 per rental if I'm not mistaken, you can't just get a monthly subscription with them. I have gotten a few credits via buying blu-rays from Wal-Mart, and I've watched a few Criterion's on Vudu that way. I guess Hulu+ must have the most Criterion available? I'll probably check them out eventually as well... I just have a huge backlog on Netflix, and getting that way on blu-ray that I don't have time for another subscription right now.

I'm actually more impressed with the rotation of Kino DVD's on Netflix. Especially enjoy watching the silents. A number of them expired at the end of October, It seems like they rotated a bunch of new ones but I'm not really sure if I merely missed them before or if they were really additions....

Charade is indeed public domain. I have a copy on my Macbook that I'll probably watch over the holidays.

For Christmas this morning, I received 8 1/2, Modern Times, The Thin Red Line, Kiss Me Deadly, Night of the Hunter, and Seven Samurai from my parents. They apparently went a little crazy with the Barnes & Noble sale - we're Canadian so Criterion's are never that cheap up here. They were just grateful to get everything before Christmas day! Very excited to watch all of these once I get home and can watch on my own setup.

[backslashio]

Trying to figure out if Kuroneko is worth buying, never seen it before & the trailer seemed good although I prefer some samurai action & Three Outlaw Samurai also looks tempting

Wish I could buy it without having to choose one over another

[jason00]

I got the Three Colors and Harakiri on blu for Xmas, so I know what I'll be doing for the next week. Last night I cracked out the laserdisc player and watched this bad boy:



If they would go ahead and release that on blu-ray, I would finally be able to get rid of the LD player.

[nathan_393]

Originally Posted by jason00

I got the Three Colors and Harakiri on blu for Xmas, so I know what I'll be doing for the next week. Last night I cracked out the laserdisc player and watched this bad boy:



If they would go ahead and release that on blu-ray, I would finally be able to get rid of the LD player.

There's always thoseast couple holdouts, eh?

[Mr. Movie Fan]

Criterion essentially lost the ability to license anything from the majors.

[mikesncc1701]

Posted in the Christmas Haul thread too, but I got these today.

[billzfan]

OK, I got a $50 amazon gift card. Any Criterion recommendations. As of now I own:

12 angry Men
AntiChrist
Crumb
8 1/2
Vivre Sa Vie
The Killing
Paths of Glory
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

[mikesncc1701]

Originally Posted by billzfan

OK, I got a $50 amazon gift card. Any Criterion recommendations. As of now I own:

12 angry Men
AntiChrist
Crumb
8 1/2
Vivre Sa Vie
The Killing
Paths of Glory
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Diabolique and Walkabout are two of the best films and blus they have.

[*DrStrangelove*]

Originally Posted by billzfan

OK, I got a $50 amazon gift card. Any Criterion recommendations. As of now I own:

12 angry Men
AntiChrist
Crumb
8 1/2
Vivre Sa Vie
The Killing
Paths of Glory
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Seven Samarai and Breathless are must haves imo.