The Criterion Collection

[P@t_Mtl]

Last sale it took about 18-20 business days for my order to arrive from B&N and I live in Montreal. I don't really go nuts over it, it came to close to a month after shipping. I am pretty happy to get the Criterion at the prices they are so I can wait for them, I don't need them the following day after I order them.

[BohemianGraham]

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

Maybe B&N just sucks at international orders regardless of where it's going.

Can't complain about the speed inside the U.S., though their packaging isn't exactly the best. (someone else described it as "cardboard ravioli", which is both hilarious and a pretty accurate description)

I'm thinking this. Took two weeks for my order shipped on the 6th to arrive, and almost 2 weeks for my second order. I live in Nova Scotia, which always gets slow mail. I had my hopes up when one order arrived somewhat quickly, but now I know their broker just sucks when it cones to international orders. Amazon may charge more for shipping, but at least my stuff shows up within a week.

[VanDammage]

I live in Vancouver it it took exactly 14 days for my movies to arrive which I think was faster than last year where it took about 20 days! Shipping from Amazon UK is faster, where the mail has to cross an ocean! USA and Canada are seperated by a border! Insane!

[Hartley]

Hey guys, this has nothing to do with the sale really, just thought you might like this cover I put together for my dream Criterion Blu-ray/DVD release (even though there's no chance of it ever happening):

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5...isccriteri.jpg

A friend of mine had the laserdisc and copied it for me so I could make a DVD from it, so I just had to make a DVD cover (and menus, AND a lightscribe label haha). So I'll be listening to the Bogdanovich and Meisel commentary tonight I think!

[kazama]

Originally Posted by Yesterdaysnews

I know you didn't request the following, but if you don't have go for Wim Wenders' 'Wings of Desire' or Chaplin's 'Modern Times' if you don't own. It's a tough call from that list as there are some really different experiences on there so hard to play one off against another.

i do own both. only seen Wings of Desire though (which i love), but i'm planning to watch Modern Times soon.

[Trekkie313]

Originally Posted by Hartley

Hey guys, this has nothing to do with the sale really, just thought you might like this cover I put together for my dream Criterion Blu-ray/DVD release (even though there's no chance of it ever happening):

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5...isccriteri.jpg

A friend of mine had the laserdisc and copied it for me so I could make a DVD from it, so I just had to make a DVD cover (and menus, AND a lightscribe label haha). So I'll be listening to the Bogdanovich and Meisel commentary tonight I think!

He must have a high-end LaserDisc player then? How was the quality.

[Hartley]

The quality is pretty great all things considered, I had to do some tweaking in Adobe After Effects and Premiere to remove chroma and interlacing though. Definitely not as sharp as the Image DVD, but the audio fits the image so much better and the commentary (from the bits that I've listened to so far) is fantastic! I've got all the special features as well which are great, gonna be making a second disc for those soon.

Here are the menus I made in Adobe Encore:
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/1980/mainmenuj.jpg
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8428/chaptersd.jpg
http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/8060/commentary.jpg

And a couple screen caps:
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/7636/screencap2z.jpg
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/8555/screencap1.jpg
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/8031/screencap3g.jpg

[Hartley]

I'm a huge Orson Welles geek so that explains the mountain of nerd I poured into this haha!

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by BohemianGraham

BTW Something Wild was a pretty fantastic blind buy.

Hopefully I agree when I get to watch it eventually. I made it one of the first seven Criterions I've ever purchased recently.

The first one I watched from that group was Fish Tank. That was a pretty good blind buy for me.

[coljohnmatrix]

Thought I'd share this with fellow Criterion junkies. All of the Blockbuster stores near me are franchise-owned and are now going under. I thought I'd check out the store closest to me in the off-chance that they had some Criterion titles. I found The Man Who Fell to Earth blu-ray for $19.99 plus 50% off = $9.99 as well as Mystery Train. At the 3 stores in my area I found CC DVD editions of:

Hidden Fortress
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Fanny & Alexander (Theatrical)
The Last Temptation of Christ
Chasing Amy
Wild Strawberries
F For Fake
Gate of Flesh
Life of Brian
M. Hulot's Holiday
The Life Aquatic
Yojimbo
Bad Timing
Ikiru
Short Cuts
Straw Dogs

All for $4.99 plus 50% off, or $2.72 per title.

That means I got 16 Criterion DVDs and 2 blu-rays for about $70. It was like Christmas, except way, way better. Some of them were obviously put in different cases or had stickers on the case, but I'm not complaining. BB doesn't seem like a hotspot for Criterion titles, but if there are stores in your area going under you might want to check them out. I'm shooting myself in the foot now but they also had a ton of out-of-print foreign titles like Maborosi that I neglected to pick up.

[chuckywang]

Wow, I didn't even know Blockbuster stocked Criterion titles aside from Benjamin Button!! Great find!

[myka22]

Originally Posted by chuckywang

Wow, I didn't even know Blockbuster stocked Criterion titles aside from Benjamin Button!! Great find!

Yeah I don't remember ever seeing Criterion's at Blockbuster.

[ShellOilJunior]

Everyone should own Last Year at Marienbad after this sale.

Some of Criterion's finest work, imo.

[oildude]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Everyone should own Last Year at Marienbad after this sale.

Some of Criterion's finest work, imo.

Also one of the best looking blu-rays in the collection. If anyone doubts the deep richness, shading, and detail achievable with black and white, I would point them to this movie.

[ShellOilJunior]

Originally Posted by oildude

Also one of the best looking blu-rays in the collection. If anyone doubts the deep richness, shading, and detail achievable with black and white, I would point them to this movie.

Agreed. I think the movie is a work of art.

I love the film because it's so open-ended and subjective. Every time I watch it I have a different interpretation of the film. It has infinite re-play value.

[Walts Ghost]

Well...The B&N Criterion sale got the best of me again. Ended up getting:

• Days of Heaven
• Fish Tank
• The Great Dictator
• Hunger
• Kiss Me Deadly
• M
• The Magician
• Robinson Crusoe on Mars
• The Seventh Seal

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by ShellOilJunior

Agreed. I think the movie is a work of art.

I love the film because it's so open-ended and subjective. Every time I watch it I have a different interpretation of the film. It has infinite re-play value.

I'm still with Roger Ebert's theory, though, that Resnais was just playing a practical joke on his fans.

[Guitar Joe]

I could only get a few during this sale, so I just ordered Solaris, Blow Out, and Kiss Me Deadly.

[dr.mabuse]

Originally Posted by Hartley

The quality is pretty great all things considered, I had to do some tweaking in Adobe After Effects and Premiere to remove chroma and interlacing though. Definitely not as sharp as the Image DVD, but the audio fits the image so much better and the commentary (from the bits that I've listened to so far) is fantastic! I've got all the special features as well which are great, gonna be making a second disc for those soon.

Here are the menus I made in Adobe Encore:
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/1980/mainmenuj.jpg
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8428/chaptersd.jpg
http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/8060/commentary.jpg

And a couple screen caps:
http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/7636/screencap2z.jpg
http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/8555/screencap1.jpg
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/8031/screencap3g.jpg

Wow! Now this is totally awesome! Great to see another member who works with After Effects here. I haven't got that much experience with Encore yet unfortunately.
But this is absolutely amazing! Great job!
Did you make a label art, too?

Post it on the Criterion Facebook-page I'm sure those guys will love it!

[kazama]

Saw High and Low for the first time today and I'm amazed! One of the best movies I have ever seen in my life (just as good as Seven Samurai imo), a true masterpiece. The story, the actors, the atmosphere, the cinematography and everything else was so perfect. A pure joy to watch, I loved every second of it.

I had no problems with the disc either, the PQ was solid (surprisingly strong at times) and the AQ was good too, especially for its age. I'm checking the extras now and just finished watching the Toshiro Mifune interview, great stuff.