stiroe

Jubal is great, classic story have to enjoy the western genre though. Very interested in getting Judex myself just to see if it fits the surreal, but can't speak to whether it's good or not...

Anyone know if the stores will give the discount on the pre-order of The Big Chill even though it's a day outside the sale?

joltman

What do they count as 'Art House' movies, is it everything released by particular distributors?

asianxcore

There was one year the Drafthouse Films BDs were part of the 'Art House' sale. Some were a pricing mistake, some weren't.

Mike86

Decent prices on these I suppose but it sucks that half off of a Criterion title is regular list price for most normal titles. I might get a few of the Wes Anderson titles though.

kefrank

It sucks for our wallets, but from a bigger picture standpoint, it doesn't suck at all. The quality of most Criterion Blu-rays is quite a bit higher than most normal titles, so the premium is justifiable. I would rather they charge more for a higher quality product than just add more crap to the pile at the same prices.

Matt.train

I got zatoichi, El soppresso and hard days night for right around 120. pretty good i think.

That'sAllFolks

I think for the movies I really love, then it's worth it. But most of Criterion's catalog is good, but not great. It's just hard to pay $20 for movies that are just OK. Now if I can get that $8 coupon to work ...

Mike86

Yeah, I think a lot of people get suckered in by the fact that Criterion is on the label and associate all the films they put out as great because of it. I mean they definitely do a good job for some of the more obscure films out there that wouldn't get a quality release but I frankly don't feel a lot of them are worth that much more than an average Blu-ray really. Not saying they don't release a lot of good films either just that I think there's a lot of junk or stuff that a lot of people probably wouldn't care about if they weren't putting it out.

goosh

Round One:
Judex
The Hidden Fortress
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Freshman
A Brief History of Time
Foreign Correspondent

I had no problem using my 20% & 15% coupons on top of my membership discount, although I could only use one coupon per transaction. (6 coupons = 6 transactions) I was unable to stack the $5/$50.
Looking forward to later this month for round two. (Definitely picking up Scanners.)

Living Deadpan

FYI, Pandora's Box has gone OOP. Anyone know if Criterion lost the rights or if they plan on reissuing?

Neeb

I want to say that a longer version was shown at the San Francisco Silent Film festival a few years ago, and Criterion may be thinking of a BR release, in which case removing it from circulation might be a precursor to that. I want to say, but my memory is faulty on this and a longer version may simply mean that the frame speed was altered to make it appear longer.

Any ways, Pabst is underrepresented on BR. I'd love to see Pandora's... and some of his other silents released as part of a multi-pack.

crikey

DVDTalk in 2014: "Criterion films aren't all that great really" b/w "I can't wait to pre-order Horrible Bosses 2!"

CRM114

I make it a point of buying one Criterion during these sales. This time: Videodrome.

OldBoy

excellent choice!!

Kedrix

Agreed, but from a different angle. I am not in love with the movie, but it sticks with you FOREVER. I still remember it vividly in the same way say a Lost Highway (Amazon.de is your friend) does. And I am not even sure if it is a good sticking with you or not, but it's done in such a manner that compels you to watch. (which is kinda fitting)

CRM114

I agree with your assessment of Videodrome.

Lost Highway, on the other hand, is a masterpiece.

Mike86

Yeah because you know, liking modern films and not a bunch of obscure artsy or foreign films means that one has no taste in film whatsoever. Get off your high horse man. Like I said Criterion does put out some quality films but I'm not buying into just the label and thinking everything they release is gold or something just because they're releasing it.

inri222

laidbacklarkin

and its not like Criterion has not released 'The Rock' and 'Armeggadon'

davidlynchfan

I can't wait to get a hold of Horrible Bosses 2 in the palms of my hand!

DaveyJoe

There's a good amount of schlock, camp, and trashy movies on their label. Some of my favorite Criterion releases are movies like Blood for Dracula, Flesh for Frankenstein, Robocop, House, Repo Man, The Blob, Equinox, Fiends without a Face, Hard Boiled, the Killer, Jigoku, Corridors of Blood, The Haunted Strangler, etc. Just because a movie is old and/or obscure doesn't mean it's artsy and/or pretentious. You might get that impression by looking at the packaging and reading the synopsis, but a ton of the movies are quite the opposite. Look at the films of Samuel Fuller and Seijen Suzuki who Criterion loves because they bucked the trends of both mainstream and arthouse pictures.

Most people love Criterion because they go to great lengths to restore films and release them with the best possible video/audio quality in definitive releases featuring extensive supplements, not because we want to be pretentious film snobs. I'm very excited about the sale and my first purchase will be Thief and The Fantastic Mr. Fox, neither are obscure, stuffy art films. They've also exposed me to some of my absolute favorite films that I would not have heard of otherwise, because very few companies put in the same effort to release cinema's forgotten gems. Criterion Collection is a company that loves all types films and releases a huge variety of genres and styles. The high horse comment is funny because you're the one scoffing at obscure and foreign films. If you really love movies, you should try stepping outside of your comfort zone more often, you might be surprised at what you like.

laidbacklarkin

very well said

efordvt

FYI I got the weekend 15% off coupon code to work online! just ordered Life Aquatic for $16.99 plus tax.

Mike86

I'm not disagreeing with anything you said and I do appreciate the effort that Criterion puts into their releases. They clearly have a love for film that most of the studios don't, but I just don't think that everything they put out is instantly a classic because they put it out. That's all I'm getting at. I realize I used the artsy and foreign stereotype label and that they do release a large variety of films but posters like the one I quoted from are the ones who bother me with thinking that someone's opinion on film is less than theirs because they don't love whatever a certain label puts out.

DaveyJoe

Well I don't appreciate somebody saying that we get "suckered in" by the Criterion label and lap up whatever they drop on the floor. I'm a grown ass man and completely capable of deciding whether or not I like a movie without being influenced by a brand. I haven't seen anybody in this thread imply they gotta catch 'em all when it comes to the Criterion Collection. There have been plenty of Criterion movies I've rented and decided I didn't like them, and plenty that I'm not interested in watching even once.