I went to a few places looking for "Lord of the Flies" the other day: Circuit City, Barnes & Noble, and then finally Best Buy. None had it in stock, but a lady at Best Buy checked the computer and said it had been discontinued. I, shocked and anxious, immediately purchased a copy from Amazon when I got home. I checked the Criterion site first, though, and it didn't say anything.

Anyway, I saw this place awhile ago and figured it would be as good a forum as any to get the lowdown, if there is indeed a lowdown to get. So has anybody heard it was going out of print? Was Best Buy's computer system wrong? Am I just clueless? Clearly, help is needed!

Never trust anything someone tells you in a store. Actually, it's probably more accurate if you belive the exact opposite of what they tell you.

I don't know anything about this right here. But the above is my experiance.

Haha, yeah, I tend to agree. Who knows!

Seriously if you don't see it on the screen itself say "discontinued" or whatever don't even think about it being truth. Even if you do see it on their screen its a 50/50 chance at being correct. I have had people at Best Buy tell me that some DVDs, that have been out for weeks or months, are not yet released. They say what ever comes to their minds to make them sound knowledgable.

So, exactly what BizRodian said...believe the exact opposite of what they say.

Ok. My local Borders computer says that Playtime CC, M. Hulot's Holiday CC and Mon Uncle CC are on their way (to the store), but the CC website say they are OOP. Which one should I believe?

If you happen to snag extra copies, would you mind picking some up for me? I'll pay for postage and handling and a little extra (how about a fiver?) for your time!

I was at the Virgin Megastore today and they had the Lord of the Flies CC. You can also try asking Criterion directly.

These two reliable sites list it as being available:
http://www.kazart.com/mec/DVDList2.html
http://www.hometheaterinfo.com/dvdlists.htm

Nah, you can still find Lord of the Flies Criterion at most US online retailers (DDD, DVD Planet, Digital Eyes, etc) Just try finding the Criterion Traffic now that's a hard 'In Print' one to find.

May be there is another reason for this?

Best Buy is not the best place to get Criterions. The selection is not that great and the prices are high. They had Gimme Shelter for $41.99 which is more than the list price. I got my Lord of the Flies at Borders.

I saw the Traffic CC at Best Buy over the weekend.

Going to a bunch of B&M stores searching for an old Criterion title is often fruitless... you're much better off ordering online. And most online retailers have this one in stock. I see no signs that it is discontinued.

This is very true.

BUT, if you happen to live near Orange County in southern California, DVDPlanet has all non-OOP Criterions in stock. Prices are the same as their online site. Once a month I'll go up there and pick up a few Criterions.

BB used to have pretty good pricing on Criterion titles especially when combined with the 10% off Preferred Customers coupon.

I know a store in Las Vegas that has about 10 copies.

Believe the Criterion site. I work for Borders and our Title Sleuth is good for many things but accuracy is not at the top of the list.