I have a fairly small collection that is finally building (196) and I am just now starting to get into Criterion DVDs. I don't want all of them, but I'm looking for about 5 of them. And in my city, I have never been able to find any Criterion DVDs ANYWHERE. Not at Best Buy or Circuit City and our mall has an FYE but they are way expensive. Anyone know where a good place to find Criterion DVDs in Southern California (preferably in the inland empire)? I know I could get them online, but my parents have this idea about credit cards on the net. Whatever. I'd appreciate anyone to could steer me in the right direction.

MG26

Best place to get Criterion in Southern California is DVD Planet in Huntington Beach. They have the best selection along w/ great prices for Criterions.

http://www.dvdplanet.com/images/tempstoremap.jpg

thanks a lot, I'll be sure to head there once i get paid again, again thanks for the tip

MG26

No Problem at all. Good luck finding the titles you want.

The BEST, and I mean the Best, place for them in So Cal is DVD Planet B&M in Huntington Beach on Beach Blvd.

Granted it is a bit of a drive, so the better thing to to would be to go to their website www.dvdplanet.com and buy them there.

They are running a free shipping with purchase of $25 or more right now (which even one CC will qualify you usually), and have the best prices that most have seen (usually 30-35% off retail).

Their selection is nearly impossible to beat for any store. It is an entire retail store with nothing buy DVDs of EVERY genre (from kids to foreign to adult), and CC's have thier own secttion (although some are kept in foreign as well).

Also, they have a great staff that actually knows movies, and can look up stock in hand relatively quickly.

I would say it is the best selection west of New York, but I could be wrong.

Be sure to check prices on DDD first, just to be sure you're getting the best deal (DVD Planet's prices are sometimes great and sometimes overpriced depending on the title).

Good luck!

Beat me to it! I rambled too much!

Oh well.

Then I second it! :-)

It's all good LVMIke from OC. This proves that DVD Planet is the place to go in SoCal.

In Southern California, I like Laser Blazer on Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles, near the Westside Pavillion. They also have the entire Criterion Collection in its own section. The section's not as big as DVD Planet's, but that's because Laser Blazer has only three or four copies of each title, as opposed to the dozen or more DVD Planet has. I have yet to see an in-print Criterion title missing at Laser Blazer though. And for new releases, Laser Blazer seems to get in a few dozen of each title -- presumably due to the higher demand for new releases.

The prices are about the same as DVD Planet -- maybe a dollar higher for older titles, but just about the same for new-release Criterions, because Laser Blazer puts all new releases on sale.

Laser Blazer also has a very friendly, knowledgeable staff. They're also about 50 miles closer to me than DVD Planet is.

Try FYE or Suncoast...

Why don't buy online through www.deepdiscountdvd.com. They have best price. Ever !!

Apparantly, you guys missed where it said
That said, you could see if your CC company offers one time use numbers.

Usually. But even they can't match DVDPlanet on Criterions most of the time.

Friends don't let friends shop at FYE. My parents told me they got me Criterions from FYE for Christmas. From that year on I showed them DDD and its been good ever since. I am not so lucky to have DVDPlanet next to me. Or I'd be there every weekend blowing my paycheck.

Another vote for DVDPlanet, though I've never been to Lazer Blazer (But I've heard of it). Butt-loads of DVDs of every kind. Nice horror/sci-fi section, too.

You got a Tower Records around your area? They've been stockin' a lot of CC's lately.

....but usually at full price!

I'm a DDD fanboy myself for Criterions, but that's just because I have no good B&M's for Criterions in my area.

It's too bad DVDPlanet has been out of Ikiru basically since it was released. I guess only the preorder people got it.

I agree with everything you've said accept this:They can look up stock on hand but they can't help you find a title, they frequently misprice DVDs (particularly the CC titles) and they're difficult to deal with when you try to get them to correct it, and the employees are no smarter about movies than those tools at Best Buy.

Sorry, I was one of those people. At $25 and free shipping DVD Planet was the best deal for Ikiru. And still is for higher priced tier Criterions.

I bought Ikiru at Amazon last night for $25.19 after STL /w free shipping. Cheapest so far.

Rules of the Game can be had for the same price after STL too. Too bad I don't have STL for it yet

Thanks for all the great places to go. I'll be sure to check out DVD Planet very soon. And i went to my local Best Buy last night (i live in Moreno Valley CA soon to be moving to Orange to attend film school @ Chapman) and they had Fear and Loathing Criterion! I was shocked! Alas, I have no money 'till Wednesday so I hope they'll still have 'em then. THanks Again!

MG26

Borders B&M stores usually carry a good Criterion selection, but their prices are a little steep.

Stay on the lookout for discount coupons for them over at the DVD Bargin Forum.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1

Current 10% Off for Everyone
http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=344314

Current 20% Off for Students
http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=344308

I got my Ikiru from DVD Planet, and I didn't preorder. Ikiru was listed as "Out of Stock", but four days after I ordered they shipped me a copy. So vaya con pollo, mi amigo!

As many people know from the 20% off sale, I am a huge fan of DDD, but in the case of Criterions, DVD Planet wins out every time.