DVDsAreMyLIFE

I was just browsing Criterions homepage, and took a glance at the "about" section and how they state they find movies that are cinemas finest. I then was browsing the list of Criterion DVDs and was trying to find the USA DVDs and noticed Armageddon and the Rock, although very good movies I wouldn't consider those cinemas finiest in the United States. Does anyone have any information on how they choose films or why these were chosen?

Cameron

Michael Bay is a fan of Criterion....some people say it was to pad the wallets so they can put out other films that won't make them as much hard cash....many others will tell you these movies are Shat and should never have seen a criterion treatment....Whatever it was for, it has caused plenty of commotion. some other big budget dvd treatment has gone to Traffic (Steven Soderbergh) and the Wes Anderson movies... Criterion did a lot of Big budget fare back in the laser disc days as well (Princess Bride, Blade Runner) you take the good with the bad and just be happy that because all those people bought a 4o dollar copy of the rock you can now have Ikiru, or Fanny & Alexander....

I'm sure people will have plenty to say about Michael Bay spine numbers 40 and 108....but then again people on this site don't care about spine numbers do they.

DVDsAreMyLIFE

Ahhhh I understand now, and thank you for the information.

PopcornTreeCt

I think having movies like Armageddon and The Rock brings more exposure to the Criterion collection. Moreso films such as Chasing Amy and the Royal Tenenbaums because the Criterion versions are the only versions available on DVD. Criterion should try to get more blockbusters in the collection but I think that would be very hard to do nowadays.

Cameron

Popcorn Tree said it...It is harder now because all companies have embraced the formant....back in the laserdisc days only certain films got LD treatment....Now every movie that does one weekend in release gets a dvd....good thing about chasing amy and Royal Tenenbaums is they got price drops....Something Criterion doesn't do often...

PopcornTreeCt

...or ever. I don't think Criterion has ever dropped the price of any of their DVDs. There was talk about dropping them on Oliver Twist and Great Expectations but instead we got a more affordable box set. Its kind of a double-edged sword for Criterion to drop their prices. If they keep their prices firm then they will always be valuable (until next format or whatever) and if they lowered their prices well I would probably own more Criterions but I would be pissed when I saw a Criterion I just spent a bunch of dough on for a lot less a few months later. (reason why I hold off on MGM titles).

Cameron

Royal Tenenbaums and Chasing Amy both got price drops...I think they have some distiribution deals with these titles

darkside

Chasing Amy was released by Buena Vista. That is why it was priced differently. Criterion did the content, but it was really a Disney release. Royal Tenenbaums may have been the same situation. Never really understood the deal they had with Disney.

Criterion did release a lot of mainstream films on LD. I'm sure they would release a lot more now, but can no longer get the rights to them. Universal is probably the only major studio that still gives Criterion rights to their films. Scratch that, I think they have released some stuff that is 20th Century Fox property and MGM property recently. However, I think their deal with Disney is over as far as them releasing any new titles, but I could be wrong.

Even these major studios are only going to give them rights to the more artsy or classic stuff. Their days of releasing the Graduate, Boogie Nights and Ghostbusters are over.

Kerborus

Did somebody say 'Spine Numbers'??

Cameron

^^^dasterdly smile^^^ curls the handlebar stache

joffa

I'm not a fan of Michael Bay and found both of those films a chore to watch. But I think there is a case to be made for them being included in the collection as examples of the giant Hollywood machine at work. Surely the collection strives to be, if completed, an in depth study of many different avenues of film making?

Having said that, I'm not a spine number watcher, and although I have several CC discs that are prized in my collection (I'm a Cronenberg fan! ), I will never feel compelled to buy these two.

Fandango

The reason CC gives is that those represent the summer blockbuster, a relatively recent phenomenon which they would like to represent in their collection.