OOP Criterions
 

Since I was too lazy to search through the forums, I was just wondering if there is a site that lists what Criterion discs are OOP. I checked Criterion.com but couldn't come up with anything.

From The Criterion Forum:

Q. What Criterion titles are out of print and why?

A. The currently out of print titles are: The Bank Dick, Blood for Dracula, Dead Ringers, Flesh for Frankenstein, Hard Boiled, The Harder They Come, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, The Killer, Notorious, Rebecca, RoboCop, Salò, Sid & Nancy, The Silence of the Lambs, Spellbound, Straw Dogs, This is Spinal Tap, Tokyo Olympiad, and The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Also OOP:

-Le Corbeau
-Port of Shadows
-Variety Lights

and Quai des Orfèvres

For anyone interested, there is one copy of the bank dick, hard boiled, and rebecca on wherehouse.com. Rebecca is $98 which is pricey but I haven't seen it go for much less on ebay.

Criterion's website now lists Nights of Cabiria as out of print. Hopefully a fully-loaded 2-disc edition w/commentary etc. is on the way for next year - this film certainly deserves one.

That is awfully sad news. Talk about a movie spilling over with heart and soul... perhaps my favorite Fellini and my favorite Criterion.

Also, the following titles have OOP first editions due to special editions:

The 400 Blows
Seven Samurai
M
Brazil
The Third Man
The Lady Vanishes
Amarcord
Playtime
Beauty and the Beast
High and Low
Yojimbo
Sanjuro
The Wages of Fear
Charade
Grey Gardens

and obviously, Salo recently came back into print as a new SE.

As for the OOP titles that were re-released by others...

The remasters of Rebecca, Spellbound, and Notorious are all superior in a/v quality. Criterion's Notorious was interlaced, Fox's is progressive. Obviously, extras are a split. Marion Keane's commentary for Notorious is an embarrassment, but Rudy Behlmer's was excellent. Fox included two tracks. Overall, I think Fox's Selznick-Hitchcock re-issues are great and they're only $15 each if you get the individual releases.

Universal's remaster of The Bank Dick in their first W.C. Fields box set is superior in a/v. And a better deal considering you can get five films for $30 and Criterion's disc would be $20 cheapest.

The commentary for The Unbearable Lightness of Being is on the Warner 2-disc SE. The upcoming This is Spinal Tap BluRay will have all the Criterion extras, including both tracks.

sold!

Do not forget Armageddon & Rushmore

It used to be that I felt comfortable running out and picking up an OOP criterion when I heard news like this - now I don't want to because I don't know if they'll be rereleasing a better package later;/

Michael

Since when were those OOP? I don't recall seeing anything about that.

I think the general rule of thumb is that if it's a relatively bare-bones title that's non-anamorphic (and doesn't already have a better release by another studio, like with Time Bandits or The Long Good Friday), it's more likely to get a new SE than, say, Straw Dogs would.

Also, according to CSM126 on CriterionForum.com, it's very likely that the five titles Criterion licensed from New Line (Hoop Dreams, Short Cuts, My Own Private Idaho, Naked, and An Angel At My Table) will go OOP soon, since they are now Warner properties (due to NL folding), and their no-licensing policy would make it unlikely for them to renew them.

Luckily, I've already got Hoop Dreams, Idaho, and Short Cuts. I'm Netflixing the other two to see how I like them before I dive in with a purchase.

http://dvdlist.kazart.com/queryDVDList2.php3?id=5190
http://dvdlist.kazart.com/queryDVDList2.php3?id=359

Neither of these titles is officially out of print, even though most retailers don't seem to carry them for some reason (Amazon also lists both of them as discontinued). Both titles are available from the Criterion official site, and DVDPlanet still carries Rushmore, although it is "temporarily sold out."

In other words, buy them from the Criterion store or your chosen site for used items.

Criterion fixed this and is not going OOP.

http://www.criterion.com/films/243

The Blu-ray will not, as far as I'm aware, have the "Spinal Tap: The Final Tour" demo film on it.

And it also remains to be seen just what deleted scenes make it onto the Blu-ray as well. The Criterion and MGM editions have different sets of deleted scenes; while many of them are the same, both versions have a few that didn't make it onto the other one.

That's weird. I guess there won't be an upgraded edition any time soon, then. A pity, especially since this is one that really shouldn't have an upper-tier price to begin with.

Typically, Criterion won't show a title as Out-of-Print before they re-release it. I don't believe Amarcord, Seven Samurai, or The Third Man ever went OOP. I'm crossing my fingers that this is still coming and on Blu-ray.

Though I got this email from John Mulvaney today: