g

contempt and ran have been rereleased in blu versions by them but I havent heard how the quality is.

JerryKILL

Yeah I remember the first time these went "out of print"...many years ago. I think they just make these announcements to boost sales.

darkside

Ran looks terrible. Criterion not getting to release this properly on Blu-ray is a crime.

TheDuke

I don't have the kind of money to buy all the titles I want until next month. Will they stop making them in late March? Or should I buy them now and get it over with?

Solid Snake

you must want a bunch of those CC films.

Neeb

I wonder if Lions Gate realizes that this will be the only time many of those titles will be available on DVD?

I just don't see them releasing Port of Shadows or Peeing Tom- ever.

gryffinmaster

I'm not sure about Port of Shadows, but Lionsgate's running affection for the horror genre should push Peeping Tom out.

zombeaner

I'd think Peeping Tom would be rather high in priority among that list. There is a Blu-ray being prepared for the UK.

NoirFan

Meaning we should expect it stateside in a few months. Neeb, however, was looking for Peeing Tom, the R. Kelly production.

manicsounds

Made this a few years ago. Criterion never got around to releasing it....

TheDuke

Nah, just Peeping Tom and Pierrot, but I'm a college student and I get about $150 a month. I always spend $75 on things that I "want" and save the rest for things that I need throughout the month, and I just made my Amazon order before this was released haha.

Josh Z

Lionsgate is currently releasing a number of classic and art films on Blu-ray as part of their new "Studio Canal Collection". They're all direct ports of the discs that Studio Canal previously released in Europe.

HistoryProf

Le Corbeau and Port of Shadows did go OOP for about 6 months...but they were able to reacquire the rights - it was when Variety Lights went OOP as well - and oddly they've only been able to sell the Essential Art House version since then and the regular CC edition has stayed OOP.

StudioCanal is trying to get their own boutique label going, with the first blu rays coming out this month: Ran, which is a pile of crap apparently, Le Mepris (Contempt), and Ladykillers. But it took them a year to get those out, so who knows which of these titles will get redone. If I had to guess, I'd imagine Peeping Tom and Grand Illusion are most likely to get blu ray treatment. But it's really hard to guess...and I imagine quite a few of them will never get rereleased, or at least not for the next few years.

HistoryProf

Yes, they really make a killing by selling the few hundred remaining discs they have in the warehouse and never ever being able to sell them again.

The four titles that went OOP a few years ago is one of the very very few times they were able to reacquire the rights to 3 of the 4 titles months later. But now that Studio Canal is trying to get their own thing going here in the U.S. you can expect all of the titles they have licensed to Criterion to go away sooner rather than later. I would guess it's just a matter of the rights expiring.

Ran and Contempt were supposed to be among the first blu rays released by Criterion, but after they had been announced they were mysteriously pulled - which we later found out was because SC took them back to make them the first releases of their new "Studio Canal Collection". First reports of Ran are very bad:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/FILM/DVDCompare2/ran.htm

But Contempt is apparently a nice upgrade...so we'll have to wait and see. Peeping Tom is likely to get a blu ray release in that line along with Grand Illusion...maybe Tales of Hoffman (which is George Romero's favorite film of all time...go figure) and the Godards....after that which titles they decide to redo is anyone's guess. They have to know the primary customer base for such releases will largely already have the CC discs, so they will need to do some serious work to make it worth the upgrade - not to mention working against the MASSIVE brand identity Criterion has built up over decades of tireless devotion to putting out the best product possible. The Ran debacle is not a good start.

They have a line of releases in the UK though which is apparently well regarded. But Lionsgate has a terrible track record, so i'm not optimistic.

As for recommendations: Fallen Idol is a great flick - it's Carol Reed's follow up to The Third Man - so if you liked that, get Fallen Idol. Other must haves imo:

Le Corbeau
Quai Des Orvevres
Grand Illusion
Peeping Tom
and the Orphic Trilogy is absolutely essential and a set I can't imagine Lionsgate ever re-releasing. Of the entire list, I think this is most likely to get insanely expensive - followed by Peirrot le Fou blu - which has only been out a few months.

TheDuke

So, can anyone answer my question: should I get these ASAP or is it safe to wait until the end of March?

HistoryProf

It seems that most every major etailer got hammered with orders, but Criterion has said they will continue to offer these until the end of March. I suspect they are going to print more of everything to handle the demand, so I don't see why you shouldn't be able to wait, but it's a gamble in the end. If there is any of them you REALLY want, I would try to get them asap. It sucks that this came right now, I had been saving for the rumored 50% off sale at B&N in the spring...but I didn't want to risk not being able to get those that I really wanted still....so they'll cost a bit more, but at least you know you have them.

The real danger is some of the older or less 'popular' releases like Diary of a Country Priest - a GREAT film, but already to the dreaded "ships in 1-3 weeks" status on Amazon. I'm sure Criterion will devote their time to getting more copies of Peirrot Le Fou to satisfy the demand rather than the Orphic Trilogy...which is why I think the latter will become very scarce - I think Criterion will retain rights to one of the three Cocteau's, making the re-release of a new box impossible. It's also got a lot of great extras, and prior to Rossellini's War Trilogy had a good case for Crown Jewel of the collection.

Jaymole

I think they would be safe to buy until the end of March, but I am also thinking about merchants on Amazon as well.

My problem is that I am hoping for another B&N sale, but I have no idea when it will happen (or if it will happen). I had to pick up copies of 6 titles (including the Orphic Trilogy) this last week at a higher price that I want to pay, but at least I know I am safe. Now if the B&N sale does happen and these are available, I can always pick them up again and eventually sell my copies for at least as much or more than I paid for them.

biglou114

Actually it's the other way around. The Fallen Idol in '48 followed by The Third Man in '49.

The reason why Graham Greene wrote the screenplay for The Third Man was because he and Carol Reed got along so well (and successfully) on The Fallen Idol.

HistoryProf

ah, thanks for the correction...I always thought it went Odd Man Out - Third Man - Fallen Idol...but you are correct

incidentally, I am assuming this means we can kiss the hope of getting Odd Man Out in a Criterion set good bye. That's been long rumoured - as has The Man Between - but both are probably gone now too.

bboisvert

Ugh... It happened.

I have too many fucking DVDs.



So, I look at this list and say to myself "Fallen Idol? I *love* that movie. Better grab it before it goes OOP."

It arrives in today's mail and I go to put it into the collection. Yep, you can see where this is going... I already have it.

NoirFan

There's a solid R2 SE for only £7.48 from Amazon.

mdnitoil

Damn, when you're dealing with Criterions that's not a mistake you want to make too often.

HistoryProf

For those concerned about not getting something, Criterion posted the following assurance on their website:

They did knock $5 off the price of every one of them, making the EHS titles $10 and change, so not bad there.

http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1366

HistoryProf

Did you hear "BAINES BAINES BAINES!!!!!!!!!!" from behind you when you noticed it?

HistoryProf

oh, and don't feel bad bboisvert, I did the same thing last xmas - bought my wife Wild Strawberries as she is a big Bergman fan....turns out I had bought it for her the previous year already