Jon Mulvaney just let me know that Criterion's plans to kick off this new line with a special edition of Good Burger were lost due to a contractual loophole exercised by Paramount just a day or two before this announcement. Damn.

Just kidding folks, great news. How about some THE KILLER on blu ray. Hope I hope I hope.

I really hope that if they do something different, they'll at least keep the same height and width as the current BD cases. If they need space for a booklet or something, make it thicker, not taller or wider. I hate how Warner's book style cases won't fit in my shelves that are just tall enough for HDM.

Third Man will be epic.

I wonder what their release schedule will be like for these... 3-4 a month?

it would make absolutely no sense for them to discontinue their SD releases right now, so i'm pretty sure you're safe.

Actually. Being a big fan of the Warner digi-book packaging I'd be up for Criterion using that style. The only issue is that the binding isn't quite sturdy enough for my tastes, especially for prestigious Criterion releases. I think they should go for the style Close Encounters used. It may be a cardboard digipack, but damn, it's one sturdy and well-built (and not to mention sexy) piece of packaging.

The fact that they made an annoucement alone makes me happy. But then Chungking Express is also included? HELL YEAH!

400 Blows will also be a nice upgrade.

I think on single-disc titles Criterion might just use standard BD packaging, but a multi-disc set might get the nicer treatment. To accomodate their booklets, they might have the case go in a thick slip, but I do think one-disc releases will get standard casing.

Their "blu" logo is on The Digital Bits. I wish they would just connect the line with the C.

I can't believe people are actually thinking that they would stop releasing on DVD.

Well, time to start shopping for a Blu Ray player.

Contempt

i'd rather see companies tempt people in with new titles on blu-ray. if there's to be a predominant selection of previously-released titles, i think lots of people will feel increasingly ripped-off by being sold stuff they've already bought - if there's new experiences to be had, people will hopefully find themselves being invited in by the back door and adopting the format more willingly. that said, plenty of people around willing to be re-sold the same things time and again.

I'm certainly intrigued. I don't have a Blu-Ray player yet (my dad has one, however, I'd have to drive about 4 hours to watch movies on it), but I may upgrade by the end of this year or early next year. This certainly gives me an additional reason to.

The blue artwork supposedly isn't mandatory, so I think we can assume Criterion won't be using it...

Thats a pretty good list to start them off on. I'm thinking that since Criterion is not going to wait on Blu Ray any long, and since Universal didn't list them in their first sets of Blu Ray titles, that one of the next waves of Criterion Blu are going to have Fear and Loathing, Dazed and Confused, Brazil, and Two Lane Blacktop in there. In fact, I thought for sure that one of the first Criterion Blu's would be Brazil.

YESSS!!!

Sweetness and light!...these are good days for film connoisseurs to be sure. I'll probably pick up all these titles.

Brazil, Seven Samurai, Ran, Playtime, Black Narcissus, Red Shoes, Beauty and the Beast...the list of Criterions BEGGING for the HD treatment is endless (well, long anyway)

I'm glad I haven't upgraded to the newer SD version of The Third Man criterion. The 400 Blows, The Last Emperor, and Bottle Rocket are all on my list now as well.

Hooray, I own none of these titles on sd. I hope like hell they start their blu-ray collection with spine #1 again :D

Holy crap! Orson Welles and Carol Reed in Hi-Def! This has made my day.

From a consumer standpoint outside of ripping people off, I don't see a reason to raise the cost of a BD Criterion. The reason Criterion DVD's look better then most SD dvd's is the fact they've always done HD transfers. They'd produce the SD encode from an HD master. Seeing as how they already own HD masters for their entire catelog, they only have to re-encode and press the discs.

That being the case, I am not convinced Criterion BD discs will look better then standard BD releases. The advantage Criterion always had was the fact they were encoding from an HD master when most SD dvd's never had that luxury, I assume due to cost. Now that EVERYONE is using an HD master to produce BD discs, Criterions "advantage" is gone. This could also be a reason for the pricing structure. It'll be hard to justify spending additional money on a product who's picture quality is no longer superior to it's competition. In fact, for film buffs the one thing I hope Criterion does is leave film as it's supposed to be, and have no DNR. This potential problem with dropping DNR would be the perception that they are now inferior in PQ, as many BD owners find DNR to be a good thing. Either way they have a good catelog.

All of the major studios have been archiving their movies to HD masters for just as long, if not longer, than Criterion has. The benefit of Criterion is that they focus on movies that have been neglected over the years and hunt down the best source elements available, putting as much TLC as they can into the video transfers.

That said, if your only interest here is in "eye candy", then no, Criterion probably won't impress you. If your interest is in seeing worthwhile movies restored to their best condition, that's where Criterion comes in.

How is this any different than any other studio releasing catalog titles? Are you saying you don't want any studio to release catalog titles?

Many of us here buy Blu-rays because we love movies and want to watch them in their best presentations, not just because we want to collect the latest hot new toy, brag to our friends, and trade them like Webkinz or Yuh-Gi-Oh cards. If you don't care about the movies and are only in this for the collecting aspect, then I guess we'll see you around. :goodbye:

Eye Candy is the least of my worries. I actually don't own a single BD disc even though I've had a ps3 for a year. I don't own a game either, so it's really just a box taking up space (I got it for free). I'm waiting for someone to release a movie worth owning, and I'll jump in. The majority of titles being released in North America on BD are terrible, and I don't need to see enhanced fodder. lol. Criterion will at least give me a chance to buy something worth owning. In terms of SD DVD, I've purchased Criterion for the transfers, as often (at least to me) the picture seemed superior to other offering of the same film (like La Haine or Man Bites Dog for example) from other companies. When or if they release 'La Haine' on BD for example, I'm not sure it'll be a vast improvement over the current HD release. When I purchased Man Bites Dog on Criterion SD, I already owned the other SD DVD and I knew I was "upgrading". Anyhow, if they are the same price as other BD titles, then it's not an issue I guess.

Try importing The Seventh Seal on BD from the UK -- when I picked it up, it was only $27 or so shipped from amazon.co.uk -- and that should silence any concerns you have about how spectacular classic films can look in high definition.

Last Emperor and Man Who Fell to Earth in HD. Be still my heart!

must resist ... happy banana dance ...

:banana:

now the begging begins ... Playtime please ???

- the 182 minute version of Kwaidan
- The River
- Black Orpheus