Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

So, I just found out elsewhere that the animated movie Flow will be coming to Criterion later this year and I am absolutely down for that.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

I know it's mostly some here being snarky (and maybe a little jealous ;)) But, I think it's amusing that some guys always give these entertainers shit for getting the free Criterions. :lol:

If Criterion wants to give them the free movies to help promote the line and product, then who really cares? I'm sure it's just an advertising write off for them.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Celebrities get free swag all the time, so Criterion letting them grab a handful of blu-rays is just another Tuesday morning for them.

I remember one actress say that when she was a struggling actor she couldn't afford nice clothes and shoes, and once she landed her breakout project, everyone started giving her those things free.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

I first noticed her on Sex Education.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

I remember there being a lot of complaining when they announced Martha Graham Dance on Film dvd set for that very reason, and every month I keep hoping it will get an upgrade just so it will happen again.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

LOL, that Martha Graham DVD is one I found at Goodwill a while back for $2. Haven't watched it but it's a good example of buying something because it's cheap and comes from a boutique label.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

It's really no different than sending screener copies out to critics for review, which every home video label does.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Back when I got those in the caveman days of VHS, I had to return them. Some home video companies probably didn’t really care, but many were adamant about it, per agreements. On top of that, they were ‘spoilered’ with a ‘property of Paramount’ (or whatever) that scrolled across the bottom of the screen every minute or so. And the packaging was always temporary and similarly marked as promotional in various ways. I received a few early DVD screeners like this as well when that format first came out, and similarly had to return them. I got out of reviewing around that time anyway, so I never saw how that evolved.

But even if I decided to keep a bunch of those, I could hardly call them swag since they were so compromised as to be worthless other than for writing a review (or for, say, a video store owner to decide how many copies to order).

I’ve seen at various disc review sites and blogs (the ones that admit to it, anyway) that physical screeners can sometimes be finished products, extras and all, and I suppose when you’re a boutique label catering to a niche market like collector’s of Blu-rays, you want critics to review the entire package, so I can see where higher-profile sites might get an unspoiled freebie with no expectations of it being returned. I’d also imagine the boutiques are sending out far fewer screeners than their studio counterparts did in the home video heyday, so it’s surely a minor cost of doing business these days.

I’ve heard that screeners now sometimes (often?) consist of giving reviewers an access code to a temporary stream of some kind, with the video likewise watermarked in some way or otherwise encoded to discourage piracy. Even TIFF and other film fests did this during COVID.

Overall, though, I suspect the celebrity swag comes with much less technological baggage alongside the huge promotional benefit for both sides of the transaction. :)

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

That's a common sentiment I've heard from several celebrities; "Where was all of this free stuff when I was sleeping on a park bench on Hollywood Boulevard?!!"

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

By the DVD era (aside perhaps from the earliest days), most review screeners sent out by studios to critics were simply copies of the full retail product. I started at DVDFile in 2000. In my many years at that site, DVDTalk, High-Def Digest, and Home Theater magazine, very few (as in, almost none) of the discs I received for review were compromised in any way or even distinguishable from retail copies. They came in full packaging with all the content and no watermarks. I was also never asked to return them. A not-insignificant portion of my movie collection is comprised of discs received as screeners.

I don't think this is any sort of deep trade secret, or even anything to be ashamed to admit. If the studio expects a critic to review their product, they should send the full product, as it will be sold to consumers. And yes, providing that copy for free as a "keeper" is a standard industry courtesy. In the physical media heyday, discs were cheap to produce and were written off as a minor promotional expense.

More expensive products, such as electronics, speakers, or other home theater gear, were a different matter. Those were expected to be returned as soon as the review period ended - though often times the critics were offered the opportunity to purchase the item at a discount if they wished.

Yes, things may be changing and leaning more toward streaming in recent years. I had a brief gig reviewing TV shows for a site, and the way that worked, I'd be granted early streaming access to episodes for an upcoming series - but all the episodes were watermarked and often lower quality than what would stream later.

I'm not sure how much that's affected physical media reviews, though. With physical media, what the remaining (if dwindling) audience cares about most is the quality of the product they are expected to buy. You can't properly review that if sent a link to a watermarked streaming copy. It's not the same thing at all.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Yeah. I did get check discs on occasion in my nearly quarter-century of reviewing -- mostly in the DVD-era; I think Arrow was the only one who routinely sent check discs on Blu-ray, and they'd always follow with a retail edition a little later -- but it was nearly always final retail packaging with a punched bar code or "for promotional use only" sticker. I was never asked to send anything back. I do remember getting a couple of stray titles with what looked like final retail discs but no packaging.

I think Sonic the Hedgehog is the only thing I was asked to review with a streaming link (and it was watermarked with my name or something similar), but I didn't present it as a DVD/Blu-ray review. Mildly annoyed that I wasn't sent a physical edition afterwards.

My father wrote for an industry publication for a bit in the VHS era, and we definitely had our share of watermarked videos.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Shows the difference between the VHS era and the DVD era for sure! I’ve long assumed a lot of online reviewers’ collections are heavily weighted with freebies. And hey, at least you reviewed them, or most of them I assume. The real bottom feeders – yes, strictly in my opinion – are the YouTuber types who basically get stacks of free products every week and do nothing more than show off their treasure in ‘new release haul’ videos. If anything shows how little it costs the bigger home video labels to give free retail discs to influencers who barely if ever review the actual content, it’s these guys. They’re just happy to be used for their subscribers with little effort in return. :lol:


I guess I was thinking more of the still plentiful (but rarely discussed here, or reviewed anywhere except maybe on Amazon) smaller companies that put newer but lesser-known (and often no less worthy) movies out on DVDs and maybe Blu-ray, but usually with few or no special features: Wellgo, Capelight, VVS Films, Gravitas Ventures, lesser Magnolia/Magnet titles, Greenwich Entertainment, Highland, Unobstructed View (Canada), Decal, Virgil Films, Darkstar, Trinity Creative, Synergetic Distribution, FilmHub, Breaking Glass, Viva, Giant Pictures, Freestyle Digital Media, Sphere, RLJE, Cleopatra Entertainment, Level 33, Indie Rights, Brainstorm Media, and many others. Frankly, I don’t know how some of these companies survive, but time and again I stumble on their DVDs (and somewhat less frequently, Blu-rays) at Amazon, Deep Discount, etc., and even at my local library. In fact, that list I posted was about 70% compiled by looking at a stack of library DVDs (and two Blu-rays) on the couch beside me; the remaining logos were on some purchased discs nearby. (I tend to think companies like these are contributing in their own small way to DVD continuing to outsell Blu and 4K. In so many cases, the DVD is more than good enough to enjoy movies you might otherwise not care to spend big dollars on a tricked-out deluxe edition - there’s really only so much time in life).

There are a ton of movies from these labels – including many that were popular on the festival circuit, as my box of TIFF ticket mementos often reminds me – that are roundly ignored by virtually all the physical media review sites in favour, largely, of the more packed releases from our favourite boutiques who can easily afford to provide them. Admittedly, a lot of these indie label DVDs might include a trailer, maybe one of those superficial silly three-minute ‘making of’ things, and a couple of previews. But often they have nothing but a play button. I can’t imagine they’d be sending out too many screener discs since the presentations are basically locked-in, the films being recent enough that there isn’t any restoration work going on.

I’ve been out of the game too long, so I wouldn’t even begin to know how smaller outfits like these promote their releases, but since there isn’t much ‘content’ on the DVDs – thus making them far less of a collector thing – I wouldn’t be surprised if reviewers calling them for screeners are simply given a code for a stream. In other words, when you get outside the ‘cult boutiques’ niche, there’s a whole bunch of other stuff that very likely is the same thing whether you watch a disc (especially a DVD) or a stream.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Titles like those were never my specialty, and if screeners were available for them, I wouldn't have selected them. But there were usually other people on staff who loved that kind of stuff. In terms of physical media review sites "ignoring" such content, it may simply be that those smaller distributors never sent screeners, either because they couldn't afford to or they felt it wasn't an effective way of reaching their core audience.

If the outlets I worked for didn't receive a screener, the title was very unlikely to get reviewed. I might occasionally buy something at retail for review if it was a high-interest title or something I personally cared about enough to do so, but for the most part, the volume of content released every week was tremendous, and it was difficult enough just to get through the backlog of screeners.

If I received a disc for free, I felt a personal responsibility to make time to review it. On the rare occasions I just couldn't find time for one, I always felt bad about it and would typically set it aside in a special stack of "I'll get to it someday" discs. And indeed, some of those discs I did eventually cover after-the-fact when I was doing a daily blog at High-Def Digest.

But yes, I fully understand what you're saying about those annoying social media influencers who collect free swag only for the sake of showing it off and bragging about it, but never actually watch or "review" anything they get.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

"Reviews" nowadays are short YouTube clips by social media channels.:sad:

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Don't worry. Soon even those guys will be out of a job.

"ChatGPT, write a review about this zombie movie and why I didn't like it" or better yet, "ChatGPT, make a video about this zombie movie and tell the audience it sucks and why."

AI layoffs start hitting a wide swath of Corporate America

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

That OR an article summarizing a youtube review (or sometimes pulling quotes from Reddit users to write a review).

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Great clip. It's what I love about the Closet videos, when people aren't in just for the free stuff, but to talk about things they love and why. They're not just in there for the free stuff, but to talk about their passions.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

I’ve stumbled across a few text versions of these from IMDb users in recent months, as if many of the user-submitted reviews weren’t atrocious and amateurish enough as it is. Now, folks who can’t articulate a ten word sentence in a coherent state can just type in the prompt you mentioned and post it, probably without reading how characterless and flavourless it is. I almost miss the general sloppiness of older reviews there. Almost. At least those tend to be signs of human input amounting to more than a one-sentence request. For the moment, they stick out in relief against all the usual dreck one finds there, but I’m sure the AI will keep get better, more casual, less rote, I don’t know. But yeah, it won’t be long before YouTubers figure out ways to have AI do the work for them. Who knows, though, maybe they can use the time saved to actually watch more of the stuff they’re given for free. -rolleyes-

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-p...U_original.jpg

The Wes Anderson Archive: Ten Films, Twenty-Five Years | The Criterion Collection

Purchase Options

Coming soon, available Sep 30, 2025
4K+Blu-ray20 Discs$399.96SRP: $499.95

DIRECTOR-APPROVED TWENTY-DISC 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR’S SET FEATURES

• New 4K digital masters of Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, and The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun, supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks
• Ten 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR and ten Blu-rays with the films and special features
• Over twenty-five hours of special features, including audio commentaries, interviews, documentaries, deleted scenes, auditions, short films, home movies, commercials, storyboards, animation tests, archival recordings, still photography, discussions/analyses, and visual essays
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: Essays by Richard Brody, James L. Brooks, Bilge Ebiri, Moeko Fujii, Kent Jones, Dave Kehr, Geoffrey O’Brien, Martin Scorsese, and Erica Wagner

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

I am ALL OVER that in October! Or whenever Criterions next 50% off flash sale is.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Man, particularly for a Wes Anderson fan, that set looks absolutely exquisite.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

I didn’t realize The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun was the film’s actual title.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

There's also going to be solo 4k/blu releases of Isle of Dogs and The French Dispatch.

I really hope they break out the others at some point as well. Although, Royal Tenenbaums is probably the only one I NEED.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Honestly a little surprised they didn’t delay it a few months, include both Asteroid City and The Phoenician Scheme, and call it a 30 year set. It’s not like his latest hasn’t been in the works for a while. Would have made the set another +$100 MSRP, though…

Still… I’m probably going to buy this during the next B&N 50% off sale. I’ve held off on even buying the blu-ray versions of some of his films, anticipating individual 4K releases. So getting them all at once is a bigger hit to the wallet, but well worth it.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Neither did I. It seems that's the way it was written out in the film's poster and opening titles, but it's always just been called "The French Dispatch" popularly. I think it would be interesting to see what the copyright notice in the end credits actually has it listed as.

Criterion also insists on calling Lynch's Mulholland Drive "Mulholland Dr." because the poster only showed the title as a street sign, but the official copyright in the end credits spells it out as "MULHOLLAND DRIVE."

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

A bigger name, a smaller name. I do like that Zauner (whose excellent book ‘Crying In H Mart’ had its film adaptation stalled, sadly), unlike many of the celebs who visit, actually picks some movies that she’s only heard about or that have been recommended to her but she hasn’t seen yet, and actually seems genuinely intent on and capable of watching the discs (she also grabs a decent cross-section of Asian titles :thumbsup:)

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

So sorry to hear the adaptation of Crying in H Mart is stalled. Great selection of films she chose, including on of my favorite semi-obscure choices, The Spirit of the Beehive.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

I love Spirit of the Beehive. It's definitely in the top 3 on my Criterion dvd upgrade wishlist along with The 49th Parallel and The Last Wave.

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In the world of "If I ran Criterion" - I'd release Victor Erice's Close Your Eyes, and upgrade The Spirit of the Beehive. Such brilliant films, made 50 years apart.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Oh wow. I totally forgot Close Your Eyes existed. I still need to see that one.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

September 2025 titles:


https://braze-images.com/appboy/comm...jpg?1749835785 https://braze-images.com/appboy/comm...jpg?1749671835
https://braze-images.com/appboy/comm...jpg?1749671835 https://braze-images.com/appboy/comm...jpg?1749671836
https://braze-images.com/appboy/comm...jpg?1750082911 https://braze-images.com/appboy/comm...jpg?1749671835
https://braze-images.com/appboy/comm...jpg?1749835785 https://braze-images.com/appboy/comm...jpg?1749835785
https://braze-images.com/appboy/comm...jpg?1747950117

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Isle of Dogs, Flow and a reissue of Spinal Tap!!!!!! What a freakin month!

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Spinal Tap. Finally.

My only concern is that he trailer for this summer's theatrical rerelease had some altered dialogue in the scene where Marty DiBergi is discussing some of their old reviews. Instead of "treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality" he says "tasteless sexuality".

I'm really hoping that the line in question was only changed for the trailer and not a permanent change. It may not seem like a big deal to most people, but I've seen this movie a hundred times and the dialogue is seared into my brain. When even something that small is changed it sounds completely wrong and pulls me right out of the movie.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Embarrassing announcement: I have not seen This Is Spinal Tap in its entirety, just bits and pieces here and there. I will pick up the 4K UHD out of penance.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

I am so excited for this. I brought the whole family to see this one in the theater and they didn't want to go because they'd never heard of it. I said, I'm asking you to trust my judgment. Needless to say, it was one of our top movies of the year and we watched the Oscar race between this and The Wild Robot (all 5 nominees were great, actually) with lots of interest.

My honest question: I would usually wait for the Barnes & Noble 50% off sale. And, I so very appreciate the work of this little Latvian animation studio that could. If I were to contemplate paying full price, who does that benefit? Criterion? Barnes & Noble? Gints Zilbalodis and Dream Well Studios? I know it's just an extra $20-$25, but for the first time in a long time, I'm wondering this sort of question. Anybody have any insight into this?

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I hope Spinal Tap includes the in-character commentary from the later MGM release.

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It does! Three commentary tracks, and that is one of them.

I'm sold on that, as well as Flow and French Dispatch.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

The Anderson set is so freaking cool but it sucks that there is no cool cover art. The Isle of Dogs and French Dispatch packaging look great (even though I probably wouldn't get Dispatch cause I didn't really like that one).

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

That Wes Anderson boxed set that looks like a plain cardboard box is hilarious.

Wish This is Spinal Tap had different cover art; something more comic-booky or heavy metal-ish.

Re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
 

Wong Kar-wai’s 30-episode 2023-24 China TV series BLOSSOMS SHANGHAI is debuting on the channel. This one’s more for subscribers but since the the thread in that forum is pretty dormant I’m putting it here. :)

I’ve seen some folks online hoping for a physical release, but I really hope Criterion doesn’t go down that path for TV shows just because they’re made by auteurs that everyone knows because their film work is already in the collection. That’s not an automatic signifier that one TV series is better than countless others nowadays. By many accounts, this one’s pretty good, and there’s some conjecture that a ‘western’ presentation might be different from the China version with its inherent restrictions (at the very least, it’s being regraded), but who knows.

It’s about characters in the post-1994 economic boom when Shanghai’s stock market first went ‘live’ and made swaths of people rich and influential in very short order (the original book follows characters from the Cultural Revolution to the 1990’s, but it sounds like that aspect was turfed, naturally). Reviews seem somewhat mixed though generally ok, and the series was hugely popular domestically (keeping in mind that many TV series are in China). Some reviews and essays I’ve found make stark comparisons between the ‘to get rich is glorious’ 90’s era in the country (both in reality and in the series) and the crushing economic woes and international pushback that have only increased since then, thus the frequent nods to wistful nostalgia for ‘better times’ that the show has evoked for domestic audiences. Could be interesting in that context, although additional reading would be necessary, and there’s some decent stuff out there.



Other takes:

Wong Kar-wai's first TV series revisits Shanghai's economic boom - 'Blossoms Shanghai,' by the acclaimed Hong Kong director, has been enthusiastically received, particularly by a city nostalgic for the 1990s and its era of opportunity.
(No paywall: https://archive.is/PnGqW)

Wong Kar Wai's Blossoms Shanghai stirs up nostalgia for Shanghai of the 1990s

Director Wong Kar Wai’s first TV series stokes nostalgia for 1990s Shanghai

Nostalgia for China’s boom years drives a TV hit - A drama series presents 1990s capitalists as heroes, not villains
(No paywall: https://archive.is/ArMqw)

Or, in a nutshell, it’s gorgeous propaganda. ;) (from the last article above):