That'd be my fucking dream!
Like, it would be the final movie thing I ever buy, as it would be the perfect cap on my collection.

I can't see them not releasing a Kurosawa Blu-ray box set. The company was basically built off Bergman, Fellini, and Kurosawa. Two down, one to go. I've been holding off on upgrading my DVDs. It's been over 10 years since the AK 100 DVD set.

Excited for Inland Empire. I would trade all of your souls if Criterion could license The Straight Story from Disney.

A Buñuel box-set would be sweet too - and I mean an all-encompassing set, like the Bergaman set, not the little 3-movie set they put out. But I'm not holding my breath.

Last Hurrah for Chivalry makes me irrationally hopeful that maybe The Killer and Hard Boiled could be on the horizon.

If anyone could break through the rights issues surrounding those two, it might be Criterion, but I won't hold my breath. If they did, though, that might signal an opening up of the Golden Princess tomb and access to all of the goodies inside (beyond the John Woo films). Until then, there's not much choice for those who like to stay legit and not line a bootlegger's pockets. . LAST HURRAH probably won't change that, sadly.

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So, inspired by the Unpopular Opinion thread, here's one for here: I'm thinking Criterion needs to step up their game. All these other boutique labels are passing them up with extras, package art and even well known titles.

Other boutiques caught up to (and maybe surpassed) Criterion in the packaging and extras department a long time ago. That's not really an opinion. But why does Criterion need well known titles? What does that accomplish besides maybe boosting sales? They should be celebrated anytime they put something out that no one else would.

It's been a non-secret secret that they've done big name titles like Armageddon, The Rock or Benjamin Button in the past because the higher sales of those helps fund the more lesser known stuff and we've all accepted that. My concern is that if they don't do enough of those "big name" titles, then they can't continue funding the other stuff.

I think it's inevitable. Lynch seems to want all of his films in the Criterion Collection, and the WALL-E deal opens the door for Disney to license specific titles to Criterion on a case-by-case basis. If Lynch pressures them, I'm sure Disney will give it up. It's not like they're doing anything with it themselves.

Besides Straight Story, the only Lynch features Criterion hasn't put out yet are Dune (unlikely anytime soon, given that Arrow just put it out on UHD in both the US and UK) and Wild at Heart (possible, but probably not for a little while since the Shout Factory Blu-ray was in 2018).

Isn't that Region B though? Or is it a region free disc?

While the notion that big name titles = more lesser known titles is almost certainly true in a big picture sense, I'm not sure that's telling the whole story with the specific titles you mention. I could be wrong, but I believe Criterion produced the special editions of the Rock and Armageddon on behalf of Disney. And Paramount more or less licensed Criterion branding for Benjamin Button. Not saying they weren't money makers for Criterion, but it wasn't as simple as Criterion targeting those titles as a way to finance others.

But that's neither here nor there. I'm personally not going to worry about Criterion's financial situation. They've released plenty of big name titles this year alone (Raging Bull, Lost Highway, Double indemnity, etc.) and control the rights to something like 50% of the new Sight & Sound top 100. They've been doing this longer than anyone and have embedded themselves into film culture in a way that Arrow or Indicator or whoever else could never even dream of equaling. I'm fairly confident Criterion will be doing their thing for as long as physical media is still around.

It's region B (and about $25 US shipped). But doesn't everyone have region-free players here? (and yes, I already know the answer)

I doubt they would do better than the region free Imprint release. What else would you realistically want that the Imprint doesn’t have, other than potentially 4K?

Don't forget the spine number.

Imprint has them. Number 61!

Oy! Cheapest on Ebay currently is $70 Canadian. I'll wait.

It's OOP. This one might be slightly cheaper though: https://www.ebay.com/itm/125456960457

Thanks for the tip but, alas, doesn't ship to Canada.
Will keep my eye out for more lower cost ones, though.

The one with the slip is now OOP. Imprint usually re-releases without the slip.

I came close to picking up the Straight Story, but since I own the VHS & dvd and it’s also streaming on D+, I decided I’d hold out for a Criterion.

I got mine for $10 from DeepDiscount. Wouldn’t be surprised if it drops to that again at some point.

Actually, they usually don't. Looking on their website, they've only reprinted 11 of their titles with a "Standard Edition", and 10 of those were spine #29 or lower. The Warriors is the only one in the last 2 years to get a Standard Edition, so it's unlikely that The Straight Story will get one at this point.