Neil M.

Not really shocking. They knew from the beginning that the dvd crowd wasn't going to be happy paying more for a blu-ray disc that they weren't going to use. Sales must have taken a hit because of it. The dual-format makes more sense for the larger box sets just to save on costs. For individual releases, not so much.

slop101

Well, since the new dual format started (outside of a specific sale, like from B&N), discounts on Criterions have been few and far in between, from amazon and other places. Not to mention, less B&Ms were carrying them. Before the dual format, I could fine new Criterions at Fry's and Best Buy pretty regularly, after the switch, it's almost like they stopped carrying the new releases.

Living Deadpan

I think I recall a similar pattern with Shout Factory's dual releases.

The last Criterion I remember buying from Best Buy was Straw Dogs.

AFAIK, BB kept carrying dual releases from major studios.(Fox, WB, Sony.) It almost seems to me that the studios are trying to replace dual format w/ triple format (3D + BD + DVD).

Drexl

I don't know about Amazon discounts, but not finding them at BB and Fry's may have a lot more to do with a decline in physical media sales than the dual-format situation. I guess you'll find out if they start carrying them again.

My Other Self

Fry's started phasing out Criterion discs way before the dual-format releases came out (which only started in November). I remember last July browsing their BDs and their Criterion section had considerably diminished from a couple of years ago. Best Buy has been phasing out catalog titles for awhile now. I haven't seen a Criterion title there in some time (although I admit last time I looked was probably a few months ago).

I think the only dual-format release I have is City Lights, which comes in one of their standard clear plastic cases. Were more of the recent ones coming in the digipak packaging similar to Repo Man and Dazed and Confused?

slop101

No, I remember getting Nashville, Thief, and a couple other dual-format releases from there before they stopped getting in new ones around February.

My Other Self

I guess I'm still not understanding why being released in dual-format would make a change in any store carrying inventory.

Fry's in general has cut back their media section considerably at the two stores around here. In the past year it's become more and more obvious that they don't want to dedicate as much floor space to catalog titles.

I'm not disputing that maybe the past few months there's been changes in what they carry on release day, but I can't imagine that the decision to throw a DVD in the case is the reason why.

slop101

Maybe it's just a coincidence then.

Paul_SD

I popped All That Heaven Allows in for a quick look see last night.
HOLY $#&!
This has got to be one of the most beautiful looking discs I've ever seen. The colors on display are ravishing. Screenshots don't do this one justice at all. It's simply a massive upgrade over the earlier DVD.

Hope Magnificent Obsession isn't too far off now as that one should look just as spectacular.

milo bloom

I found a used copy of the first DVD edition of The Red Shoes at a thrift store this weekend. The disc was in decent shape but the insert had been torn apart. Does Criterion still sell the old inserts?
tks

Shannon Nutt

Forgive me if this was answered and I missed it, but does this mean Criterion will be ditching the DVD-like boxes and going back to the flimsy cardboard packaging they used when they first started releasing on Blu-ray? Because, despite their space-saving ability, I hated those.

JackBurton

Eraserhead!

MTRodaba2468

Eraserhead
The Innocents
Polanski's Macbeth
Sundays and Cybele
Ali: Fear Eats The Soul (upgrade)

asianxcore

Eraserhead!

stvn1974

I had to go clean myself up after reading the Eraserhead announcement.

Giles

Eraserhead cover art:



~~



Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

Disc Features
New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Introduction from 2003 by filmmaker Todd Haynes
Interviews from 2003 with actor Brigitte Mira and editor Thea Eymčsz
Shahbaz Noshir’s 2002 short Angst isst Seele auf, which reunites Mira, Eymčsz, and cinematographer Jürgen Jürges to tell the story, based on real events, of an attack by neo-Nazis on a foreign actor while on his way to a stage performance of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s screenplay
Signs of Vigorous Life: New German Cinema, a 1976 BBC program about the national film movement of which Fassbinder was a part
Scene from Fassbinder’s 1970 film The American Soldier that inspired Ali
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by critic Chris Fujiwara

New cover by Michael Boland

~~



The Innocents:

Disc Features
New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Audio commentary featuring cultural historian Christopher Frayling
New interview with cinematographer John Bailey on director of photography Freddie Francis and the look of the film
Archival interviews with editor James Clark, Francis, and script supervisor Pamela Francis
Trailer
More!
PLUS: An essay by critic Maitland McDonagh

New cover by Kate Zambrano

~~



Macbeth:

Disc Features
DIRECTOR-APPROVED EDITION:

New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New documentary about the making of the film, featuring interviews with director Roman Polanski, producer Andrew Braunsberg, assistant executive producer Victor Lownes, and stars Francesca Annis and Martin Shaw
Polanski Meets Macbeth, a 1971 documentary by Frank Simon featuring rare footage of the film’s cast and crew at work
Theatrical trailers
More!
PLUS: An essay by critic Terrence Rafferty

New cover by Sarah Habibi

~~



Sundays and Cybčle:

Disc Features
New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New interviews with director Serge Bourguignon and actor Patricia Gozzi
Le sourire (1960), Bourguignon’s Palme d’Or–winning short documentary
Trailer
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by critic Ginette Vincendeau

New cover by Jillian Tamaki

Ringmaster

I'm glad Criterion, for the most part, stuck with the original cover art for Eraserhead. I was just about to buy the Japanese blu ray too, so I'm glad in stuck it out. When are these coming out?

Giles

'Ali' and 'Sunday' - Sept 30
'Innocents' / 'Macbeth' - Sept. 23
'Eraserhead' - Sept. 16

BuckNaked2k

I would think they'll go back to the clear cases. The flimsy cardboard packaging from their earliest Blu-ray releases was bad, but their current dual-format packaging (Fantastic Mr. Fox), is just as awful.

Dear Criterion - I'll trade you my two DVD discs for a nice clear plastic case w/artwork to match.

hanshotfirst1138

I once went to a double bill of Fellini's Voice of the Moon (In 35mm!) and Eraserhead. My brain was so scrambled after the Fellini that I bailed on the Lynch, I've never forgiven myself. So what's with Criterion's toggling between 4K and 2K remasters? Does it depend on the state of the materials?

riotinmyskull

Living Deadpan

Damn! This is the most enthused I've been by Criterion new releases in years! MACBETH is by far my favorite Shakespeare adaptation and THE INNOCENTS is an under-seen horror classic. I'm also pleased to see INSOMNIA being upgraded (a lot of people are under the impression that Insomnia was an original idea by Chris Nolan *sigh*). And I'm awaiting SCANNERS eagerly.

Good question. Picking some titles at random:

2K - Scanners, Love Streams, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Sundays and Cybčle, Pickpocket, Red River, Judex. Many of the current New Releases.

4K - Hearts & Minds, Macbeth, Insomnia, The Innocents, Eraserhead, A Hard Day's Night...

(Some are unspecified, like Picnic at Hanging Rock's "Remastered high-definition digital film transfer.")

Any patterns? Of upcoming releases, it seems like a larger percentage of the non-dual Blus are 4K than the dual releases. *shrug*

rocket1312

Criterion does not do new in house scans of all the titles they release. They license materials just like any other third party studio. If the available materials are only available in 2K, then that's what they use.

Living Deadpan

I guess the upside is that we don't have to worry about Scanners getting the Teal-and-Orange treatment?

nitin77

getting all of those.

As for the 2k vs 4k remasters, pretty sure anything they do completely inhouse is 2k due to costs, the 4k ones are where the original studio has borne most if not all of the cost.