The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
#4276
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
Who gives a shit? The Third Man is a great movie. If hipster sheep want to watch it, more power to 'em.
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
#4278
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
Since Criterion typically releases films the big studios won't touch, you are probably in the minority of thinking Criterions releases are "good" movies. Because if they were, they would be released by the respective studios so they could earn the profit from them (since many were flops). Shit, this isn't Battlefield Earth discussion.
There's a lot that's wrong here, but I'll try to clear up some misconceptions.
A. What world do you live in where Hollywood decides what to release based on how good a film is? But yes, we're "in the minority" of thinking these movies are good - but only in the sense that most people haven't seen the movies. On the other hand, judging by things like IMDb ratings and critics' "greatest movies" lists, ours is the majority opinion among those who have actually seen the films. Which is a far more interesting and relevant way of judging such things.
B. Much of the time, it's not that the major studios sold or gave away the rights to these films because they decided most people didn't like them - it's that they never owned them in the first place. In many cases, Criterion's sister company, Janus Films, outright owns the rights to these films - and that's been the case since they were founded in the 1950s. And since Janus is still around more than 50 years later, I imagine that distributing these films has actually been profitable for them. For the record, back in the 60s people would line up around the block to see the latest Fellini or Antonioni or Truffaut or Bergman. They didn't do as well as the Hollywood blockbusters, but they could sometimes still rake in a few million dollars.
C. If you look internationally, many of these films are still being distributed by their "respective studios" - within their native countries. Toho and Shochiku are, in fact, releasing DVDs of films by Kurosawa and Naruse and Ozu and Kinoshita. Same goes for a lot of the French studios, a lot of the German studios, etc. Just like how Warner and Universal and Paramount have actually released a lot of classic films from their own catalogs (even if they still have a lot of work to do on that front.)
D. A lot more goes into the major studios' decision-making processes than whether or not people like a film. That's why Battlefield Earth has a DVD release, but The Wind - which is generally regarded as one of the greatest of all silent films - does not. That's why it took so long for The African Queen to get a DVD release. That's why the first Best Picture winner, Wings, just barely became available. It's not because most people have seen The Wind and disliked it, but rather the studio has deemed a release of it "economically unsound." Silent and foreign films - no matter how great - just aren't going to sell as well as modern Hollywood product.
E. There's a whole world of genuinely great films - you would probably call them "artsy-fartsy" - that the major studios don't own and that, even if they did, they would deem too "obscure" for a DVD release. That's where great companies like Criterion and Masters of Cinema and Blue Underground and Flicker Alley and Kino and Second Run and Artificial Eye and BFI step in.
Criterion is so hipster nowadays. "Dude, I just scored Spine 352! Let's go be ironic at the local Starbucks wearing are skinny jeans rolled up and thick glasses even those we have lasik!"
Last edited by Sondheim; 05-03-12 at 11:44 AM.
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
do people still care about the Spine numbers? I thought that was more in the DVD era. I think it kind of died down. CC hitting the BD era has gotten more...open w/ their selection choices.
#4280
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
I thought this was the only reason why people collect Criterion's. Or maybe it's the hippy crowd at Starbucks that do that. I dunno know anymore...
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#4282
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
Hey, guess what? I just realized I have the same policy with every other Blu-ray distributor, as well! CrAzY!!!
#4283
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
But you only like them and want to own them because they have a spine number - before Criterion, nobody liked directors like Kurosawa or Fellini or Antonioni or Tarkovsky or Bergman or Bresson or Dreyer or Powell or Ozu or...
#4284
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I'm just waiting for all the other distributors to catch on. Add spine numbers and I'll collect them all!!!
The Criterion CollectionTM - When baseball cards are just too inexpensive
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
I'm collecting the Criterion movies that interest me. Would I know of their existence if Criterion hadn't released them? For a good portion, probably not. Does it diminish the quality of the films in any way? Not at all.
If I were rich, I would buy all of them in a heartbeat. Not because I'm artsy-fartsy or an ironically Starbucks going hipster, but because of the ones I have watched, not a single one of them didn't hold some sort of merit that justified a purchase.
If I were rich, I would buy all of them in a heartbeat. Not because I'm artsy-fartsy or an ironically Starbucks going hipster, but because of the ones I have watched, not a single one of them didn't hold some sort of merit that justified a purchase.
#4286
DVD Talk Special Edition
re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
I've gotten into the habit of just calling the directors by their spine numbers. It's easier than pronouncing their crazy names, anyway.
#4287
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
From the speculation thread on the Criterion Forum:
Small bit of news that everyone pretty much knew was coming out, but I can confirm that Heaven's Gate is coming out on Criterion through my source.
#4288
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It's still just a rumor at this point, but I can confirm that spine number 2719 is coming out on Blu-ray! Wahoo! Gentlemen, get your Starbucks cards ready.
#4289
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
The only thing worse than hipsters are people who complain about hipsters.
Thinking you are better than someone else because you do or don't like a specific thing is one of the basic qualifications of being a hipster.
So basically GizmoDVD is a hipster and hates himself. He should probably start buying criterions.
Thinking you are better than someone else because you do or don't like a specific thing is one of the basic qualifications of being a hipster.
So basically GizmoDVD is a hipster and hates himself. He should probably start buying criterions.
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
If you own Criterion Collection DVD/Blu Rays you are not a hipster...
...but if you bought Tiny Furniture you are definitely a hipster.
...but if you bought Tiny Furniture you are definitely a hipster.
#4291
DVD Talk Legend
re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
"[Something] is so fucking hipster..." = "Lots of people seem to enjoy something I don't, and I'm way too insecure in my own convictions to accept it..."
Seriously, the whole "Criterion fans are mindless sheep who only buy things with a spine number" was played out in 1998... people are still arguing that position?
Seriously, the whole "Criterion fans are mindless sheep who only buy things with a spine number" was played out in 1998... people are still arguing that position?
#4292
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#4293
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
Since Criterion typically releases films the big studios won't touch, you are probably in the minority of thinking Criterions releases are "good" movies. Because if they were, they would be released by the respective studios so they could earn the profit from them (since many were flops).
But I shouldn't be surprised...
Are Jeans, Even those? Really?
#4294
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_Prp615mmDk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Funny that's the last thing you would imagine Dr. House being called
#4295
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....and yet i just posted that I enjoyed Harold & Maude and The Graduate. I watch - and own - plenty of films from before the 80's. I don't, however, think that everything Criterion releases deserves the appreciation some give them. Lots of artsy fartsy flicks that are just not very good, IMO. !"
#4296
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
Better not be any Kurosawa that he doesn't like. That's like what? 50% of CC?
on a serious note..I really wish they had all his films.
on a serious note..I really wish they had all his films.
#4297
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
[raises hand] 'Life During Wartime' ... ... sorry, that's my go to answer for this question.
Last edited by Giles; 05-03-12 at 08:34 PM.
#4299
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
#4300
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re: The Criterion Collection 4K/Blu-ray Discussion and Release Thread
Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a second. He's a Wes Anderson fan making comments like this? That puts his hipster remarks into a completely different perspective. For the record, I'm a Wes Anderson fan, too.