Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 6

[zedz]

And the Melville. And the Reed.

That still doesn't do much to dissipate the impression that it's Retreads Month at Criterion. All the 'new' films are already available in English-friendly editions which are generally equivalent or superior to what Criterion's offering.

The BFI version of the Ozu set included an additional Ozu film and a special feature. Arrow's Sturges set is pretty close to what's on offer here (it probably comes down to the relative quality of the commentaries), as is MoC's Melville (though Criterion would presumably win on points for people who didn't already have 24 Hours in the Life of a Clown). Only Odd Man Out seems to be clearly superior than the readily available and perfectly fine UK edition.

I can't begrudge Criterion releasing all these in R1, but for the non-region-locked this is a terribly dull month.

[zedz]

I am quite amused by the related films being The Third Man, The Fallen Idol, and Hunger.

Why? They're all quite obviously related, and I can't think of any more obviously related films in the collection that they missed out.

[Gregory]

And the Melville. And the Reed.

Wow. I would've sworn both of those were Criterion DVDs already. Le Silence de la mer because of the MOC, but Odd Man Out because, ah, I'm starting to lose it, I guess?

Odd Man Out was previously in the Collection as a laserdisc. I've got the Network blu sitting around unopened, and I may not buy any of the others either, as I already have good releases of them all, with the exception of Friends of Eddie Coyle, which I haven't seen yet.

[FrauBlucher]

Zedz, I echo your sentiment. Oh well, there is always Feb 15th.

[TMDaines]

Christ, what an utterly shite month. A bit more originality and pushing the envelope would be nice. In the grand scheme of the home video world, Criterion are becoming less and less essential by the month.

[movielocke]

Best month in quite a while, two new releases I've wanted to see for ages, two overdue upgrades I've been avoiding buying the dvds because I've been waiting on them, the best eclipse since Czech new wave, and friends of Eddie Coyle as a bonus, I'll be buying every release, and it's been a long time since that happened.

[Gregory]

How is an Eclipse that replicates an inexpensive BFI set, but is missing an interesting Ozu fragment and a Rayns feature, a better Eclipse set than the Grémillon, Kobayashi, Kinoshita etc.?
I don't begrudge Criterion getting their remaining Ozu titles released on disc, but I also don't really understand the view that it's the best Eclipse set in three years or whatever.
Glad to see the line is still around and I hope the next one is the long-overdue Czech New Wave 2.

[SpiderBaby]

Christ, what an utterly shite month. A bit more originality and pushing the envelope would be nice. In the grand scheme of the home video world, Criterion are becoming less and less essential by the month.

Agreed.

[Drucker]

Quite frankly, I only plan on buying Coyle soon. I'll go for the BFI and MOC equivalents if I pick up the Melville and Ozu titles. My wallet's a bit light right now, and I have a huge kevyip from the last few months. On top of that, with the excellent Q1 slate for MOC and BFI boxes of Dreyer and War Trilogy coming out, I'm more than happy not to have too much to buy right now!

[JimmyTango]

Instead of simply licensing films that were already adequately available I wish that Criterion would return to form and seek out important but neglected films that haven't been released in any format. I strongly dislike the new iPad era minimalist cover designs and I chalk it up as merely a fad that will hopefully pass shortly, however it's trickling down to even MGM http://i.imgur.com/TTTxIyB.png?1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; The formula is easy, merely choose a backing color and then apply a poorly drawn element from the film and slap it on to eliminate any thought to nuance. With Watership Down marking the debut in animation think of all the archivist possibilities from various countries consisting of lesser known materials that could be released in the future. A box set similar to Rossellini's War Trilogy but devoted to early animation would be more than welcome. I say use the Criterion name value to dig deep all over the world and unearth something that slipped through the cracks.

[movielocke]

How is an Eclipse that replicates an inexpensive BFI set, but is missing an interesting Ozu fragment and a Rayns feature, a better Eclipse set than the Grémillon, Kobayashi, Kinoshita etc.?
I don't begrudge Criterion getting their remaining Ozu titles released on disc, but I also don't really understand the view that it's the best Eclipse set in three years or whatever.
Glad to see the line is still around and I hope the next one is the long-overdue Czech New Wave 2.

I'll never go multiregion, my wife would divorce me; besides I have 148 blind buys yet to watch (many of them eclipse actually), and over 300 region 1 titles I've bought but haven't actually watched yet, at best it's a long way to go before it is even possible to begin contemplating purchasing films unavailable in region 1, and before I do that, I plan on watching a metric ton of the hulu films criterion has up, including the rest of the Ozu catalog. though I am impressed at the couple dozen people on this forum who have managed to exhaust region 1 and go multiregion, you're living the dream, guys.

Eclipse has had some excellent sets of late, few and far between that they are, but the Czech new wave is the pinnacle of the series and Ozu is one of my favorite directors, so a release of his films trumps the other releases, for me. I also hope the Czech New Wave 2 is forthcoming, based on Altman's recent podcast interview asserting the next Eclipse set was in his opinion one of the line's most impressive achievements it certainly seemed like it would be the next czech set.

[EddieLarkin]

A lot of people use this argument but I never understood it. I don't think anyone who has gone multi region has "exhausted" their own region, rather they merely want access to everything so they can pick the best of the best. I certainly don't buy more titles being region free than I would if I was locked, rather I substitute some of the lesser Region B/2 titles I would have gotten with Region A/1 discs I want a lot more.

[movielocke]

My self control is inadequate when faced with the problem, the terror, of unlimited choice. Not to mention the immense quantities of lost time attempting to follow an orders of magnitude larger marketplace. Plus, I don't think it's a problem to not have access to everything all the time. Waiting is fine and usually preferable to indulging my every whim, I can just watch something else.

[zedz]

A lot of people use this argument but I never understood it. I don't think anyone who has gone multi region has "exhausted" their own region, rather they merely want access to everything so they can pick the best of the best. I certainly don't buy more titles being region free than I would if I was locked, rather I substitute some of the lesser Region B/2 titles I would have gotten with Region A/1 discs I want a lot more.

Exactly. If that's the way you're collecting, you're doing it all wrong.

The three main principles of buying internationally (for me, at least) are:

1) Selection - Absolutely essential films (for me) that aren't available in R1 (let's just assume I'm in the USA and not a country where practically no worthwhile films get a local release). This isn't a case of "Criterion hasn't got around to them yet": there are thousands of absolute masterpieces that Criterion (and / or any other American label) will never release. And I bet there are hundreds of fantastic films among them that movielocke would like much, much more than the 400-something unwatched R1 titles he's accumulated.

2) Quality - Films available in R1 may be available in a clearly superior edition (HD, better elements,additional features) overseas. Why would you choose to own a second-rate version of one of your favourite films when there's a first-rate one readily available?

3) Price - In an extremely large number of cases, an international edition is going to be cheaper. This is particularly likely if you're talking about a Criterion edition, and it's a veritable certainty when, say, Twilight Time is involved. MoC, BFI and Arrow releases are routinely cheaper than Criterions, and of late they've had
better quality control, too.

For me, choosing to remain region-locked is like deciding to go and buy clothes, but once you get to the mall, making an arbitrary decision to only shop at the three or four stores on the southeast side of the foodcourt (because that's the side closest to your house), even though the other stores across the way have better quality clothes that are cheaper and which you look better in.

[Michael Kerpan]

I refused to buy a DVD player until I could find a (cheap) multi-region one. I will go to the ends of the earth for the things I really want -- for everything else, there's Netflix (or the library or whatever).

[zedz]

My self control is inadequate when faced with the problem, the terror, of unlimited choice. Not to mention the immense quantities of lost time attempting to follow an orders of magnitude larger marketplace. Plus, I don't think it's a problem to not have access to everything all the time. Waiting is fine and usually preferable to indulging my every whim, I can just watch something else.

Unless you're literally buying everything released onto the US market (are you now or have you ever been domino harvey?) you're already being selective among a vast number of options. Nobody follows every potential release in every country, but just keeping up with this board should do a lot of the research for you. Switching out, say, Criterion's The Big Chill and Tootsie for Arrow's Borowczyk set would be a smart use of anybody's money. You can pick up Criterion's just-announced Ozu Gangster Eclipse set in its BFI guise (with an extra Ozu film and a special feature, and probably a superior booklet) right now for $US12 from amazon.uk. The Eclipse set will never be that cheap. That's one decision you can make on its own merits. You can get MoC's Silence de la Mer for under $US10. That's another. Even if you're just doing comparisons for the R1 releases you're already intending to buy, you can come out way ahead. Why not save all that money?

[matrixschmatrix]

Yeah, Twilight Time alone would justify a multi-region player for me, even if I literally only wanted to buy titles available in R1- like, I wanted to buy Oliver!, The Driver, Sexy Beast, Zulu, Wild at Heart, and others- and I would have spent probably $200 on those titles here, whereas they're probably only $50 between them through Amazon.uk.

[EddieLarkin]

Yeah I'm not sure how any quality conscious American can sit down to watch the Region A versions Nosferatu (both versions), Rabid Dogs, The Fury, Madame De, Harakiri et al without being bothered by the vastly superior versions available in Europe (and of course, there's even more examples for region locked Europeans).

[Gregory]

Yeah I'm not sure how any quality conscious American can sit down to watch the Region A versions Nosferatu (both versions), Rabid Dogs, The Fury, Madame De, Harakiri et al without being bothered by the vastly superior versions available in Europe (and of course, there's even more examples for region locked Europeans).

The French Madame De blu is actually region-free, so one could go ahead and order that (among many other imports) without having to commit to a region-free player. I do wonder whether Criterion will ever improve it's currently awful Madame De blu-ray.
Can't figure why they released it in the first place.

[FrauBlucher]

Movielocke, your best argument against; is your wife divorcing you. Other than that, region free opens up all sorts of options. When AE starts to release the Tarkovsky's on blu, won't you feel a slight bit wishful that you are region free? I clearly expect their releases to be head and shoulders over anything that Kino has or will do in regards to Tarkovsky.

[danieltiger]

I've heard bad things about the quality of region free Blu-Ray players. Not an issue?

[Drucker]

Case-by-case. I have an Oppo and have never (knock on wood) had a problem.

[Finch]

Case in point for international releases being cheaper: Amazon UK is currently selling MoC's La Silence de la Mer for £8.19. (edit: just noticed zedz mentioned it in his own post, apologies!)

Also, what zedz says. I've gone multi-region for the same reasons since there are almost certainly as many films unreleased in European territory or the UK at least that are available in the US or Asia/Russia.

[colinr0380]

I'd agree with all of the above. I went multi-region back in the early 2000s for lots of reasons: to get horror films unedited that were cut to pieces or unreleased in the UK (which doesn't happen quite so often these days, although Human Centipede 2 was a recent US disc that recaptured that dangerous importation frisson for me!); to get films with extra features unreleased in the UK and from labels that weren't international such as Criterion (Flesh For Frankenstein was my first Criterion purchase, which combined both reasons for importing due to being an unavailable in the UK at the time horror and including the commentary track!); and in order to pick up newly released US films six or more months before their UK release, sometimes months before they were even released in the cinema over here.

All of these reasons for importing or not fluctuate over time with changes in release patterns. Sometimes I might not need to pick up anything from the US and instead buy lots of UK releases, other times the opposite. Being tied into one region can arbitrarily restrict your choices based on arcane, delicate and balancing act rules that are primarily designed for the needs of the rightsholders and companies involved more than the consumer. Completely understandable reasons of not having the resources to do a worldwide home video release, or only being able to license for a specific territory, or needing to stagger a release of a film in order to schedule doing a publicity tour for its release, and so on, but reasons that (while interesting to know about) are frankly are not my concern as a consumer who just wants to access a film in the best presentation in its best version.

But I can understand that it can be a big move to start importing, especially when there is a lot of content in the home market. For example I haven't really explored too much beyond UK and US releases yet, though I have done a couple of German Filmmuseum orders. Hopefully one day I'll expand my own scope further too!

On the other hand, while it can be disappointing to see single territory companies serving only their own region such as Criterion or Masters of Cinema (and especially frustrating to see duelling releases!), I would not complain that loudly about those labels taking that focus for business or market reasons. Expanding your horizons beyond a single territory is an extremely worthwhile thing to do, but with that expansion also comes the need to recognise that you are often going to run into situations in which you've already got a film in a better quality release from another territory. Personally speaking it might be a waste of time and resources in having yet another edition of the film on the world market when there are tons of films that have not even got a single shot at a home video release; but beyond myself I can understand why it happens, why it is easier to pull something like that off the shelf from pre-existing or shared masters, and why it is done to serve a local market.

This for me is where extra features are so important and why it is a shame that commentary tracks and the suchlike (which, and I'm worried that I'm leaving myself open to canny exploitation by admitting this, I will always buy another edition of a film for, just to hear what someone says about a film at length!) seem to be becoming a rarity. I'd love it if Criterion put a little bit more emphasis not just on presenting the films but also presenting a debate around the films on their discs, especially in the form of commentary tracks. Plus while were are on this subject, I find it unforgivable when a major international company (Disney, Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, those kinds of companies) drop extra features on their releases between territories, although that was a bigger problem a number of years ago than it appears to be these days, but I'll always understand when a single territory company such as Criterion or Masters of Cinema have different extra features to distinguish their own releases from each other. Even if it can be annoying as a multi-region user to sometimes need to buy both!

[Finch]

I also like getting new films early which almost invariably means the Region A discs. For example, I can see myself getting the US BD of The Duke of Burgundy as it's probably going to be out two months ahead of the UK equivalent, due to the film opening in the US first (same with Force Majeure, Clouds of Sils Maria, Wild Tales etc). This is even more so the case with HK/Chinese and Japanese titles like Johnnie To's brilliant Drug War. I like that I can go see a film theatrically and then get the US disc a month or two later. One of the more extreme cases would be Takahata's Tale of the Princess Kaguya which is already getting a US BD release in February and it's not opening in Scotland and the rest of Britain until late spring (if the import BD comes out ahead of a UK theatrical release, I don't bother buying a ticket). Of course, it can work the other way round, too, with titles like Berberian Sound Studio and The Guest. So, I guess, for me, at least 90% of contemporary releases are imported whereas catalogue titles are now 50% Criterion/Shout/major studios and 25% Arrow and 25% MoC/other UK or French labels.

(The only DVDs I buy nowadays are Second Run and leftover stock from Hongkong Legends)