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HistoryProf
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:48 am
Location: KCK

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#101 Post by HistoryProf » Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:55 am

Jeff wrote:
HistoryProf wrote:what do they charge for shipping and "handling"???
Criterion is offering free standard shipping and handling to U.S. addresses right now. I just ordered four of the OOP titles with no shipping costs. I have Amazon Prime, but the Criterion price is substantially cheaper than the current Amazon prices on those titles.
EDIT: i see you need to spend $50. I had Mayerling in my cart but it wanted to charge me $5.95 for shipping so I canceled it. Now Gervaise and Le Jour sa Leve are out of stock there too...looks like most of them are actually :(

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#102 Post by knives » Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:13 am

Using the same library tactic as Swo I managed to scruff up La Haine, Night on Earth(?), and The Double Life of Veronique.

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Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#103 Post by Tommaso » Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:23 am

I remember vaguely that there were rumours about a CC release of Powell and Pressburger's "Oh...Rosalinda!" some time ago. I guess this will never happen now (supposing this is also a Canal title). Any other long-hoped-for releases that now will never come?

hangman
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:33 am

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#104 Post by hangman » Wed Feb 03, 2010 7:46 am

Yeesh, I wasn't expecting to spend anything this month, was saving up for the Costa boxset next month, and now I'll have to go break my savings for Diary of a Country Priest, Le Jour Se Lève, and Mayerling. Least the last 2 are pretty cheap but Diary... well I'm a fan of Bresson so its not such a loss but an investment... Still T___T I am worried about other Canal titles I've not yet bought, but planned to... eventually... one day.

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Richard
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:41 pm
Location: Nederland

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#105 Post by Richard » Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:21 am

I wasn't planning to order anything this month either, but I have now ordered The fallen idol, Mayerling, Gervaise en Last Holiday + La strada (which is not going OOP but it was on my todo-list for for too long a time). Having titles going out of print almost seems like a marketing ploy. And it is working for me.

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HerrSchreck
Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#106 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:48 am

hangman wrote:Yeesh, I wasn't expecting to spend anything this month, was saving up for the Costa boxset next month, and now I'll have to go break my savings for Diary of a Country Priest, Le Jour Se Lève, and Mayerling. Least the last 2 are pretty cheap but Diary... well I'm a fan of Bresson so its not such a loss but an investment... Still T___T I am worried about other Canal titles I've not yet bought, but planned to... eventually... one day.
Diary is an absolute core essential, indeed-- but don't miss the Clouzot's and the Carne... these films are the very crux of the French biscuit.

I assume nobody in their right mind had waited all these years for La Grande Illusion.. spine #1 no less!

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perkizitore
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: OOP is the only answer

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#107 Post by perkizitore » Wed Feb 03, 2010 8:51 am

This may well explain why Criterion released titles like Monsoon Wedding and Benjamin Button. :cry:

kekid
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:55 pm

Boutique Labels in the World of Corporate Giants

#108 Post by kekid » Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:17 am

When Criterion announced some months ago that they would not be releasing Ran and Contempt Blu Ray discs due to licensing problems, I was disappointed. It then appeared that Criterion must have put in all the resources to get the films ready to be pressed on DVDs when the rug was pulled out from under their feet. (I concluded this because their announcement came only a few weeks before the expected release date). The recent Studio Canal / Lionsgate announcement takes that disappointment to a new low.

This episode suggests that corporate giants can drive boutique labels out of business or, at the minimum, limit their ability to do business. I am not sure that there is any anti-trust law in place for international entertainment industry, but such a law would help consumers.

I read in "digitalbits" that several corporate giants in the R1 market have severly limited the DVD production of classic films, leave alone foreign films. This observation suggests that if small labels like Criterion and MoC are not allowed access to these films, the consumer will either get sub-standard versions of the classics (examples: reported problems about Blu Rays of Ran and Contempt, and Warner putting their effort behind the money machine of Archive Series rather than giving proper treatment to classics they have control over), or not get them at all.

I wonder what strategies Criterion might be contemplating in the wake of this announcement. I would love to see them seriously consider acquring rights to the New Yorker titles still in limbo.

This thread expresses frustration because we as consumers of a niche market do not have the clout to influence corporate giants. Some time ago I expressed a similar frustration at companies releasing region-coded Blu Rays, and I was duly reminded that those decisions were also governed by the corporate giants who control the rights. Fortunately, the availability of code-free Blu Ray players has overcome that hurdle. But the current situation is more insidious.

Futurists on the forum, please share your thoughts on whether this is a solitary situation or the beginning of a trend, and how do you see it develop.

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Florinaldo
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:38 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#109 Post by Florinaldo » Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:36 am

HistoryProf wrote:
Florinaldo wrote:It's nice of CC to let us know in advance of the upcoming OOP status of these titles. I am sure many people were taken totally by surprise when The Third Man BR became unavailable so suddenly.

I'll probably pick up 2 or 3 of the titles I do not already own. Not from the CC site though , since their shipping fees and new "handling" charges, allegedly added to make transit faster, are rather usurious in nature.

I don't think though it will be enough to persuade me to finally purchase Diary of a Country Priest, the one Bresson film I truly loathe.
what do they charge for shipping and "handling"???
Sorry for the misunderstanding; I have edited my original post to specify these charges are for orders shipped to Canada. For these, on top of their already high shipping charges, there is an added 18 % fee, supposedly to take care of brokerage fees, customs and taxes. Truth is however, parcels from other US sellers sent through the postal system very rarely get stopped and assessed by Canada Customs so this is an absolutely useless expense.

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TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
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Re: Boutique Labels in the World of Corporate Giants

#110 Post by TMDaines » Wed Feb 03, 2010 9:44 am

Well I'd just start by saying it isn't all doom and gloom. Some of the best releases I own are by "boutique labels" of "corporate giants": releases by RHV and the Cristaldi Film label of Dolmen Home Video, both owned by Cecchi Gori in Italy for instance and I'm very happy with the Katharina Blum release from Studio Canal. Looking at this from the point of view of a releative newcomer (which I am), I don't have this sense of nostalgia attached to Criterion and I don't see it as the be all and end all that it perhaps once was. There's many DVD labels I've bought from so far which I'd consider equal or even better than Criterion to be frank.

Flike
Joined: Sun Jun 08, 2008 7:47 pm

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#111 Post by Flike » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:18 am

Grr. I wonder if the Criterion website will be restocking? I made an Amazon wish list last night of the titles I need (Trafic, Variety Lights, Small Black Room, Eclipse Series 6, Gervaise, Le Jour se Leve, Mayerling, Last Holiday and The Fallen Idol) with the intention of picking it all up Friday and most of them are out-of-stock. People were really clamoring for Gervaise? The only one that's really essential (for me) is Trafic, but the Amazon price is astronomical.

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dad1153
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:32 am
Location: New York, NY

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#112 Post by dad1153 » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:41 am

HerrSchreck wrote:I assume nobody in their right mind had waited all these years for La Grande Illusion.. spine #1 no less!
:oops: :oops: (Never even heard of "Grand Illusion," let alone seen it) :oops: :oops:
Last edited by dad1153 on Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:47 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#113 Post by Jeff » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:45 am

While this is certainly very disappointing news, I wouldn't view it as a sign of the apocalypse or anything. Criterion has known that this was likely for nearly four years now. That's when StudioCanal announced their decision to make Lionsgate their exclusive North American distributor. Since that time, it's just been a matter of Criterion waiting for their licenses on these titles to expire while trying to cajole either StudioCanal or Lionsgate into working something out with them. That was never very likely. StudioCanal didn't have any interest a North American presence for years, and was more than happy to license out a few titles each to Lionsgate, Anchor Bay, Criterion, Universal, MGM, Image, and whoever else was willing to pay. Several years ago they decided to consolidate. This will effect all of those other companies too. MGM, for example, has the U.S. distribution rights to the Avco/Embassy/Nelson titles owned by StudioCanal (The Graduate, The Producers, Spinal Tap, many others). They picked them up when they bought the pre-97 Polygram library. I'm sure that their license will expire eventually and those will go to Lionsgate too. The rapidly growing Lionsgate was really the only party interested in such a diverse library four years ago, and it makes sense that they signed with StudioCanal. I don't have any particular affection for them, but it's not like they beat up Criterion and stole their lunch money.

I wouldn't blame this unfortunate situation for the release of Benjamin Button or Monsoon Wedding either, and while I'm not crazy about either of those, neither is as "mainstream" or obnoxious as half of the Criterion laserdisc catalog. I think it probably is likely that Criterion has been snatching up other libraries to compensate though (Caidin, Chaplin, a big chunk of MGM). It is a shame that so many of Criterion's most attractive eggs were in StudioCanal's basket, because things like this are bound to happen. I'm optimistic and enthusiastic about StudioCanal's decision to establish a presence in the U.S.

It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.

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fdm
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:25 pm

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#114 Post by fdm » Wed Feb 03, 2010 10:49 am

You may want to give dvdempire a look (use their link at the bottom of this page). I'm attempting to get out to work (so don't know their in-stock status of these titles), but their current coupon is: Enter the code 1519051 at checkout to save $8 on your next order of $65 or more (expires 03/01).

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ShellOilJunior
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 7:17 am

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#115 Post by ShellOilJunior » Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:08 am

Jeff wrote: I'm optimistic and enthusiastic about StudioCanal's decision to establish a presence in the U.S.
What makes you optimistic?

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aox
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:02 pm
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#116 Post by aox » Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:35 am

Yeah, aren't all of their discs pretty sub par? or enough of them to create a pattern of unreliability (yes, I realize that Criterion has made some bad discs as well)?

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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#117 Post by Jeff » Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:52 am

ShellOilJunior wrote:What makes you optimistic?
I'm optimistic because they own the third largest film library in the world which hasn't been fully exploited in region 1 due to the piecemeal nature of their previous licensing agreements. I'll be the first to admit that the PQ on the discs hasn't been anything to write home about thus far, but I'm hopeful that it will improve with time. They are at least interested in producing supplements and releasing boutique titles. That's a start.

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foofighters7
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 11:27 pm
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#118 Post by foofighters7 » Wed Feb 03, 2010 12:09 pm

I remember back when they let us know that the Hitchcocks and Straw Dogs were going OOP. A few places had a great sale on them.

Here is the thing though, these are not OOP until the end of March, I think I read.

SO, if thats true they have the ability to produce these up to this point. Therefore, I think they will produce an extra amount of these titles to make sure they have them available for a bit longer.

I think a few should be hard to get, but I think many will be fairly easy to find for quite a while.

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NilbogSavant
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 3:15 am

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#119 Post by NilbogSavant » Wed Feb 03, 2010 12:28 pm

The only two I'm really desperate to get before they disappear, Diary of a Country Priest (one of my favorite Bressons, not sure why I don't own it yet) and the Coucteau set, are ones that I don't think are going anywhere fast at my local Barnes & Nobel. Hell, two copies of The Third Man BD sat there through the latest 50% off sale.

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swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
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Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#120 Post by swo17 » Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:16 pm

foofighters7 wrote:Here is the thing though, these are not OOP until the end of March, I think I read. SO, if thats true they have the ability to produce these up to this point. Therefore, I think they will produce an extra amount of these titles to make sure they have them available for a bit longer.
Except that the conditions of Criterion's OOP sale specifically state that it's only good until they run out of stock.

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scotty2
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:24 am

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#121 Post by scotty2 » Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:35 pm

It's a little confusing. They are shipping the titles in stock and have given me a second ship date for those out of stock (Feb. 22).

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foofighters7
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 11:27 pm
Location: Local

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#122 Post by foofighters7 » Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:58 pm

swo17 wrote:
foofighters7 wrote:Here is the thing though, these are not OOP until the end of March, I think I read. SO, if thats true they have the ability to produce these up to this point. Therefore, I think they will produce an extra amount of these titles to make sure they have them available for a bit longer.
Except that the conditions of Criterion's OOP sale specifically state that it's only good until they run out of stock.
That really doesn't mean anything at all. They could have produced an extra amount already.

Bottom line, if they truly do not go OOP until the end of march, then bet that the majority of the titles you see will have an extra amount produced to keep retailers stocked well past the time they go OOP.

Especially Grande Illusion, Pierrot, etc. (titles that have been or would be solid sellers)

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#123 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Feb 03, 2010 2:24 pm

Arrgh! I'll have to bump Small Back Room, the Essential Art House discs and Pierrot Le Fou Blu up my shopping list now (yes, I've finally cracked and ordered an all region Blu player, so I was going to need at least one region A disc to test it out on anyway!)

Mozart
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:00 pm

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#124 Post by Mozart » Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:28 pm

Hello all!

My opinion on this subject matter in regard to the three stakeholders:

A) Canal Plus:
++ the ability to release their BRs in North America
++ using scale effects, i.e. lower costs per BR sold (same discs in Europe and North America)
+ higher revenues through consolidation of the portfolio in North America
- lower revenues if they or Lionsgate won't release some titles vs. low steady revenue stream from Criterion

B) Criterion
++ high revenue stream of mostly older titels going oop through an enourmous advertising effect (I guess this effect is larger than the revenue of these discs if not going oop in the next 5-8 years, i.e. (more) cash for Criterion now)
++ the abiltity to produce and deliver these titles to consumers and retailers till end of March (retailers will recognise an increase in sales in these titels and will restock or maybe increase their stock
+ long term stocking /sales of these titels at brick and mortar retailers
- damage of their image
-- shrinking of the collection

C) Consumer
++ you can buy the Criterion titels till end of March (and most titles till years from now)
++ you can buy BR of hopefully all of those titels in the forseeable future (depends on how the quality of these titels will be: my guess: PQ/sound quality of the BRs will be better at every titel compared to CC, most of them will have better extras as well, additionally the design of the covers/box/booklets/menues of Studio Canal BRs are IHMO pretty nice too. BUT: there is no wacky C! -- The question is, how many of these BRs will be definite editions? does it matter?!? see next point)
+ the chances of Criterion upgrading these titels (new DVD and/or new BR) are .... pretty low (just see how many reissues the CC has seen lately)
++ Criterion can use their limited ressources to produce other DVDs/BRs than Canal Plus licenced ones. And due to the changing market conditions, I really look forward to that situation. see the other topic here on that forum from perpee: CC or MoC will/may be able to release big studio films on BR)
++ more competition: why shouldn't the Studio Canal Collection reach levels like Criterion, or even higher?
0 within the OOPs there are lots of really old DVDs (in former times there was not such top-notch hard- and software available to produce the discs)
0 within the OOPs there are some bare bone discs
--- someday you can't buy these films any more with the wacky C

=> In this rough analyis every stakeholder wins: Criterion not so much, the consumer most.

Cheers,
Mozart

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Peacock
Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:47 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Out Of Print: StudioCanal Snatches It All Away

#125 Post by Peacock » Wed Feb 03, 2010 3:29 pm

I hope this doesn't throw away the chance of an L'Eclisse blu?

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