Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 4

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
Locked
Message
Author
MongooseCmr
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:50 pm

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2151 Post by MongooseCmr » Thu Dec 27, 2012 8:30 pm

I'm trying to think of a sketch for Shoah that wouldn't come off as mocking the ordeal but I can't.

TheBeast
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2012 8:26 pm

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2152 Post by TheBeast » Sun Dec 30, 2012 5:34 am

Artificial Eye are releasing Mouchette and Au Hasard Balthazaar on Blu-ray in April so that probably means that criterion could announce them in a couple months.

User avatar
triodelover
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm
Location: The hills of East Tennessee

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2153 Post by triodelover » Sun Dec 30, 2012 12:52 pm

TheBeast wrote:Artificial Eye are releasing Mouchette and Au Hasard Balthazaar on Blu-ray in April so that probably means that criterion could announce them in a couple months.
It will likely be another Certified Copy, then - same transfers, more extras on the Crit, vastly different price.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2154 Post by MichaelB » Sun Dec 30, 2012 1:06 pm

triodelover wrote:It will likely be another Certified Copy, then - same transfers, more extras on the Crit, vastly different price.
As of today, Amazon is charging £8.00/$12.92 for the Artificial Eye BD, and £17.32/$27.99 for the Criterion BD. That's not including shipping, which for me as a UK resident would increase the price of the Criterion still further.

Granted, the Criterion has more extras, but that's still one hell of a mark-up.

User avatar
ellipsis7
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 1:56 pm
Location: Dublin

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2155 Post by ellipsis7 » Sun Dec 30, 2012 1:14 pm

And so many more copies presumably sold stateside at those margins...

As CERTIFIED COPY was shot on HD digitally using the RED camera, technically there was not a 'transfer', although the same master could be digitally graded slightly differently by AE & CC...

The Bressons obviously require a film transfer in HD, at which stage there will be grading in the telecine, with further differing digital grading possible of the resulting HD master... For instance, compare and contrast the BFI & CC RED DESERT BRs...

User avatar
matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2156 Post by matrixschmatrix » Sun Dec 30, 2012 1:20 pm

To be fair, in the US it's generally possible to get Criterions for $14-16 during Barnes and Noble sales, if you get things lined up properly, and certainly no more than $20. Paying $7 for a copy of The Report in HD seems perfectly fair to me.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2157 Post by MichaelB » Sun Dec 30, 2012 1:28 pm

If you want it. But I went for another Artificial Eye BD instead.

User avatar
ellipsis7
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 1:56 pm
Location: Dublin

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2158 Post by ellipsis7 » Sun Dec 30, 2012 1:34 pm

THE REPORT is very rare AK... I'd only seen it once before on a multi generation NTSC VHS dub (I think originally loaned by Jonathan Rosenbaum), with portraits of the Shah hanging in the office obscured by black felt pen on the print frame by frame... It was most of the reason I picked up the CC CERTIFIED COPY BR in addition to the AE...

User avatar
triodelover
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm
Location: The hills of East Tennessee

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2159 Post by triodelover » Sun Dec 30, 2012 2:02 pm

MichaelB wrote:If you want it. But I went for another Artificial Eye BD instead.
Exactly. After VAT removal, the AE Certified Copy was under 7 quid. Bundling several other purchases with it made it far less expensive than the Crit with shipping to the US included.

Matrix, I don't know anywhere you can by a Crit BD at the $39.95 price point for $14-$16. During a B&N sale, $20 if you are willing to put up with the creative approach to shipping B&N employs. The rest of the time, Certified Copy will be over $25 at the preferred e-tailers.
ellipsis7 wrote:The Bressons obviously require a film transfer in HD, at which stage there will be grading in the telecine, with further differing digital grading possible of the resulting HD master... For instance, compare and contrast the BFI & CC RED DESERT BRs...
Point taken, but AE's BDs generally have been of high quality in the PQ department - the Classic Bergman set, for example. There were several who preferred the BFI Red Desert, as was evident in the rather long discussions about them here.

User avatar
matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2160 Post by matrixschmatrix » Sun Dec 30, 2012 2:37 pm

triodelover wrote:Matrix, I don't know anywhere you can by a Crit BD at the $39.95 price point for $14-$16. During a B&N sale, $20 if you are willing to put up with the creative approach to shipping B&N employs. The rest of the time, Certified Copy will be over $25 at the preferred e-tailers.
Oh, it mostly only works if you can go to a B&N in person- it lets you get a 10% membership discount and whatever 10-25% coupons are floating around. It's certainly kind of a hassle, but there are other ways to get a decent price on Criterions- Best Buy and Amazon both just had lengthy sales, and even right at this moment I think Certified Copy is $23.99 at Barnes and Noble.

I'm not going to blame anyone for picking the AE release, I just think it's a situation where either way is a fair choice. For me, I buy a bunch of Criterions during any sale, so it's easy to add another one to the list than to import something.

Obviously, it also depends on how one weighs extras vs price, which extras are most important, all that sort of thing.

(Incidentally, assuming the B&N sales keep going in the same way, I don't mind picking a couple of extras and sending them to you guys, if that'll save you a bunch of money.)

User avatar
triodelover
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm
Location: The hills of East Tennessee

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2161 Post by triodelover » Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:33 pm

You go places in person!!! :shock:

I don't blame anyone for their choice. I think I'm reacting to what I perceive is an assumption in some quarters that a Criterion issue will automatically be "better", which seemed implicit in the OP's comment. I just don't think that's necessarily true. Certainly depending on one's preferences, it isn't always the better value. Criterion might upgrade the two Bressons at some point and those upgrades might have better transfers. The Criterions will likely have more extras, which may or may not represent added value, depending on the individual. But unless you are region locked, why dismiss the AEs, which may provide equal quality (at least as far as the main feature is concerned) at a lower price? Perhaps I just don't have the appropriate reverence for the Wacky C.

User avatar
Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2162 Post by Gregory » Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:43 pm

How about this for a reason that has nothing to do with reverence for the Wacky C? If I get Criterion upgrades, I can sell my Criterion DVDs. If I go with the AE blu-rays, I'll want to keep the Criterion DVDs for the extras. What I can get for the Criterion DVDs would likely be more than the difference in price between the Criterion (B&N sale) and AE blu-rays, plus the advantage of saving shelf space.

User avatar
triodelover
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm
Location: The hills of East Tennessee

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2163 Post by triodelover » Sun Dec 30, 2012 4:44 pm

Gregory wrote:How about this for a reason that has nothing to do with reverence for the Wacky C? If I get Criterion upgrades, I can sell my Criterion DVDs. If I go with the AE blu-rays, I'll want to keep the Criterion DVDs for the extras. What I can get for the Criterion DVDs would likely be more than the difference in price between the Criterion (B&N sale) and AE blu-rays, plus the advantage of saving shelf space.
I probably place less value on extras, unless it's an extra film that I want as part of the collection (the Lonesome package, CC's Trouble in Paradise). I'll listen to interviews usually once and rarely return. I'm not a commentary guy. So when the SC Jeux interdit arrives in January, the CC DVD will go. If the AE Bressons are up to snuff, I'll buy them and both CCs will go. I don't have the space to do otherwise. (To save space, I just broke up the CC's of Early Spring and Ugetsu monogatari and put the Wenders and Shindo docs in slim cases because I had the BFI and MoC blus. I tried selling the remaining packages at my local used DVD/CD/book reseller and eventually dumped them in his freebie bin, which I'm cool with 'cuz someone will get to see the movies that might otherwise not have.)

I appreciate wanting to wait and see if CC issues a BD package equivalent to their SD issue rather than purchase the film on a different label with different extras. But that's not what I read in the OP's post, although perhaps I'm reading too much into it.

User avatar
Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2164 Post by Murdoch » Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:28 pm

I'm in a similar camp, and largely buy based on the quality of the sound or picture rather than the quantity/quality of the extras, which I only delve into nowadays when I already had a considerable interest in the film. Price is the often the deciding point and for someone who isn't a member of B&N the benefits of their sales are limited.

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

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2165 Post by knives » Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:38 pm

Though I think the extra of another film as is the case of Certified Copy that argument doesn't work as well. I likewise have a minimal amount of interest in extras usually skipping them entirely, but if I can get a second film out of the deal especially a rare one from a director I love that means a lot.

bamwc2
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2008 11:54 am

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2166 Post by bamwc2 » Mon Dec 31, 2012 6:05 pm

Didn't Criterion release their New Year's drawing on the 31 of last year? If so, I wonder if they'll follow suit this year. Also, I can't seem to recall, was it posted on their main page or sent out as an email? I guess that I'm too anxious for this one. Release it already! ](*,)

User avatar
RyanGallagher
Joined: Fri Jan 01, 2010 4:03 pm
Location: Portland, OR
Contact:

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2167 Post by RyanGallagher » Mon Dec 31, 2012 6:55 pm

bamwc2 wrote:Didn't Criterion release their New Year's drawing on the 31 of last year? If so, I wonder if they'll follow suit this year. Also, I can't seem to recall, was it posted on their main page or sent out as an email? I guess that I'm too anxious for this one. Release it already! ](*,)
No, they are posted on The Current on the first as a "Happy New Year" post.

User avatar
Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
Location: Denver, CO

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#2168 Post by Jeff » Mon Dec 31, 2012 11:35 pm

RyanGallagher wrote:
bamwc2 wrote:Didn't Criterion release their New Year's drawing on the 31 of last year? If so, I wonder if they'll follow suit this year. Also, I can't seem to recall, was it posted on their main page or sent out as an email? I guess that I'm too anxious for this one. Release it already! ](*,)
No, they are posted on The Current on the first as a "Happy New Year" post.
Though someone *ahem* taunted us with a blurred version of it the night before. :)

Here's hoping we can inaugurate the new thread with this year's drawing early tomorrow morning.

Locked