Collecting Criterion

[cdnchris]

In case you were all wondering, actor Pat Healy organizes his by spine number

NSFW

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[jindianajonz]

Sorry to ask you guys to look at that picture again, but what is that brown case on the very bottom right, after the Eclipse sets?

[cdnchris]

I think it's the Olivier set

EDIT: And in case anybody is wondering why that photo exists, my understanding is it's a self-taken promo shot for the film Cheap Thrills, and is obviously a nod to Burt Reynolds.

[domino harvey]

I thought that said "Pauly Shore" and I was like, "Whoa, he has really aged interestingly" IMDB tells me this actor is the comic book store guy who keeps making reference to Thora Birch's Judaism in Ghost World

[Yaanu]

I'm sure that he would make a very interesting Criterion Closet video.

[Amazing Goose]

Now that Salo is back in print, is there any title/spine that particularly hard to find or get in your collection? "Tokyo Olympiad" seems to be the new most expensive (I've seen it used on Amazon for around $300, I think), but even the infamous John Woo films seem to be on eBay for (relatively) reasonable prices.

Online retail has generally taking away the excitement of searching a video store when your out of town, although some collectors here have said that's still the way they prefer to play. But I'm just curious if there's anything that's especially rare or hard to get ahold of?

[Arrow]

Now that Salo is back in print, is there any title/spine that particularly hard to find or get in your collection? "Tokyo Olympiad" seems to be the new most expensive (I've seen it used on Amazon for around $300, I think), but even the infamous John Woo films seem to be on eBay for (relatively) reasonable prices.

Online retail has generally taking away the excitement of searching a video store when your out of town, although some collectors here have said that's still the way they prefer to play. But I'm just curious if there's anything that's especially rare or hard to get ahold of?

The Third Man Blu fetches quite a bit on EBay.

[Jakamarak]

Hi, I've been lurking/monitoring these forums for about a year now. This is my first post.

I have a small, cherished collection of about 40 Criterion titles on DVD. I only buy during B&N 50% off and Criterion Store flash sales.

Ridiculously, I resisted the transition to Blu Ray until late last year; I didn't think the improved picture quality and sound could possibly make much difference on my relatively small 40" screen. But Criterion's dual format editions were the final push. I finally broke down and bought a Blu Ray player... and I can't believe it. I find the image difference so vast, I can't go back. I can hardly watch some DVDs because I'm so aware of the picture deficiencies (the Royal Tenenbaums DVD, for example.) I'm tempted to double dip with the movies I especially love, even though I have a limited budget, not to mention other (moral?) reservations against it.

So... I am getting an extra $150 for participating in a marketing study. It's a tiny windfall that I decided will go toward my burgeoning Criterion blu ray habit. BUT... here's my dilemma. Do I...

a.) buy NON-REPEAT TITLES at the next sale
b.) use this windfall as an excuse to DOUBLE DIP (something I've avoided) at the next sale?
c.) a combination of a & b
d.) use this money (all or most of it) to buy a much coveted oop blu ray edition (Last Year at Marienbad probably) on ebay that, otherwise, I could never ever justify.

What would you do? I'm leaning towards d.) but feel that might be foolish!

[Gregory]

C.
Use some of it for titles that you hadn't bought earlier, but also get the upgrades that were the biggest improvement over the DVD counterparts or that are your favorite films. Many Criterion DVDs hold up extremely well and are pleasant to view even on a large screen (Royal Tenenbaums not being one of them). For example, I've never bothered to upgrade Band of Outsiders to Blu because the DVD still looks so good.
I wouldn't choose D because I'm pretty utilitarian about "collecting" (building a home library), but that's just me.

[rrenault]

Have you considered buying Last Year at Marienbad used? If you're savvy enough you could probably score a used copy for around 40 dollars if you play your cards right. It'll be a challenge, but you could probably do it with enough patience.

[swo17]

For D, set up a price watch here to be notified when someone creates an Amazon listing for a price that you find agreeable. You can also set it up on eBay to be notified whenever someone creates a listing for something you're interested in. Be patient and you might be able to get a great deal on rare OOP titles.

[Drucker]

I would say C, as well. But stick with the films you love best and check out reviews at sites like bluray.com. Two that spring to mind that might not be necessary are titles like Smiles of A Summer Night and Amarcord where the bluray is the same master as the DVD title, and the difference between the two probably isn't that vast.

But certainly if you're holding on to first edition (non reissue) DVDs of titles like Beauty and The Beast, Yojimbo or Seven Samurai or The Red Shoes, then those are certainly essential blu-ray editions, as far I'm concerned. Happy collecting!

[tenia]

I would probably choose A and try to discover new movies this way. Especially if you have 40 Criterion on DVD, it means there are plenty of movies left for you to discover amongst the collection without having to double dip (except if you have some of the worst titles ever, technically speaking, if which case, well, why not).

[Bürgermeister]

why not go for the UK edition of Last Year at Marienbad? It's Region A compatible if I remember correctly. Picture quality is just as good as the Criterion. It'll cost you a lot less than buying the OOP Criterion edition, leaving you more $ to pick up a couple of other Criterion blu's.

[tenia]

why not go for the UK edition of Last Year at Marienbad?

Unfortunately, it's not.

[Sandman]

Have you considered buying Last Year at Marienbad used? If you're savvy enough you could probably score a used copy for around 40 dollars if you play your cards right. It'll be a challenge, but you could probably do it with enough patience.

I got lucky last summer and scored a used Last Year at Marienbad from an Amazon seller (one of those "fullfilled by Amazon". It was described as used/like new, but it was in perfect condition and still in its original shrink wrap. I bought it for MSRP with free shipping.

[domino harvey]

I bought mine when it came out #blessed #swag

[movielocke]

I found this an interesting collector note, it looks like we've reached the point where over half the in print criterion collection is available in bluray. By my count there are 286 in print bluray titles and there are 537 in print overall titles

edit: I'm working off yaanu's spreadsheets, and I'm not sure how his spreadsheet counts things. I think he's counting box sets as only one release. I think there are 75 out of print spines and 332 bluray spines with 10 of those out of print, out of 636 in print spines I think that still puts over half the in print collection as available in bluray.

[aox]

I found this an interesting collector note, it looks like we've reached the point where over half the in print criterion collection is available in bluray. By my count there are 286 in print bluray titles and there are 537 in print overall titles

edit: I'm working off yaanu's spreadsheets, and I think he's counting box sets as only one release.

I'd like to see that confirmed. I seem to recall a few years ago that someone did the math, and with the amount they release each month (including the average amount of reissues), I vaguely recall that it would take almost ten years to upgrade the entire collection at the time.

[movielocke]

I updated the math after a quick check: 711 spine numbers, 75 OOP = 636 in print spine numbers. 332 bluray spine numbers minus 8 OOP spine numbers = 324.

636/2 = 318

so yeah, we crossed the halfway point.

[aox]

That's awesome. Thanks for working the math out.

Still so many staples waiting for upgrade (EG: L'avventura), and other more off the radar films I would love to see in HD (EG: The Human Condition).

[Yaanu]

I found this an interesting collector note, it looks like we've reached the point where over half the in print criterion collection is available in bluray. By my count there are 286 in print bluray titles and there are 537 in print overall titles

edit: I'm working off yaanu's spreadsheets, and I'm not sure how his spreadsheet counts things. I think he's counting box sets as only one release. I think there are 75 out of print spines and 332 bluray spines with 10 of those out of print, out of 636 in print spines I think that still puts over half the in print collection as available in bluray.

Yeah, I'm counting box sets as a single release.
Let me know if there's anything else I can always add or correct to the sheets.

[swo17]

Note that this is not the same thing as saying that we are halfway to having the whole collection upgraded. Since they release new spine numbers exclusively on Blu-ray every month, the percentage you guys are measuring would continue to increase (eventually getting to 50% and higher) even if they never upgraded a single catalog title.

[Askew]

Note that this is not the same thing as saying that we are halfway to having the whole collection upgraded. Since they release new spine numbers exclusively on Blu-ray every month, the percentage you guys are measuring would continue to increase (eventually getting to 50% and higher) even if they never upgraded a single catalog title.

Exactly what I was going to say. I believe that only around a quarter of the old DVD releases have been upgraded to bluray at this point.

[Gregory]

Note that this is not the same thing as saying that we are halfway to having the whole collection upgraded. Since they release new spine numbers exclusively on Blu-ray every month, the percentage you guys are measuring would continue to increase (eventually getting to 50% and higher) even if they never upgraded a single catalog title.

Exactly what I was going to say. I believe that only around a quarter of the old DVD releases have been upgraded to bluray at this point.

Still, considering how many of those titles are OOP or need remastering work to get an HD master that would be acceptable for Blu-ray, I wonder if Criterion isn't at least halfway through their upgrading process.