Criterion Blu-ray

[rrenault]

Well I can't really think of any Criterion release where they've done that, released a film as a standalone on blu-ray but only as part of a set on DVD. The three films in the Louis Malle set are available individually, and all the Cassavetes films are available individually. The closest example I can think of is The 400 Blows where both the DVD and BD is available individually, but the rest of the Doinel films can only be purchased if you buy the set. In any case, I'm surprised they didn't originally release one or two of the films in the Rohmer set is standalones, because I definitely think at least Maud would be a profitable enough release for them, unless perhaps someone who is creatively involved in the production of those films requested they only be released as a set.

[zedz]

I really have very little interest in The Mikado, but it amuses me that people on this forum automatically assume that their taste is the ideal microcosm of the world at large. Thus, every time Criterion releases a disc with a really obvious niche appeal outside the art film crowd (such as this, Antonio Gaudi or the Martha Graham set) there are these big assumptions that Criterion have lost their minds and are about to lose their shirts on those titles as well.

That is a very good point, sir. I'd figured along those lines for some titles, but it certainly hadn't occurred to me that there would be a large niche interest in The Mikado. But I suppose there are still a good number of Gilbert and Sullivan fans out there.

In my experience, G&S fans are like Scientologists. You can know somebody for years and never suspect, then some idle remark trips a switch and you can't shut it off.

[zedz]

Well Rivette's The Duchess of Langeais is an IFC title, so perhaps they could start by releasing that.

I don't recall the details, but I'm pretty sure this was officially ruled out as a possibility some time ago. The Criterion spokesperson probably said something like, "Oh, but we've already released a couple of Resnais films."

[aox]

You have to admit that Rivette and Resnais are very similar names.

[domino harvey]

Well Rivette's The Duchess of Langeais is an IFC title, so perhaps they could start by releasing that.

I don't recall the details, but I'm pretty sure this was officially ruled out as a possibility some time ago. The Criterion spokesperson probably said something like, "Oh, but we've already released a couple of Resnais films."

It and the IFC Chabrol were ruled out explicitly, but so was Antichrist, so who can say anymore

[colinr0380]

I really have very little interest in The Mikado, but it amuses me that people on this forum automatically assume that their taste is the ideal microcosm of the world at large. Thus, every time Criterion releases a disc with a really obvious niche appeal outside the art film crowd (such as this, Antonio Gaudi or the Martha Graham set) there are these big assumptions that Criterion have lost their minds and are about to lose their shirts on those titles as well.

That is a very good point, sir. I'd figured along those lines for some titles, but it certainly hadn't occurred to me that there would be a large niche interest in The Mikado. But I suppose there are still a good number of Gilbert and Sullivan fans out there.

In my experience, G&S fans are like Scientologists. You can know somebody for years and never suspect, then some idle remark trips a switch and you can't shut it off.

Is this the part where I point out that my local town holds a yearly International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival?

...and yes, I've just received my Blu Ray copies of Topsy-Turvy and The Mikado (thereby immediately increasing the Mikado's sales figures by a factor of 10)

[zedz]

In my experience, G&S fans are like Scientologists. You can know somebody for years and never suspect, then some idle remark trips a switch and you can't shut it off.

Is this the part where I point out that my local town holds a yearly International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival?

Et tu, Colin?

[colinr0380]

Just call me Captain Fitzbattleaxe (I also answer informally to the name of Mr Blushington (but never to Yum-Yum))!

I can take or leave Gilbert and Sullivan to be honest. But I can confirm that, like Scientologists, GilbertandSullivanists believe that the day will come when a ship will finally be built in order to whisk the faithful away to the delightful fantasy land of Titipu, where capital punishment, and risque character names, are forever celebrated in song.

That has to be the case, otherwise what else have my generous six figure 'donations' to the cause been used for?

[Toshiro De Niro]

Frankly i'm getting weary of the scratchable media, dvd or blu-ray. Would rather see this in my Criterion case:

[agnamaracs]

Yeah, but that will create new problems.

"Oh, no! A stray dog ate my Stray Dog!"

[Cinephrenic]

They should just cease the production of DVD. Same price anyhow.

[zedz]

And then, six months later, they can cease production of everything! No more deadline pressures, then. Whee!

[ShellOilJunior]

They should just cease the production of DVD. Same price anyhow.

Works for me.

Actually, not being facetious here but I'd like to know what % of new releases sold are Blu-ray. From what I gather on this site and blu-ray.com it seems most people are buying the blu-ray version (where applicable of course).

As for upgrades, I'd be surprised if 2012 didn't bring another P&P title (or two).

[matrixschmatrix]

Actually, not being facetious here but I'd like to know what % of new releases sold are Blu-ray. From what I gather on this site and blu-ray.com it seems most people are buying the blu-ray version (where applicable of course).

I hate to tell you but I think you're getting a bit of a biased survey sample

[MichaelB]

I hate to tell you but I think you're getting a bit of a biased survey sample

I can't speak for the US market, but it's pretty clear from the significant increase in dual-format releases and the scaling-back of initiatives like MoC's BD-only releases and the BFI's Adelphi Collection no longer coming out on Blu-ray at all (despite the decision-makers in both cases being rabid Blu-ray evangelists) that the format isn't exactly sweeping all before it in Britain.

Mind you, one side-effect of dual-format releases is that it's now effectively impossible to compare DVD and Blu-ray sales - which I suspect might well have been one of the motives!

As for Criterion, it's long been clear to me that they're more interested in appealing to what they see as the majority of their customers, as opposed to the "biased survey sample" mentioned above. A decade or so ago, they were only just dipping a cautious toe into the waters of anamorphic upgrades, as they were worried about customers with 4:3 sets losing out in terms of picture definition, and of course their practice of windowboxing 1.37:1 releases continues to this day, despite plenty of grumbles.

[matrixschmatrix]

Presumably, if people are DVD owners and are forced to buy Blus in dual-release packages, that's going to give them a greater incentive to get a blu-ray player- they'll already have a number of them sitting around, doing nothing. I know a fair number of people whose resistance to going blu is essentially inertia, and I imagine if everything they bought already had a blu in it they'd be ready enough converts.

[MichaelB]

Presumably, if people are DVD owners and are forced to buy Blus in dual-release packages, that's going to give them a greater incentive to get a blu-ray player- they'll already have a number of them sitting around, doing nothing. I know a fair number of people whose resistance to going blu is essentially inertia, and I imagine if everything they bought already had a blu in it they'd be ready enough converts.

Absolutely - which was the stated reason for the BFI going dual-format relatively early. I got the impression that they had a fair number of complaints about potential double-dipping from people who hadn't yet decided to take the Blu-ray plunge - bearing in mind that this was just after the 2008 credit crunch, where BD upgrades clearly qualified as a luxury in cash-strapped times.

And the fact that Criterion hasn't gone dual-format is a major reason that I've bought hardly any of their releases in recent years - I can play their DVDs, but am currently region-locked on Blu-ray. But since I probably won't be region-locked for ever, I don't particularly want to double-dip, so I end up not buying at all.

[ShellOilJunior]

Actually, not being facetious here but I'd like to know what % of new releases sold are Blu-ray. From what I gather on this site and blu-ray.com it seems most people are buying the blu-ray version (where applicable of course).

I hate to tell you but I think you're getting a bit of a biased survey sample

Granted, forums like this are made up of heavy buyers but if you've read the comments on posts on their web site lately there is always someone clamoring for an upgrade to Blu.

It's only a matter of time.

[MichaelB]

Granted, forums like this are made up of heavy buyers but if you've read the comments on posts on their web site lately there is always someone clamoring for an upgrade to Blu.

Again, that's not a statistically reliable sample. Since there were plenty of complaints about MoC's Blu-ray only releases, you can bet your bottom dollar that if Criterion did a Blu-ray only release there'd be a similar reaction - which would be equally meaningless in the wider scheme of things.

[zedz]

If physical media survives, and if BluRay remains a viable format, and if BluRay production and hardware costs continue to fall (and there are probably more ifs to factor in), then ultimately the format will take over, but only through attrition, as people's old DVD players crap out and the replacement they buy is BluRay compatible. And I don't doubt that these new 'converts' will indeed be thinking they're buying a new DVD player that also happens to play BluRays. Most consumers care about convenience and (to a lesser extent) functionality, and don't really care about optimal presentation (just look at how many people don't even realise they're watching a film unnaturally stretched to fill their screen, or do realise but prefer it that way), and in those terms there's simply not that same impetus to switch formats as there was with DVD, even if you leave out of the equation the industry's very successful attempts to make the new format less convenient and functional (region-locking, variant standards with authoring and playback).

[MichaelB]

Most consumers care about convenience and (to a lesser extent) functionality, and don't really care about optimal presentation (just look at how many people don't even realise they're watching a film unnaturally stretched to fill their screen, or do realise but prefer it that way), and in those terms there's simply not that same impetus to switch formats as there was with DVD.

This is absolutely true, and getting into Blu-ray involves considerably more investment at present than getting into DVD ever did. In fact, many people inadvertently made themselves DVD compatible simply by upgrading their PC or Mac a decade or so ago - there's far less equivalence with Blu-ray.

My wife is fully aware of the existence of Blu-ray, and occasionally admits that she can see a difference - but she simply doesn't care enough for it to be a big deal, or indeed any kind of deal at all. And she's far more representative of a typical consumer than any of us are (if anything, she's more knowledgeable - two out of my three siblings didn't even know what Blu-ray was until I explained it to them) - and Blu-ray won't become a genuine mass medium until people like her can be won over, possibly through Trojan-horse techniques such as craftily slipping a Blu-ray player into another appliance.

To be fair, Blu-ray has done markedly better than many other formats that were marketed on the grounds of their quality, from Betamax to DAT to SACD to DVD-Audio - but it's not enough.

[Drucker]

I suspect that blu-ray could be doing a lot better if not for the current financial condition of the world. I can't imagine many people can justify re-buying their movie collection on a new format, and a new player, and possibly even the HD-TV at this point.
Then again, companies seem to be almost going all-in with 3-D...so who knows? I have yet to see a 3-D film, but when I see that the DVDs are sold for $50 dollars, I honestly don't get what the big companies could possibly be thinking.

The thing I find most interesting is that some people DISlike the blu ray formats. Many of my friends (used to watching tube TVs and movies on computers, still) hate the "ultra-realness" as they call it. Even my mom has an HD-TV but prefers standard DVDs to blu-rays. I know what they are talking about, but personally, I've gotten used to it, watching the TV every day. I wonder if some people hated CDs when they came out for this reason (obviously CDs didn't sound great, really, until relatively recently...but still...)

[Ishmael]

I wonder if some people hated CDs when they came out for this reason (obviously CDs didn't sound great, really, until relatively recently...but still...)

Yup, I remember when CDs first came out, I often heard people say that the sound was too clean or too cold. Allegedly, George Harrison even said that he liked surface noise and thus prefered records, though even people who didn't care about CDs vs. records thought that one was a little strange.

[MichaelB]

I suspect that blu-ray could be doing a lot better if not for the current financial condition of the world. I can't imagine many people can justify re-buying their movie collection on a new format, and a new player, and possibly even the HD-TV at this point.

Yes, the timing could have been better. A lot of people - including me - sat out the HD format war until a winner was declared, and the credit crunch hit only a few months later. I'd already bought a BD player and HDTV by then, which is just as well as I'm not sure I'd have been able to justify it after autumn 2008.

[John Edmond]

Considering your job, you couldn't claim it on tax?

Curious as to what the penetration is like for Australia which isn't suffering from an austerity drive - it does seem like everyone has one sometimes. DVDs will disappear when it becomes too easy to download an iso file without blinking. I'm guessing we're still some time away from casual 50gigabyte downloads, so I'm hoping not-fussed-with-quality streaming doesn't do too much damage.