Criterion and StudioCanal

[rrenault]

Vincent, Francois, Paul et Les Autres and Une Histoire Simple are my two personal favorites. I found the ending to Max et les ferrailleurs a little over the top personally. But with that said, Michel Piccoli and Romy Schneider make a great screen couple. I much prefer her with Piccoli than with Montand. Their relationship in Cesar et Rosalie had a 'style over substance' type feel to it I felt.

[Numero Trois]

but i recall that all the DVDs I ordered were shrink wrapped but did not include the sticker across the top of the disk with the name of the title. It seems like retail versions of these titles would have included that sticker based on when they were released.

It's not at all unusual that new retail DVDs have that white sticker on the top edge missing. Yes, most brand new DVDs do have the sticker but every so often some will not. And it's not just Amazon; every retailer is the same. That's exactly how they received it from the distributor. Nothing to be concerned about.

[rrenault]

I'm sure Amazon or any other comparable retailer like Barnes & Noble is very careful about making sure what they sell is genuine. In any case, I'm presuming Amazon itself wouldn't get away with selling something for over MSRP even if a stash of copies of The Third Man showed up, no?


P.S. Not that it's all that important, but I'm just curious, are most of the OOP Criterions from Studio Canal gone from Netflix by now. I've lived outside the US for well over a year now, so I can't check, and I'm just curious to know whether most of the discs that went oop back in 2010 are still in stock at netflix as they were for the most part when I left.

[Drucker]

P.S. Not that it's all that important, but I'm just curious, are most of the OOP Criterions from Studio Canal gone from Netflix by now. I've lived outside the US for well over a year now, so I can't check, and I'm just curious to know whether most of the discs that went oop back in 2010 are still in stock at netflix as they were for the most part when I left.

A few weeks ago I was received the Pierret Le Fou blu ray with no problem.

[rrenault]

Okay, not to belabor this whole OOP discussion, but I just wanted to bring up that the Studio Canal blu-ray of Breathless happens to be Region A compatible whereas the Belle de Jour one is not, so should we keep our eyes out anyway?

[salad]

but i recall that all the DVDs I ordered were shrink wrapped but did not include the sticker across the top of the disk with the name of the title. It seems like retail versions of these titles would have included that sticker based on when they were released.

It's not at all unusual that new retail DVDs have that white sticker on the top edge missing. Yes, most brand new DVDs do have the sticker but every so often some will not. And it's not just Amazon; every retailer is the same. That's exactly how they received it from the distributor. Nothing to be concerned about.

I'm glad I was able to get these disks so cheaply, particularly after it became apparent that the Lionsgate Jacques Becker Collectors Edition was probably never going to happen.

Before they trained me to wait until their titles were available around 50% off SRP, I would typically buy 2-3 Criterion Collection titles every month or two over the course of the first several years of last decade. I have no proof other than my very unreliable memory but it seems like the DVDs always had one of the security stickers with the title printed on it, running along the top of the keepcase (and I have sticker residue remaining on a few cases, although not as many as I would have expected.)

These titles were generally purchased at an etailer, typically Amazon, Digital Eyes, or DVD Planet, so there was probably no compelling reason to include theft protection labels beyond the fact that the plant packaged all the disks like this. In recent years, it's become somewhat rare to see these stickers on etailer purchased BDs and DVDs but ten years ago it seems like I would spend at least five minutes removing shrink wrap and peeling off stickers after I opened every shipment.

So I had imagined that these DVDs would have been sitting in a box for 7-8+ years since they all have "First Pressing YYYY" on the back cover. But maybe that just means Criterion first pressed this version of this title in, say, 2003 rather than being analogous to the edition designation in book publishing. Perhaps later pressings, ones that would be less likely to end up in B&M storefronts, did not include theft prevention decals.

Regardless, it still seems odd to me that so many of those titles became available again at very reasonable prices for at least a few weeks 18 months after there was presumably some spike in demand due to their sudden deletion. This thread reminded me that I had never heard any details of the likely mundane story behind that incident.

[JeffWang]

Here's official confirmation that Studio Canal now has the rights to Army of Shadows. I'm sure we'll be seeing the other Melville Blu Rays that went OOP going to Studio Canal now:

[swo17]

StudioCanal announcements always feel like meeting your mom's new boyfriend the week after she divorced your dad.

[Matt]

Well, the good news is that they're not keeping it locked up and out of circulation for years. Can't say they won't do that for Leon Morin.

[chatterjees]

Here's official confirmation that Studio Canal now has the rights to Army of Shadows. I'm sure we'll be seeing the other Melville Blu Rays that went OOP going to Studio Canal now

Here is the review for the UK disc, it was posted couple of weeks ago! The announcement for SCC Army of Shadows happened before CC announced the OOP news, FYI.

[RossyG]

StudioCanal announcements always feel like meeting your mom's new boyfriend the week after she divorced your dad.

I wish I hadn't been eating a Double Decker bar when I read that.

[HistoryProf]

boy, Leon Morin and Army of Shadows seem to be mighty scarce already. margin on stock of those titles must have been pretty thin. None are in stock at any local B&Ns here, and my Leon Morin/Mafioso DDD order is backordered - and I ordered the day of the announcement. Same for my Amazon order of Le Cercle Rouge. I can get that for MSRP at B&N tomorrow if I want...not sure if it's worth that for a back up copy - favorite film or no.

[The Narrator Returns]

Oddly enough, I spotted Marienbad, Army of Shadows, and Leon Morin at my local B&N (with all except Army being available on Blu-Ray as well).

[lady wakasa]

Oddly enough, I spotted Marienbad, Army of Shadows, and Leon Morin at my local B&N (with all except Army being available on Blu-Ray as well).

I did, too, plus at a few of the usual NYC suspects.
It looked like Mafioso was getting scarce, though.

[rrenault]

People on a forum like this probably overestimate the amount of people who are 'on the ball' with respect to Criterion titles going out of print. I found A Woman is a Woman at J&R a year after it went out of print.

[rrenault]

One thing I'm curious about though is whether or not Criterion still profits if a retailer sells a copy of an OOP Criterion after it's officially gone out of print like if Amazon or B&N itself discovers a stash, selling it at retail price long after Criterion has stopped pressing the title

[jindianajonz]

I could be wrong, but I thought the basic retail model is the retailer buys from the supplier up front then sells over time, ordering resupplies when needed. If this is the case, then all of Amazon/B&Ns stock has already been paid for.

[rrenault]

Yes, you're probably right. I didn't think about that.

[Matt]

He's absolutely right. That's what "wholesale" is.

[Michael Kerpan]

There is always the issue of "returns". Yes, the discs are bought (and paid for) for re-sale to the public. But unsold stock (and "defective" merchandise) may wind up being returned -- which can ultimately result in a charge-back (or, at least, that's how things worked long ago when I was involved with such matters).

[rrenault]

Won't unsold stock just sit there until it gets sold?

[Michael Kerpan]

Won't unsold stock just sit there until it gets sold?

It depends on the agreement made when the products were bought. (Different manufacturers/distributors might have different rules).

[manicsounds]

Found a copy of Le Cercle Rouge used last night. It'd been on my wishlist to buy for almost 10 years mnoe. About time.

[rrenault]

I live in Europe, but I had my mother pick up a copy of the Leon Morin, Priest blu ray at a Barnes & Noble near where she lives through 'pick me up'. The disc, unfortunately, was dislodged inside the case, but I doubt it's really an issue, just an annoyance, since such an occurrence would be unlikely to scratch it. Oh well.

Also, this is just wishful thinking on my part, of course, but if Criterion miraculously got back the rights to all their Studio Canal titles at once would they just continue pressing all the editions they'd been releasing before or would they individually reissue them over time?

[krnash]

Anybody else waiting on a DeepDiscount backorder? I have a bad feeling this is going to be one of those purgatory situations that DD is so infamous for.