criterionforum.org

Non-Criterion Absentees
Beat Girl
Bite the Bullet (carries P&S only)
The Bride Wore Black (carries MGM only, not new Fox)
Charlie Chan at the Opera
Cronos
Family Plot
Gaslight
The Great Waltz
Masque of the Red Death
Odd Man Out
Scarlet Street (PD, not Kino)
Shanghai Express
Twin Peaks Season 1

Criterion Re-issues Not Stocked by Netflix
Grey Gardens
Seven Samurai
Sanjuro
Yojimbo

Criterion (others)
Billy Liar
Carl Th. Dreyer—My Métier
Clean, Shaven
Day of Wrath
Faces
Gertrud
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
Love on the Run
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Opening Night
Ordet
Ran
Shadows
Stolen Kisses
A Woman Under the Influence
WR: Mysteries of the Organism

Coin Flippers
(i.e. you don't know what version you're getting)
My Man Godfrey

Post in this thread or PM with corrections/additions.

How about a roll-call of notable R1 absentees from Netflix's catalog? I know Netflix is rarely eager to replace Criterion re-issues as well as Criterion versions of DVDs released by other companies... but I'm sure there are others.

I just re-enlisted with Netflix after getting fed up with Greencine's incapacity to send me the DVDs at the top of my queue... only to find that Netflix isn't stocking WR: Mysteries of the Organism, one of the films I most want to see.

Luckily, Greencine just shipped WR to me yesterday, just a week before my billing cycle turns over. But its Netflix unavailability has me considering giving Greencine another month, stacking the top of my Greencine queue with Netflix no-shows, and praying to my false idols. I initially joined Greencine a few years ago, when Netflix inexplicably didn't stock Herzog's Enigma of Kaspar Hauser and Stroszek. I heard tell of some lobbying changing that?

none of the Dreyer films from the Criterion box are on Netflix, also Billy Liar

Not a Criterion title, but I've been waiting forever, it seems, for the Foghill/Attenborough Planet Earth series to become available (it's been on a "very long wait" for months.) I might have to plunk down change for it.

Don't forget a cut of Planet Earth is being released theatrically.

hm... i just threw the Planet Earth series in my queue, and they all say available "now" except the first, which is "short wait"

please, bring on the non-criterions! i'll keep a list running in the lead post.

And Netflix doesn't carry the TV version of FANNY AND ALEXANDER either!

I don't think the Yi Yi or Videodrome they offer are the Criterion versions (even though they've got the Criterion cover image up for Yi Yi - I'd love someone to prove me wrong).

The Bite the Bullet copy they sent me was a pan n' scan version, even though the site indicates the W/S is available.

I recently rented Beat Girl from Blockbuster Online, because Netflix didn't have it. I have The Spanish Prisoner and Charlie Chan at the Opera in my Blockbuster queue for the same reason. A few more rentals like that and then I'm dropping Blockbuster like a bad habit.

duane hall wrote:hm... i just threw the Planet Earth series in my queue, and they all say available "now" except the first, which is "short wait"

please, bring on the non-criterions! i'll keep a list running in the lead post.

I have mine in as a "series" and I'm not planning on viewing them out of order. For what it's worth, I just checked again and it still says "very long wait" for the first one.

Missing Truffauts (versions netflix listed):

The Bride Wore Black (MGM)
Love on the Run (Fox Lorber)
Stolen Kisses (Fox Lorber)

I think they have one of the PD Scarlett Streets and not the excellent Kino version.

starmanof51 wrote:I don't think the Yi Yi or Videodrome they offer are the Criterion versions (even though they've got the Criterion cover image up for Yi Yi - I'd love someone to prove me wrong).

They offer both versions of Yi Yi.

Blockbuster online carries many of these Criterion no-shows, and you know which version you are getting, which is not always the case with Netflix. Careful not to load your queue up with to many "filler" items at the bottom though......they have a strange way of showing up even though higher items say "available". Personally, I alternate between the two of them.

Netflix doesn't have the Criterion version of My Man Godfrey, despite showing the Criterion artwork. The version I received was some open domain cheap-o.

Musashi219 wrote:Netflix doesn't have the Criterion version of My Man Godfrey, despite showing the Criterion artwork. The version I received was some open domain cheap-o.

This doesn't necessarily mean they don't carry the Criterion. I've received Criterion editions of a few films that are (or have previously been) available from other studios and are shown as such on the site; the same for some NoShame and Blue Underground titles. They seem to often have multiple editions of a DVD in their system while only showing the cover for one -- you're essentially flipping a coin with these particular titles.

I received the criterion edition of Notorious from Netflix, but Alexander Nevsky was non-criterion (and crappy).

Scarlet Empress.... and I was just about to add it to my queue. Disappointing.

Gaslight just went to my "Saved List" today. Dunno the story there as it isn't OOP or anything.

Also Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos has long been unavailable.

okay, updated the lead post. i'll probably update the lists once a week, or once several additional titles have been mentioned.

I believe The Bride Wore Black is not carried at all by Netflix right now. They show the MGM release (which is the only in R1 I'm pretty sure), but it's not available.

Also, Netflix still hasn't stocked the Katharine Hepburn WB set titles, like Undercurrent and Without Love.

jbeall wrote:I received the criterion edition of Notorious from Netflix, but Alexander Nevsky was non-criterion (and crappy).

I always wanted to quote myself!

Since Musashi219 pointed out that one film showed the criterion artwork but sent the non-criterion version, I'll add that Netflix shows the non-criterion artwork on Notorious, but that I did receive the criterion version (definitely a pleasant surprise at the time, although principles of good customer service dictate that a responsible dvd rental place ALWAYS carry the criterion rather than a lesser line).

Duane, Netflix definitely carries Clean, Shaven. I'm not sure why that's on your list.

Clean, Shaven is listed as a no-show under "Criterion (others)" because Netflix seems to be stocking the Fox Lorber version. However, I imagine this could be a similar situation as with Notorious and other titles, where they have both versions but only show the old cover art. Which is still pretty damn frustrating.

If anyone reports receiving a Criterion edition when some other cover art is posted, I'll put the title under Coin Flippers.

It does seem really stupid of netflix; if they're bothering to buy Criterion copies at all, they might as well update their catalog to reflect that.

Although I don't remember the cover art, I definitely received the Criterion Clean, Shaven from Netflix (I ordered it the week it was released by CC).

duane hall wrote:Clean, Shaven is listed as a no-show under "Criterion (others)" because Netflix seems to be stocking the Fox Lorber version.

Nah, Netflix definitely didn't carry any other version of Clean, Shaven at the time that Criterion released it. I don't know why they have a different cover, but it's highly unlikely they stock anything but the Criterion.

The problem with trying to make a definitive list of what Netflix does and doesn't stock is that their inventory fluctuates too much. Sometimes something they've never stocked suddenly show up: Criterion's Cocteau set, for example. Other times, titles suddenly get pulled from your queue and are unavailable to rent without any warning: this has happened to me frequently, but some examples are the Fox Lorber Truffauts and Kino's Little Fugitive. This also happened with the TV version of Fanny and Alexander, which I rented from them when it came out but is now MIA. Some titles have been listed for years and are still in print, but Netflix never actually gets them: Guy Maddin's Careful and Tales from the Gimli Hospital, for example. Other things get listed when there's not even a remote possibility of a DVD on the horizon. So unless you're going to check every Criterion title on a regular basis in order to keep your list up to date, you're not going to come up with anything definitive.

the Spanish Prisoner DVD is OOP, it should come as no surprise that Netflix doesn't carry it