Criterion goes BluRay

Normally I don't start this type of thread but I just now received the criterion newsletter that the following titles are coming to BluRay soon -

Dear Criterion Collection Newsletter subscriber,

We’ve got some exciting news for this fall, and we wanted you to hear it first.

Our first Blu-ray discs are coming! We’ve picked a little over a dozen titles from the collection for Blu-ray treatment, and we’ll begin rolling them out in October. These new editions will feature glorious high-definition picture and sound, all the supplemental content of the DVD releases, and they will be priced to match our standard-def editions.

Here’s what’s in the pipeline:

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

Alongside our DVD and Blu-ray box sets of The Last Emperor, we’ll also be putting out the theatrical version as a stand-alone release in both formats, priced at $39.95. Our Blu-ray release of Walkabout will be an all-new edition, featuring new supplements as well as a new transfer we will also release an updated anamorphic DVD of Nicolas Roeg’s outback masterpiece at the same time.

As a special thank you to our newsletter subscribers, we’d like to offer you all $10 off any order of $60 or more placed on on criterion.com through Monday, May 26. Just use the code OFBT and you’ll also qualify for free shipping.

Enjoy spring!

[Post edited by rpruthee on May 7, 2008]

Excellent news rpruthee!



Will definitely buy GIMME SHELTER, THE COMPLETE MONTEREY POP, THE THIRD MAN, and probably THE LAST EMPEROR (and maybe others). I already own the SD-DVD Criterion of WAGES OF FEAR, so probably won't rebuy it on Blu-ray (unless I sell the DVD edition).

> Criterion Collection website - for those interested

~ the Terry Gilliam set...


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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)
~ LaserDisc, DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray ~

I would totally buy the Criterion of Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas... even though I already have it... and the regular edition on HD-DVD.

This is probably the best news we've heard since the end of the format war. I've been holding off on buying Criterion DVDs because I knew they'd be coming to Blu-Ray sooner or later, but I never thought it would be this soon! Just today, I had to force myself not to buy the Criterion version of Seven Samurai. Hopefully they release their entire library in HD soon enough.

Here's to hoping that from now on, every movie gets the Criterion (or equivalent from another company) treatment!!!

Yuck.

Quote:
Yuck.

Ditto! Criterion is SOOOO overrated!

As some of us have long known, it was The Criterion Collection which pioneered the improvements we take for granted today in our home videodisc collections.

Criterion pioneered many innovations in the way movies are presented on video that could be commonly thought of as standard features on consumer DVDs. These include the use of letterboxing (widescreen), commentary tracks, the release of multi-disc sets and special editions, and definitive versions.

The company's debut releases were the 1984 laserdiscs of Citizen Kane and King Kong, both originally RKO titles. In both cases, Criterion pioneered the concept of the special edition, in which a movie is presented with numerous bonus materials including trailers, directors' audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes documentaries, alternate endings, deleted scenes, and more. Peter Becker calls this idea, "a film school in a box". This concept was quickly embraced by almost all other home video companies, from the mainstream to small specialty labels. Today, special edition DVDs, even for the most trivial of films, have become standard practice.

Read much more info about this great leader in home video by clicking the Wikipedia link above. The new Criterion Blu-ray Hi-Def releases are scheduled to arrive beginning this October.

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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)
~ LaserDisc, DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray ~

LH,

STFU you shill whacker! ..!..

Love Criterion, hate Blu Ray (and any HD format). I thought they'd hold out longer. Oh well.

As some of us have long known... (not including Tim of course)

And hopefully my favorite rental service, Blockbuster TOTAL ACCESS, will carry Criterion Blu-ray discs at the local stores (in addition to the online availability). It's quite rare to find a SD-DVD Criterion at my local Blockbuster store, as they usually stock just the main studio's edition of a film, and not Criterion (which would cost them more obviously). Maybe with Blu-ray that will change.



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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

[Post edited by Love Hendrix! on May 7, 2008]

**It's quite rare to find a SD-DVD Criterion at my local Blockbuster store**

Another of many reasons why Blockbuster is the store for people with no standards.

Quote:
Another of many reasons why Blockbuster is the store for people with no standards.

Like LH . . . Ka'ching! Ten points for Chris!

"Ten points"(?) for a guy who said this on Page 1 - "hate Blu Ray (and any HD format)".


You guys are hilarious!!


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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

I'm still chuckling... as it gets better!

...cause on Page 1, "10 Points" Chris said he LOVED Criterion, but Tim (who's congratulating Chris on his opinion above) says "Criterion is SOOOO overrated!".... HAHAHAHAHA - oh that's priceless!

Again... you stooges are hilarious!!


So, we've got Eddie, Tim, and now Chris!

Hmmm....



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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

I'm confused... how could anyone not like Criterion? Are you actually telling me that you prefer DVD releases with no, or very crappy extras?

[Post edited by Fumbled_Revolution on May 8, 2008]

I love the Three Stooges.

Moe was the ultimate alpha male before Captain Kirk.

Quote:
I love the Three Stooges.

Moe was the ultimate alpha male before Captain Kirk.

Agreed!

Nobody gives Shemp any credit. Shemp was the best Stooge of all.

And I hope Criterion releases "Chungking Express" in standard.

-Will

Shemp was fantastic, no argument here. Plus he was once in a film with Honus Wagner, and not many people can say that.

The Stooges were 4-deep in talent. Joe Besser, well... never mind. Curly Joe wasn't as good as Curly or Schemp but exuded nice guy aura and was eminently likable.

criterion is not all that its fan-boys claim it is. far from it.

the company has a terrible track record with regards to movies from asia, africa, the middle east, oceana, etc. many of the movies should also be released as home-vision cheapies rather than as premium-priced titles. for example, "the sword of doom" is a terrible movie, but you gotta pay more than $25 to buy it new. there are no extras other than a trailer and an apologist essay.

I don't know . . . I think Criterion is a lot like Starbucks -- it all started out as the undergound buzz, but now that everyone knows about it, it's just not quite that special anymore.

Yes, Criterion can be criticized for what they have left out. But if you look at what they have done, it's all superb work. Their omissions only become a problem if you consider the "Criterion Collection" to be canonical instead of just another studio brand. They've released the definitive editions of hundreds of films - I wish someone else would release equally great R1 editions of Asian and African film too. New Yorker has a great catalogue - too bad their production facilities are so limited.

chris,

actually, even though i hate sony, i have to give props to sony classics for releasing a lot of asian and european movies. sony classics certainly has a better track record than miramax or the weinstein company.

eddie

p.s. why are you a criterion apologist all of a sudden?

[Post edited by posters5 on May 8, 2008]

Quote:
I don't know . . . I think Criterion is a lot like Starbucks -- it all started out as the undergound buzz, but now that everyone knows about it, it's just not quite that special anymore.

lol. haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa haha too much.

not interested in those movies. will leave those to you

It's refreshing to see that some things never change. Youth still believes that anything made before they were born cannot be any good.

John

Just notice this on HighDefDigest's website....



> 'Indie' Disributor KINOWELT to go Blu-ray this Fall...

Top foreign film distributor Kinowelt has become the latest indie to jump into high-def, announcing that they will begin releasing titles on Blu-ray in 2008.

Although they offered no exact street date, Kinowelt has confirmed that their first Blu-ray release will be Wong Kar Wai's 'Fallen Angels,' which is due sometime this fall.

One of the largest distributors of foreign and indie films on DVD throughout the past decade, Kinowelt (aka Kino Video) says it plans to support the format, with a number of Blu-ray releases in the works. Possessing a diverse library of classic films, documentaries, and rare silent shorts, some of the highly-desirable titles in its catalog include early Laurel & Hardy productions, Harry Houdini films, 'The Wonderful Horrible Life Of Leni Riefenstahl,' and Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis.'

Years ago I rented that incredible Kino doc about the somewhat famous Leni Riefenstahl... supposedly Jodie Foster is wanting to make a feature film one day about her life, primarily known as "Hitler's filmmaker", notably for one her major propaganda films, TRIUMPH OF THE WILL. She died in 2003 not long after turning 101 years old.

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-JIMI McLovin (the Voodoo Child)

Kino doesn't have the facilities to make competent SD releases right now. They might want to wait a little while before pulling the BR trigger.