Ronald Epstein said:Schan,
Yeah, those companies release stuff that is far more obscure.
I suppose what I was trying to say is that I don't tend to find that
many Criterion titles that appeal to my tastes. However, my tastes
are more mainstream than most.
Not a knock against the company. Just that I rarely ever have the
urge to purchase a Criterion release. Bought 3 or 4 of their DVDs
in the past 15 years and I own only 2 of their Blu-rays (THE BLOBand SEVEN SAMURAI).
I think Criterion has always released a lot of "obscure" art house type films; lots of foreign films. But in the laserdisc days, it seemed they could get rights to far more moives than they do now, so their over-all catalog looked a little more mainstream back then. Also, Criterion essentially invented home video "special editions". Once digital discs became mainstream, pretty much anyone could do a Criterion-ish version if they wanted to.
After this sale, I've probably got around 15 or so Criterions on Blu. I got three on this sale. Can't think of any more "gotta haves". I almost went for Wild Strawberries, but I've already got the Criterion DVD and I think I've only watched that once or twice. I'm trying to break myself of the habit of impulsively buying films I may not watch very often.