Criterion announces first Blu-ray titles - Page 19

Groan.

It's quickly changing from 'I'd like a multi-region BD player' to 'I MUST have a multi-region BD player'.

My gosh, Criterion is certainly starting the new year with a bang!

Gosh!  I really *HATE* this new HTF software right about now!!!   Just made me lose what I was about to post due to that pesky odd browser focus bug that occasionally causes a back keystroke to be interpreted as the browser's back button.   

I tried to be patient w/ these various quirks, but this software definitely needs some serious QA-ing (and better approach to its design) me thinks.  I had been wondering on and off when the site would no longer be labeled as "BETA" (in the top main title banner), but if that label was not intentionally kept there, then it's pretty ironic that the site still feels like it could be in early beta mode even for such very basic things as handling browser focus (and how that can impact keystrokes on a forum site).  

My apologies to others for the rant here, instead of taking it to the feedback section...

_Man_

My pre-orders from this lot will be: 8 1/2, Paris Texas, and War Trilogy.

Blu-ray.com's review of "Wings Of Desire."

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After e-mailing Jon Mulvaney last night about not receiving my plastic case for "The Third Man," yet, this is his reply...
 

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DVDBeaver on "Wings Of Desire."

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I'm right there with ya, Brandon.  November 3rd can't come quick enough.

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Criterion's website is showing The Third Man Blu-Ray and DVD as being Out of Print.  Don't know if it is a mistake or if the evil Studio Canal/Lionsgate deal has caused Criterion to lose another title, but if you want it you might want to pick it up soon. (Even if it isn't really OOP it is a great disc that you should have.)

Packaging photos for "Wings Of Desire" and "Howards End" courtesy of criterionforum.org.
 

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Yup; Criterion have now confirmed this to be the case; it's looking like Studio Canal are recalling their rights (as they did with Ran and Contempt) in order to put out their own BD, probably in the hit and miss 'Studio Canal Collection'.

Just terrible.  Glad I've got my copy.   I've said this on other forums, but I really hate the Studio Canal/Lionsgate deal (and not just because of the great Criterion releases that are going OOP.) 

 This was going to be on my Christmas list but I decided to order a copy just in case.  Probably would have still been available in a couple of months, but better safe than sorry.

With expired rights to Ran and now Third Man, I'm very concerned that many of my favorite Criterion licensed titles may never see the light of day in HD.

It makes it especially frustrating for me when month after month I'm not seeing any of my favorites being re-issued on BD.  My problem, I know...but there it is.

Boy it really sucks seeing "Howards End "on Blue Ray,thinking we could have had a far better
Film"Picnic at Hanging Rock" which is in need of a new 16x9 transfer

There's also a rumor that Leo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire are remaking The Third Man, so that may have tangled the rights even further. A terrible idea just got worse, if you ask me.

And yeah, it's a bummer that Howard's End got the Blu-ray treatment. I wonder how many voters in that Amazon poll actually planned on buying the disc, or if they just voted for their favorite title. It was easily the "safest" title in the poll. I'm sure Criterion will release dozens of titles in the next couple of years, so I'm content to wait for Terry Gilliam, David Cronenberg and Akira Kurosawa titles. It won't be long.

 Howard's End is one of my all-time favourite films and will be a release day purchase.  I know this may be heresy, but I much prefer it to Picnic at Hanging Rock and am quite gratified that it will be getting a Criterion treatment.  Of course, I'd rather they both be available so fans of each can enjoy them at their best--but if I get to choose which one I'd like to see first (and I did), Howard's End is far and away, to me, a more satisfying choice.

DVDBeaver has their review for "Howards End" up now.

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Blue Ray seems to remind me of the same waitting game we use to go thought  with laser. Criteron seems to take
forever to get to its back cat.,and stills releases a lot more on standard dvd .Why studios think older titles and TV
shows don't deserve Blue Ray

 

 

Criterion doesn't have a "back cat," per say.  Personally, I'm fine with their release schedule.  They're not going to release everything at once.

I voted for Howards End on Blu-ray for two reasons, because I love the film and it was the best title of those that were listed. A title like Howards End really benefits from an HD transfer because of the intricate production design and costumes. The cinematography for the film is fantastic and the previous DVD transfers never did it any justice.

I didn't think I'd ever see someone say that Picnic at Hanging Rock should get an HD transfer, especially over Howards End. Everyone I know who has seen it felt the same as I did, that it was boring and pointless. It's too bad all of those whiny little girls didn't disappear at the end.

I happen to like both films and I don't think that dismissing either one is terribly constructive.

I would suggest that it is better to hope for good treatment of all releases whether one is a fan or not, because some of the releases will be ones you desire.  Looking forward to Howards End in November, and hopefully Picnic at Hanging Rock (the film I happened to vote for) sometime next year.

As always, just my $0.02.

- Walter.

rented Homicide and Last Days of Disco both on SDDVD, thought both looked and sounded good, not BD quality mind you but quite acceptable.

I love Picnic. It's one of my favorite films. Weir is so brilliant and weird. I'd love to have The Year of Living Dangerously on blu.

Never seen H's end, but thanks for the recommend--I'll put it on my netflix queue...

ccfix, u dont work for Criterion right? i dont see an insider tag on u =P. they are on facebook BTW, great way to interact with them because they finally accepted my suggestion of creating a filter for their newsletter. i want blu-ray titles ONLY newsletter, not just DVDs lol. hopefully that is coming.

re: Third Man, taht is officially gone... so if u dont buy ur copy now... who knows when the rights will be re-secured. i never knew it was so complicated even for home media.

Well done. Does HTF have a foes list?

Correct, JediFonger.  At this time, I do not work for Criterion. ;)  Then again, I've never worked for Criterion, and I seriously doubt that I'll ever have such an opportunity.

Alas, I'll just stick to my title as a 'fan' of their work. :)

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