Criterion Blu-ray titles! (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

I just checked Best Buy's site and unlike Amazon they have two different MRSP for the SD DVD versus the BRD. Sounds like something is rotten in Denmark if you shop at BB.





Crawdaddy

 

[John Hodson]

October releases:
Seven Samurai:
* All-new, restored high-definition digital transfer
* Two audio commentaries: one by film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie; the other by Japanese-film expert Michael Jeck
* A 50-minute documentary on the making of Seven Samurai, part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
* My Life in Cinema, a two-hour video conversation between Akira Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima produced by the Directors Guild of Japan
* Seven Samurai: Origins and Influences, a new documentary looking at the samurai traditions and films that impacted Kurosawa’s masterpiece
* Theatrical trailers and teaser
* Gallery of rare posters and behind-the scenes and production stills
* New and improved English subtitle translation
* PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by Peter Cowie, Philip Kemp, Peggy Chiao, Alain Silver, Kenneth Turan, Stuart Galbraith, Arthur Penn, and Sidney Lumet and an interview with Toshiro Mifune
The Magician:
* New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
* New visual essay by Bergman scholar Peter Cowie
* Brief 1967 video interview with director Ingmar Bergman about the film
* Rare English-language audio interview with Bergman, conducted by filmmakers Olivier Assayas and Stig Björkman
* New and improved English subtitle translation
* PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoff Andrew, a reprinted essay by Assayas, and an excerpt from Bergman’s autobiography Images: My Life in Film
Paths of Glory:
* New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
* New audio commentary by critic Gary Giddins
* Television interview from 1979 with star Kirk Douglas
* New video interviews with Kubrick’s longtime executive producer Jan Harlan, Paths of Glory producer James B. Harris, and actress Christiane Kubrick
* Excerpt from a French television program about real-life World War I executions similar to the events dramatized in Paths of Glory
* Theatrical trailer
* PLUS: An essay by Kubrick scholar James Naremore
House:
* New, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
* Constructing a House, a new video piece featuring interviews with director Nobuhiko Obayashi, story scenarist and daughter of the director Chigumi Obayashi, and screenwriter Chiho Katsura
* Emotion, a 1966 experimental film by Obayashi
* New video appreciation by director Ti West (House of the Devil)
* Theatrical trailer
* New and improved English subtitle translation
* PLUS: An essay by Chuck Stephens
The Darjeeling Limited:
* New high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson (with DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition)
* Anderson’s short film Hotel Chevalier (part one of The Darjeeling Limited), starring Natalie Portman, with commentary by Anderson
* Audio commentary featuring Anderson and cowriters Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola
* Behind-the-scenes documentary by Barry Braverman
* Anderson and filmmaker James Ivory discussing the film’s music
* Anderson’s American Express commercial
* On-set footage shot by Coppola and actor Waris Ahluwalia
* Audition footage, deleted and alternate scenes, and stills galleries
* Original theatrical trailer
* PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Richard Brody and original illustrations by Eric Anderson

And a little snippet from Criterion confirming something I think most of us already know:

We do hope to release RED RIVER in the near future, but it's not
currently on the production schedule. I would say a release within the next
2-3 years is a definite possibility!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Thanks Robert and SAhmed.

I see this all the time. Even though the MSRPs are the same, I wonder why the retailers make such different decisions title-to-title.

Sometime they are the same, sometime the DVD is less expensive, sometime the DVD is more expensive.

I will give the B&N sale more careful consideration. I was hoping for amazon since there is something else I am anxious to order from there (and want to roll into free shipping).

 

[Yorkshire]

Paths of Glory.

Now we're talking.

Thanks for that, John. A shame that after Bottle Rocket they've opted for The Darjeeling Limited instead of Rushmore.

Steve W

 

[Brandon Conway]

Seven Samurai and Paths of Glory are no brainers. I'll pass on The Darjeeling Limited (which I thought was OK, but not good enough to own). I need to see House and The Magician.

Excited about the (long term) confirmation of Red River, too.

 

[Martin Teller]

Best month ever, all must-buys for me. The Magician is actually 2nd-tier Bergman IMO, but since I'm a Bergman fanatic that's still gold.

So, so, so glad they're including "Emotion" on House. It's my favorite Obayashi short.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
I will give the B&N sale more careful consideration. I was hoping for amazon since there is something else I am anxious to order from there (and want to roll into free shipping).

Give it a few days. I think Amazon *will* end up matching B&N's sale prices -- they did it during the last couple such sales (among others at other online shops), so I don't think they'll stop now. You have til 8/2 for the B&N sale.

However, depending on what you're looking to get from Amazon, the price on that other item might not stay the same by that time.

OTOH, if you already have B&N membership or can shop at the B&M store or were going to get 2-or-more Criterion titles anyway (to avoid shipping charges), you might be better off just buying the Criterion titles from B&N w/ whatever additional discounts/coupons that you won't get w/ Amazon. Amazon might only match the basic advertised sale price, ie. 1/2 of the Criterion MSRP. Do note though that coupons only work in-store for this sale right now, not online, so if you do have membership, shopping in-store would probably be best -- you can still get something like the extra 10% discount via other branded versions of the B&N site (like the Library one) even though coupons won't work.

_Man_

 

[Derrick King]

Starting with last month's announcements and continuing with this month's, it seems that Criterion is charging less for their DVDs ($25 or $30), but the same for the Blu-Rays ($40 for single disc sets and $50 for double disc sets.) It'd be nice if they lowered the price on their already released DVDs (would make it easier to pick up those titles that aren't going to be released on Blu-Ray.)

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford
The MSRP for both, the SD DVD and BRD are the same from Criterion. However, the final sale price to the consumer is up to the individual retailer and not necessarily Criterion. Directly, Criterion's customers are the retailers not the final consumer that purchases the software from the individual retailer.

Robert: I'm starting to wonder. Checking Criterion's own site for Black Narcissus, they say the MSRP for the DVD is $29.95 and the MSRP for the Blu-ray is $39.95.

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by Mike Frezon

Robert: I'm starting to wonder. Checking Criterion's own site for Black Narcissus, they say the MSRP for the DVD is $29.95 and the MSRP for the Blu-ray is $39.95.

It isn't a hard and fast rule, but I've noticed lately in reviewing Criterion titles that single disc DVDs, especially vintage titles, generally retail for $29.95 while two-disc DVD sets go for $39.95. Black Narcissus was a single DVD; The Red Shoes was two DVDs (thus $39.95). All of their Blu-rays that are single disc editions list for $39.95.

 

[Laura Nicholson]

Does anyone know if there are any rumors of Fanny and Alexander or Brazil coming to Blu anytime soon? These are on my short list to pick up during the B&N 50% sale, but I would hold off for now if it meant getting these on Blu.

 

[Martin Teller]

I believe Criterion hinted on their Facebook page that F&A would come out sometime this year, but they might have backed off from that.

 

[Brandon Conway]

More recently they hinted that it was one of several Bergman titles they're considering for a Blu upgrade.

 

[Peter Neski]

Now that MGM UA titles are coming,Lets get " Last Tango in Paris" ,Storraro can't ruin his wonderful work with cropping
this one!

 

[cineMANIAC]

Where are these Criterion discs that are on sale at B&N? I've been to 2 stores and I didn't see them. What I did find were DVDs and Blu-rays at full MSRP! Who do they expect will pay forty dollars for a movie these days, clueless tourists? This is why places like Tower and HMV closed down. Stick to selling books.

 

[TravisR]

^ I didn't notice any signs or stickers saying that there was a sale but they were on sale.

 

[David Wilkins]

Evidently the sale has been pretty successful. The B&N web site is showing 'The Red Shoes' as out of stock, with no encouragement to order anyway, at the sale price. Instead, I was directed to search local stores in my area. After doing so, 10 of the 15 stores are likewise out of stock. I drove a few miles and snagged a copy. I have a feeling this will become more common as the sale winds down.

 

[cineMANIAC]

Originally Posted by TravisR
^ I didn't notice any signs or stickers saying that there was a sale but they were on sale.

I guess I was expecting to find a separate Criterion section just for this sale. Anyway, I'll go back and hunt for the Criterions amongst the regular overpriced drivel

 

[JoHud]

B&N's typically have a separate "Criterion" section alongside the non-criterion foreign films and the British films. Criterion blu-rays are also tagged in a group among the other blu-rays.

I pre-ordered The Red Shoes and The Black Nacissus at my B&N store once the sale was first announced. I expect Black Narcissus to get sold out as well.

 

[Adam_S]

every BN I've been to with a separate DVD/Music section has a very large section of Criterion DVDs and a separate smaller section of Criterion blurays. Every BN I've been to during the sale (4 stores) has marked every Criterion DVD with a 50% off sticker, every store has had signs both at the store entrance and all over the Music/DVD section about the 50% off sale. Strangely these signs say they exclude bluray, though every store has included bluray (as does online).

I've gone a bit nuts in this sale. I get a minimum of 55% off since I'm a BN member, and I've been making liberal use of the $5 coupons, using them successfully on 17 out of 22 titles I've purchased. I was only shot down once on one coupon, and the other four times I didn't try to use a coupon. The coupons have brought down the average cost to $8.78/movie or $16.37/title with an overall discount of 65.67% off list. and an average price per title on blurays (pretax) of 14.07, which includes the Yojimbo Sanjuro set, that I nabbed for 26.49.