Alas, I once had a nice job to where I could easily get Criterions. I think in a 3 or 4 month period I probably bought about 26 Criterions, and could likely afford to keep doing so, but then I had to move for college. Now I have a job that only pays half of what I used to make, and an apartment that costs twice as much as I used to pay. Plus food and such. So now I can barely get by as it is, and I’m still buying too much. I just bought 4 or 5 more Criterions (though I did get them for cheap, so it’s not as bad) and I’m likely going to continue. I spoiled myself and now I’m paying for it.
I used to buy the new Criterions right and left when I worked for the insurance company. That’s what my paychecks mainly went to. I had probably 50 or 60. Now I have about 11 Criterions, having whittled down the collection to be able to eat and smoke cigarettes. But I want to build it up again, and I have already started. Here are the ones I want to replace from my old collection:
Peeping Tom
The Last Temptation of Christ
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Band of Outsiders
Fists in the Pocket
Contempt
By Brakhage
I don’t want to replace everything. And here are the ones I want to get for the first time:
In the Realm of the Senses
Burden of Dreams
Naked
Pickpocket
Elevator to the Gallows
Blast of Silence
F for Fake
Mala Noche
Mr. Arkadin
La Haine
A Nos Amours
Secret Honor
White Dog
Salo
Breathless
A Woman is a Woman
Wild Strawberries
Amarcord
The Exterminating Angel
Jules and Jim
Shoot the Piano Player
Sanso the Bailiff
Rashomon
Ikiru
The 400 Blows
Hiroshima, mon Amour
White Nights
Through a Glass, Darkly
Winter Light
Sawdust and Tinsel
I would be happy if they were $30, sounds reasonable for most of them.
not too expensive for me, because they’re usually worth it. my favorite thing to do after i get my paycheck is walk across the street to barnes and noble and get a brand new criterion dvd. that is… before the economy was destroyed and my hours were cut in half!
Sorry to hear that, Johnny. I’ve been unemployed for four years now. Well, self-employed, but I don’t make a steady income as a writer. So, yes, I have to tighten my belt. But I’m about to splurge on my first flat screen tv, so hopefully after that I will be watching a lot of films.
I find them expensive, criterion dvd is probably one of the cheapest places to find them. I usually hit any used CD/DVD stores which usually sell them for 30 bucks a piece or lower. The majority of my criterions are used, I just scored a bunch from a guy who was selling off his collection on craigslist I bought 15 of them for about $150, it was a good find.
I’ve found with a lot of the recent releases are more affordable like chung king express and bottle rocket, I scored them for 30 bucks a piece at HMV. The biggest find for me was the 2 disc copy of the killers for 4 bucks at a blockbuster. I’ve never found a Criterion there since.
I was going to start a separate thread for this, but I was wondering, how in the world do people damage and scruff and scratch some of these used dvds to the extent that they do? I’ve had new discs for years and never put one scratch on them. Of course I’m kind of anal and handle them only by the edges and put them away right after I watch them, the way my dad taught me to do with his LPs. But what are people doing with these dvds? Are they using them coasters? Are they spackling the tub with them? Grouting? Luffa? What? I don’t get it.
I picked up a couple in AB Sound in Vancouver last summer – Boudu & Port of Shadows. Can’t quite remember what they cost but they were a bargain with the 50% discount. Recently I bought a sealed Cleo from 5 to 7 for what would be under USD$18, which I thought was a good deal. On the whole they do seem a bit expensive, but here in western Europe we see a lot of silly prices on DVDs so I guess in that context they’re not too bad.
I went nuts about 3 years ago building my DVD/Criterion collection of dvds. I have around 600 and around 150 criterions. I buy most of mine used on amazon.com and half.com, but here is the best secret:
deepdiscountdvd.com and dvdplanet.com (particularly the former)
deepdiscount already has a msrp discount from 25-40%, but they run an additional 20-25% sale twice a year. I read dvd reviews on dvdtalk.com and they advertise the sales.
When they are on sale you can typically get new criterions for $18-22. I recently bought the third man, chungking, and bottle rocket blu-rays for under $20 each. deepdiscount also ships free.
Most of the time I buy on ebay if it’s relatively cheap, sometimes I buy it at ACMI at Fed Square (melbourne). Criterion DVD’s around around $60 here but it’s much cheaper then some other places I’ve been to.
Criterions are good library picks and rentals.
>>But what are people doing with these dvds?<<
I wish I knew. I had a rental a few months back that woyuldn’t load in 3 different players. I finally turned it over and YECK! It looked as though someone had dropped it ion a puddle of soft-drink. A little hot water & Dawn & I could play it, but really …
They are expensive, but worth the quality and effort put into them. I only buy the ones I’ll rewatch endlessly, and I try to get them used first if I can.
The newer releases are getting noticeably cheaper in Toronto. Older criterions still run $ 49 (Rififi)-69 and boxsets can be $139 (Orphic Trilogy)-199 (Antoine Doinel). Newer released criterions (anything in the last 18 months) are around $24-39 with Eclipse boxsets around $29 (Larisa Shepitko)-65 (Early Kurosawa).
Yeah, vellaem, me too. I wander into the old used CD/DVD shops whenever I come across them just to see. I picked up 8 1/2, Le Cercle Rouge and Grand Illusion used for $30 or less, but these places usually have the same crappy Criterions that either nobody wants, or I see them on TV all the time so I wouldn’t pay even $20-$40 used prices for them (The Rock, Silence of the Lambs, Hamlet etc). Since I could get them brand new for only $10 more online, not to mention I can pick any one I want that way, I don’t find myself buying too many used ones.
Basically I would say criteriondvd had the best prices and selection and they were fairly good to deal with – um I hate to be picky but maybe they could be a little more careful with packaging – however, I’ve only ever ordered from them so I have nothing to compare them to.
I’ve bought a lot from Criterion itself, as they’re not horribly priced there. I’ve also picked up some from DVDPlanet, but their shipping seems to take forever.
Something that I stumbled across today was the warehouse section of amazon, which has a rolling catalog of used/returned Criterion DVDs that are still backed by amazon’s return policies. When I looked at it today, they had some that were only $5 or $10 off, but then there were others that were more than half off. This has resulted in yet another blind buy for me, this time Le Trou, which sounds interesting.
http://www.warehousedeals.com/search.htm?keyword=criterion&refineBy=c:2263801461
I think it is somewhat relative. They say you get what you pay for, and these days, anything that smacks of ‘hand-made’ or ‘niche product’ just becomes a luxury. Criterion does have to get the rights to the films, but more on the ‘ground level’ they have to hire top-end colorists/timers to work on the transfers and I know those boys don’t come cheap by the hour ( I work in broadcast TV.)
I too wince at the list prices on the Crit releases, but then I either go to EBay or Amazon to see what the deal is there. I have held off, waiting to start my Criterion collection with Blu-Rays, so I know what I am in for, but……without Criterion, Kino and a few others, we would be at the mercy of whatever the majors think are ‘important’ films and we all know where that would go. So, yes, I too complain, but in the end, I can live with it. Because the alternative would be far worse.
@CLAUS -“Criterion does have to get the rights to the films, but more on the ‘ground level’ they have to hire top-end colorists/timers to work on the transfers and I know those boys don’t come cheap by the hour.”
Right on the money and I couldn’t agree more. I’ve been buying Criterion/ Janus titles on laserdisc, vhs and later on dvd since the early ‘90s and they are actually pretty consistent with pricing. Hell, them vhs used to cost $32 back in ’93. So with the nice booklets, extensive extras and nice transfer, the price is just fine. The good thing about Criterion dvd – it’s a collectors item, so used/ second hand copies are normally in great condition, with the booklets still intact. Amazon’s warehousedeals.com, mentioned above is quite a good place to purchase discounted items. My recent order just took a six days to cross the continent on military ‘snail-mail’ and that’s good.
Criterion is almost never too pricey for me because I am careful to purchase a film I know I will watch over and over.
Criterion is pricey but the extras usually make it worth it for me. I signed up for the barnes and noble coupons and it has helped a lot.
I own everything in the Criterion Collection. Also have the Janus set and all the Eclipse releases.
I won’t go into anything else here, it makes me look a bit obsessive.
I’ve started buying from criterion.com, but if I can find them a little cheaper at amazon or overstock, deep discount, dvd planet or criteriondvd.com, then I get them there.
NEVER BUY A CRITERION FROM BARNES AND NOBLE.
I don’t have 350 like the other guy, but I do have a lot. I lost track but its probably over a hundred.
I bought most of my Criterion through Borders through their blanket coupons (40% off the John Cassavetes box set? Yes please). I also compare prices for the same movies on eBay, Amazon, and Criterion’s own store. After I found out about Criterion.com’s reward program, I might factor that into the prices when I compare. Even though I’m a frugal shopper, to answer the question I would say no, Criterion aren’t too pricey. I have thought this several times in the past but every time I pick one up and see the incredible transfer, booklets, and tons of extras, I feel that it is worth the extra expense on some of them, especially for the ones that are from the 60s and 70s and aren’t widely available in the US.
I got my Cassavetes box set for 40% off too! Criterion is expensive but they are definitely worth it. That doesn’t make it easier for me to buy them but I do once in a while when I have the money. There is a store about an hour away from me that has them used and new and I can get them used for about 50% off but its far away so I have only been three times.
Virgin Megastore in Time Square NYC closing! everything 40% off!!!! Yea this is the only time I can afford Criterion DVDs
I often buy titles in the collection directly from Criterion, which always retails them online for 20 percent below the suggested retail price. Even when I add shipping, the cost is still less than buying at full retail from Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, etc.
There are exceptions. In January, Barnes & Noble ran a nice sale, buy 2 get 1 free. So I snagged Viridiana, Band of Outsiders and Vampyr. Sometimes Best Buy has good online sales. I recently ordered Fiend Without a Face from Best Buy’s website, which offered the disc 25 percent below the suggested $40 retail. Even with shipping and tax, I spent only $33 (a $10 savings over buying in a store at full price plus tax).
I am also blessed to live within easy driving distance of a superb indie record store (Plan 9) that stocks used DVDs, CDs, vinyl, memorabilia and such. They have a small bookcase devoted to used Criterion titles. Last weekend I snagged The Most Dangerous Game for $10 (retails for $30) and The Red Shoes for $17 (retails new for $40). I have no problem buying used Criterions as I am convinced the people who enjoy them treat their discs with greater care than, say, the frat boy who wants to cash out his American Pie collection to have beer money for the weekend. So I am comfortable that the discs will be in good shape. Also, the used Criterions at Plan 9 always come with the original booklets of essays and contextual information — that’s a must.
In sum, for me, half the fun is the quest — the treasure hunt. If I can find an excellent film, presented superbly in the Criterion fashion, and get a good deal on it, why, I feel like Indiana Jones unearthing gold in Egypt.
The only time I have paid full price for a Criterion is when I ponied up $40 for The Third Man, because I absolutely had to have it. — And what is life without the occasional indulgence?
Cheers,
Steve
CinemaUprising.Blogspot.com
I just scored Tanner ’88 on e-bay for 15.00.
I second getting titles from the library first. It’s a good way for me to decide whether it’s worth purchasing. Mostly I’ve bought Criterion from Amazon. After searching for the best deals I always go back to them. I’ll try looking into directly purchasing from the Criterion site. I just assumed they were the most expensive.
Yes— for some Criterion DVDs they have a version which only contains the movie and no extras, usually priced around $15.
Pricey indeed they are, but I think the high price tag is justified by the quality of the disc.
Bob Stutsman
I generally only buy the odd Criterion title I can’t live without (Ruling Class is an example), otherwise, I get most through the library for viewing. I have an extensive collection of movies on VHS I have recorded from TV that include many classic Criterion titles (8 1/2, Third Man, Rashomon, etc.) so I’m not going to fork our hard cash for the DVD just yet. Criterions generally cost a fortune in the stores here (Vancouver BC ) if you can find them. That’s what I love about holidays and birthdays – gifts of Criterions or gift cards to video stores work for me. I believe the general price of Criterions should be about in the range of what they were at the 40 % off sale. Otherwise, I (poor person that I am – the strains of melancholy violins playing) find that Criterions, unless on sale, are just too pricey!