Heads up!!!! 50% off Criterions
Grabbed the Yojimbo/Sanjuro Blu ray box today, Beauty and the beast will have to wait until Thursday.
Leeches,
Unlike Prudence, I would strongly recommend SHOCK CORRIDOR, definitely in a league of its own, though not a lesser one. Sam Fuller is such a brutal, raw, unpretentious, amazing filmmaker. I’m hoping to find NAKED KISS at my local B&N today.
I’m sure it’s been posted earlier, but does anyone know when this sale ends?
I hope it continues because I need time to con old ladies out of money and cookies by using my trademark grin.
I hope to buy Solaris and The Thief of Bagdad.
My second haul:
3 Films by Louis Malle
Three Films by Hiroshi Teshigahara
Brief Encounter
Basil Dearden (Eclipse)
I will probably only make one more trip during this sale, to pick up Spirit of the Beehive, The Music Room, and maybe one or two more. Then, I will force my wallet to stop bleeding until the next sale. (Okay, maybe if they have the Costa collection.)
@ Rock and Bull, it’s supposed to be over on August 1. Not sure if that’s thru midnite on 7/31 or thruout the day on 8/1. But plan accordingly.
So… am I pathetic or what? I have already purchased, over the past several years, one copy of every title that Criterion has published. My collection was complete just the other day when my special order copy of Kiss Me Deadly arrived at my local B&N (they were sold out when I came in for the sale earlier in the week.) While I was there, I decided to buy a copy of Bergman Island on DVD even though I own the Seventh Seal Blu-ray that includes that film, just to fill the spot in my collection. I also bought The Red Balloon/White Mane and Paddle to the Sea simply because they were available for half-price, even though I can watch them on my Hulu Plus subscription any time I feel like it. Now the only Criterion discs I can buy are either new releases or recent upgrades from DVD to Blu-ray. I already miss the adventure of tracking down new acquisitions. Will I have to start on MoC in order to scratch that collector’s itch?
Caved in and bought 3 more:
Spartacus
Cries and Whispers
The Passion of Joan of Arc
What are some interesting DVD-only releases in the latter part of Criterion’s catalog. Essentially, interesting films only available on DVD that they released, since they changed their logo and their design of their logo. I’m looking for something more offbeat to complete my fill for the sale, since I’m tempted to buy another one. How’s Make Way For Tomorrow as a blind buy.
@ThisLife Make Way for Tomorrow is a very sweet and emotionally powerful classic from the Depression era. Pretty beloved film in the opinion of many. I like L’enfance Nue as an odd, later Criterion DVD-only pick. If you’re looking for something really inexpensive, try Bunuel’s Simon of the Desert. Criterion is hyping Symbiopsychotaxiplasm on the Current this weekend, that’s pretty unique and interesting! Makavajev’s Sweet Movie too, if you’re open to having your mind blown just a little.
Thank you for the info, CRITERIONREFS, I couldn’t find it anywhere on the BN website and was scared it could end at any minute. In that time, I might be able to get a third film! Hmm…
@Criterionrefs
On the grand scale of pathos collecting behavior, Criterion collecting is pretty mild.
Somebody on the acclaimedmusic.net board has 2999 out of the 3000 albums on its list. And I’ve heard of people who would pay upwards of $20,000 to get a World Championship Nintendo cartridge or an Atlantis II cartridge. And, do you know what baseball card collectors will pay for a picture of an athlete printed on a little piece of cardboard with a misprint on it?
You’ve chosen an obsession with no holy grails. You are comparatively very sane.
@Criterionrefs
There are plenty of other DVD catalogs to tear into: Second Run, BFI/BFI Flipside, Index, MoC, Blue Underground, Cult Epics, Lux and I’m sure dozens more that I can’t recall off the top of my head.
Thanks CriterionRefs:
I actually do own L’Enfance Nue, but Sweet Movie does sound interesting.
Herbie:
Don’t forget Artificial Eye, Kino, and Facets. Then of course, I’m sure companies like Strand Releasing also have their own DVD lines.
Jirin:
I’m sure some of the out of print Criterions will be holy grails 30-40 years from now provided they never come back in print.
Sweet Movie is definitely amazing. And you don’t really think anyone’s going to know what a DVD or Blu-ray is 30-40 years from now, do you? The world will be a very different place by then….
“Any out of print Criterions in there?”
CriterionRefs -
Yeah, I would probably recommend going after both Masters of Cinema and Second Run as well. A couple years ago, I was only 14 titles away from completing the collection for Criterion, but I took a couple years break. Now, I think I need about 40 more titles or so, thanks to this sale though, I plan to cut that down and eventually before the end of the year, be at the same place you are.
I also collect Masters of Cinema though, which I need about 20 or so more (mostly a few of the overlapping Criterion titles) and I’ve just begun the Second Run collection, which I only own about about 20 of the titles.
I’ve got that same collector’s itch. I guess you could also go for Fox Film Noir, and to a maybe lesser extent Dragon Dynasty if you enjoy those type of films.
Really sad when art just becomes commodity. Why would anyone buy a shitty movie just because it comes in a neat Criterion package. That is indeed pathetic.
We’re all guilty of buying shitty things in neat packaging. I know you do it as well.
the neat packaging itself is art…..
Well, I myself have been looking forward to this sale, and I’m sure I’ll end up spending more money than I should. But what I’m talking about are the people who are buying everything in the Criterion label. That’s no longer about film or art, is it? It’s about a brand. It’s a free society, and everyone is free to spend their money however they want, but since one person in this thread asked if he’s pathetic for collecting every release by Criterion, my question is yes, that is indeed pathetic. It’s the mentality of a 10-year-old who wants to buy all the Pokemon cards or whatever instead of anything else that has value.
Blue,
are you saying your taste in criterion packaged films is better than everyone else’s taste?
The brand in this case is a method of differentiation – a crappy CC film is perhaps ‘better’ than a random film from another distributor.
.
I agree with Blue on this — even if I do have a list on here with the CCs I own, Film isn’t about status is it? And And that is what is part of the problem with the CC fanboys (and girls), they want to show how deep and cool they are that they own this CC and that one, but deny the Rock and Armageddon.
Owning obscure films is nice because we now have the chance to watch them whenever we want, not so we can one up some other person.
not so we can one up some other person
So why the public list Uli?
Blue is saying he knows better what a good film is:
I’m talking about are the people who are buying everything in the Criterion label…I myself have been looking forward to this sale, and I’m sure I’ll end up spending more money than I should.
Wtf is the difference in the consumerism there?
CC is a marketing company and much of their offering is aimed at the ‘kung fu’ demographic – 20-somethings who like watching violence.
Where’s your list?
Peabody, go to my profile and it’s there.
CC has become to many the end all be all of what is supposedly good in cinema, reaching into the corners of the world for great art, and people get them to show they are in the know of what great art is. They wear them as badge.
Is art a badge?
..
CC has become to many the end all be all of what is supposedly good in cinema.
It is a gateway…. not an end all – I agree.
You ask: Is art a badge?
Your answer: yes, that is why I post my lists.
Kudos to what CC does, and if that starts the conversation, fantastic, but we all have to remember and remind those who don’t that there are other films out and that great films are not just the ones fed to us by CC, but ones from smaller houses are out there and so much great art hasn’t even had a DVD releases yet.
Robert, yes, I know that Solaris is a better film than Armageddon. Thanks for wasting your time playing devil’s advocate.
Robert, some post list as a way to spark discussion, whether that discussion ensues, well, all that can be done is put it out there.
herbie s
I bought Black Moon online, with the free trial membership and 15% off code. It came out to about $18.50 including tax. Good deal!