Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.4

[jbeall]

I know this is quite individual thinking, but I'd would like French releases to have their original titles, for the only reason that I know them better by those. I almost skip some titles sometimes (and I may have skipped some) because of it.

Quai des Orfevres
Pepe le moko
Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne
Hiroshima mon amour
Le cercle rouge
Le corbeau
Touchez pas au grisbi
Tout va bien

and Le Samourai, L'avventura etc. I like going into Barnes and Noble and finding all the foreign titles alphabetized under "L."

[kaujot]

How many pages back were you reading?

[jbeall]

Shit. Sometimes I click on the "last page" link, and it takes me... to an earlier page, from far enough back that I don't remember having read it. That's probably what happened this time. OOPS!

[Doctor Sunshine]

And, not to rub it in, but L'avventura is Italian.

[jbeall]

#-o Yeah, but it's still filed under "L" in the stores. I guess I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

[mfunk9786]

I had to go to the hospital nearby earlier today, and noticed something I hadn't before...

[kaujot]

That wacky C is terrible.

[cdnchris]

Repulsion:

DVD
Blu-ray

[Murdoch]

Repulsion:

DVD
Blu-ray

Hmmm, I'm ambivalent about the cover, but love the interior. Despite the sheer awfulness of the R1 release I've always loved the cover they used. If I end up buying this I'll have three(!) different releases, no wonder I don't have any money!

[Antoine Doinel]

Love the entire Repulsion package. Great stuff.

[knives]

Couldn't they have used that interior for the cover? Was that impossible?

[domino harvey]

What is with you people fetishizing that crack

[bearcuborg]

Why don't you answer peoples questions?

Anyways, I like the cover as it is...

[knives]

Couldn't they have at least ripped off a good movies poster. The empty space just drives me insane I suppose.

[swo17]

The empty space just drives me insane I suppose.

Have you seen the film? It sounds like the cover is having its intended effect.

[knives]

I have, that why the bitching is more playful. I just hate empty spaces. At least make it grey. Oh well.

[Jeff]

Some very pleasant news on the Blu-ray packaging front. I wrote to JM regarding the very tight-fitting slipcase for the Last Year at Marienbad Blu-ray. Turns out that it was made too small in the first printing, but has been corrected. They are sending me the corrected slipcase, just like they did when the Rohmer case was too big.

The even better news is that I asked if they would be re-issuing the early Blu-ray titles in the custom plastic cases. It sounds like they will not only be doing that, but will be offering them to customers who already bought the titles in the flimsy cases.

For a variety of reasons, we decided to make a custom clear plastic case that is much more durable than the original Blu-ray packaging, which you may have seen with THE SEVENTH SEAL and THE WAGES OF FEAR. Going forward, most of our Blu-ray releases will be packaged in this new custom case. We understand our customers' desire for uniform packaging, and we are planning to offer the custom plastic case for all Blu-ray titles. We'll announce this on our site, but please feel free to check back in a couple of weeks.

It sure sounds like you'll be able to order the case for any of the titles. I don't know if there will be a trade-in program, or if you'll be able to order an empty case for a few bucks. Maybe he just means that new printings of the early titles will be in the plastic case. I wouldn't be surprised if Last Year at Marienbad and The Last Metro retain the cardstock packaging, since they rely on it for the embossing and die-cut detail. I'm anxiously waiting the upcoming announcement.

[swo17]

If I got Marienbad when it first came out, is it safe to say it's in one of the tight-fitting cases? I mean, it seems a little tight to me, but nothing too bad. How tight are the tight ones that people are finding too tight?

[aox]

this is excellent news. I really love this company. My The Third Man and The 400 Blows will be getting the new case. What do you think they will charge? $5?

[Jeff]

If I got Marienbad when it first came out, is it safe to say it's in one of the tight-fitting cases? I mean, it seems a little tight to me, but nothing too bad. How tight are the tight ones that people are finding too tight?

Tighter than a nun on Sunday. I had hell getting it out the first time.

[cdnchris]

I actually didn't have issues with the Blu-ray oddly enough. But I had to beat the shit of the DVD packaging to get it out of the slip.

[Amazing Goose]

I must be one of about nine people on the planet (with an interest in Criterion and a PS3...) who didn't totally hate the original Blu digipaks.

Chungking Express looks good as it is, and the slight bending/warping never really bothered me.

Now, I do wish Painleve would have kept that awesome digipak design....

[Tom Hagen]

My Marienbad was smashed in transit by UPS; I made Amazon replace it and assumed that it was hard to get out of the box because of the shipping damage. But low and behold, my non-crushed replacement was equally hard to move out. The problem seems to be the placement of the booklet inside a pocket in the digipack, rather than just slipping it into the box next to the digipack. The former approach has worked fine in the past for releases with smaller booklets (think The Third Man reissue, Playtime reissue, The Last Metro), but it was a total fiasco this time around because the booklet was too damn big for the pocket.

[knives]

Yeah, I just had to put my booklet elsewhere, no need for replacement.

[jbeall]

If I got Marienbad when it first came out, is it safe to say it's in one of the tight-fitting cases? I mean, it seems a little tight to me, but nothing too bad. How tight are the tight ones that people are finding too tight?

Tighter than a nun on Sunday. I had hell getting it out the first time.

Goddamn right. I was ready to tear the outer slip in two when it finally came out.