Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol.5

[FerdinandGriffon]

I like everything about the Lonesome art except the figures, which are tacky and anachronistic, even if the rest of it isn't.

[Gregory]

Answering a question from the previous page, bright colors were certainly common enough in 1920s commercial art. The Lonesome cover brough this to my mind as a kind of rainbow-y example:

[Zot!]

Answering a question from the previous page, bright colors were certainly common enough in 1920s commercial art. The Lonesome cover brough this to my mind as a kind of rainbow-y example:

yes, but this illustrates the difference between the painterly quality of the above advert and the guache computer vectorized primitivism of the Lonesome cover. The colors are fine, it's the cheap appearance of the design thats the problem. I always think of the Great Gatsby cover as iconic from that era.

[Emak-Bakia]

Thanks to both of you for providing examples of 20s art. I feel like Zot! really nailed the point at which I was clumsily groping. I think the problem I was seeing (but couldn’t properly express) with Criterion’s Lonesome cover was the “gauche, computer vectorized, primitivism.” When I compare the Criterion cover side-by-side with the MoC mock-up, I realize that the colors are equally rich, but it’s the texture of those colors that I find to be anachronistic. The Gatsby cover, the MoC cover and the Studebaker ad all have the “painterly” quality to which Zot! refers. The Criterion cover, on the other hand, has very flat colors which, for me, gives the immediate impression of something more modern than the 1920s.

And here I am getting picky about the artwork, just after I claimed I wasn’t that sort of person. See what you monsters have done to me!

[cdnchris]

Summer Interlude
Summer with Monika

[Murdoch]

They sure didn't make up for those covers with the interiors.

[krnash]

What's with the blue and yellow party colors? These are dark, gloomy, moody films.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

The covers aren't that bad and just because they go with bright primary colors like blue and yellow, it doesn't make the "party colors". Maybe it's the bare simplicity or the choice of fonts for the packaging of this films, but I'm getting flashbacks of the old laserdisc designs that I don't find disagreeable at all.

[mfunk9786]

I have to second TEDF on this - I love them.

[Soothsayer]

What's with the blue and yellow party colors? These are dark, gloomy, moody films.

Probably a nod to Bergman's Swedish heritage?

[domino harvey]

IKEA cross-promo, duh

[krnash]

I guess there's nothing like a little jovial brightness to complement the story of Monika and her disintegrated life as her innocence is lost to the dire hopelessness of the real world and the illusion of love!

[Cinephrenic]

Summer Interlude: I Am Curious - Blue
Summer with Monika: I Am Curious - Yellow

[cdnchris]

Harold and Maude
The Gold Rush
Shallow Grave

[bjboyer]

Harold and Maude
The Gold Rush
Shallow Grave

Wow! All three of these look great! Very nice to see them deliver like this after the mediocre artwork on the May releases.

[spocker]

The manufacturing plant seems to have hired crazy people to be in charge of the wrapping of the Criterion releases lately.
3 of my 4 latest discs has had the plastic heat-sealed over the spine itself, not the opening side.

This leads to the plastic wrapping melting to the spine, and is almost impossible to remove, leaving plastic residue over the whole spine.
I hope Criterion brings back shrink-wrapping soon.

[mfunk9786]

I've e-mailed them about that issue twice and never heard back.

[RyanGallagher]

I've e-mailed them about that issue twice and never heard back.

I've been experiencing this as well, but hadn't thought to email them about it. I'll give it a shot, in case they're waiting to hear more people complain about this. It really is a headache, trying to get that plastic off.

[mfunk9786]

And when you finally do get it off, the plastic underneath is often distorted or melted from the heat-sealing. Considering that the spine is what you're looking at 99.9% of the time while the titles are on the shelf, it's puzzling why they'd choose to seal them this way.

[Roger Ryan]

I've experienced this problem quite a bit as well, although not with Criterion releases. For a while, it seemed like every DVD release from 20th Century Fox had the shrink wrap melted to the spine.

[Flike]

I've also had the problem, and had to deal with Amazon returns. Criterion completely ignored my polite email. Twice. A far cry from the company that used to send me uncreased digipaks.

[mfunk9786]

How is it Amazon's problem?

[Flike]

It's not? But thankfully they've exchanged my discs after Criterion ignored my emails inquiring about replacement cases.

[ccfixx]

I received both bu-rays of Gray's Anatomy and And Everything Is Going Fine today and neither have the heat shrink wrap issue on the spine that's been on all of the recent releases. My copy of Gray's Anatomy is shrink-wrapped while And Everything Is Going Fine is plastic-wrapped with the seal on the open side, not the spine.

[zeroman987]

How is it Amazon's problem?

When two parties enter into a contract for the sale of goods, the buyer has the right to perfect tender. Amazon sent the buyer damaged goods but described them in the contract for sale as new. The buyer received the goods and found that there was a defect and therefore not in "new" condition as defined on amazon's website. After a reasonable period for inspection, the buyer has the right the right to reject the goods or give amazon the opportunity to correct their mistake if the goods do not conform exactly to the sales contract. In this case the buyer allowed amazon to correct their mistake. However, the buyer could have just rejected delivery. (and not rejected delivery in the "I reject the delivery of this package", but rather the "I have inspected these goods, they don't conform to the contract and therefore I am returning them" sense.)