Criterion and StudioCanal

[rspaight]

Doulos and Mafioso are now gone from Criterion's store.

[Noiradelic]

Deep Discount has a $10 of $50 code -- MELT13 -- so you could pick up a couple of these if you're willing to go that route.

[dwk]

What is the overall number of OOP titles in the Collection now?

By my count there are 71 mainline titles that are OOP.

[Minkin]

Fuck Studio Canal. Most of these will never see the light of day, especially not in the US. Even if some come back, there's their shady track record to worry about..

I had thought that the long delay for these OOP notices, plus the Naqoyqatsi deal, plus the apparent return of the Tati films meant that Studio Canal was finally playing ball again... guess not. This seems lame, especially since Studio Canal has decided to license to Network in the UK, and has given up theatrical to Rialto - thus highlighting their "go it alone" strategy for their catalog wasn't ever going to work. Who knows, WB eventually cracked, so I suppose the next chain of management at SC might change their ways.

At least I'm happy to say that I already bought everything in anticipation of this. Not sure whether to buy some of the DVD's (of the blus that I do have) - to make a later profit, or as gifts, or if Bluray somehow goes the way of SACD somehow.

Lastly, I sort of think that Hopscotch may no longer be with Studio Canal. I believe its with Westchester films now.

[rrenault]

Why didn't Criterion flood the market like they did with Pierrot Le Fou? I own three of the most recent six to go. Those three being the blu rays of Last Year at Marienbad, Le Cercle Rouge, and Army of Shadows, although I try to avoid "collector" mentality and try to just focus on the art at hand, but there are times I can't resist, such as when I found A Woman is a Woman at a retail outlet over a year after it went out of print. In any case, it's sad and also kind of annoying, since now you have to "take care" of the copies in your possession.

Just out of curiosity, if the case and disc are in fine condition but the booklet is say 7.5/10 how much would that affect the overall value of the item? I'm assuming as long as the case and booklet are at least presentable and the disc is near mint it shouldn't be a problem, but I could be wrong. Anyhow, appearing somewhat used gives it character provided the disc is at least near pristine

The OOP Criterions I own are all at least 'very good' on the ebay scale.

[The Narrator Returns]

The Blu-Ray of Leon Morin, Priest is now gone from criterion.com (the DVD is still available).

The same goes for Last Year at Marienbad.

[Jeff]

For those who haven't seen it, I'll put in a good word for Mafioso. I'd never heard of it before Rialto toured the print, and it's one of my favorite Criterion "discoveries."

[swo17]

I'll second that. Really all of these recently OOP films are great, though some might find the misogyny in Le Doulos offputting.

[knives]

Lattuda in general if pretty great and is ripe for rediscovery. His adaption of The Bespoke Overcoat is great.

[rrenault]

It's too bad Last Year at Marienbad hasn't yet outlived it's divisiveness unlike say Tokyo Story, Pickpocket, or The 400 Blows. I mean that in the sense Ozu and Bresson are considered "important 20th century artists whose significance you must not question or else you're a 'middlebrow film buff'" whereas Marienbad hasn't managed to outlive its reputation as one of "them 'arty' sixties films you can take or leave at your own leisure".

[dwk]

I'd like to third or fourth the love for Mafioso and say that, of these six, I think it is the one least likely to get reissued by Lionsgate.

[Gregory]

Yeah, even if it gets a new release, the special features on the Criterion will be worth having, and it's hard to imagine the picture quality being greatly improved upon, even on a blu-ray. It's an extremely good transfer for DVD, and the film is very enjoyable. Love the Piero Piccioni score and wish more films he composed music for were available.

[krnash]

They specify in the announcement that they can only sell these through the 31st. Is it plausible that they'll put any remaining stock on sale tomorrow or the next day?

[perkizitore]

I doubt it, the late announcement is probably intentional to get rid of stock quickly.

[htshell]

Also, there is never any danger of them running out of copies of Fanfan la tulipe.

We did a screening of this at the theater where I work and attendance was in the single digits. Poor Fanfan.

[krnash]

I doubt it, the late announcement is probably intentional to get rid of stock quickly.

Yes, but after the 31st, they are legally unable to sell stock that they still have. You don't think they'd do this announcement and then try to push out every item they can before the deadline? Better to sell them at half off than never at all.

[krnash]

I do see now that Leon Morin and Marienbad are sold out, so I realize it probably won't get to that point.

[perkizitore]

If they knew for a while when the licence would expire, it would make more sense to flood Amazon with copies like they did with Pierrot.
My only guess is that they didn't have much of a heads up to, so they decided to withhold the information until now to get people to jump on the remaining copies. :-k

[HistoryProf]

with the DDD coupon i got Leon Morin and Mafioso for $43. I have a copy of Mafioso I bought used, so a clean copy will be nice to have. Le Cercle Rouge is $25 on Amazon and since that's my favorite film in the entire collection I bought a 2nd copy just in case. This is pretty left field for sure. weird that they gave such short notice.

[rrenault]

Okay, so I'll ask again more succinctly, how far can an OOP Criterion stray from 'like new' condition before losing any significant collector value. Regarding backup copies, is it really necessary? Just rip the ones you have to your computer and keep the original in a safe place and you'll never have to worry about it.

[krnash]

Man, StudioCanal has really wreaked havoc on the Buñuel and Melville portions of the Criterion Collection. They've left almost nothing of the sizable offerings they once had there. Sad.

Picked up Le Cercle Rouge from Amazon and used the DD code (thanks Noiradelic!) to get Leon Morin.

[HistoryProf]

Okay, so I'll ask again more succinctly, how far can an OOP Criterion stray from 'like new' condition before losing any significant collector value. Regarding backup copies, is it really necessary? Just rip the ones you have to your computer and keep the original in a safe place and you'll never have to worry about it.

i'm an old fart who doesn't trust rips for back ups. in the case of something like Le Cercle Rouge it is my #1 criterion film...and I want a sealed copy just to keep my mind at ease should something happen to the one I watch. You just never know. I learned my lesson the hard way with Third Man - daughter took it out of the player and sat it play side down on the table and then put something else on top of it and it got all scratched up. Still plays amazingly enough, but it's worthless. and I sold a second blu ray I found for $80 during the initial frenzy because SURELY it wouldn't get much higher than that and Studio Canal's version would be just fine. bwah bwah bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh.

[rrenault]

Okay, so I'll ask again more succinctly, how far can an OOP Criterion stray from 'like new' condition before losing any significant collector value. Regarding backup copies, is it really necessary? Just rip the ones you have to your computer and keep the original in a safe place and you'll never have to worry about it.

i'm an old fart who doesn't trust rips for back ups. in the case of something like Le Cercle Rouge it is my #1 criterion film...and I want a sealed copy just to keep my mind at ease should something happen to the one I watch. You just never know. I learned my lesson the hard way with Third Man - daughter took it out of the player and sat it play side down on the table and then put something else on top of it and it got all scratched up. Still plays amazingly enough, but it's worthless. and I sold a second blu ray I found for $80 during the initial frenzy because SURELY it wouldn't get much higher than that and Studio Canal's version would be just fine. bwah bwah bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh.

OOP Criterions don't have to appear as if they've just been removed from shrink wrap to have 'collector value'. They're allowed to be 'second hand'. I'm not saying don't take care of them, but they don't have to scream "NEW". Okay fine, said item might fetch $80 instead of say $130, but it'll still be a 'collector's item'. Do rare books that are over a hundred years old and sell for thousands of dollars look 'new'? There are exceptions of course, such as original LPs of albums like Blonde on Blonde or Abbey Road. Those are only worth something if they're 'like new' or 'brand new'.

And in fact, the scarcer an item is the less pivotal it is that an individual copy be 'new'.

[HistoryProf]

I understand...my point is that the Third Man blu sealed in the plastic case goes for at least twice that. and once the shrink wrap comes off there is a significant drop off in price. They'll all be collector's items....but I like the insurance of knowing I'll have the ones I really love for, well, ever. And if something like Leon Morin turns into a high ticket item, having a sealed one will be nice. I'd much rather have my sealed 3rd man blu ray now than the $80 i got for it two years ago and a fubar'd one that may or may not continue to play.

If you look at ebay and Amazon though, it's very clear that SEALED does not equal LIKE NEW when it comes to price. If people want to sock away an extra copy for investment or insurance on the one they watch, I don't see what the big deal is.

[rrenault]

Yes, I understand the whole insurance thing, but I guess your daughter really massacred your copy of The Third Man. Sorry to hear that.

In any case, I was simply trying to challenge what I perceived to be a 'shrink wrap or nothing attitude'.