Criterion Collection Store

[Drucker]

I'm at a point where I basically buy everything directly from the labels and even do so when there's no sale to be had. Feels like the labels keep the most amount of $ this way and the $5 or $10 I save here and there buying from Amazon or third party sites isn't worth it (I try not to buy anything on Amazon these days).

I may go buy something now just to spite you haters.

[therewillbeblus]

There's nothing wrong with supporting the company. May is a bit too close to July, when Amazon will hopefully price-match B&N again, so I doubt I'll bite- but last year's 30% off that occurred in March/April was totally worth the extra dollars to get a few of those films early. I'm not exactly financially comfortable, but as I get older I find that time has greater value, and getting a certain coveted disc in my hands a few months prior to a sale is a smoother rationalization than it once was.

[hearthesilence]

I'm at a point where I basically buy everything directly from the labels and even do so when there's no sale to be had. Feels like the labels keep the most amount of $ this way and the $5 or $10 I save here and there buying from Amazon or third party sites isn't worth it (I try not to buy anything on Amazon these days).

I've begun buying a few from Target's buy-3-for-2 sales, but only a few since their inventory is pretty thin in terms of what I planned on getting anyway. Otherwise, I buy the vast majority of boutique label reissues straight from the label. Their sales have the best prices anyway, but I figure they get a better cut that way too.

[swo17]

I may go buy something now just to spite you haters.

Pariah!

[Omensetter]

I buy exclusively from the site as well, so this sale was a welcome gift as I've been making some embarrassingly large purchases as of late. It's largely for the same reasons outlined by Drucker plus feeling a bit uneasy when inevitably something appears on backchannels. Also, they seem to be better at shipping box-sets than B&N who I cannot trust to not rewrap a film anyway.

[domino harvey]

I buy with Amazon all the time and will continue to do so long after you all have started your commune where you grow your own sustainable Criterion releases

[therewillbeblus]

Same, I appreciate that people have a sense of morality behind the issue, but I'm not rich and convenience is priceless with so many other acute stressors going on, where prioritizing that kind of self-congratulatory stand holds little weight for me in my current state

[DarkImbecile]

I use Amazon plenty too, but it’s a little obnoxious to describe choosing not to do so as “self-congratulatory”; I’m sure Drucker and Omensetter and everyone else who does so has reasons beyond trying to impress people on the internet

[domino harvey]

I thought TWBB was talking about himself, though I think it could be read that way also

[DarkImbecile]

If that’s the case, retracted; if not, it’s not a capital crime or anything, just unnecessary

[therewillbeblus]

I was talking about myself, sorry. My mom is very anti-Amazon and I don't believe she's trying to impress anyone. As I said, I appreciate the moral stance, but I'm also used to looking at my behaviors as selfish in nature not as a dis but as a neutral quality with the potential to be positive- that we do things to satisfy our morals to make ourselves feel good. So even if I did apply the attitude as self-congratulatory psychologically beyond myself, it wouldn't be condescending from my viewpoint, and that certainly wasn't meant to be in the context of impressing people for myself either. Just that I believe we understandably need to boost ourselves with various moral choices to feel good. It's a strength. I'm not a therapist because I make the big bucks, but it's not completely selfless- there's something selfish about what I get from helping people. Same goes for sponsorship. Apologies for using "self-congratulatory" in a manner that obviously ruffled feathers when I meant that "that kind of self-congratulatory stance holds little weight for me in my current state," with the emphasis on the kind. I do practice others, but again, see it positively. Perhaps the term was misjudged though, as it's more specific than "selfish" or "self-focused" and has a more smug essence to it. Either way, I shouldn't assume that people adopt a 12-step framework of recontextualizing these derogatory cultural terms as voluntary admissions to embrace and reframe, and I've made enough slips like this before in forgetting that most don't see them neutrally to know better. I'm a work in progress.

[hearthesilence]

I use Amazon plenty too, but it’s a little obnoxious to describe choosing not to do so as “self-congratulatory”; I’m sure Drucker and Omensetter and everyone else who does so has reasons beyond trying to impress people on the internet

I still shop at Amazon, and Amazon (or rather the money it made for Jeff Bezos) did save the Washington Post from potentially the same fate that's still wrecking more and more major newspapers across the country. So while it definitely has problems, to paraphrase Paul Biegler in Anatomy of a Murder, it's many things, both good and bad and a lot in between. But I use it as much as everything else, and even if you're only interested in saving money on your own spending, shopping direct from Criterion is in many cases a better choice than Amazon if you're patient and don't need to have any particular release right away.

[fiddlesticks]

I use Amazon, actually quite a lot since my remote location means a 120 mile round trip for most anything. I have given some thought to boycotting, and there are a few companies I won't patronize (been avoiding Nestlé as much as possible for over 50 years now,) but I find it's a very slippery slope when you go very far down that path. The easiest example is petroleum: once you start taking a moral stance against OilCo#1, where do you stop? OilCo#2 isn't any better and OilCo#3 is probably worse, just in a different way.

[therewillbeblus]

So while it definitely has problems, to paraphrase Paul Biegler in Anatomy of a Murder, it's many things, both good and bad and a lot in between.

Gotta love that grey-thinking mensch!

[hearthesilence]

The easiest example is petroleum: once you start taking a moral stance against OilCo#1, where do you stop? OilCo#2 isn't any better and OilCo#3 is probably worse, just in a different way.

That was the basis of my favorite part about I ♥ Huckabees:

[therewillbeblus]

I have given some thought to boycotting, and there are a few companies I won't patronize (been avoiding Nestlé as much as possible for over 50 years now,) but I find it's a very slippery slope when you go very far down that path.

I see it similarly to canceling of artists- I get the desire not to financially support a business on principle, but it's a slippery slope when you account for all of your morals. I think we all need to engage in cognitive dissonance on some issues to have some sanity, plus there just isn't enough time to engage in every social justice cause we believe in. I can certainly relate on some level: I have felt a moral issues with eating meat for the last couple years since it violates my philosophy of all sentient beings having dignity and worth. I don't think me not eating meat will change the world but I don't feel good doing it, which would be, and has been, my reason for stopping at times. I haven't made the commitment to going full vegetarian, but I'm constantly evaluating it. That could be a slippery slope as well.. why not go vegan, or then eat in environmentally-conscious ways outside of that specific moral issue and onto another one. But I'm also a moral relativist so I don't believe one cause is objectively greater than another, and I think that makes it easier to become comfortable picking and choosing on a subjective hierarchy that doesn't make me feel spiritually sick when I can't actualize some fantasy of absolutist purity. Plus over the last few months I've finally tried and am now addicted to Chick-fil-A, which I know is one of those businesses people boycott- so there's a recipe for a double moral issue.

[goblinfootballs]

I'm of the "no ethical consumption under capitalist" mindset so I concur with the line of thinking of doing our best to avoid the most egregious examples of exploitation whenever possible, but understanding that it's not always going to be practical or feasible.

[Drucker]

I'm of the "no ethical consumption under capitalist" mindset so I concur with the line of thinking of doing our best to avoid the most egregious examples of exploitation whenever possible, but understanding that it's not always going to be practical or feasible.

Agreed. I don't begrudge anyone for the consumption choices they make. But Amazon really is a uniquely evil company in the post-New Deal era, and to pretend otherwise is just silly. I don't think people who shop on Amazon are bad, but just as vegans are too turned off by the meat industry and harm to animals and don't want any part of it, I think giving Bezos/Amazon nearly any degree of my business is something I try not to do.

I understand that if you shop for deals and buy 100 blu-rays a year, saving $3 a disc can add up so, again, I get it. But at this point I just find it easier to pay the premium for the simplicity of supporting labels directly, and yes I do feel good about it.

[therewillbeblus]

As you should!

[starmanof51]

So…store sale next week, probably?

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah probably, we'll know when subscribers get their emails on Monday

[swo17]

Dear Criterion Collectors,

It’s that time again!

Because you’re a loyal criterion.com shopper, we wanted you to be the first to know that our 24-hour flash sale starts tomorrow, Tuesday, October 19 at noon ET! All in-stock Blu-rays and DVDs will be marked down to 50% off the SRP.

Start building your Wish List now, and set your alarm for noon ET tomorrow!

Happy shopping!
The Criterion Team

[omegadirective]

is there also a month long sale in November?

[FrauBlucher]

Yes. The Barnes and Noble sale

[agnamaracs]

Is this going to be another sale where when it's over, we find out that a bunch of stuff has gone out of print?