Criterion Blu-ray

[Jun-Dai]

Bringing this back to CC: I wonder if they have the means of watching these films in higher quality than BR at the CC office? I have to imagine they're getting most of these films into digital at 3K or 4K or something. I remember many years ago reading someone at CC making an offhand comment that they loved seeing the films in HD before they were transferred to DVD, as though we consumers were having to put up with the technological limitations of current consumer formats. I wonder if that still holds true now that we get to watch the movies at 1080p.

[CrazedCollector]

And I have to say, the improved image quality is about the only thing BR's got going for it. The format sucks.

Erm, not a fan of lossless audio and audio-only Blu, I take it?

[ellipsis7]

The catch is now they're already pushing on to 3-D HDTVs and 3-D Blu Ray Players and 3-D Blu Ray discs...

From Sony Press Office...

SONY LAUNCHES ITS FIRST BLU-RAY 3D-READY PLAYER

SAN DIEGO, CA, Feb. 10, 2010 – Continuing to drive innovation, Sony® today launched the new BDP-S470 stand-alone Blu-ray 3D™-ready player. The model can be upgraded to play Blu-ray 3D content with a firmware update available this summer.

The company also announced that the previously introduced BDP-S570 Blu-ray Disc™ model and the BDV-E770W and BDV-E570 Blu-ray Disc home theater systems will be Blu-ray 3D capable with firmware updates available this summer.

The new models, along with the previously announced BDP-S370, are now shipping and will be available at national retailers, Sony Style®, and http://www.sonystyle.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; next month.

“Consumer excitement for 3D is unbelievably high and Sony is poised to deliver the best possible in-home experience,” said Chris Fawcett, vice president of Sony’s Home Division. “Involved in every facet of the 3D chain from professional equipment to content production and hardware, Sony is the one company that can lean on its broad expertise to deliver 3D to the home that truly captures consumer imagination.”

In addition to Blu-ray 3D playback, when connected to a broadband Internet network, all of the new models instantly stream movies, videos, music, and more from Netflix®, Amazon Video On Demand, YouTube™, Slacker® Internet Radio, Pandora® (Coming Spring 2010), NPR, Sony Pictures, Sony Music, and over 25 total providers through the Sony BRAVIA® Internet Video platform.

[bugsy_pal]

Ya know what? In a few years there will absolutely NO commercial homevideo on hard disc through B&M (or even internet) sell through.

There are a few years for Blu Ray left but I hope it's longer than I suspect it will be.

Jonathan, reflecting on the "older" friend you described, I understand and will not abreact to his or her hesitation and wariness. Nor should I comment on the other friend who now fears the print damage issue of film in viewing (in fact I consider this ridiculous and fatuous in fact, but I said I wouldnt mention it.)

I've just put on a bunch of stuff to crawl through my kevyip, (i.e. unwatched discs, not unwatched movies) first was the MoC M, then the Kino Happy Together. Look, tell your older friend to get his shit together. I'm quite possibly older than him and possibly more challenged healthwise, and one of the great things that rises up to meet me in the last 15 or 20 years of my life is this superb format and the privilege I feel when I put on some masterpiece or other of the tens of thousands of films that I love, and can own and relish, in a form that is frankly totally superior to any of the old 16mm screenings I (and many friends and people in the circuit) used to do in the 70s and 80s. Or indeed 50 plus years of viewing films. And when you watch even throwaway bits of contemporary capitalism like the gorgeously designed disc menus and openings of labels like our favorites, you find yourself nodding with very great pleasure at the care, and the curatorship and the love that's gone into all of this. It's the best imaginable form of capitalism and at an unbelievably affordable price ( Try costing a 16mm dupe copy from someone in a back stairs lab) that I could never have imagined would ever be possible.

And if you need to, tell your "older friend" that Robin Wood was effectively blind for several months before he died. So because he couldnt see much detail in the movies he loved so much, he found a lot of his remaining time pleasurably spent listening to his glorious, beloved Opera collection on CD. I keep trying to convince a couple of other film writers that it's getting too late in the day to deny yourself this inestimable pleasure.

The rest is nonsense.

Hear, hear! A lot of the gripes about bluray seem nonsensical to me, but I understand people will resist such changes. And I can see that a case can be made for bluray contributing to a slowdown in releases of obscure films on DVD. But I would not want to miss what bluray offers. Seeing North BY Northwest on Bluray was like seeing it for the first time again - and a real treat as I had never seen it in a cinema. David, I hold out hope that bluray will be around for much longer than you fear - I can't see full HD downloads being viable for a long time yet...

[tenia]

Well, I was really (like really really) against Blu Ray. Cause I don't see myself buying my favorite movies again and again. Because I don't see myself spending 200€ for a BR player, 500€ in a 40"+ HD screen, and maybe 300€ in a Sound system. Also because I don't see myself watching my old DVDs that are "quite OK by now but not really perfect" on all this HC system.

But here in France, it's gonna be the summer clearance sale, with Sony or Philips BR Player for just 100€. And there are plenty of special savings on BR (like, if you buy 5 at 15€ each, it turns into 50€ for the 5-pack).

And honestly, I become more and more titillated, especially since Gaumont started to do a lot of very good classic movies on BR for just 20€. It's stille quite expensive, and still 5€ more than the DVD.

But still. I'm less and less reluctant.
And there's the MoC BR only policy. And maybe some more Carlotta BR.

Also because I have the feeling that I will have to buy it anyway one day. But also because I feel like I will be able to focus only to titles I don't already own on DVD, instead of spending half my budget on buying movies I've already bought on DVD 2 times, watched 20 times, and that are gonna stand in their Curaçao boxes for the next 4 years.

[rossbrew]

Hey everyone...used to post alot but now I'm back...finally got a blu ray player and proper tv ....bought my first BR disc- The White Ribbon...my first CC blu's will probably be The Man Who fell to earth and Bigger than Life...I am REALLY stoked about The Thin Red Line...take care...

[Matt]

Nice to have you back, Ross!

[domino harvey]

[Tribe]

Hey everyone...used to post alot but now I'm back...

Wow...blast from the past indeed.

[rossbrew]

It's all startin' to come back to me....

[Dante Vescio]

I was just about to buy Pasolini's Salo, but then I wondered if a blu-ray edition could come up at some point. What do you think?

[mfunk9786]

Buy it. Even if a BD edition comes along, this is popular enough film that the DVD edition will hold its value and will be very easily resellable for $25ish. If you want it, might as well buy it. The DVD looks great, too.

[movielocke]

this was originally a new thread in Other Lists, for bizarre and incomprehensible reasons it was merged into this forum and this thread. apologies for any confusion etc.

What catalog DVD titles do you think will be the highest priority for Criterion to upgrade to blu?

we know that Videodrome is coming, it's likely that Picnic at Hanging Rock, Diabolique, Kwaidan and Au Revoir Les Enfants are coming due to their presence in the amazon poll last year, and supposedly something is in the works with the David Lean titles. New prints are availble for the Tati and Sezuki films, so they're likely.

my ten:
Videodrome
The Royal Tenenbaums,
The Lady Vanishes
Autumn Sonata
Bicycle Thieves
Rules of the Game
Brief Encounter
Children of paradise
Henry V
High and Low

edit: removing a giant black spoiler box, my bad at forgetting what spoilers looked like on this forum.

[swo17]

Yes, those are all films.

[aox]

I like movies

[dad1153]

Pictures that move... and with sound too... yay! \:D/

[med]

Well I for one don't understand why that was spoiler-tagged.

[perkizitore]

Some people on this forum are famous drama queens, it seems!

[RossyG]

I have this overwhelming urge to jump up and down like an ape in front of that spoiler tag and then throw a bone into the air.

[colinr0380]

"My God, it's full of [movie] stars!"

[aox]

Well I for one don't understand why that was spoiler-tagged.

Some of us don't want our 15th's of the months ruined.

[Cinephrenic]

Now I can't watch any of those films you've listed. You just spoiled it!

[movielocke]

That is so stupid. Last night I made a topic in the "other lists" forum for peoples list of what they think might be the next catalog blurays, the spoiler tag was just to prevent biasing folks if they didn't want to see my 'long list' of possible titles, I forgot what spoiler tags look like here, other forums I'm on collapse spoiler boxes into a neat little window. fixing that. carry on. What an absurd thread merge.

[Matt]

No, what an absurd thread.

[movielocke]

I didn't think so, it seemed appropriate to put it in lists forums, I am curious what catalog films other people think will get blu upgrades in the future. I didn't think such a discussion needed to clutter up the bluray thread. but oh well. apologies and what not.