criterionforum.org

Mr Pixies wrote:you guys know that for every one person who watches a film, metaphysically two more people are compelled to watch the same film. I vow to watch Border Radio five times a day, every day, and soon enough all of you will be watching it every day!

I stopped reading your post once it said Border Radio.

Not to sound dumb (which I know I'm almost doing) but is Border Radio really that bad and if so, why'd it get a release in the first place. Also out of curiousity, how'd Hopscotch get that level of infamy.

knives wrote:how'd Hopscotch get that level of infamy.

Hopscotch gets a bad rap primarily because it was released in a very slow year for Criterion (like one or two discs per month and mostly big name directors and films). People were kinda miffed when this largely-overlooked film that most people call average at best got Criterion's time when they were having such a slow time getting the great films out there. It just seemed out of place at the time.

If Hopscotch had been held off for another year, it probably wouldn't get the shit it does. It isn't even that bad (personally, I like it; better than Horse's Mouth, even, when it comes to CC's Neame releases).

That makes a lot of sense, thanks. The plot makes it out to be at least okay which spiked my curiosity.

I don't know anything about the slow year referred to. I just know that I can't stand Hopscotch. [I love Horse's Mouth, btw]. I'm sure Border Radio has its fans as well, but I'd rather cut my dick off and watch the neighbor's dog masticate it than watch that thing again. Hell, I'd rather watch Armageddon (sic[k]) again.

I wonder what proportion of Criterion sales are outside the US - significant numbers?

This becomes pertinent once CRiterion make the decision to region code its blu rays.

One fellow UK messenger has already lamented this move. THe replies recommended a second compatible blu ray player without a second thought to the cost on top of the cost of the higher criterion disc prices. Film fans like myself will settle for less comprehensive European blu ray releases, and say ByeBye to Criterion, rather than get suckered into spending a lot more money on a player to do the same job as the one we own already - in order to play discs that are going to cost yet more money. So Criterion's shift into the blu ray market will change its customer base, too.

IF european sales of Criterion stock are negligible, then all this is a big So What. If not, if there are many customers such as myself who were on the verge of buying 5 Criterion blu rays this month alone, then how asinine to alienate a European customer base that has been on board, in some cases, for years.

Region coding kicks free enterprise in the teeth, of course, if we take free enterprise to mean the freedom of the market - the freedom of the buyer to shop around.

That's the overwhelming reason why I preferred Toshiba's HD system: universally region free.

While I certainly don't disagree with you, the larger issue is territorial rights which have already been discussed at length here on the forum (welcome, by the way). Criterion is only licensed to sell movies in North America, at which point they aren't really legally allowed to factor foreign sales into anything. Foreign sales have to be something of an "icing on the cake" proposition because other companies own the rights in other territories, which is why everything is region-coded and Criterion doesn't ship overseas. It isn't really a business decision to be questioned, it's a contractual obligation.

That said, from a consumer standpoint I absolutely agree that region coding is a pain. Filmmakers though would have a tough time making money if they couldn't split up territorial rights to sell off.

Well I don't know how much it reflects the sales at Criterion but 2008 was the most profitable year ever for Image Entertainment according to recently released financial statements. I may not be remembering correctly but I think a press release from a year or so ago, stated that Criterion made up around 25% of Image's overall revenues.

ianungstad wrote:Well I don't know how much it reflects the sales at Criterion but 2008 was the most profitable year ever for Image Entertainment according to recently released financial statements. I may not be remembering correctly but I think a press release from a year or so ago, stated that Criterion made up around 25% of Image's overall revenues.

Was it profit or turnover? Criterion would have sold plenty of dvd's, but what percentage of sales came from the many heavily discounted sales over the last 8 or so months. Criterion were hoping to empty the warehouse before moving, and they must have been offering huge discounts for Amazon, Dvdempire, Dvdplanet, Deepdiscount etc to have a front page sale. So, perhaps the sales were there, but profits were modest.

On Criterion's FB page, they just had a contest worth a $10 gift certificate: first one to answer what their bestselling 2009 title was wins.

The correct answer?

Spoiler

Science Is Fiction: 23 Films by Jean Painleve

=D>

I guess that throws out the "Ben Button pays for [insert title here]" arguments.

It's the bestselling title on their website, not the bestseller overall. I'm sure there's a bit of disparity between what sells on Criterion.com versus Amazon et. al.

Oops -- my eyes totally missed that detail.

Time to resurrect a 14 year old thread. Glenn Kenny tweeted that "A reliable source" told him that Criterion's best selling Blu-ray is It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

Curling up in to fetal position now.

Tuco wrote: Tue Aug 29, 2023 6:10 am Curling up in to fetal position now.

Why do you have a problem with that? It's almost certainly subsidised any number of less profitable releases, and nobody's forcing you personally to watch it with eyes clamped open like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange.

Similarly, I imagine few devotees of BFI releases pay much attention to the British Transport Films catalogue, but there's a reason why it's gone to fifteen separate two-disc DVD editions, two Blu-ray volumes and multiple reissues in various permutations. (Taking over most of the BTF catalogue when British Rail was privatised in the mid-1990s was one of the most commercially astute decisions the BFI ever made!)

I’m just surprised that anyone’s surprised. After all it’s a mad ma-

I’m not surprised it’s a best seller, I am surprised it’s THE best seller. I guess a UHD is right around the corner

It's surprising to me because I don't know a single person IRL who has ever referenced a single joke from it or even mentioned it by name, and this includes the few times I've seen the homage in that episode of The Simpsons with a bunch of dorm mates. I don't think age has anything to do with it - I remember classmates making references to Abbott and Costello, The Honeymooners, the Marx Brothers, etc. whether it's a joke in a school play, Halloween or just goofing around, but never anything about that movie.

At least we know of one big director who is a fan of it

I'm going to watch it one of these days just to see if it's actually as bad as people on here make it out to be. I will also be doing to same with the Norman Mailer films that were released in that Eclipse set.

Domino!

Terry Thomas and especially Dick Shawn are very funny in it. Shawn has only 2 or 3 scenes but I laugh out loud every time I see them. Overall, it's a mixed bag and too long, but I can see why it's popular.

I can think of 20 or 30 Criterion titles that are much bigger headscratchers as to why they are in the Collection. I'm sure we all have titles that we like to shit on as being unworthy of the Criterion label. At least this one is helping to subsidize some lesser-known titles, some of which we will eventually shit on as being unworthy. A perfect circle. Very low stakes. Bring on the 4K of Armageddon.

yoloswegmaster wrote: Tue Aug 29, 2023 7:11 pm At least we know of one big director who is a fan of it

On brand

hearthesilence wrote: Tue Aug 29, 2023 6:43 pm It's surprising to me because I don't know a single person IRL who has ever referenced a single joke from it or even mentioned it by name

I've only ever seen this movie once, on a double VHS in elementary school, put on by my friend's parents who were convinced we would adore it, and we couldn't have been more bored. These were pretty cool parents, too, and perhaps the least intrusive around forcing their tastes in art onto others. If I recall correctly, other parents joined the effusive praise around it when we expressed how awful we felt it was. I'd be curious about the demographics for not just collecting physical media, but this title in particular, because I think there's a generation of non-cinephiles who got a lot out of this and are likely the target audience contributing to this statistic

I don't know if it's about joke-referencing as much as attraction to a road movie containing a nonstop cameo 'Who's Who' train of "fun" for people who grew up with certain icons at a certain time

https://twitter.com/Glenn__Kenny/status ... 3591547058

This is the tweet in question. In the context of the thread it’s quite probably a joke. In either case, it’s simply not plausible.

cdobbs wrote: Tue Aug 29, 2023 9:59 pm https://twitter.com/Glenn__Kenny/status ... 3591547058

This is the tweet in question. In the context of the thread it’s quite probably a joke. In either case, it’s simply not plausible.

The moment I saw the tweet and claim, my first thought that came to mind was, “What about the Wes Anderson’s?” Back when the Criterion website would display comments and your collection (ugh, the gold ol’ times), The Royal Tenenbaums had over 10,000 individuals logging it in their collection.

As Wes has grown ever more popular in subsequent years, I cannot imagine all his movies NOT being one of the best sellers if not one of them being the top seller.