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aox wrote:I just checked, and 12 Angry Men and Rushmore is the same on the interior; plain white/blank. Is CC slashing their design budget?

That's really something that saddens me, because the cover, the inside and the booklet used to be as a whole wonderfully illustrated. Now, with the bland inside and the booklet using the cover artwork, it feels quickly / cheaply achieved.

As the dvd edition of Three colors comes with a fourth disc, does it have an extra digipack as well?

felipe wrote:As the dvd edition of Three colors comes with a fourth disc, does it have an extra digipack as well?

Nope. It's all in Red.

Wow, they still print DVD editions?

Did anyone ever find out why the 12 Angry Men artwork was changed?

The Lady Vanishes
Design for Living

mfunk9786 wrote:Did anyone ever find out why the 12 Angry Men artwork was changed?

The 12th Juror was angry with the cover art.

The apparent slashing of the design budget is disturbing and sad, because Criterion wasn't known only for its care in film transfers, but for the thoughtful, cohesive design of its packaging -- starting with the laserdiscs. Sure, there's always been unevenness -- some releases plainer, some fancier, and some downright sumptuous. That's a fact of life in any great series of books, recordings, films, etc. But when it comes to a series like Criterion, there's not a hell of a lot you can cut back on and hold on to that same reputation in people's perception.

I was bummed to find a cut-down booklet in the Beauty and the Beast Blu-ray, to the point that the DVD still sits here awaiting a decision from me on whether to regretfully let the DVD go once and for all, or scavenge the damned thing and give a booklet-less DVD to someone who cares about the film but isn't a collector as such. Now I read the comments about Veronique which I don't happen to own yet, and I feel compelled to get the Blu for watching (of course) but maybe pick up a copy of the original DVD as well. This of course is partly my own "problem" as a collector, but I resent having this kind of decision thrust on me by a company reducing the design of its product in the first place.

One more disturbing clue to budget-slashing is that I'm finding more damaged inserts, etc., in recent releases than ever before. I used to be totally complacent about picking up or ordering anything by Criterion, somehow always knowing it was going to be in perfect condition throughout. This is no longer the case. I'm on my second copy of The Phantom Carriage due to, first, a punctured case and artwork (damage hidden by a sticker) and a completely mangled booklet that had to have been shoved into the case by someone who had just had the worst day possible.

Charles wrote:One more disturbing clue to budget-slashing is that I'm finding more damaged inserts, etc., in recent releases than ever before. I used to be totally complacent about picking up or ordering anything by Criterion, somehow always knowing it was going to be in perfect condition throughout. This is no longer the case. I'm on my second copy of The Phantom Carriage due to, first, a punctured case and artwork (damage hidden by a sticker) and a completely mangled booklet that had to have been shoved into the case by someone who had just had the worst day possible.

For what it's worth I've yet to receive a single Criterion Blu-ray, which is packaged in their standard clear Blu-ray keep case, that hasn't been mauled by the protruding piece of plastic in the middle: it's for that reason that I don't like these cases. I'm not at home so I can't check my lastest B&N order for another week, but, regardless, I've had to stop caring about the booklets too.

I've never gotten one that had a problem... let alone "mauled"

I've never had a problem with mangled Criterion booklets, though I have had that problem with MoC booklets.* I'm not anal-retentive about these things, so no sweat off my brow.

*For instance, last UK order I placed included three MoC titles, two of which featured booklets that were either dog-earred or were slightly ripped. This is not uncommon for me.

Regardless of how often booklets are damaged, I don't see how this has anything to do with hypothetically slashed budgets. Manufacturing defects happen, things get damaged in shipping, and thus has it ever been so. Look deep into the archives of this forum to see years of complaints about crushed corners on box sets, covers slashed by box cutters, and booklets missing entirely.

I have ordered 30 BDs since CC started producing them, and I have never gotten one not in perfect condition.

Matt wrote:Regardless of how often booklets are damaged, I don't see how this has anything to do with hypothetically slashed budgets.

it might be referring to my above comment about The Rules of the Game, 12 Angry Men and Rushmore. Which is also apparent by the new Lady Vanishes.

Keeping a spare interior design on Blu-ray upgrades is nothing new. And the last few Criterion releases don't just have plain white interiors either. Rules is kind of a yellowish off-white, which I think looks rather classy. Rushmore has a muted multi-colored design on the interior that doesn't really come through in the pictures. And 12 Angry Men has a chapter list under the booklet (alright, this one could have been dressed up a bit more). However, in each case, I would assume the design cost more to produce than it would to just go with a plain white.

med wrote:I've never had a problem with mangled Criterion booklets, though I have had that problem with MoC booklets.* I'm not anal-retentive about these things, so no sweat off my brow.

*For instance, last UK order I placed included three MoC titles, two of which featured booklets that were either dog-earred or were slightly ripped. This is not uncommon for me.

Yup: 9 out of 10 MoC`s that arrive have damaged booklets in them. There needs be done something about that, it`s really annoying!

The text is too small to read them anyway.

Sounds like I was exceedingly lucky with my first ever MoC (Metropolis) which arrived a couple of weeks ago in the most pristine condition imaginable. I appreciate the heads up on that.

As regards budget slashing, my thinking was also that Criterion is either going with fewer man-hours for this function in-house, or they've cut back by changing the outsourcing. I don't know how they operate in this regard, or even whether the task of putting inserts into cases is automated, and I think someone said it is.

cdnchris wrote:Design for Living

Regarding the interior shot, with the disc hub positioned as it is, it looks like Fred March is doing his best Blue Velvet Dennis Hopper impression. Just struck me, and I snickered.

But they don't do interior artwork anymore so I'm not even gonna click that because they don't even do it anymore

I am absolutely in love with the Design for Living package. I only wish I liked the movie more. Let's hope they upgrade Trouble in Paradise soon and give it an equally classy treatment (never cared much for the collage appearance or brown/yellow color scheme of that package).

CSM126 wrote: Regarding the interior shot, with the disc hub positioned as it is, it looks like Fred March is doing his best Blue Velvet Dennis Hopper impression. Just struck me, and I snickered.

I thought of Predator when I saw it.

mfunk9786 wrote:I've never gotten one that had a problem... let alone "mauled"

All mine have had at least a torn cover in the middle of the opening edge and a few chewed pages from where they've been banging about on that piece of plastic. I do only own five or six so it is quite a small sample but even so. Naturally the ones in the digipaks always arrive fine, provided the digipak isn't compromised during delivery.

Why would Godzilla come in a box if it one disc and one essay?

To drive you crazy.