criterionforum.org

Napier wrote:Hey, at least it's not picture-boxed! =D>

Criterion wouldn't picture-box it on Blu, either.

aox wrote:It was triodelover whining about a review that he/she actually agreed with word-for-word and getting hung up on some dumb rating system.

No, we aren't disagreeing about that anymore. We've moved on to disagreeing over your ability to read. Look, if you have to win, just say so. I'll let you declare victory and take a lap. Just don't keep misrepresenting what I wrote to fluff your ego.

The Studio Canal disc looks stellar in my book (got the Dutch disc, it`s the same version). Obviously there are some downsides to it but I feel they aren`t that much that you shouldn`t buy it.
It`s worth getting in my opinion

Looks like Diary of a Country Priest is getting scarce...B&N still has it on-line (or claim to) so I broke down and ordered it...it was the last of the list I wanted but didn't have and they are $50 on amazon already. the $5 coupon they have for members dropped it to $23

Are people not aware that you can still get all of these titles at Criterion's website? Country Priest, for example, is only $26.96, and currently in stock. Just buy more than one at a time and shipping's free too (within the US). Plus, there's the guarantee that if you order before the end of March, you will eventually get even the titles that currently show up as backordered. True, you might be able to find Orphic Trilogy cheaper somewhere else (since the additional $5 off doesn't help as much percentage-wise) but the lower-tiered titles (which a lot of them are) and especially the EAH titles are a steal.

swo17 wrote:Are people not aware that you can still get all of these titles at Criterion's website? .

yes we are, but there are people on this forum that aren`t located in the US (like me for example). And since the Criterion site only ships within the US & Canada, we are forced to buy from other online stores.

Received and looked at Lionsgate's blu-rays of Contempt and Ran....ok...detail was softer then i thought it would be...a little sharper that the regular dvd's but still a little disappointed...both for some reason has the same music when you were at the menu section?? Makes you wonder if the image would have looked better under Criterion's hands?....

It's a good damn thing I learned the lesson with Ran not to hock my DVDs when a BD announcement is made. If I had sold Ran and Contempt I'd be feeling pretty sick right now.

Schkura wrote:It's a good damn thing I learned the lesson with Ran not to hock my DVDs when a BD announcement is made. If I had sold Ran and Contempt I'd be feeling pretty sick right now.

Just curious. Have you actually seen either of the BDs?

EDIT: I'm not trying to be confrontational above (although re-reading it makes it seem that way even to me.) I am really curious. There seems to be a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth on many forums - and most others are far worse than here - and the vast majority of those commenting appear to be relying on computer screen caps at various site and some widely divergent reviews, some of which are of dubious provenance. There's a lot of comments along the line of "Well, SC really effed it up." and assumptions that somehow Criterion would have done it better. And that latter may be true, but we'll not know that for the foreseeable future. But it's worth remembering that the SD editions of both films from Criterion weren't flawless. It just seems that a lot of folks are leaping to conclusions both about these releases and the SC effort overall without having actually seen the disks.

Full disclosure: I own the SC/Optimum Le Mépris and plan to sell my Criterion SD. I took delivery today of the SC/Lionsgate Ran but haven't viewed yet and likely won't until after the Winter Olympics. Regardless of the result,I'll keep the Criterion for the extras.

Saw a few days ago that the Orphic Trilogy is already out of stock at amazon, so I ordered my copy at axelmusic.

TheGodfather wrote:Saw a few days ago that the Orphic Trilogy is already out of stock at amazon, so I ordered my copy at axelmusic.

If this is starting to get scarce, act now if you don't have it. It might be an early release, but it's an essential one, and as somebody observed, whatever SC might do with the films, they're not likely to reissue all three of them. I can see the price of this skyrocketing once supplies run out.

I'm low on cash and my local B&N has all the titles I want. Waiting for this next 50% off sale is getting brutal.

what if it never comes?!

What if there is no God!?

Is the Orphic Trilogy really worth it?
I realize that the PQ is better on the Crit than the BFI for Orphee, but I expect that'll get a blu upgrade so I'll hold out for that before double dipping again.

And Blood of a Poet and Testement have both been released by Studio Canal in the UK, judging by screen grabs the Crit doesn't look very different.

Are the extra features that good?

Peacock wrote:Is the Orphic Trilogy really worth it?
I realize that the PQ is better on the Crit than the BFI for Orphee, but I expect that'll get a blu upgrade so I'll hold out for that before double dipping again.

And Blood of a Poet and Testement have both been released by Studio Canal in the UK, judging by screen grabs the Crit doesn't look very different.

Are the extra features that good?

It doesn't have a heap of features across the set, but the home movie footage with Testament of Orpheus is nice, and the Jean Cocteau: Autobiography of an Unknown documentary on the same disc as Blood of a Poet is great. Interesting stories and even some brief footage of Cocteau with Jean Renoir, which sounds like such a 'famous French film directors' crossover.

The 45-minute "La villa Santo-Sospir", directed by Cocteau himself, is an essential film for anyone interested in Cocteau which to my knowledge is only available here. The only letdown of the set is that "Le sang d'un poète" has English intertitles, but there are only few of them, anyway. All in all, I think it's one of CC's best releases ever, and the image quality of "Orphée" and "Testament" is astonishing considering how old the transfers are.

About the going OOP of Pierrot Le Fou: I came across this link
It has a screencapture comparion between the new Studio Canal blu-ray and the Criterion disc. It`s pretty clear that the Criterion has the better transfer.
Was pretty shocked to see the difference between them. The first screen is the Studio Canal BD, the bottom one is from the Criterion BD




Way to mess up a release...

^^^Beaver's got it also.

It's worth saying that when I saw a 35mm print last summer at the Gene Siskel Film Center, the shot in that cap did NOT have the green tinting.

terrible

TheGodfather wrote:About the going OOP of Pierrot Le Fou: I came across this link http://www.dvduell.de/artikel/screen...an-luc-godard/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It has a screencapture comparion between the new Studio Canal blu-ray and the Criterion disc. It`s pretty clear that the Criterion has the better transfer. Was pretty shocked to see the difference between them. The first screen is the Studio Canal BD, the bottom one is from the Criterion BD

Posted link doesn't work for me. Here's a new one.
The jury is still out, I'm afraid ...

gyorgys wrote:

TheGodfather wrote:About the going OOP of Pierrot Le Fou: I came across this link http://www.dvduell.de/artikel/screen...an-luc-godard/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It has a screencapture comparion between the new Studio Canal blu-ray and the Criterion disc. It`s pretty clear that the Criterion has the better transfer. Was pretty shocked to see the difference between them. The first screen is the Studio Canal BD, the bottom one is from the Criterion BD

Posted link doesn't work for me. Here's a new one.
The jury is still out, I'm afraid ...

Edited the link in the original post, thanks

aox wrote:terrible

Really? Looks pretty damn good to me, and Beaver says the same. Though I own the Criterion, I prefer the skin-tones in some of the Canal caps actually, but the green tint scene is obviously a dealbreaker for some. Regardless, nit-picking between two high quality, simultaneously available hi-def transfers of a film is much more than we are usually allowed.

Zot! wrote:

aox wrote:terrible

Really? Looks pretty damn good to me, and Beaver says the same. Though I own the Criterion, I prefer the skin-tones in some of the Canal caps actually, but the green tint scene is obviously a dealbreaker for some. Regardless, nit-picking between two high quality, simultaneously available hi-def transfers of a film is much more than we are usually allowed.

I disagree. The skin tones look completely pale to me as does the tone. The colors jump out at me with the Criterion edition of the film. But I guess to each her/his own.

Of course, "terrible" just seemed hyperbolic to me. Like I said, I wish we had two like this to choose from for every film.