criterionforum.org

Every thief's dream: to steal a Fellini.

Matt wrote:I guess now that Criterions are next to impossible to find in retail stores, they don't need to waste money on measures to discourage retail theft.

Yeah, the AWOL security tags and top-tape are clear indicators that Criterion sells more to online retailers than B+Ms by a wide enough margin to just say "screw it"

domino harvey wrote:

Matt wrote:I guess now that Criterions are next to impossible to find in retail stores, they don't need to waste money on measures to discourage retail theft.

Yeah, the AWOL security tags and top-tape are clear indicators that Criterion sells more to online retailers than B+Ms by a wide enough margin to just say "screw it"

Aren't American publishers the only ones to bother wasting money on those crappy security strips anyway?

TMDaines wrote:Aren't American publishers the only ones to bother wasting money on those crappy security strips anyway?

We have to protect business from the consumer/population.

I've become a master at removing those bastards. It's been ages since any residue stuck to the DVD cover. I can usually take them off with one well-placed yank.

Yes. I take considerable pride in this achievement.

(Actually I've found the best method is to open the DVD case before removing the sticker. This tears the sticker in half, and I generally have no trouble removing each half, moving from the middle outward.)

I just use a box cutter to cut along the DVD case's seam, then peel off in two successive rips. Pretty easy

karmajuice wrote:I've become a master at removing those bastards. It's been ages since any residue stuck to the DVD cover. I can usually take them off with one well-placed yank.

Yes. I take considerable pride in this achievement.

(Actually I've found the best method is to open the DVD case before removing the sticker. This tears the sticker in half, and I generally have no trouble removing each half, moving from the middle outward.)

High humidity is a major factor, especially for older titles that have had the seals on for, what could be, years.

It just occurred to me that this:

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/2794/528_box_348x490.jpg[/img]

actually looks a bit like Zwigoff.

Minkin wrote:Skillman explains the [Stagecoach] cover/that Wayne interior.

Hmm. I rather prefer his first thought.

It's not much better than the dreck they ended up with, however, with the disc in my hand I'm happy to have it in the best possible form. I just think it's a shame that the best DVD company in the world insists upon dating their discs with hip art that never holds up (see spines 1-100 or so).

I for one really like the Stagecoach cover - as an alternative to black and white or sepia-toned solutions it works nicely. The colours are just right. I'm not so crazy about the John Waynes in triplicate, but at least it's not the main image on the front. It's certainly not dreck - it looks like the work of a clever designer.

Anyone else's Blu set of the Brakhage have the Blu-Ray sticker on the box itself? This doesn't bother me like I know it would some people here, but I found it curious all the same.

med wrote:Anyone else's Blu set of the Brakhage have the Blu-Ray sticker on the box itself? This doesn't bother me like I know it would some people here, but I found it curious all the same.

I believe I remember a similar thing happening to somebody over at the Facebook page and Criterion replied asking for an email as to where you bought it. They made it sound less of a manufacturing issue and more of a store opening and repackaging problem.

bugsy_pal wrote:I for one really like the Stagecoach cover - as an alternative to black and white or sepia-toned solutions it works nicely. The colours are just right. I'm not so crazy about the John Waynes in triplicate, but at least it's not the main image on the front. It's certainly not dreck - it looks like the work of a clever designer.

Same here. I love the current cover. Don't care for the acid-Wayne on the inside (irony?), but whatever. I certainly prefer it to a screenshot.

Minkin wrote:

med wrote:Anyone else's Blu set of the Brakhage have the Blu-Ray sticker on the box itself? This doesn't bother me like I know it would some people here, but I found it curious all the same.

I believe I remember a similar thing happening to somebody over at the Facebook page and Criterion replied asking for an email as to where you bought it. They made it sound less of a manufacturing issue and more of a store opening and repackaging problem.

I ordered it from Criterion themselves! Had I got it from a store, I would've assumed that just what you had described had happened. Oh well, as I said, this doesn't bother me.

med wrote:Anyone else's Blu set of the Brakhage have the Blu-Ray sticker on the box itself? This doesn't bother me like I know it would some people here, but I found it curious all the same.

It was actually sent to me like that as well. I believe every Brakhage set is going to be like this.

For all Blu releases from now on or just the ones with boxes? Does the Yojimbo/Sanjuro set have the sticker on the box?

med wrote:Does the Yojimbo/Sanjuro set have the sticker on the box?

Mine doesn't. Neither does my Che box.

Don't those Criterion blu-ray stickers come off easily though? Recall pulling one easily off of Button's slip cover.

(Was just pulling some stickers off of various slip cases I'd accumulated, some are impossible to remove, a few are just stubborn, most are reasonable.)

DVDs for:
Mystery Train (basically the same as the Blu-ray)
Close-Up
Red Desert

My God, but the cover for Red Desert still looks like pure ass. I can live with the desaturated color, but the "composition" is horseshit, just a terrible, half-assed non-design. For one of the most carefully photographed films of all time, it is not the least indicative.

Cover for Red Desert I think looks better and better every time I look at it even though initially I didn't care much for it but the cover for the booklet would have made a great cover.

Well, it's simple and minimalistic, but not as bad as most of the people here are saying.

tenia wrote:Well, it's simple and minimalistic, but not as bad as most of the people here are saying.

I agree, most of their concept covers suck from design to craftsmanship, but the Red Desert cover actually fits in with what I recall of the movie. If memory serves, the cover is a image seen from the beginning with that weird electro-hum-popping soundtrack. It's quite jarring. The BFI cover was laughable and a poor attempt to the articulate the title.