criterionforum.org

A Wal-Mart around these parts had the Criterion Fear and Loathing back in November; I remember mainly because it was so surprising to see it there. I don't remember what the price was, although $32 sounds about right (Wal-Mart rarely charges the full MSRP for DVDs).

Nihonophile wrote:

Mr Pixies wrote:Walmart is now selling the Criterion edition of Fear and Loathing for 32 bucks.

I saw that, hmm I wonder why??? Couldn't have anything to do with a certain author's death and their desire to cash in on that...nooo, couldn't be. I hate Walmart so much.

I can beat that. At the Wal-Mart by me they are selling Fear and Loathing for $56.95 with a sticker on the front justifying the price by calling it one of their "Dead Person Blue Light Collectors Set". Ooooh that Wal-Mart, it gives me such a huge boner just think about how much I hate them. In fact I like to think that I truely define myself as a person by how much I hate Wal-Mart.

...oh, and McDonalds too. Did you see Super Size Me...

According to Entertainment Weekly, Life of Aquatic was #6 last week and #3 the week before that.... Although it doesn't specify which version. Always glad to see Criterion in the charts (unfortunately, it's never the older movies)...

BWilson wrote:...with a sticker on the front justifying the price by calling it one of their "Dead Person Blue Light Collectors Set".

Are you serious?

(crickets, awkward silence)

FYI, the local Wal-Mart nearby was selling Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas before Thompson's death... about 3 weeks before his death, even.

Actually, I think what this means is that Wal-Mart had a hand in the conspiracy that murdered HST.

wow... i am all about conspiracy theories, don't get me started on Bob Marley and Bill Hicks, but Hunter? i seriously doubt it. if the government wanted him dead, they would have done it a long time ago.

i do miss the guy though javascript:emoticon('')

I just searched "Criterion" under DVD in Amazon, and sorted by bestselling. Here are top 20. Discuss.

1. Grey Gardens
2. The Royal Tenenbaums
3. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2-disc)
4. Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
5. Seven Samurai
6. 3 Films By Louis Malle (Box)
7. Metropolitan
8. Chasing Amy
9. Young Mr. Lincoln
10. The Third Man
11. Brazil
12. Kind Hearts & Coronets
13. Notorious (OOP)
14. Ran
15. The Battle Of Agliers
16. The Life Aquatic With Steven Zissou (1 disc)
17. A Night To Remember
18. Akira Kurosawa - 4 Samurai Classics (Box)
19. Rashomon
20. The Last Temptation Of Christ

Antoine Doinel wrote:17. A Night To Remember

...?

-Toilet Dcuk

Titanic still sells.

Bigger'n Jesus, apparently.

-Toilet Dcuk

IS THAT A LIST!?

In actual response, amazon's bestselling lists are based on the current (not all-time) selling status aren't they?

In which case I pity the fools who are currently purchasing Grey Gardens.
And question how an OOP Notorious is currently outselling anything.

Chasing Amy is even more odd. Kevin Smith doesn't seem to be at the peak of his popularity anymore. Maybe it has something to do with the release of Clerks II? Maybe not.

Yes, it's a snapshot of what is currently hot at Amazon re: Criterion.

As for Notorious, you can still find it new from other sellers who have leftover stock and I'm sure there are people selling used copies as well.

I think this list should be moved here:

http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=20

n. w. wrote:In which case I pity the fools who are currently purchasing Grey Gardens.

Clearly, the currently running Off-Broadway musical version is fueling those sales. Makes me wonder whether Criterion delayed the 2-disc set for a while & sent the 1-disc for an additional pressing to satisfy the current demand. In addition, they stand to gain more double-dippers when the new set finally does hit the street (a motive not entirely lost on them, I'd bet).

FilmFanSea wrote:

n. w. wrote:In which case I pity the fools who are currently purchasing Grey Gardens.

Clearly, the currently running Off-Broadway musical version is fueling those sales. Makes me wonder whether Criterion delayed the 2-disc set for a while & sent the 1-disc for an additional pressing to satisfy the current demand. In addition, they stand to gain more double-dippers when the new set finally does hit the street (a motive not entirely lost on them, I'd bet).

There's also a feature film being made starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore that has been in the news lately, which I'm sure has boosted sales.

I think this thread is a waste of time, since amazon's attempt to list anything in the correct order completely sucks. arrange the discs from price: low to high or vice versa, and it wont work, you'll get prices from all over the place. the list is bogus, unless ofcourse you checked every link and the sales rank defeats the next.

SncDthMnky wrote:I think this thread is a waste of time, since amazon's attempt to list anything in the correct order completely sucks. arrange the discs from price: low to high or vice versa, and it wont work, you'll get prices from all over the place. the list is bogus, unless ofcourse you checked every link and the sales rank defeats the next.

I agree, those Amazon ranking filters are garbage. Besides, anyone who is buying Criterion DVDs from Amazon--at full retail price!--is, by definition, clueless about the label, and possibly not too smart about other things (certainly not about saving money). I don't know if we can take them to be representative.

What we really need is somebody with access to Nielsen VideoScan to put up a list like this. Now that would actually mean something.

At my old job, I had access to Nielsen Soundscan and from what I remember it does not allow for ranking by studio. Feature-wise, Videoscan is a bit newer (the company I was working for considered buying into that program as well) but the search features were even more primitive. I presume it's to keep that kind of sales information to the companies themselves.

Antoine Doinel wrote:At my old job, I had access to Nielsen Soundscan and from what I remember it does not allow for ranking by studio. Feature-wise, Videoscan is a bit newer (the company I was working for considered buying into that program as well) but the search features were even more primitive. I presume it's to keep that kind of sales information to the companies themselves.

Oh, well. I guess in that case we'll never really know the relative sales of CC titles unless we hear it directly from the horse's mouth. I would definitely take the Amazon results with a boulder of salt.

Way overpriced IMO
Fellini
Altman
Godard
Kurosawa

eez28 wrote:Way overpriced IMO

How is 30% - 35% off "way overpriced"? I know it can't beat the DVD Planet and Deep Discount sales, but it's still a fine deal.

jaredsap wrote:

eez28 wrote:Way overpriced IMO

How is 30% - 35% off "way overpriced"? I know it can't beat the DVD Planet and Deep Discount sales, but it's still a fine deal.

I do believe, if not for the free shipping advantage, all these could be had for a dollar or two cheaper individually through DVDPlanet. When you include the current 20% sale, you'd be mad to buy these boxes.

Considering I always thought the main advantage to boxsets of pre-released films were to buy all the films for considerably cheaper than getting them individually, then even with the free shipping advantage edging out dvd planet (outside of this month), the price advantage isn't enough compared to the competition that I think its of the question to call it overpriced.

Compared to Amazon's usually ridiculous prices, then yes, it is quite a bargain.

Have you guys seen the coverart for the boxes yet? Every one of these directors are pictured sitting on a dock, amazing!