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The more I look at the Chungking Express cover, the more I like it for what it is and stop thinking about what could have been.

Upon seeing the full packaging for Salò on DVD Beaver, I can't help but wonder whether or not the white ring in the center of the discs is Criterion's last 'fuck you' to the people who bought the original on ebay.

It must be. What great packaging... especially the inside portion of the digipak... beautiful on the outside, ugly on the inside... really fits the film.

swo17 wrote:I was hoping for Marienbad this month, but now I don't want it to come out until they hire new cover designers.

They (or anyone) could release a new edition of Last Year in Marienbad in a shoe and I'd still buy it.

swo17 wrote:I was hoping for Marienbad this month, but now I don't want it to come out until they hire new cover designers.

That is truly extraordinary! Cover art first, movie second...

W:shock:W!

Eh, they can't screw up the movie. That just leaves the cover art and the extras. Not that anything like that Fanfan cover could possibly be extracted from Marienbad.

In any case, there should be an emoticon for "exaggerating for comedic effect."

swo17 wrote:Eh, they can't screw up the movie. That just leaves the cover art and the extras. [/i].

Tell that to consumers of the original Salo, or Getrud, or Mala Noche, or Jikogu, or...

As I've said many times before, they could package up Gremillon, Lupu Pick. Duvivier, von Sternberg etc in, lets say for variety's sake, the outer cover of a Swedish Erotica Cumshot Compilation (sponsored by Johhny Keyes' new line of platinum bone necklaces) and entitle it "Hot Jumping Disco Phlegm With A Retro Haircut" and I'm there. Cover art's fun to laugh at, but bad art is so much the norm rather than the exception, to take it too seriously and give weight in purchase-factoring would hobble buying habits to 2 or 3 a year..

For the record, I would never not buy a DVD for a film I loved solely because I didn't like the cover art (though your example comes close ). But, um, it probably goes without saying that "film I love with good cover art" > "same film with bad cover art."

HerrSchreck wrote:Tell that to consumers of the original Salo, or Getrud, or Mala Noche, or Jikogu, or...

But they would never do this to Marienbad. [-o<

I have just pinned down what's been bugging me about the Chungking Express cover...



...it's the Goodbye Dragon Inn cover (without all the pullquote clutter).

Great catch, Matt

Matt wrote:I have just pinned down what's been bugging me about the Chungking Express cover...



...it's the Goodbye Dragon Inn cover (without all the pullquote clutter).

Im sure that's mere coincidence, random chance if you will. 8-[

The chungking cover has grown on me, the actual picture is quite good, Its just the huge font that is too big and dominates the delicate, waif life beauty of Faye Wong. A small minimal font would work much better for this cover.

HerrSchreck wrote:

swo17 wrote:I was hoping for Marienbad this month, but now I don't want it to come out until they hire new cover designers.

That is truly extraordinary! Cover art first, movie second...

W:shock:W!

I like the fact that this thread never disappoints. Even after the Mishima artwork apparently signalled the End of Western Civilization As We Know It some months ago, the forum can still tap new depths of outrage with every fresh announcement. At least all the money people are saving by boycotting releases of their favourite films can be spent on their blood pressure medication!

zedz wrote:I like the fact that this thread never disappoints. Even after the Mishima artwork apparently signalled the End of Western Civilization As We Know It some months ago, the forum can still tap new depths of outrage with every fresh announcement.

The best part about the MISHIMA saga is that after forum members actually got the packaging in their grubby paws they started posting raves. It was a complete reversal and made the initial uproar all the more embarrassing.

On that topic, once I had the Mishima case in my hand, I thought it was fairly...dare I say it...beautiful. Actually, same goes for The Lady Vanishes.

You can't complain about complaining in the complaining thread, the world will fold in on itself.

jaredsap wrote:

zedz wrote:I like the fact that this thread never disappoints. Even after the Mishima artwork apparently signalled the End of Western Civilization As We Know It some months ago, the forum can still tap new depths of outrage with every fresh announcement.

The best part about the MISHIMA saga is that after forum members actually got the packaging in their grubby paws they started posting raves. It was a complete reversal and made the initial uproar all the more embarrassing.

I kind of wish they had kept the old Viridiana cover for this reason.

godardslave wrote:

Matt wrote:I have just pinned down what's been bugging me about the Chungking Express cover...



...it's the Goodbye Dragon Inn cover (without all the pullquote clutter).

Im sure that's mere coincidence, random chance if you will. 8-[

The chungking cover has grown on me, the actual picture is quite good, Its just the huge font that is too big and dominates the delicate, waif life beauty of Faye Wong. A small minimal font would work much better for this cover.

I think that's the price the designer had to pay for insisting on the wacky C being wrapped by the C from Chunking, since he's not allowed to make the wacky C smaller.

It certainly looks better than what happened with Bicycle Thieves. There was a half a cycle in the "B".

Cinephrenic wrote:It certainly looks better than what happened with Bicycle Thieves. There was a half a cycle in the "B".

Silly, childish question, I know ...

but why is the Criterion 'C' logo 'wacky'?

When the new logo first premiered, the filename was "wacky_c.gif"

denti alligator wrote:The Criterion Madame de... looks significantly better (from those caps), and probably more so in motion. The SS looks like it's been edge enhanced or something. It has that artificial digitial look. Ugh.

There's also the small detail that the packaging for the Criterion is about 7564 times (this number has been scientifically derived) better than second sight.

godardslave wrote:Theres also the small detail that the packaging for the Criterion is about 7564 times (this number has been scientifically derived) better than second sight.

Madame de. . . . - very attractive . I'm guessing, however, that there's going to be plenty of bitching and moaning about La Ronde and Le Plaisir, as they're both skinny digipacks, à la the individual Vardas, but they slide vertically into thin cardboard sleeves - not the kind of doubled (folded) stock that's been used, say, for a title like Patriotism, to give the packaging some heft, but rather a single sheet, like that used for the much-maligned Milestone Killer of Sheep.

Morgan Creek wrote:

godardslave wrote:Theres also the small detail that the packaging for the Criterion is about 7564 times (this number has been scientifically derived) better than second sight.

Madame de. . . . - very attractive . I'm guessing, however, that there's going to be plenty of bitching and moaning about La Ronde and Le Plaisir, as they're both skinny digipacks, à la the individual Vardas, but they slide vertically into thin cardboard sleeves - not the kind of doubled (folded) stock that's been used, say, for a title like Patriotism, to give the packaging some heft, but rather a single sheet, like that used for the much-maligned Milestone Killer of Sheep.

Just to be clear here, are the DVDs held in normal tabs like the Varda set, or slots like Killer of Sheep?

domino harvey wrote:Just to be clear here, are the DVDs held in normal tabs like the Varda set, or slots like Killer of Sheep?

Normal tabs - I was only referencing Sheep for the outer sleeve.

DVD Aficionado shows this cover art for the new Criterion Blu-rays:



It looks like someone just took the existing art and squished it to fit a Blu-ray case template. Still, this might be close to what they're actually going to look like when you have them in hand.