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The only titles I don't own are the DVDs of Le Doulos and Mafioso (although I have the SC R2 Le Doulos DVD), should I buy them or wait for a possible SC BD?

Le Cercle rouge is also going OOP.

swo17 wrote:Le Cercle rouge is also going OOP.

Sorry about that, I amended the above list accordingly.

Fortunately I've seen all of those and bought the ones I want, with the exception of Leon Morin, Priest. Looks like that's going to the top of my Netflix queue....

Also, I'm guessing this means that Rialto's rights lapsed back to SC and therefore Criterion's? Is that how this works in these cases?

Léon Morin may actually be my favorite Melville. Fail to buy it now at your own peril.

swo17 wrote:Léon Morin may actually be my favorite Melville. Fail to buy it now at your own peril.

Eh, I don't blind buy, and I'm traveling this weekend because of the holiday. However, you have a point and amazon.com only has 10 copies left...

Guess I'll watch the Youtube version later tonight, at least partially.

For those who have seen Twilight Time's mindblowing release of the equally mindblowing Rapture, the star of that film, Patricia Gozzi, has a featured role in Léon Morin, Priest, one of very few before she stopped acting altogether in the early 1970s. Reason enough to pick it up, she was a very talented young actress who has the unique distinction of being in films that are not all that easy to find.

Rialto renewed their theatrical distribution deal with StudioCanal, but the home video rights went back to StudioCanal, therefore our friends at Lionsgate now have them.


About blind buying Léon Morin, if you don't like it, you should have no problem getting your money back by reselling it.

Yeah - blind buying OOP Criterion titles is the safest investment on the planet. Though somehow I still can't bring myself to buy the Criterion transfer of Le cercle rouge after what I heard on this site about its lack of authenticity when compared to the StudioCanal transfer in the UK.

The BD improves upon the DVD, but still has its detractors. I think it looks fine.

I'm speaking more about the color issues - I thought it looked better than the SC when I saw screenshots, but apparently the bluish tint is very much a part of the source material that Criterion whitewashed. Unless I was mis-informed.

There was a longish gap between The Third Man going out of print and them discontinuing the replacement cases for it, wasn't there? I want to get one for my copy of Marienbad sooner or later, but obviously I'd rather wait until I don't have pay $5 shipping on my $5 purchase.

swo17 wrote:Léon Morin may actually be my favorite Melville. Fail to buy it now at your own peril.

Definitely up there. Blind bought it when it came out and it quickly went on to become one of his best films for me.

What is the overall number of OOP titles in the Collection now?

Marienbad bluray is only 23 on amazon right now, not bad. I've held off that one because I wanted a keepcase and was hoping it'd show up in stores, but now it's mine. per dvdpricesearch.com looks like the lowest price on le doulos is at DVD planet, those were the only two I needed.

mfunk9786 wrote:I'm speaking more about the color issues - I thought it looked better than the SC when I saw screenshots, but apparently the bluish tint is very much a part of the source material that Criterion whitewashed. Unless I was mis-informed.

Sorry, I was actually referring to the colors, i.e. the color scheme on the BD is an improvement over the color scheme on the DVD.

matrixschmatrix wrote:There was a longish gap between The Third Man going out of print and them discontinuing the replacement cases for it, wasn't there? I want to get one for my copy of Marienbad sooner or later, but obviously I'd rather wait until I don't have pay $5 shipping on my $5 purchase.

I was able to get a replacement case for Man Who Fell To Earth quite a while after it went OOP, so I'd think they'll have Marienbad cases around for some time yet.

What does this mean for the rest of Criterion's films licensed from Rialto?

The Two of Us, Classe tous risques, Fanfan La Tulipe, Made in U.S.A.

None of them are streaming on Hulu which leads me to believe they're the next to go...

None of those are StudioCanal, so they should remain in print. Remember, the problem is not with Rialto, though it often just looks that way since Rialto gets the bulk of their licenses from StudioCanal.

Also, there is never any danger of them running out of copies of Fanfan la tulipe.

Oof, that's less than two years on the market for Leon Morin, Priest. Obviously Criterion knew what they were getting into when they decided to release it, but still.

Still more time than Straw Dogs.

swo17 wrote:Also, there is never any danger of them running out of copies of Fanfan la tulipe.

Wish I had seen this post before I bought 50 copies in a panic.

On the bright side, you'll never run out of coasters.

med wrote:

swo17 wrote:Also, there is never any danger of them running out of copies of Fanfan la tulipe.

Wish I had seen this post before I bought 50 copies in a panic.

That's the last time I take financial advice from Med! (collapses onto bed made of Border Radio DVDs)