Criterion & Eclipse Cover Art & Packaging Babble-on Vol. 6

[cdnchris]

Grey Gardens
Nashville
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion

[feihong]

Nashville

Now, this is cool. I felt such relief, seeing that the Altman coming out this year is coming with such funky art on the covers.

[bainbridgezu]

Nashville

Now, this is cool. I felt such relief, seeing that the Altman coming out this year is coming with such funky art on the covers.

Opal amid the buses is such a great touch. I'd say this is one of the very best packages Criterion has ever put together. Each element is so striking and attractive on its own, and the whole thing comes together so well. Highly appropriate for the film, now that I think of it.

[feihong]

Opal and the buses are great. I like the inclusion of the Hal Philip Walker van above the technical specs as well.

[acroyear]

Y'know, I think I could get used to this whole digipak thing after all.

[Yaanu]

Y'know, I think I could get used to this whole digipak thing after all.

I was already okay with it, personally. Especially with a price point that nets you three discs (BD and DVD) for the price of a single BD release.

Though I'm not sure where people got the idea that one of these digipaks was as thick as two regular plastic cases.

[chatterjees]

I love digipaks, but I am not liking the thinning of booklet to make space for 2 DVDs in the digipaks. I am really disappointed with the Tokyo Story booklet! For such a great film, I would prefer to have a great booklet instead of two DVDs, which are never gonna be used.
I understand there could be other reasons too, for the size of the CC booklet. May be there is nothing much to discuss about the film. Everybody already know about the greatness of the film.
How thick is the booklet for Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion? From the pics, I can't really figure out.
Again, I love digipaks, and can't wait for the digipaks for most the February tittles I want (not sure whether they will be able to invent a 3-discs plastic case before February)

[matrixschmatrix]

The Toyko Story booklet on the original release had the Bordwell essay and nothing else, I doubt the rerelease or the number of discs has anything to do with the thinness of the new one.

[mallo543]

I love digipaks, but I am not liking the thinning of booklet to make space for 2 DVDs in the digipaks. I am really disappointed with the Tokyo Story booklet! For such a great film, I would prefer to have a great booklet instead of two DVDs, which are never gonna be used.
I understand there could be other reasons too, for the size of the CC booklet. May be there is nothing much to discuss about the film. Everybody already know about the greatness of the film.
How thick is the booklet for Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion? From the pics, I can't really figure out.
Again, I love digipaks, and can't wait for the digipaks for most the February tittles I want (not sure whether they will be able to invent a 3-discs plastic case before February) :)

I have the same sinking feeling. Those booklets for Nashville and Investigation look similarly thin. I love Criterion digipacks, but I love them as deluxe editions, with generous booklets full of essays and movie stills, and sometimes an extra blu-ray's worth of supplements. I will not love them as cumbersome cereal boxes with a pamphlet and a single blu-ray rattling around in them. And this change also means that we will get fewer supplements in general, since Criterion will need to avoid double blu-ray editions, which would translate to 5-disk editions in the dual format. I know we're not supposed to say these things, but I can't help myself.

[Adam X]

Again, I love digipaks, and can't wait for the digipaks for most the February tittles I want (not sure whether they will be able to invent a 3-discs plastic case before February)

Maybe the smiley suggests you're joking, but I don't understand why people keep wondering about multi-disc cases being possible. Is this just because they don't seem to use them much in the US?
There are plastic blu-ray cases used for TV shows and the like, that will fit up to 6 discs, and and are still be no thicker than one of Criterion's single-disc cases. Though of course, there's no room for a booklet in these.

[chatterjees]

Again, I love digipaks, and can't wait for the digipaks for most the February tittles I want (not sure whether they will be able to invent a 3-discs plastic case before February)

Maybe the smiley suggests you're joking, but I don't understand why people keep wondering about multi-disc cases being possible. Is this just because they don't seem to use them much in the US?
There are plastic blu-ray cases used for TV shows and the like, that will fit up to 6 discs, and and are still be no thicker than one of Criterion's single-disc cases. Though of course, there's no room for a booklet in these.

I do want some of them in digipaks. In my experience, I have never seen a clear multi-discs plastic cases (anything more than 2 discs). You surely don't want Criterion to use those blue colored cases, right?
I don't need a digipak for Fantastic Mr. Fox for sure. Yes, digipaks for the Hitch, Tess and Jules and Jim will surely make me happy.
I have seen a 3-discs Criterion release in a clear plastic case (Science is Fiction). I just hope that they can come up with something like that for dual format releases (when the number of discs is 3).

[Adam X]

No, you're right of course, the blue cases aren't very pretty. My point was just that multi-disc cases aren't an impossibility. The Digipak is a clear choice by Criterion, rather than an only option sort of thing.

[tenia]

I don't understand at all this ranting about how the switch to DF would affect the thickness of the booklets. Criterion have released titles with very different booklets before going DF, some being only 4 pages long (like for Rushmore or The Royal Tenenbaums) and some 80 pages long (Slacker, for instance). Whether it's DF or not has nothing to do with it.
For instance, Breathless will be re-released as DF, and will retain its thick booklet.

[mallo543]

For instance, Breathless will be re-released as DF, and will retain its thick booklet.

I think you're right about the Breathless booklet, based on the product info on the Criterion website. But still, the digipack will need to be almost twice as thick as the original. I'm not trying to beat a dead horse, but going forward, the increased width of these releases is probably going to make me more selective about what I buy. Which I should probably do anyway. And if the company needs to do this to stay viable, or to expand the number of titles they're able to release each month, then of course I'm all for it.

[Moe Dickstein]

Science is Fiction is 3 discs in a single scanavo, albeit DVD height - but the case could be reworked for Blu. The third disc goes under the booklet.

[chatterjees]

I don't understand at all this ranting about how the switch to DF would affect the thickness of the booklets. Criterion have released titles with very different booklets before going DF, some being only 4 pages long (like for Rushmore or The Royal Tenenbaums) and some 80 pages long (Slacker, for instance). Whether it's DF or not has nothing to do with it.
For instance, Breathless will be re-released as DF, and will retain its thick booklet.

You actually have to read my ranting again. You missed something. My ranting is not actually about the packaging. I hope you will agree with me regarding the importance of Tokyo Story. I am just upset that they only came up with few pages worth of a booklet! A more rigorous and detailed booklet could have been more appreciated. I am little weird, incomplete treatment to an important classic makes me sad. Yes, I call it an incomplete treatment.

Science is Fiction is 3 discs in a single scanavo, albeit DVD height - but the case could be reworked for Blu. The third disc goes under the booklet.

Moe, you are absolutely right. I used that example too in my previous post. I also hope they can rework that size of the 3-discs case for their future 3-discs DF releases. Honestly, there is no need to have digipaks for any 3 discs packs.

[acroyear]

Y'know, I think I could get used to this whole digipak thing after all.

I should have put an emphasis on the "could" part of my post. Still prefer the standard plastic cases.

As someone who has a music collection including CD digipacs dating back to the early 90's I say from experience that it seems no amount of delicate handling saves the packaging from scuffs and weathered edges over time. It's as if they appear like wrinkles on a human face.

At least Criterion's digipacs seem a bit sturdier than other physical media boxes I have hoarded from the past.

[tenia]

You actually have to read my ranting again. You missed something. My ranting is not actually about the packaging. I hope you will agree with me regarding the importance of Tokyo Story. I am just upset that they only came up with few pages worth of a booklet! A more rigorous and detailed booklet could have been more appreciated. I am little weird, incomplete treatment to an important classic makes me sad. Yes, I call it an incomplete treatment.

I understood that you were ranting about the switch to DF being accompanied by a risk to have booklets with less content. My bad, then.

Honestly, there is no need to have digipaks for any 3 discs packs.

I would be surprised if it keeps on like this. Even if I prefer digipacks, there are already solutions for 3 discs plastic cases for BDs, and I'm quite sure it would also be cheaper to use for Criterion.

[movielocke]

in terms of width, I compared the other day the new DF tokyo story to the old DVD tokyo story (in a double alpha wide case) and the DF case is a few mm thinner than the DVD case but it's also a couple mm thicker than a regular criterion bluray case. so it could be worse.

[adavis53]

I would be surprised if it keeps on like this. Even if I prefer digipacks, there are already solutions for 3 discs plastic cases for BDs, and I'm quite sure it would also be cheaper to use for Criterion.

not to mention all the extra design work that has to go into digipaks instead of the scanavos. not that i'm usually pretty pleased with their artwork but i'm sure that's an extra annoyance in their using them.

[tenia]

not to mention all the extra design work that has to go into digipaks instead of the scanavos.

Actually, when you think about, you could do a Scanavo design with the cover + one intern artwork, and the digipack exactly the same, like they did with Sweet Smell of Success, which is all yellow inside the digipack (so also 2 designs in total).

Also, seing how most of the digipacks are usually quite simple in their internal artwork, I would be surprised if that needs a non negligible work compared to the whole designing needed time.

[Yaanu]

in terms of width, I compared the other day the new DF tokyo story to the old DVD tokyo story (in a double alpha wide case) and the DF case is a few mm thinner than the DVD case but it's also a couple mm thicker than a regular criterion bluray case. so it could be worse.

Can you take a picture of the size differences? It's hard to visualize the differences when you can't actually see it.

[swo17]

It's exactly the same width as the Spirit of the Beehive digipak, in case you have that to compare to. (Which you should!)

[Yaanu]

It's exactly the same width as the Spirit of the Beehive digipak, in case you have that to compare to. (Which you should!)

Nah, I don't. I've been holding out for BDs when it comes to Criterion. Though that doesn't mean I haven't seen the films; the local library is a boon when it comes to weekend Criterion movies.

[Clodius]

Trick question! No one this site has friends. And if they did, they couldn't invite them over otherwise they'd see how much the Zatoichi set sticks out in my shelf that isn't 12'' deep and I'll lose respect of my peers and family.

The disorganization of your Blu-Ray collection has brought great dishonor upon your family and ancestors. I will gladly act as your second when you commit Harakiri to make amends for your shame.