Collecting Criterion

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cpetrizzi · #1 Post by **cpetrizzi** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 2:01 pm

Is it Criterion's goal to re-release everything that's not OOP as a blu-ray, even the box sets? Do most of you sell/give away older versions when you upgrade? I'm still quite fond of the original black cases for 1-51 and haven't upgraded a single one of those yet.

On another point, how much does it bother you to have a blu-ray beside a DVD? I guess I just have to get over it, but the height difference bugs me so much...maybe I just have to rearrange. When I browse my collection, my wife says I'm in love with it....

Moe Dickstein · #2 Post by **Moe Dickstein** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 2:15 pm

I mix everything, because for me the spine numbers must be in order. The case height difference thankfully doesn't offend my particular OCD. I agree that the first 51 (Don't Forget Brazil) are great looking together and when I'm done I want to go back and get the First Design versions of those to have a complete original set of those.

I'm about 35 spines away from having a complete collection, and that includes having upgraded every available film to Blu. I never really let my Criterions out of the house for lending and such so having a DVD version is of no use to me when the superior Blu version is there. The only DVD versions I keep are things like The Tin Drum with a different cut and extras and The Last Emperor with the additional Television Version.

I don't believe it's going to be possible for them to upgrade the whole collection. They are on pace of upgrading about 24 spines a year, and they have several hundred to go. There is also the matter of not every title having the materials to do an HD upgrade, as usually the upgrades are based on a new restoration or transfer being done that is going to provide a worthwhile improvement. Even though the DVDs were mastered from HD sources, the older transfers would not hold up to today's standards for Blu releases.

jindianajonz · #3 Post by **jindianajonz** » Wed Jul 17, 2013 2:39 pm

I have always mixed my Criterions due to the spine numbers, but for a while I kept the rest of my blu-ray/DVD releases separated. I ultimately gave in when it became too much of a hassle to have to search twice for certain movies ("Did I actually upgrade Se7en to blu-ray, or did I just think about it?") and it was a pain for guests searching my collection for one particular film. And already having certain releases with weird heights (old Jurassic Park trilogy and the special edition of Serenity come to mind) made the attempt at having uniform height futile already.

Now that everything is integrated, it really isn't nearly as jarring as I expected it to be. I find that box sets and odd spine colors tend to stand out way more than the slight difference in height does.

cpetrizzi · #4 Post by **cpetrizzi** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 1:44 pm

Moe Dickstein wrote:I mix everything, because for me the spine numbers must be in order. The case height difference thankfully doesn't offend my particular OCD. I agree that the first 51 (Don't Forget Brazil) are great looking together and when I'm done I want to go back and get the First Design versions of those to have a complete original set of those.

Yes, you are right! Brazil is the last of the "original" LD logo spines. I have only the blue box set and keep it housed with my other box sets in a smaller shelf right above 1-50. I wonder if the original release (single movie?) is still kicking around somewhere!

Congrats on being so close to complete. It must feel great. Are most of them OOP or other? I had to stop collecting in the 300-400's so I have a ways to go before I fill in all the gaps. I'm just wondering, do I wait for the blu-ray release for the older movies or just buy the original ones. I was debating whether to go DVD to a certain point (say 341) and blu-ray the rest of the way. But I have some early ones as blu-ray (Monterey Pop) and there are ones OOP that will never be updated (421, The Fallen Idol or 402, The Milky Way). Is it crazy being so OCD? A solution, getting just DVD would be horrid!

I have an Excel spreadsheet with every CC movie, director, release date, CC release date, and more. It even has pull-downs so you can select if you want to see all movies by Kurosawa, for example. I tried attaching it here, but it got shot down as a "list" I think. It's a valuable tool if you are a collector.

HistoryProf · #5 Post by **HistoryProf** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 2:06 pm

I have box sets on top of a row of shelves, then in the shelves the blu rays are in numerical order, followed by DVDs in numerical order, followed by Eclipse sets in numerical order. I tried mixing them and almost had a panic attack when I looked at the finished result. I'm OCD enough though to know which is on blu or DVD and don't have a problem finding things. Keep in mind that this goes only for CCs. I have a separate cabinet for non CC blu rays, and when we moved I put 90% of my regular DVDs in a very large binder to drastically reduce their presence in the house - as my wife declared "This isn't a dorm room!" I've been fine with that, as the most important to me are on display, and I kept the various SEs and all blu rays out and rarely buy sDVDs anymore. The main issue on that front has been Archives titles. So I just have an area for those amongst some books and stuff. it works, and frankly she was right...it all looks much better now. And even she agrees that the CCs are so pretty they deserve to be displayed proudly. She does love them too.

Anthony · #6 Post by **Anthony** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 4:47 pm

I organize mostly everything by Director (except for TV stuff, animation, and Box sets like Bond, BBS, etc.).

Moe Dickstein · #7 Post by **Moe Dickstein** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 10:38 pm

Thanks Cpetrizzi!

I have all the OOPs, that was my first goal of collecting to get the crazy expensive stuff out of the way. Then my next goal was all the Blus, though along the way I just focused on getting the best eBay deals. I've now got all the released Blus, and finally just going to clear up the last DVDs.

My feeling is if you're concerned about re-buying but want a complete set, only get Blus right now, because then as more are upgraded each month it will reduce the number of DVDs you need, though you'll reach a point when you just need to finish DVDs. I'd say go for it if you want to be complete because not everything is going to get upgraded and you can always sell the DVD when it is (the resale value is still good even on Blu announced upgrades, enough to defray the cost of the upgrade in a big way if you wait for sales.)

I have to have all the spine numbers in their right order. The box heights changing doesn't bother me because the C Spine artwork still lines up so it looks good mixed in formats. I'm so anal about this that the box sleeves that have spines are displayed then the box contents next to it so that literally each number is seen in its correct order. Supplement discs and books stay in the box sleeve.

As of today, including stuff coming in the mail I've got now 630, so just 36 to go now. I'm probably going to get 12 more at this sale, so I want to have those last 24 plus the new releases for Aug/Sept/Oct/Nov by the end of the November BN sale.

I think once I'm complete I'll wait for the BN sales, Flash sales at the CC site and other deals and just "catch up" in big chunks at a time, only just get the ones I desperately want on release day. I also have a notion to go back and collect all the alternate artwork releases (The upgraded first 51, and stuff like Naked, My Life as a Dog and The Rules of the Game)

Not totally sure I want to venture down the Eclipse road though I may. If they ever decide to make that a Blu also series I'd be a lot more inclined to jump on it.

vsski · #8 Post by **vsski** » Thu Jul 18, 2013 11:11 pm

Moe Dickstein wrote:I think once I'm complete I'll wait for the BN sales, Flash sales at the CC site and other deals and just "catch up" in big chunks at a time, only just get the ones I desperately want on release day.

Very interesting to read what other people are doing. I'm at the stage that Moe describes above, as I am a completist and do have every single release either on DVD and/or BD. So now I simply wait for the next B&N sales and buy everything that came out in the interum, unless there was a CC flash sale that had me pick up some I didn't want to wait for. I also own all Eclipse sets and all Essential Art House releases that weren't part of the mainline and the complete Merchant / Ivory line.
Since I started collecting the day the first DVD came out (I did have some laserdiscs previously, but for financial reasons and coming late to the LD days, I was never able to get that many), I also have all the art work variations. Bascially what I decided to do after BDs got introduced is that I will only sell the old DVD if the content is identical both in terms of on-disc content as well as booklet content and the cover art is the same. However, I have kept all the DVDs that still show the old logos (up to spine 341) and only sell old DVDs that have the identical wacky C logo.
And like Moe I have them all ordered in terms of spine numbers. Initially the different heights bothered me and I kept BDs separate, but in the end, I realized with the different digipacks and box sets, I will never get a uniform look, so spine numbers was the most logical way to go (even if my OCD doesn't completely like it).

krnash · #9 Post by **krnash** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:51 am

vsski wrote:Very interesting to read what other people are doing. I'm at the stage that Moe describes above, as I am a completist and do have every single release either on DVD and/or BD. So now I simply wait for the next B&N sales and buy everything that came out in the interum, unless there was a CC flash sale that had me pick up some I didn't want to wait for. I also own all Eclipse sets and all Essential Art House releases that weren't part of the mainline and the complete Merchant / Ivory line.
Since I started collecting the day the first DVD came out (I did have some laserdiscs previously, but for financial reasons and coming late to the LD days, I was never able to get that many), I also have all the art work variations. Bascially what I decided to do after BDs got introduced is that I will only sell the old DVD if the content is identical both in terms of on-disc content as well as booklet content and the cover art is the same. However, I have kept all the DVDs that still show the old logos (up to spine 341) and only sell old DVDs that have the identical wacky C logo.
And like Moe I have them all ordered in terms of spine numbers. Initially the different heights bothered me and I kept BDs separate, but in the end, I realized with the different digipacks and box sets, I will never get a uniform look, so spine numbers was the most logical way to go (even if my OCD doesn't completely like it).

I mean this in the most friendly, jokey, respectful and slightly jealous way possible: you are insane.

#10 Post by **matrixschmatrix** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:04 am

Haha, yeah, you're crazy- I only have 350 Criterions, having 700 is just ridiculous

Professor Wagstaff · #11 Post by **Professor Wagstaff** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:22 am

I'm at 500 and trying to gather the rest, so consider me jealous.

#12 Post by **matrixschmatrix** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:26 am

Legitimate question, as someone who has absolutely sunk more money into this than I should and who has a ridiculous kevyip- do you intentionally buy movies you know you will never watch? Or do you just assume that whatever the movie, it being Criterion, you'll get around to it sooner or later, if the Lord tarries?

tenia · #13 Post by **tenia** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:31 am

I'm also half jealous, but not so much, because I wouldn't want to buy the SD releases to then upgrade them to HD just after (a practice I've been able to avoid with Criterion, since I started to buy them around when they started to release BDs).

Lowry_Sam · #14 Post by **Lowry_Sam** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:37 am

Hi everybody. My name is Sam and I'm a Criterionaholic. I only have 389 titles, but I have most of what is available on blu-ray. Except for Eclipse titles, I've pretty much been able to stop buying the (non-blu-ray) DVDs. You see it all started when....

vsski · #15 Post by **vsski** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 9:25 am

matrixschmatrix wrote:Legitimate question, as someone who has absolutely sunk more money into this than I should and who has a ridiculous kevyip- do you intentionally buy movies you know you will never watch? Or do you just assume that whatever the movie, it being Criterion, you'll get around to it sooner or later, if the Lord tarries?

Actually my kevyip is not that large (at least from what I read here about others) - probably between 150 to 200 discs, of which only about 50 are CCs. And no I would never buy a movie I don't intentially will watch. My biggest problem is that I have this insane notion if I buy a disc I also have to see every single on-disc supplement and that takes time. Although I have to admit the Marian Keane commentaries on the old Hitchcocks really did me in, I was ready to strangle that woman, so to keep my sanity I didn't listen to them after the first 15 minutes or so.

The only reason I'm continuing to do this is because of when I started. If I wouldn't have collected them from day 1 onwards there is no way I would go back and do this now or even 5 years ago. And while I like a great majority of the titles CC publishes, there are some that I could have gladly lived without (you know the ones I'm talking about).

And I'd be the first one to agree that I'm insane

.

jedgeco · #16 Post by **jedgeco** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 10:25 am

matrixschmatrix wrote:Or do you just assume that whatever the movie, it being Criterion, you'll get around to it sooner or later, if the Lord tarries?

I used to assume that, but I'm only kidding myself if I pretend like I'm ever going to watch (for example) the non-anamorphic SD "How to Get Ahead in Advertising." (But I had to buy it because it was going out of print!)

Moe Dickstein · #17 Post by **Moe Dickstein** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:17 pm

I know I'll never watch the Beastie Boys thing.

I have a collectors mindset so on one level the discs are the same as baseball cards, I just want the whole set, but I would say that the vast majority of them are something that I would watch or even be excited to do so. It's great having things on the shelf when you need it. Last month someone started talking to me about The Cranes are Flying, and it was great to be able to just go get it from the shelf for us to look at.

#18 Post by **matrixschmatrix** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:21 pm

Admittedly there's a lot of stuff I buy during sales or when I find it cheap with the intention of salting it away until, say, the urge to watch a super racist Zoltan Korda movie about British colonial administrators in Africa becomes overwhelming, but mostly the only time I get stuff I'm not actively looking to see is when it's a killer deal or when I really want to hear a commentary (like, I have zero interest in Antonioni but one of these days I'm going to watch Red Desert just to get the sweet reward of a Forgacs commentary.)

Moe Dickstein · #19 Post by **Moe Dickstein** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:46 pm

Agreed, sometimes even if I don't care bout the film, I will eventually listen to every commentary track I have

vsski · #20 Post by **vsski** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:52 pm

Moe Dickstein wrote:Agreed, sometimes even if I don't care bout the film, I will eventually listen to every commentary track I have

Then there is the rare occasion where it's worth to simply buy the disc because of the commentary rather than the film - Things to Come anyone?

rrenault · #21 Post by **rrenault** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:54 pm

Do people here ever buy used, or sealed only? And how fussy are you about condition? As for me, I try to take good care of my stuff, but I live in an old building that's not very well insulated, so my booklets, as well as my books for that matter, tend to get a little "warped" sometimes. There's just no way to control it, although if I moved to a better insulated apartment and then put them each under weight I'm sure they'd be okay. Is it worth being anal about the condition of the booklets as long as they're still reasonably presentable, seeing as some of them tend to be slightly dog-eared before one removes the shrink wrap anyway?

With that said, I tend to be fairly selective about what I actually buy. Generally, I only buy personal favorites that have a high replay value for me or true "essentials" I like to have as "references" even if they aren't necessarily favorites at the time I buy them (i.e. Breathless, Rules of the Game, Sunrise, Sansho Dayu). Granted, I've done my fair of "frivolous" blind buys, but I've tried to curtail that, so I'll only blind buy if it's either A, being announced as going OOP, or B, something I'm truly essential that I'm also dying to see like Red Desert or L'Atalante. I hadn't seen any of Vigo's work, but it was just too essential to pass up, and there was a B&N sale right as I was preparing to move to France, so I figured "I better get it now, as it could be integral to my film education."

Moe Dickstein · #22 Post by **Moe Dickstein** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:24 pm

In trying to complete the set for as cheap as possible, I've had to buy used.

I'm probably more lenient than most on here when it comes to condition. I even have a few that I got used that came with no booklet. I don't sweat that too much as I just make a note of it and keep an eye out for a better copy when I see it, and then I'll sell the other one to Amoeba. That's where this is like coin or baseball card collecting, first you want an example of each but you then hope to upgrade your poorer copies to something better when you can.

rrenault · #23 Post by **rrenault** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:35 pm

I'm not sure, but if you really wanted to you could probably contact Criterion for a booklet. As for me, I probably wouldn't sweat a light surface scratch or two, but a cracked jewel case or noticeably damaged artwork is something I'd probably be anal about. Even a slightly dog-eared booklet's okay as long as its still presentable and isn't an eye sore to look at.

I don't really think about replacing my Criterions with better copies, but if I could snatch sealed copies of Discreet Charm, Pierrot Le Fou, or Contempt for under $40 I'd probably bite. Not something you necessarily plan on doing, but when the opportunity offers itself to you, you think, "why not?"

I'm not a completist though. I probably only own like 35-40 Criterions altogether. And maybe another 35-40 non-Criterions.

Moe Dickstein · #24 Post by **Moe Dickstein** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:46 pm

I have asked Criterion to replace booklets when they were missing from new copies, but I don't feel it's their responsibility to do so for used copies. I just treat that as a buyer beware sort of thing.

rrenault · #25 Post by **rrenault** » Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:49 pm

Booklets missing from new copies? I've never heard of such a thing. Wow. As for my kevyip, it probably only numbers like 10 or 12, which I know is nothing compared to that of others on here. I have yet to watch my personal copies of Sunrise, Sansho Dayu, and La Collectionneuse from start to finish, although I'd seen all three films before buying them, and the last one I've had for almost three years!!

I remember once buying the 2-disc DVD WB release of Goodfellas way back when, and it came with 2 bonus feature discs, and no movie was to be found.