Criterions Out of Print (OOP)

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
Post Reply
Message
Author
ALLCAPSAREBASTARDS
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2015 11:50 am

Re: Criterion OOP

#151 Post by ALLCAPSAREBASTARDS » Thu Nov 03, 2016 10:30 pm

JDHMathews wrote:I feel streaming is not going to surpass DVD/Bluray completely. A number of people will probably know that there's a visual difference between watching something at home on disc compared to streaming from Netflix or Hulu or even Filmstruck. Plus if a service goes down due to a glitch, a DDos attack, internet outage or whatever, it'll prove the biggest flaw with streaming and that the source is way far away from the viewer. The disc is right there for you to use whenever you want to.
But streaming quality will surpass Blu-ray quality eventually. It's a matter of time.

And the point about the service going down is a bit silly. It Filmstruck is down, I can read instead or go for a walk. We're not being cryogenically frozen and worrying about the electricity going off. It is annoying but not the end of the world.

User avatar
Yaanu
Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:18 am

Re: Criterion OOP

#152 Post by Yaanu » Thu Nov 03, 2016 10:53 pm

ALLCAPSAREBASTARDS wrote:But streaming quality will surpass Blu-ray quality eventually. It's a matter of time.
You may be able to stream in 4K, but there's still a question of whether or not you'll have the ability to utilize that ability to its highest potential. That is to say, you may only have the Internet speed to stream in 1080p, and even then your computer or television screen is 720p. And then it could end up being that the video being streamed is from a 480p source, despite there being a true 1080p transfer available on Region B.

Plus, they make 4K BDs nowadays. But there's still the matter of having a TV and a BD player that take advantage of this. It's pretty much the same issue that plagues 3D BDs: Nobody has a 3D TV.

BigMack3000
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:27 pm

Re: Criterion OOP

#153 Post by BigMack3000 » Thu Nov 03, 2016 11:01 pm

I never understand when people argue for a single company to control what i can watch and what timeframe I can watch it in, and argue against any physical media that would give me that control. Filmstruck, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, are all amazing supplements to my film watching experience, but they could never replace to flexibility of ownership. Why would I want to run into the situation of trying to watch a film I adore only to fail because the rights have lapsed and no service will happen to carry it for an undetermined amount of time.

User avatar
danieltiger
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:48 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA
Contact:

Re: Criterion OOP

#154 Post by danieltiger » Fri Nov 04, 2016 12:04 am

Yaanu wrote:
ALLCAPSAREBASTARDS wrote:But streaming quality will surpass Blu-ray quality eventually. It's a matter of time.
You may be able to stream in 4K, but there's still a question of whether or not you'll have the ability to utilize that ability to its highest potential. That is to say, you may only have the Internet speed to stream in 1080p, and even then your computer or television screen is 720p. And then it could end up being that the video being streamed is from a 480p source, despite there being a true 1080p transfer available on Region B.

Plus, they make 4K BDs nowadays. But there's still the matter of having a TV and a BD player that take advantage of this. It's pretty much the same issue that plagues 3D BDs: Nobody has a 3D TV.
All of that makes sense, but streaming quality will *eventually* surpass Blu-ray quality. As will internet speeds. The only real question there is whether a disc format will still be ahead, and if so which one.

User avatar
FrauBlucher
Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:28 pm
Location: Greenwich Village

Re: Criterion OOP

#155 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Nov 04, 2016 5:47 am

I'm not sure why it sounds like to me there are folks rooting against the physical format lasting, but it does. It's great that streaming is available but why does the converstation have to go to why PM will not be or should not be around.

User avatar
dda1996a
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:14 am

Re: Criterion OOP

#156 Post by dda1996a » Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:37 am

This sounds similar to every other digital vs physical media. Why buy books and cds when you can download them or buy them online? Well I personally love having and actually owning my films, cds and books. There is a wonderful feeling I get when I order and wait for it to arrive, then open the box and actually see everything surrounding the actual content i.e the cover, the booklet etc.
And I'm fairly sure as time will go on we will also see a new format to replace Blu Rays.

Noiradelic
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 12:45 am

Re: Criterion OOP

#157 Post by Noiradelic » Fri Nov 04, 2016 7:59 am

FrauBlucher wrote:I'm not sure why it sounds like to me there are folks rooting against the physical format lasting, but it does. It's great that streaming is available but why does the conversation have to go to why PM will not be or should not be around.
I don't see any people who've been members here a while and contribute here fairly regularly rooting against physical media.

Noiradelic
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 12:45 am

Re: Criterion OOP

#158 Post by Noiradelic » Fri Nov 04, 2016 8:01 am

danieltiger wrote:All of that makes sense, but streaming quality will *eventually* surpass Blu-ray quality. As will internet speeds. The only real question there is whether a disc format will still be ahead, and if so which one.
So far disc formats have always been ahead of streaming, because when the resolution is the same, discs look better than streams, especially when the latter fluctuates.

rrenault
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:49 pm

Re: Criterion OOP

#159 Post by rrenault » Fri Nov 04, 2016 9:51 am

I'm all for the peaceful coexistence of physical media and digital distribution. As for comparisons between physical blu-ray and 1080p streaming, it depends on there service in my experience. The HD streams on Netflix are often but not always up to blu-ray standards in my experience, but FilmStruck not quite, even if streams from the latter are still perfectly watchable.

ALLCAPSAREBASTARDS
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2015 11:50 am

Re: Criterion OOP

#160 Post by ALLCAPSAREBASTARDS » Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:00 am

BigMack3000 wrote:I never understand when people argue for a single company to control what i can watch and what timeframe I can watch it in, and argue against any physical media that would give me that control. Filmstruck, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, are all amazing supplements to my film watching experience, but they could never replace to flexibility of ownership. Why would I want to run into the situation of trying to watch a film I adore only to fail because the rights have lapsed and no service will happen to carry it for an undetermined amount of time.
I don't think anyone's arguing for a single company to control what you can watch.

The way I see it is: I have a digital library and I have a physical library. Both have their own limitations. With a digital library I don't get to choose what's in it, but it's a lot cheaper to have these films available through streaming than from physical media. Physical media's downside is that it's expensive compared to having a digital library and it takes physical space, but the advantage is that I have these films available at any time.

I think on the long run I'll be watching more films through digital services because it's more convinient and cheaper, but I don't think this will affect my purchase of physical media: yesterday I saw The Immortal Story on FilmStruck, for example, and today I'm going to swing by B&N to buy it.

User avatar
danieltiger
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:48 pm
Location: San Francisco, CA
Contact:

Re: Criterion OOP

#161 Post by danieltiger » Fri Nov 04, 2016 5:23 pm

Noiradelic wrote:
danieltiger wrote:All of that makes sense, but streaming quality will *eventually* surpass Blu-ray quality. As will internet speeds. The only real question there is whether a disc format will still be ahead, and if so which one.
So far disc formats have always been ahead of streaming, because when the resolution is the same, discs look better than streams, especially when the latter fluctuates.
I'm certainly not going to argue with that. Nor am I in favor of an end to physical media, as I'm also someone who prefers discs. I'm just saying that looking at the current state of technology and assuming it will stay that way has never worked out well. Internet speeds will continue to improve, streaming quality will continue to improve, media formats will continue to improve.

Will a disc format come out that's still ahead? I certainly hope so!

phantomforce
Joined: Sun Jul 28, 2013 2:01 am

Re: Criterion OOP

#162 Post by phantomforce » Fri Nov 04, 2016 10:37 pm

Personally, I wouldn't mind FLAC style digital 4k files that I can download for offline viewing and a 3d printer to print me my artwork and booklet at the snap of a finger.

In all seriousness though, the luxury of being able to simply sit down and access the movie of your choice instantly is quite nice compared to pulling out the physical format, loading in the media, waiting to load, etc.

Obviously, if its a top ten (or twenty) desert island disc or the packaging is just too good to only own digitally, than I'm all for it, but lately I feel a little ripped off even spending $20 on a disc with a mini poster taking up more space than I have, especially when a comparable digital stream is available at my fingertips with the same supplements and content intact.

Besides, I have Criterionforums Packaging section for when I want to admire some lovely physical media.

User avatar
Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Re: Criterion OOP

#163 Post by Luke M » Mon Nov 07, 2016 2:25 am

It's strange to me we have 4K Blu-rays before 4K broadcasts. I don't think HD was that way.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Criterion OOP

#164 Post by tenia » Mon Nov 07, 2016 4:59 am

Luke M wrote:It's strange to me we have 4K Blu-rays before 4K broadcasts. I don't think HD was that way.
HDTV broadcasts started in the US in 2000-2001 while the very first US BD releases were in June 2006. In Europe, it started in 2003 (2006 for France).
So except for countries late to introduce HDTV, indeed, the broadcasts were there before the physical support.

User avatar
TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Criterion OOP

#165 Post by TMDaines » Mon Nov 07, 2016 5:51 am

Luke M wrote:It's strange to me we have 4K Blu-rays before 4K broadcasts. I don't think HD was that way.
At least in the UK, it is not that way.

User avatar
Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Re: Criterion OOP

#166 Post by Luke M » Tue Nov 08, 2016 12:01 pm

So, fair to say lack of 4K broadcast support will hurt adoption of 4K blu-rays?

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Criterion OOP

#167 Post by tenia » Tue Nov 08, 2016 12:57 pm

UHD screens were sold before any of them (broadcasts and physical support) were existing so I don't think it's actually directly correlated. Even more so when speaking about the general audience.

User avatar
Yaanu
Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:18 am

Re: Criterion OOP

#168 Post by Yaanu » Sat Nov 12, 2016 12:51 am

I forget if "Buy at Amazon.com" is a sign of a movie going OOP.

If it is, then it's time to panic if you don't own The Killing.

User avatar
CSM126
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 8:22 am
Location: The Room
Contact:

Re: Criterion OOP

#169 Post by CSM126 » Sat Nov 12, 2016 4:49 am

Buy on Amazon can also mean

A)Criterion are temporarily out of stock at their own facility
B)The studio won't allow Criterion to directly sell the given film (ala certain Buena Vista/Miramax titles)

I would assume The Killing falls under A, probably due to waiting for a new print run, and Amazon happened to have carry-over stock.

User avatar
tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Criterion OOP

#170 Post by tenia » Sat Nov 12, 2016 7:08 am

The DVD still shows normally as in stock, so I too don't think it's OOP (at least not for now).

User avatar
JDHMathews
Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2016 10:21 pm
Location: Texas

Re: Criterion OOP

#171 Post by JDHMathews » Sun Nov 13, 2016 4:01 pm

I would assume that The Killing would stay. Plus, they still make the DVDs of the two Michael Bay movies so it's just Amazon available. However, it's out of stock for now at Amazon so who knows?

User avatar
RSTooley
Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 9:35 pm

Re: Criterion OOP

#172 Post by RSTooley » Mon Dec 26, 2016 10:47 pm

I'm sure I'm overreacting, but the Rosemary's Baby blu-ray is only being sold by third party sellers on Amazon. Amazon is also advertising 'only two more copies' of the DVD without the standard 'more on the way' in parenthesis (this is Prime eligible, but also through a third party seller). The discs are still being sold through Criterion's website, so are we to assume that they are between pressings?

The items are currently available through Barnes and Noble, Target, and Best Buy, so I think we are in good shape.

EDIT: And like that, it's back in stock. I'm an idiot.

User avatar
PianoMan88
Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2016 4:50 am
Location: Toronto, ON

Re: Criterion OOP

#173 Post by PianoMan88 » Wed Dec 28, 2016 2:58 am

Any reason to panic about "Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence"?

It is Out of Stock at Amazon (both .com and .ca) and also at B&N. A search on eBay reveals very few copies circulating. It seems as though Criterion themselves have copies available, but with no sale going on right now I would prefer not to spend an arm and a leg.

Is there any reason why Amazon and BN would not restock and is there any reason to worry about this particular Oshima title going OOP?

User avatar
Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Criterion OOP

#174 Post by Ribs » Wed Dec 28, 2016 11:38 am

I wouldn't worry about it - most of these stores tend to use the same centralized warehouses, and it took until October for some of the stock to replenish after the July sale cleared a lot of the extant stock.

User avatar
colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Criterion OOP

#175 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Dec 28, 2016 12:55 pm

I also recently bought The French Lieutenant's Woman from Amazon.com, but that only was available through third party sellers too. Perhaps its just standard practice for less recent titles.

Post Reply