Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[hearthesilence]

That's a good point because arguably we've seen it play out with music and how it was a big factor in decimating CD sales. (Vinyl's resurgence is negligible given the volume sold - CD's were selling at exponentially greater numbers as a common household purchase.) But the problem is everyone else is doing it, so you're left with a conundrum - do we risk hurting our physical sales or are we going to risk hurting our streaming service which is possibly more lucrative in the long run? I think the prevailing theory is that the core purchasers who buy physical media want physical media period, and since Blu-rays are already a niche purchase, it's already regarded the way CD's are in their current mild resurgence.

[DimitriL]

That’s always been the argument I saw against them streaming 4k - it’s potentially less incentive to invest in physical media. Also, it would require a not-inconsiderable investment with their server partners for a smooth 4k experience at scale.

[rrenault]

Definitely. It's inevitable given the way streaming is evolving.

But do they want to cannibalize their own disc sales? They can always control what they make available on the Channel, but picture quality is still a differentiator. 4k - especially as codecs mature and bandwidth increases - significantly arrows the gap between streaming content and physical media.

Well you already have the option to rent a good amount of their films in 4K via Apple TV. Also, their UHD releases are largely targeted at home theater enthusiasts who are going to buy the disc anyway if they love the film enough.

For what it's worth, I probably still would have physically purchased every Criterion 4K film I have even if the affordable 4K streaming option had been there all along, barring perhaps some of the Doinel sequels (in this case, I probably would have managed with a hard copy of just The 400 Blows).

The one question is would the non-Janus titles like Days of Heaven, Blue Velvet, etc. stream in 4K if they come onto the Channel for a couple months, but by and large, 4K streaming options have never wooed the demographic that primarily purchases UHDs to the point they'd abandon physical media.

The Channel introducing 4K might result in people "trying before buying" a few titles they'd have otherwise purchased blind, but raising the price of the Channel slightly to accommodate 4K would probably offset the loss of a couple blind purchases here and there.

[FrauBlucher]

I wonder how many people on this forum gave up buying physical media for streaming.

It is a nice month of releases. A little of everything for everyone.

Any reason to think that Grand Illusion could be on its way back with a potential UHD release? The Lionsgate bluray is OOP. Not sure if it's been that way for a while. I personally always felt Criterion would get that back as it's spine number 1

[Matt]

I wonder how many people on this forum gave up buying physical media for streaming.

I won't take the thread off-topic to get into my general viewing habits, but for the most part I've stopped blind-buying Criterion discs. I used to buy anything that remotely stirred my interest. Now I just buy must-own favorites. I'm a charter subscriber of the Channel, so a lot of what I might once have bought blindly shows up there first, and that's usually good enough for me.

[Michael Kerpan]

I buy things from time to time, and I rarely upgrade unless I find my exisisting version seriously deficient. Thus, my very sub-optimal Norstein DVD will hopefully soon be superseded by the new BluRay version.

[ryannichols7]

I wonder how many people on this forum gave up buying physical media for streaming.

It is a nice month of releases. A little of everything for everyone.

Any reason to think that Grand Illusion could be on its way back with a potential UHD release? The Lionsgate bluray is OOP. Not sure if it's been that way for a while. I personally always felt Criterion would get that back as it's spine number 1

I certainly will scope out releases before buying them on there, but I have a very, very hardline rule that if I own something on disc, it will be watched on there as opposed to the channel. that said, I would be stunned if anyone on this forum gave up owning physical media for streaming...at least I hope. the Criterion Closet's massive success has been a blessing, given that the push is there for Criterion to continue to invest in the physical product, and as much as I had some qualms about the announcements (let's face it, I always will, and it merely comes from a place of passion for this label to continue to always improve), they have been adding more extras to the discs which has been fantastic. Point Blank contains an exciting looking wealth of extras, and they even added an extra on to a DVD -> 4K upgrade for the first time with Trouble in Paradise (even getting David Cairns, who I'm a big fan of), so there's definitely a lot of improvements happening on the physical media side of things, especially with their consistently good 4Ks, some exceptions aside (El very much did not need to be in 4K, but I do appreciate that they made it so)

as for Grand Illusion, one can only hope! I like the Studiocanal disc with the 4K restoration but would be way happier with a Criterion 4K with their excellent slate of extras from the DVD

[FrauBlucher]

I would be stunned if anyone on this forum gave up owning physical media for streaming...at least I hope.

The only member I remember saying they gave up physical media was D50. He probably posted more than anyone else on the Filmstruck thread. I haven't seen this person post in a long time.

[rrenault]

Needless to say, Criterion has had a substantial HD streaming presence in some capacity since the early 2010s, and there was never concern over standard blu-ray sales being cannibalized by Hulu, FilmStruck, etc.

[DimitriL]

Of course, sales cannibalized by streaming services is exactly what happened to physical media since that time, so I think it's a different and much more cautious environment now.

[Altair]

It sounds like quite a few others, nowadays I'm less likely to blind buy a release - if I'm intrigued, I'll stream it first, then only buy it on disc if the film really resonates with me, due to a combination of budgetary and space considerations. No wonder some boutique labels now have disc subscription options as a way of guaranteeing sales, particularly for more obscure titles. I'm surprised in a way that Criterion hasn't introduced such an option.

[dwk]

I remember Criterion said they were planning a subscription service for the Eclipse line when they announced it, but that, obviously, didn't happen.

I too have cut back on purchases, focusing mostly on UHD upgrades of my favorite films and favorite directors (I still have the sickness where I have to have a complete filmography of my favorite filmmakers.)

Streaming, even though it is inferior to discs, does make up the vast majority of my film watching.

[domino harvey]

I can watch pretty much anything before buying these days but I’ve actually shifted in a different direction. I find myself making educated blind buys more often but with less volume. So instead of watching twenty films I might like via downloads or streaming, and then buying after if I vibe with it, I buy a few films that intrigue me or seem like good bets and just roll the dice. It just became too hard to watch everything first, especially with the pressure of limited editions etc, and it makes me more selective with my time (an increasingly precious commodity)

[dwk]

I've gotten out of the FOMO of limited editions by just no longer caring if I miss out on booklets (I never cared if I missed slipcovers or art cards.) I guess it helps that I find that most of the booklet essays these days are not worth reading. (This is also my general attitude towards a lot of special features. I'd rather spend that time watching another movie. Probably has somethjng to do with me almost dying a few years ago.)

[FrauBlucher]

Just a heads up, the 15th falls this Sunday. The Monday after is the Presidents Day holiday. So, announcements will probably be on that Tuesday or Criterion could decide to announce them this Friday the 13th instead

[ianthemovie]

Laura Dern confirmed in her Criterion Closet video that Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is coming.

[FrauBlucher]

My guess is we'll see this in May or June

[jt938]

What happened to the cover art and packaging thread? I clicked on it and it said "the requested topic could not be found" and then it disappeared.

[domino harvey]

What happened to the cover art and packaging thread? I clicked on it and it said "the requested topic could not be found" and then it disappeared.

Odd, it’s working on my end. Are you able to take a screenshot of what you’re seeing?

[jt938]

What happened to the cover art and packaging thread? I clicked on it and it said "the requested topic could not be found" and then it disappeared.

Odd, it’s working on my end. Are you able to take a screenshot of what you’re seeing?

Working now, I found it by searching it. It was in the recent posts category though it hasn't been commented on for a couple of days so no clue what was going on.

[swo17]

There was a new post there earlier but the author deleted it so it no longer shows up in recent posts

[dwk]

Per the newest Deaf Crocodile podcast, apparently they tried to get ahold of Allegro non Troppo and were told another company had the rights to release it and given that it’s yet to be released after what’s implied to be a very long time of the company having the rights to it, I think it’s easy to deduce that Criterion is the most likely candidate for who has the film.

GKids announced today that they have acquired the North American rights to Allegro non Troppo and the Bruno Bozzetto catalog

[TechnicolorAcid]

Per the newest Deaf Crocodile podcast, apparently they tried to get ahold of Allegro non Troppo and were told another company had the rights to release it and given that it’s yet to be released after what’s implied to be a very long time of the company having the rights to it, I think it’s easy to deduce that Criterion is the most likely candidate for who has the film.

GKids announced today that they have acquired the North American rights to Allegro non Troppo and the Bruno Bozzetto catalog

So I’ve heard! Really excited to see that one come out soon as it’s one of my favorite animated films of all time and one operating in roughly the same plain of existence as forum favorite Hellzapoppin’ with a sense of pure passion in the animated music numbers that gives way to a gleefully destructive anarchy throughout it’s live action framing device. Hopefully they do include Bozzetto’s other works too in a set but I’d be happy with just this one if that’s the only one they released.

[jt938]

Will the monthly guessing thread be opened soon?

[FrauBlucher]

They’re up