criterionforum.org

Yeah, best method is just to add everything you want to your cart (at full price), then enter the coupon code before you check out.

It would behoove Criterion to waive the shipping cost on the $49.97 Bergman-Rossellini set.

Even with the code it's only a few dollars cheaper than Amazon.

If the last sales have been any indication, I'm sure they'll manage to sell them all regardless

ShellOilJunior wrote:It would behoove Criterion to waive the shipping cost on the $49.97 Bergman-Rossellini set.

Even with the code it's only a few dollars cheaper than Amazon.

Yes, Amazon's offering it for a very good price as well.

You guys are talking about the DVD edition, right, which is currently 45% off? The BD edition is only 41% off, $9 more than the Criterion price.

Well, that was fun. I reached the 500-point mark over a year ago and had a $50 gift certificate sitting in my email inbox that I'd forgotten about.

Matt wrote:You guys are talking about the DVD edition, right, which is currently 45% off? The BD edition is only 41% off, $9 more than the Criterion price.

He's saying that with the shipping cost that Criterion is forcing him to pay, the price isn't that much cheaper than the $59 offer at Amazon.

"forcing"

Indeed. Two dudes in berets with goatees and superfluous black-rimmed glasses just showed up at my doorstep. "You do like Ingrid Bergman, don't ya?" they said. Terribly convincing.

Kidding aside, Criterion posted "Selling Fast" and "Running Low" sections in regards to the sale.

Yes, several titles, including the Rossellini set, are now starting to run low. And Madame de... is "selling fast," so I have failed.

EDIT: When I posted that, I can't recall if it was the new Rossellini set or the War Trilogy that was running low.

Anyone notice the "themed suggestions" below the selling fast and running low lists? The category is "Monsters and Samurai." With Godzilla, Devil's Backbone, The Blob, Rosemary's Baby, Videodrome, and Seven Samurai, it seems like the category is a lot more weighted towards the former than the latter...

It's October, this is when horror movies sell!

Yes, but why throw Seven Samurai in there? Just include Monsters and Madmen in its place and call it a day.

Boy, I really hope someone got fired for that blunder.

Seriously. First dual format and now this. Worst. Company. Ever.

Rossellini was the only thing I needed to buy, and with coupons and membership at BN it would be about $40 with tax, but as Dom said there's going to be enough to buy in November. The only problem was the shipping, but it's letting me have I Married a Witch in the order as a preorder and it will just all ship out for October 8. After this I will keep doing some flash sale orders since I have about 165 to go to get the $50 bonus, but the trick is saving up things to get at the flash sale so you can qualify lol. It'll be easier after December when all the scheduled sales are over for a while.

You can preorder any upcoming release, you just can't get them for 50% off.

Moe Dickstein wrote:lol.

AHEM

doh!

Matt wrote:

Moe Dickstein wrote:lol.

AHEM

You do have to admit, though, Matt, that the idea of saving things up to buy in a flash sale is a true gutbuster!

swo17 wrote:

Matt wrote:Yes, just because it's 50% off doesn't make it any better.

If you simply must own Madame de... on Blu due to OCD or whatever, consider purchasing it from an individual third-party seller somewhere so that Criterion's sales figures won't pick up on it.

Or do what I did - I purchased Madame de... in HD from iTunes. As I'm not in the US, I can't buy Criterion downloads from the iTunes store or Amazon. But with the iTunes store, there is a workaround - I set up a US Apple ID, and purchased a gift voucher online for the US iTunes store (that process was not as easy as it sounds, but I got there in the end). Then I downloaded the film, first in 720p (as I had failed to set my iTunes downloads to default to 1080p). Then, to be able to play the film on my TV, I used the free little program 'requiem' to remove the DRM - it unencrypts the file without transcoding (only takes about 5-10 minutes) and runs on Mac or Windows.

Now I can play the downloaded file in glorious 1080p via my Oppo, and it looks nothing like the abomination that is on the new bluray disc. There is actually not a lot of difference between the appearance of the 720p and 1080p downloads, but they are both far better than the Criterion DVD. Amazing that a 4Gb file of a high definition film can come up so well.

Tip: If you try using Requiem to remove DRM, you'll have to have a computer that has a version of iTunes on it prior to 11.x. I think I'm using 10.6.x. You'll also need an older version of the Java runtime, which as with older versions of iTunes, can easily be found on the web.

Too late, Madame De all sold out!

Pretty awesome to see that Charulata is one of the ones that has sold out on Blu.

I agree Drucker! Charulata is one of the best releases of the year. It is such an engaging, interesting, and beautiful film. I am glad it is getting the attention it deserves.

New announcements are usually available for preorder on Amazon a few days after they're announced. The January titles *still* aren't up yet. Is this due to Criterion no longer being distributed by Image? Or a deeper conspiracy involving an effort to drive the HTF crazy by denying them the ability to pre-order IAMMMMW?