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I finally got my Marienbad from Amazon. I'd probably cope with the dinged corners except also the shrink-wrap is defective, leaving one corner of the package open to the world, which is now worn and dirty as they've clearly been passing by this copy for some time. I don't dare do a return as I don't think I'll get one back at this stage.

I haven't freed it from the shrink wrap, but it looks like the disc and booklet should be fine. The replacement plastic case from Criterion would be okay for any other title, but the embossed cover makes me want to keep it as a digipak. I guess I should write Mulvaney and see if they'll part with the old case...

Not telling my friends about this as I know they would just look and say it's nothing. Well, maybe the guy who collects comic books in those plastic sleeves wouldn't, but that's it.

Amazon has resumed taking orders for Army of Shadows on Blu-ray, with an expected ship date of April 29, and an Amazon Marketplace seller has new copies in stock at nearly 50% off list price.

lingo wrote:I finally got my Marienbad from Amazon. I'd probably cope with the dinged corners except also the shrink-wrap is defective, leaving one corner of the package open to the world, which is now worn and dirty as they've clearly been passing by this copy for some time. I don't dare do a return as I don't think I'll get one back at this stage.

I haven't freed it from the shrink wrap, but it looks like the disc and booklet should be fine. The replacement plastic case from Criterion would be okay for any other title, but the embossed cover makes me want to keep it as a digipak. I guess I should write Mulvaney and see if they'll part with the old case...

Not telling my friends about this as I know they would just look and say it's nothing. Well, maybe the guy who collects comic books in those plastic sleeves wouldn't, but that's it.

I'd say dinged corners are pretty much unavoidable for any digipak Criterion release if you're ordering it online.

rrenault wrote:I'd say dinged corners are pretty much unavoidable for any digipak Criterion release if you're ordering it online.

Sad but true, although it didn't used to be that way. That's why I'm always dreading when another digipack is announced and wait until the next B&N sales, so I can personally inspect the packaging (and hopefully find one among 10 that is not dinged). ](*,)

I guess my copy of Marienbad must be the exception. I'm not trying to brag, but I ordered it from Amazon along with Le Cercle Rouge right when the OOP announcement was made, and the digipak arrived practically mint, with no damage at all to any of the corners. There is still hope for those seeking pointy digipak corners!

Now my von Sternberg box set, that's an entirely different story ... .

B&N managed to get about 60% of all digipaks to me in mint/near mint condition. It's all the other US retailers that use the shitty bubble envelopes where there's a problem.

You have pretty much the opposite experience with BN/Amazon than we do in the States.

Has anyone that's ordered Le Cercle Rouge or Last Year at Marienbad from Amazon after the first week of April received their copies? I still have estimated delivery dates of April 24-29 and May 1-10, respectively, so I'm not very hopeful.

Also: what is up with the spine glue?! Frustrating to receive OOP DVDs with ruined spines. They have to be aware that this is an ongoing issue at this point.

Flike wrote: Also: what is up with the spine glue?! Frustrating to receive OOP DVDs with ruined spines. They have to be aware that this is an ongoing issue at this point.

Or they had old copies laying around that were a product of that issue which has since been resolved.

Drucker wrote:

Flike wrote: Also: what is up with the spine glue?! Frustrating to receive OOP DVDs with ruined spines. They have to be aware that this is an ongoing issue at this point.

Or they had old copies laying around that were a product of that issue which has since been resolved.

That's fair, as I haven't purchased anything that's debuted this year. Still, I must have bad luck.

mfunk9786 wrote:You have pretty much the opposite experience with BN/Amazon than we do in the States.

B&N have sent everything in boxes to me, or last time when they sent a few titles individually, they used these cardboard mailers that sort of suspend the DVD box, like the ones Amazon UK sometimes use for Steelbooks. Amazon US just seem to send stuff in these bubble envelopes - the complete opposite of what all the European Amazon stores do.

Well, I just found out about the last batch of OOP Criterions and was lucky. I'm $150 poorer now but got a Blu-ray of "Le Cercle Rouge" at a Barnes & Noble and Blu's of "Army of Shadows," "Leon Morin, Priest" and the DVD of "Le Doulos" all from amazon (with confirmed e-mails that they've been shipped). I already had "Marienbad" on Blu and don't really care about "Mafioso" (seen it and it's OK but definitely something I won't lose sleep over not owning). Guess the true test of how much you care about a filmmaker or a particular film is how willing you are to pay retail prices the moment you know it's OOP. By that measuring stick I guess I already was a big Melville fan, was just too cheap or naive to know it until it was (almost) too late. And I'm not doing it for the resale value. Heck, I heard the "Le Cercle Rouge" disc rattling inside the case and right after I bought the movie I opened it right there at the store to adjust the Blu-ray so it wouldn't bounce around anymore, resale value be damned.

Does anyone think I should also buy "Le deuxieme souffle"? It's not in the Studio Canal OOP death list, but isn't it a matter of time now?

souffle doesn't appear to be connected to SC

^^^ Thanks, guess that one can wait for the next B&N sale (which the four I bought certainly could not).

Just out of curiousity, what Criterion titles taken by SC have actually been improved on by one of SC's later reissues?

After a rotten start, it seems like SC is improving and their BD of Grand Illusion is reportedly great. (Robert Harris loved it.) Of course, they've also been slow to release everything they've taken from Criterion...

hearthesilence wrote:Just out of curiousity, what Criterion titles taken by SC have actually been improved on by one of SC's later reissues?

After a rotten start, it seems like SC is improving and their BD of Grand Illusion is reportedly great. (Robert Harris loved it.) Of course, they've also been slow to release everything they've taken from Criterion...

The Port of Shadows blu ray is indeed, superb. Seems like when they just rely on someone else's restoration, they don't touch much of it themselves, where their own restoration/clean-up efforts are done poorly (DNR in The Trial).

Aw man, they messed up The Trial? I was actually planning on getting that - so basically, no good mastering of The Trial exists on home video?

The Trial BD looks vastly superior to any DVD edition, but yes, it's a pretty bad DNR offender.

It's well above the standard set by Children of Paradise, anyway- I think it's overall pretty good, it's more an issue that it could be better.

Ugh, then personally, it's not worth buying, especially at a premium price. Until they do it right, it'll remain a reference title in my "digital archive" rather than a purchased item on the shelf.

has anyone received Le Cercle Rouge from Amazon in the last couple of weeks? I also bit and ordered Marienbad when it was still in stock because it was $23, but that hasn't shipped either. Those are the only two outstanding still, but i'm a tad annoyed it's been a month now and nothing - especially when both were in stock when I placed the orders.

HistoryProf wrote:has anyone received Le Cercle Rouge from Amazon in the last couple of weeks? I also bit and ordered Marienbad when it was still in stock because it was $23, but that hasn't shipped either. Those are the only two outstanding still, but i'm a tad annoyed it's been a month now and nothing - especially when both were in stock when I placed the orders.

I too am waiting -- for a Last Year at Marienbad bluray. In stock when ordered, but now Amazon are giving no clues. Expecting to be notified in a couple more weeks that my order's been canceled.

But it has turned out that there was a Barnes & Noble near me with both Le Cercle Rouge and LYaM still in stock so I picked them up with the pair of 20% off Mother's Day coupons they recently sent out. Now just waiting for the Amazon order to ripen or rot before I open the Marienbad disc...

rrot wrote:

HistoryProf wrote:has anyone received Le Cercle Rouge from Amazon in the last couple of weeks? I also bit and ordered Marienbad when it was still in stock because it was $23, but that hasn't shipped either. Those are the only two outstanding still, but i'm a tad annoyed it's been a month now and nothing - especially when both were in stock when I placed the orders.

I too am waiting -- for a Last Year at Marienbad bluray. In stock when ordered, but now Amazon are giving no clues. Expecting to be notified in a couple more weeks that my order's been canceled.

But it has turned out that there was a Barnes & Noble near me with both Le Cercle Rouge and LYaM still in stock so I picked them up with the pair of 20% off Mother's Day coupons they recently sent out. Now just waiting for the Amazon order to ripen or rot before I open the Marienbad disc...

When did you order?

I ordered more than 24 hours after the OOP announcement and didn't receive any message from them, only to then have it posted about 10 days ago.

It hasn't arrived yet, but not unusual for parcels to Australia from Amazon.

My Amazon orders ("Army of Shadows," "Leon Morin" Blu and "Le Doulos" DVD) came safely by mail on Tuesday. Ordered them Sunday night, so... yay Prime! :)

Just got an email from amazon asking me if I want to keep my order for Marienbad open. They'll "keep trying" to obtain copies, they said...