Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[captveg]

Sort of blows me away that DVD began as a format in 1995 and Blu-ray began as a format in 2003, but a company like Criterion is still pressing separate DVD editions at all in 2019. Put in other terms: In three years' time, DVD will be as old a format as VHS was when DVD came onto the scene, and is already as old as LaserDisc was by then

There's a lot of circumstantial evidence that library collections are the reason they still sell a decent amount of DVDs, so I wonder if they saw a notable difference of lower sales of new remasters on DVD. It would make sense that if a library already had the previous DVD release still stocked they wouldn't exactly be jumping at the chance to buy a DVD again for an image quality bump. Criterion may have simply figured out that unless the title is a big legacy/zeitgeist one (Do the Right Thing) or had been OOP (Sid and Nancy) there was no real reason to appease the DVD crowd with a better A/V disc when the vast majority of the A/V audience is buying BD. (Though as we've seen with Zatoichi, Bergman Collection, The BDR Trilogy and 3 Silent Classics, they're leaving the DVD crowd behind for box sets as well if the titles are essentially BD upgrades and there is no in print DVD only version).

[dustybooks]

Librarian here and yes, DVDs still fly off the shelves here and no one ever touches our blu rays. For whatever reason.

[mfunk9786]

DVD players are too damn reliable - they should've cheaped out on the parts more so people people would have to go out and buy Blu-ray players.

Although, I would say in all seriousness that it probably has to do with libraries being libraries - the rest of the typical clientele for a library's resources is probably streaming what they want to see, on Kanopy or elsewhere. Blu-ray still occupies something of an enthusiast's middle ground.

[soundchaser]

Our system doesn't even carry Blu-Rays, but we service an older crowd who by and large don't even have players.

[Glowingwabbit]

(Though as we've seen with Zatoichi, Bergman Collection, The BDR Trilogy and 3 Silent Classics, they're leaving the DVD crowd behind for box sets as well if the titles are essentially BD upgrades and there is no in print DVD only version).

Also a librarian, and our blu-rays don't circulate a lot either and we typically only get them if they are dual format or bd only releases. While I love a lot of those boxsets mentioned we would never buy them on DVD or Bluray as the packaging is just too flimsy to be lent out so it's probably for the best they discontinue them on DVD.

[BigMack3000]

Since that clue was for Leon Gast, can we reasonably assume the other guy on the bench was Jerry Garcia and expect more of his documentaries to be announced in the future?

[TwoTecs]

(Though as we've seen with Zatoichi, Bergman Collection, The BDR Trilogy and 3 Silent Classics, they're leaving the DVD crowd behind for box sets as well if the titles are essentially BD upgrades and there is no in print DVD only version).

Also a librarian, and our blu-rays don't circulate a lot either and we typically only get them if they are dual format or bd only releases. While I love a lot of those boxsets mentioned we would never buy them on DVD or Bluray as the packaging is just too flimsy to be lent out so it's probably for the best they discontinue them on DVD.

Odd that your library doesn't repackage all the discs into standard library cases which are better than both the boxsets and regular bluray cases.

[mfunk9786]

Since that clue was for Leon Gast, can we reasonably assume the other guy on the bench was Jerry Garcia and expect more of his documentaries to be announced in the future?

This is a great point, you're probably right that it was an infamous double clue.

[Omensetter]

As someone who is, like most of you, a weirdo cinephile with a niche interest, I still love DVDs and do check them out from the library. Granted, I also love watching films on laptops with headphones, and obviously DVDs lend themselves to such a purpose. I literally just got a blu-ray player earlier this month though---mainly for R2 releases that will take forever to wash ashore stateside---and while it's nice, I don't watch the DVD of, say, One Sings, the Other Doesn't and think about how much nicer it could be---I'm just digging the movie and it looks perfectly fine.

EDIT: I think we're moving away from a BD-exclusive/DVD discussion and into double clue territory (The Grateful Dead is an obvious choice and would sell fantastically.)

[eerik]

Hopefully 8 1/2 also gets a new 4K restoration.

New 4K restoration for any film is always nice, but what's wrong with the recent 2K restoration from 2013?

The Criterion came out in January 2010 and has a "high-definition digital transfer" and not a 2k restoration . Compare its quality to the 4k based transfer of La Dolce Vita. The difference is immediately clear.

But what's wrong with the 2013 2K restoration?

[knives]

DVD players are too damn reliable - they should've cheaped out on the parts more so people people would have to go out and buy Blu-ray players.

Although, I would say in all seriousness that it probably has to do with libraries being libraries - the rest of the typical clientele for a library's resources is probably streaming what they want to see, on Kanopy or elsewhere. Blu-ray still occupies something of an enthusiast's middle ground.

TBH, I've never had a DVD player fail on me, but have had both my Blu players burn out.

[FrauBlucher]

Wow. They announced! But of course they left one mystery remaining.

Sorry just got to internet

This is the sort of hard hitting discussion and random speculation that we are all craving.

Sorry for being trite. I was barely on-line today. I posted this as The Cranes are Flying was about to start. BTW... The restoration looks terrific as this will probably be the next Mosfilm resto that Criterion releases. As for the announcements, I was surprised. I expected them to announce tomorrow to correspond with the Toho panel at the SDCC. I guess we'll know by tomorrow about the Godzilla box with details coming next week from CC.

I am really surprised by what was announced. At this time last week I would've never expected any of these titles even a little. As a fan of Ali and Foreman I will definitely be interested in seeing When We were Kings. I've seen snippets of it over the years.

[cdnchris]

DVD players are too damn reliable - they should've cheaped out on the parts more so people people would have to go out and buy Blu-ray players.

Although, I would say in all seriousness that it probably has to do with libraries being libraries - the rest of the typical clientele for a library's resources is probably streaming what they want to see, on Kanopy or elsewhere. Blu-ray still occupies something of an enthusiast's middle ground.

TBH, I've never had a DVD player fail on me, but have had both my Blu players burn out.

My Panasonic A100 that I bought back in, what, 1997/1998 still works.

[domino harvey]

My first two DVD players and my first region free player all died within a few years of purchase. My much shittier store-brand DVD player I bought for my classroom lasted a decade and still works

[knives]

That's probably it. All my DVD players have been shitty store brands.

[mfunk9786]

Wow. They announced! But of course they left one mystery remaining.

Sorry just got to internet

This is the sort of hard hitting discussion and random speculation that we are all craving.

Sorry for being trite.

I was just kidding, no worries. Was just funny to have the dust clear here and then have someone pop up going "hey, they announced titles!" like a punchline at the end of a movie trailer

[dustybooks]

My first two DVD players and my first region free player all died within a few years of purchase. My much shittier store-brand DVD player I bought for my classroom lasted a decade and still works

The first DVD player I got, in early 2002, was one of those famously hackable Apex 1100W things that were about $50 at Walmart back when DVDs were still kind of a luxury item. And it lasted an entire decade, which doesn't sound that impressive except that I used it just about every day during that time. And it played every disc I threw at it, including a good number that none of the more expensive players I've had since then would touch without problems; plus it was ridiculously easy to modify it to make it region-free. Something in it finally burned out while I was in the middle of watching Nurse Betty, at just the point near the end of the film when Betty abruptly "snaps out of it," so... much respect for it even knowing a nice poetic moment to conk out on me.

[bugsy_pal]

I'm one who doesn't understand why DVDs are still so popular. Obviously they're cheaper to manufacture than blurays, but I wonder if the cost difference has narrowed. The difference in picture quality can be extreme, but I would acknowledge that there are some DVDs I've seen that would be hard to distinguish from HD.

One of the big things in favour of BDs that I like is the better scratch resistance. I bought a lot of DVDs via the internet in years past, and a good number had come off their spindles and were all scratched up. Never had that with blurays.

[tenia]

The fact is many people simply think DVD quality is plenty enough for them. Remember that the general audience isn't, by definition, as exigent than us when it comes to that. I also don't think they care about scratch resistance. I mean : I've never seen scratched discs except at casual buyers (and libraries).
For them, the quality jump was covered pretty much at 100% with the VHS to DVD jump, and that was it. Anything more is overkill to them.

[Minkin]

Sorry for the delay folks, we got held up at Cactus Ridge due to some hostile gargantuan worshiping cult, but with fees paid, all were able to make it through for our Speculation Rodeo! (Oct 2019 edition, part 1*)

Häxan - Random upgrade, token spooky October choice

3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg - Upgrade, long thought OOP / Out of Stock - but it has returned!

When We Were Kings - April 2019 newsletter clue that we didn't have much consensus on (dreaming beat poets)

Matewan - Confirmed via director + confirmed again recently
====================================================================
237 upgrades remain.
===================================================
My apologies to the several people who chose When We Were Kings as the solution to the April 2019 newsletter clue. I think we can all agree - it was a terrible clue. When we don't have a clear consensus, I leave it vague, as I'd rather be unsure than wrong.
===================================================
Might any of the films announced thus far this year be a solution for the (Swingtime) clock's time on the New Years drawing?
===================================================
*Looks like the long awaited cart race got delayed until next week, I will update you then with the winner of the All-Around Cowpoke and do a mini Speculation Rodeo for that major event.

And with that, Part 1 of the Speculation Rodeo concludes. It was unexpected and with much more hype than usual, but stay tuned for that final competition (hopefully) next week! So while we wait, we can all chip in and paint some wagons!

[Toby Dammit]

Can we open a thread about the Centennial Fellini box set?

[swo17]

No but basically every single one of his films has a thread here, and you can discuss them there all you want

[Toby Dammit]

No but basically every single one of his films has a thread here, and you can discuss them there all you want

Thank you!

[FrauBlucher]

The Roaring Twenties was on TCM this afternoon. If the speculation is accurate that it will be coming to CC it will be an amazing visual release. It was one of the best looking movies I’ve seen on TCM. The upgrade to HD is stunning. It will rival the Mildred Pierce bluray. Fingers crossed.

[Billy Beta]

Has Target accidentally let the cat out of the bag RE: 1000 spine?

https://intl.target.com/p/godzilla-the- ... jIo59JICVA