Criterion Collection goes Blu-Ray

[Snowflake]

Dear Criterion Collection Newsletter subscriber,

We’ve got some exciting news for this fall, and we wanted you to hear it first.

Our first Blu-ray discs are coming! We’ve picked a little over a dozen titles from the collection for Blu-ray treatment, and we’ll begin rolling them out in October. These new editions will feature glorious high-definition picture and sound, all the supplemental content of the DVD releases, and they will be priced to match our standard-def editions.

Here’s what’s in the pipeline:

The Third Man
Bottle Rocket
Chungking Express
The Man Who Fell to Earth
The Last Emperor
El Norte
The 400 Blows
Gimme Shelter
The Complete Monterey Pop
Contempt
Walkabout
For All Mankind
The Wages of Fear

Do I really need to have another version of The Third Man? Will it be sharper and more fabulous? And can a blu-ray of The Seven Samurai be far behind. If Criterion does the Powell/Pressburgers/Archer films.....I'm sunk......

What was I doing with my tax incentive $$? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm ((&#$^^#$%))

[Gemini Cricket]

Great. Now they'll be even more expensive!
I've wanted to buy Criterion DVDs but they're just out of my price range. Every now and then you can find them used at Amoeba...
Oooh. The Third Man... Love that one. There's one for a mousepod swanking.

[mousepod]

Chungking Express!!! I just re-watched the DVD last week. Yipee!

I'll probably get at least half of these right away...

[Chernabog]

I just hope we get re-issues of the Criterion Collection for "Notorious" and "Rebecca" (my favorite movie of all time). I don't know how the film stock is for those old movies but here's hoping!

[CoasterMatt]

Oh man- I've already got several Criterion editions on LaserDisc and DVD

[Snowflake]

For the Powell-Pressburger fans, here's a review of a region-free blu-ray on Black Narcissus (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview2/blacknarcissus.htm). The screen grabs make it blatantly evident, Yes, snowflake, there is a way to improve on your perceived impression of perfection. Yowie-Zowie! Ah-may-ZING!

[mousepod]

This does indeed look good. I never upgraded my Criterion disc, even when the superior 2-disc French DVD came out. While it's disappointing that the 24-minute documentary won't be playable on my PS3, I'm leaning toward picking this one up soon.

BTW... along with Criterion, other fringe lines like Kino, Masters Of Cinema and Blue Underground will be releasing blu-rays this year. Oh happy day.

[Not Afraid]

I've better find me a Blu-Ray player.

[Snowflake]

I've better find me a Blu-Ray player.

Me too!

[Chernabog]

I've better find me a Blu-Ray player.
Ps3 baby!! Then you n me can go pimpin some bitches and hos together after smokin some weed with the homies in Grand Theft Auto 4, helllllll yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa......

*blink*

*blink*

*ahem*

Yeah, the blu-ray movies look purdy. :D

[Snowflake]

Have we discussed which blu-ray to get? I'm stunned by the prices of the players! :eek: More than I paid for the TV!

[LSPoorEeyorick]

It's PS3 all the way. Currently the best on the market. We don't play ours - we just use it for Blu-Ray

[innerSpaceman]

What's the story on the Oppo? I don't want a PS3, sorry.

[Not Afraid]

I'll probably end up with a PS3 at some point. I'm just afraid we'll end up playing games and never come out of the house.

[Chernabog]

What's the story on the Oppo? I don't want a PS3, sorry.

You just want an Oppo on principle? I don't understand that, but late 2008/Early 2009 was the last estimate buzzing around the web. There doesn't seem to be a firm release date.

While the Oppo does great DVD upscaling, is it really worth THAT much more for a Blu-ray? I mean, we aren't seeing Blu-ray "upscaling", are we? Honestly the Oppo will most likely be hundreds of dollars more than the Ps3, and if you have a normal good setup with a good speaker/receiver/50+" HDTV setup (as opposed to an audio/videophile mega-geek setup), I hardly think a difference will be noted with the blu-rays.

Or maybe you're just afraid you'll get addicted to the video games. Did I mention the protagonist of Resident Evil 5 has huge arms and a tight butt? Oh yes.

[Not Afraid]

There's no reason to get an Oppo Bluray player. I love their DVD upscaling and the fact that they are all-region, but with BluRay, those are not necessities.

[lizziebith]

I would like a PS3. Now that I'm not employed by Sony, and therefore no longer bitter, I might fork over my money later this year. Sony would not give us employee discounts on those, so I refused to buy one when I worked there. Actually, I'm still bitter. Heheh. But I also still want a PS3.

[innerSpaceman]

I specifically want the best-available upscaling ability. I am not going to replace my DVD collection with expensive Blu-Rays. That's hundreds of my favorite movies that I will forever watch in DVD format, so the upscaling is important to me. I will use my Blu-Ray player for a DVD 9 times out of 10.

[Not Afraid]

You're probably better off with separate players. The Oppo cheap.

[innerSpaceman]

Ok, maybe I'm misunderstanding the purpose of up-scaling.

I assumed it was to render the number of lines produced by a DVD in the far greater number of lines endemic to Hi Def display ... and thus making it look somewhere in between a low-def and hi-def image.

Or am I wrong? Would a DVD displayed on a standard monitor look the same if "upscaled" and displayed on a HDTV monitor? That seems to go against common sense, but I'd love if someone in the know could answer that question.

[Ghoulish Delight]

No, upscaling does make for a better picture on an HDTV. But it would cost you less to buy a $60 upscaling Oppo DVD player + Playstation than it will to buy an Oppo BluRay player that also upscales regular DVDs.

[innerSpaceman]

Interesting point. But just as time is money, space is money. The space around my HD display is very tight, without room for multiple components. Saving the space would be worth around a hundred bucks to me. More of a difference than that, and I'd consider squeezing.

[Kevy Baby]

...buy a $60 upscaling Oppo DVD player...The least expensive Oppo DVD player (new - from Oppo (http://www.oppodigital.com/products.asp)) is $169.

The only ones on eBay for under $100 are ones that don't output 1080p (only up to 1080i)

[mousepod]

Here's my quick take on the Oppo vs PS3 for Blu-Ray

PS3
Pros:
- automatically updates to the newest Blu-Ray profile
- streams audio and video files from my computer
- decent upscaler
- web browser (if you want it)
- games (if you care)

Cons:
- not the greatest upscaler
- no DVD-Audio
- won't play PAL discs
- region-locked

OPPO (based on current machine and educated guesses)

Pros:
- Fantastic upscaler
- All-region
- Smooth PAL->NTSC conversion
- DVD-Audio

Cons:
- Doesn't currently exist

[innerSpaceman]

Ok, here's the thing. I don't need any computer interface. I don't have wireless capabilities yet, and my computer is nowhere remotely near any of my displays, and is the furthest from the HD display.

I don't care about games.

I'd like a region-free player.

I'm willing to wait. (The HD display needs repairs, which I can't afford for the foreseeable future).


So ... thanks to the handy mousepod comparison ... it seems as if the Oppo wins hands-down (or will, once it exists, and providing it doesn't cost a fortune.)

[€uroMeinke]

I know it's irrational, but I kinda feel the same way as ISM, something just seems a bit dirty about bringing in a game console

[Snowflake]

Okay, these are not blu-ray, but they are Criterion Collection

I've not seen any of these films, but they look really great. Anyone seen any of them? Mousepod?

Criterion Japanese Film Noir set (http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/655?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_content=218017898&utm_campaign=Eclipse+Series+17:+Nikkatsu+Noir+_+dy ttdr&utm_term=BUY)

I Am Waiting
Koreyoshi Kurahara, 1957
In Koreyoshi Kurahara’s directorial debut, rebel matinee idol Yujiro Ishihara stars as a restaurant manager and former boxer who saves a beautiful, suicidal club hostess (Mie Kitahara) trying to escape the clutches of her gangster employer.

Rusty Knife
Toshio Masuda, 1958
In Toshio Masuda’s smash Rusty Knife, Yujiro Ishihara and fellow top Nikkatsu star Akira Kobayashi play former hoodlums trying to leave behind a life of crime, but their past comes back to haunt them when the authorities seek them out as murder witnesses.

Take Aim at the Police Van
Seijun Suzuki, 1960
At the beginning of Seijun Suzuki’s taut and twisty whodunit, a prison truck is attacked and a convict inside is murdered. The penitentiary warden on duty, Daijiro (Michitaro Mizushima), is accused of negligence and suspended, only to take it upon himself to track down the killers.

Cruel Gun Story
Takumi Furukawa, 1964
Fresh out of the slammer, Togawa (Branded to Kill’s Joe Shishido) has no chance to go straight because he is immediately coerced by a wealthy mob boss into organizing the heist of an armored car carrying racetrack receipts. (This sounds very similar to The Killers with Sterling Hayden - another great film)

A Colt Is My Passport
Takashi Nomura, 1967
One of Japanese cinema’s supreme emulations of American noir, Takashi Nomura’s A Colt Is My Passport is a down-and-dirty but gorgeously photographed yakuza film starring Joe Shishido as a hard-boiled hit man caught between rival gangs.

[mousepod]

These look cool! I've read about most of these movies, but the only director that I'm familiar with is Suzuki.

I'm tempted to check these out, although since I upgraded to Hi-Def, I've been avoiding expensive SD DVDs... hmmmm...