Criterion Collection - Online Cinematheque

Tue 02 Feb at 01:27 PM

James

Thanks for the heads up. Much appreciated.

Tue 02 Feb at 01:46 PM

Kenn

Yes, it’s great that you’re giving us fair warning. I’m taking as full advantage as my wallet will allow me to!

Tue 02 Feb at 01:48 PM

Pat Smith

Aww shucks… It’s a shame that some of these films are gonna be out of print.

Tue 02 Feb at 04:02 PM

David Hollingsworth

Thanks for the warning, these film will be missed. I wish I had the money to buy some of these movies. Thankfully, I already own Pierrot le fou.

Tue 02 Feb at 04:06 PM

Ryan

Thanks for the info! Give Lionsgate all its worth!

Tue 02 Feb at 04:21 PM

Lee Bullitt

thanks a lot, those are some of my favorites and I’ve yet to purchase hem

Tue 02 Feb at 04:24 PM

Robprince

Ok. Now if only Barnes and Noble would start the 50 per cent sale!

Tue 02 Feb at 04:54 PM

eleanor sitea

How can I access the price list and ordering information?

Tue 02 Feb at 07:07 PM

Nikos Lazaridis

Sad news but it is indeed great that you are notifying us well in advance. This gives us a chance to go out and purchase the titles before they become collectible (& expensive).

Hopefully you can reclaim right from Lionsgate and get them back in your collection.

Tue 02 Feb at 08:07 PM

Evan

I find it quite sad that so many films, including Grand Illusion spine number 1, will be going from the greatest DVD company in the world to one of the worst. Lionsgate will not treat these films with the same class and care that Criterion does. Shame those who hold the rights can’t see that. Keep up the good work Criterion, and hopefully we will see these back in the catalog soon.

Tue 02 Feb at 08:29 PM

Geoff

If it weren’t for the Criterion Collection, these films would not be as well known as they are. Now Lionsgate is capitalizing on their meticulous work. This is a slap in the face to a company that dares to have dignity and high standards. One of the few that seriously cares. Lionsgate could care less – a French masterpiece from 1938 or nuts and bolts to hold an outhouse together. Whatever they can profit from, it doesn’t matter. Good luck, Criterion in getting these back into your catalogue where they should be.

Tue 02 Feb at 08:41 PM

MFD

This is alarming news. Lionsgate is the company that messed up the first release of John Huston’s final film, “The Dead”.

Tue 02 Feb at 11:24 PM

aaron mannino

I’m counting myself incalculably lucky that any of these films were available at all, and thanks to Criterion they were. I’m so glad I made the impulsive purchase of Saura’s Trilogy the second it came out. I had a sense about it and subsequently Blood Wedding has become one of my favorite films of all time. I wager Lionsgate will be attempting to bolster its meager “Meridian Collection” with some of these titles. Lets leave it to the professionals people. Criterion LOVES and CARES for film… Lionsgate makes a new SAW movie every year. ’Nuf said.

Tue 02 Feb at 11:42 PM

David M Hundley

What is the fate, then, of the Essential Art House 50-disc set (which includes five of the above titles, I believe)?

Wed 03 Feb at 01:44 AM

Philip Maye

I’m sure that any of your hard work with picture quality and extras will NOT be included in the Lionsgate versions. Thanks for the advanced notice. I’ve just ordered The Small Back Room, Forbidden Games and The Last Holiday, the first two I’ve seen and enjoyed, and the third I’m going on Alec Guiness and reputation. Fortunately, I’ve long had The Fallen Idol and the beautiful and beautifully restored Grand Illusion, a film I saw in college in the early 80’s in a poor, truncated print. Your disc was a revelation to me, and I remain grateful. I bought my first Criterion when A Night to Remember was released, and before these next 3 arrive, I have 72 of your fine editions. I hope you get all of these back, but thanks for your work, regardless.

Wed 03 Feb at 07:07 AM

Michael Leung

Sad to see them go, but at least I bought Le Trou (a great film that I saw a while ago) for cheap.

Wed 03 Feb at 09:28 AM

Chuck Phillips

I find it sad, but at the same time somewhat funny that the rights to such individual and unique films are in the hands of a company who releases the same movie everey year.

Wed 03 Feb at 12:06 PM

Godardimaniac

I can see to some extent why StudioCanal did this: international markets. If you look here: http://www.studiocanal-collection.com/collection, you will notice that these new releases are reigon-free and come with subtitles in many foreign languages. On the other hand, there looks to be a serious lack to effort to create any original bonus content. Bad move trusting Lionsgate, StudioCanal.

Wed 03 Feb at 01:23 PM

Shaun

I’m as upset as anyone, and losing Grand Illusion on Criterion is like losing a family member, but we should all feel lucky that when Criterion says they’re “losing the rights” they mean the films are going to be available from somewhere else .The alternative could have been their disappearance into some legal morass for several years. Yes Lionsgate has a poor reputation, but I’m crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. I can’t afford to grab all of these (I own a few), but I’ll try to get some of them for sure.

And Criterion lost The Third Man too!! Oh my god I just defecated a kidney.

Wed 03 Feb at 04:51 PM

Kyle T.

I don’t really have much to say that hasn’t already been said.
I have managed to pick up five of the titles, and hope I can get at least two more.

Wed 03 Feb at 08:13 PM

Zack

Alphaville is my favourite film of all time and I only know it from my Criterion DVD. Criterion- you rock.

Thu 04 Feb at 08:00 AM

Shaun

The wiki article says StudioCanal “owns the third-largest film library in the world”. How will this affect Criterion in the future? Will there be another round of titles to be taken out of Criterion’s hands? How many titles in the Criterion catalogue are StudioCanal titles? I hope a Current article will talk about these events soon.

Thu 04 Feb at 04:11 PM

Chris

Oy. Just looked at Studio Canal’s Web site, and there are a lot of Criterion titles in there — most notably, many of the Melville masterworks (“Army of Shadows,” “Bob Le Flambeur,” “Le Cercle Rouge,” “Le Doulos”). Also in the SC catalog: “Breathless,” “L’Eclisse,” “Casque D’Or,” “La Bete Humaine,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “La Haine,” “Made in USA,” “Touchez Pas Au Grisbi.” I’m sure there are more I’ve missed. Bad enough to lose pictures like “Contempt,” “The Third Man,” “Grand Illusion,” and “Pierrot Le Fou.” Sadly, unless the studio decides to extend its existing Criterion licenses, it looks like we’ll be seeing “OOP” next to a fairly substantial batch of cherished CC releases.

Fri 05 Feb at 11:13 AM

Craig

I was missing only 2 of the titles on the list, and found them thru Amazon.com for 50% off thru a third party. They arrived, still sealed yeterday so I would advise those trying to buy these titlles to try that route.

Fri 05 Feb at 06:41 PM

Michael Goi, ASC

Given the quality of both the transfers and the supplemental material contained on many Criterion releases, they have become the preferred edition of many titles that have been released by other distributors. I am glad to see that some advance notice has been given regarding these titles going out of print, and I hope this becomes standard operating procedure for the future.

Those of us who love these movies and collect them because they are a treasured viewing experience have been victimized too many times in the past by those who accumulated multiple copies and sold them for five times their price once they went out of print. The true film fan deserves to obtain films that are important to them at a reasonable cost without price gouging, and this advance notification goes a long way toward making that possible.

Michael Goi, ASC
President
American Society Of Cinematographers

Sat 06 Feb at 10:25 PM

Matt

Are there any examples of existing releases that went out of print and were relicensed and put back into print?

Sun 07 Feb at 03:40 AM

Michael Goi, ASC

I believe that “Charade”, “Salo” and the Tati films “Playtime”, “Mon Oncle” and “M. Hulot’s Holiday” were Criterion releases that went out of print, and then later reappeared through Criterion with new transfers after being relicensed, but many more have gone out of print and stayed that way (The Killer, Hardboiled, Robocop, How To Get Ahead In Advertising, Sid And Nancy, Straw Dogs, Flesh For Frankenstein, Blood For Dracula, This Is Spinal Tap, Spellbound, Rebecca, Notorious, Ran, Silence Of The Lambs and The Unbearable Lightness Of Being come immediately to mind). I would suggest that one take advantage of this advanced notice and pick up the films you really love. If a couple of them come back to Criterion in the future, great.

Tue 09 Feb at 03:28 PM

Matt

Haven’t each of those Essential Art House titles been released in the last 6 months? That seems bizarre.

Tue 09 Feb at 03:53 PM

Brandon Wunder

I wish Criterion was able to re-license some of the Laserdiscs they put out; mainly Taxi Driver which to this day is the only release that contains a commentary track by Scorsese. I agree that this should be the new routine for future titles going out of print.

It’s a very sad day to learn that these titles are being lost to a lesser company like Lionsgate, it’s quite blasphemous. Such a demotion for these films. Mainstream film is already awful enough, now they have to take away our art house and other essential/important films. I feel for you Criterion, I’m on your side to the bitter end.

Thu 11 Feb at 06:55 PM

Matt McGraw

Lionsgate? The fools behind countless Saws, ______ Movies, and action abortions starring Jason Statham? This is a serious slap in the face to fans of art house pictures and those outside the mainstream, for now a large portion of our films will be owned by perhaps the most questionable studio in Hollywood, the “geniuses” who gave us Meet the Spartans, The Transporter 3, and whatever the hell that action thing from 2008 with Nicholas Cage was.

This is a tragic loss for Criterion, and as an active supporter, I truly feel for my favorite DVD company. Why couldn’t Lionsgate have just taken the collection’s two Michael Bay movies and Benjamin Button?!?

I’m going to order as many as I can, and I strongly appreciate the early notice. You folks at Criterion and Janus are wise, benevolent gods among men, or at least gods of film.

Fri 12 Feb at 10:06 AM

al

Obtaining a Criterion release and opening it is akin to a self declared holiday, the bar has been set for any future release of these titles.

Tue 16 Feb at 06:51 PM

roscoe_1891

Thanks for the heads up, I hope they will last on here until the end of March. I just went to amazon.com and people already are selling them at outrageous prices. Both Wal-mart.com and amazon.com are sold out of the ones I wanted, so I will be getting them here. All I really want is Alphaville and Le Corbeau. I have Grand Illusion and will be keeping it forever.

Also I was wondering if since these films are going out of print is Criterion.com still going to sell the posters of the out of print films?

Wed 17 Feb at 04:16 AM

Enrique

What happens to the Criterion box sets that contain some of these soon to be OOP titles? Are the box sets — for instance, the Janus 50 DVD box set — also going?

Wed 17 Feb at 07:38 AM

Shaun

Enrique, StudioCanal has transferred the distribution rights from Criterion to Lionsgate in N. America. All of these titles, in whatever form, will no longer be offered by Criterion. Your question about the Janus Art House box is a good one because Criterion didn’t single it out in the above note. I’d wager it’s affected by the current changes like everything else. If they’ve lost the rights, they’re lost the rights. It’s as simple as that. And may god forgive StudioCanal. Amen. : )

Tue 02 Mar at 11:31 AM

Eric Rich

Little late to the party here, but 400 Blows is another film that was OOP and then came back. I literally paid $196 for it back in ~2001, $200 for The Killer, and $125 for This Is Spinal Tap. I never was able to acquire Salo back then because it was going for about $450 and there were as many bootlegs and real ones (or more) around at the time. Thankfully those obscenely high prices seem to mostly be gone (although I do already own most of the OOP stuff). I just came back to trying to complete the collection after about 8 years, and was only missing 12 OOPs. I believe the most I’ve paid (and I have all of them at least ordered at this point) is about $64. I thank criterion for bringing back into print anything they can, and especially Salo, because otherwise a complete collection would have basically never been possible for me. As for the going OOP stuff, I have bought all of them (only waiting for the last three to be shipped from Criterion) and I would strongly advise anyone who can, and has interest, to do so as well. You just never know how absurb the aftermarket is going to get. One of the Hitchcock OOP film’s (Rebecca, I believe) average price went up 50% in just a matter of days while I was tracking it. It doesn’t take much to make this stuff skyrocket.

Wed 10 Mar at 02:24 PM

Ken Henderson

Studio Canal is a subsidiary of Vivendi SA(Canal + etc) which is involved with Universal and Universal Music Group(UMG) etc. Very complicated. Ties up old British film companies like British International(at Elstree) that became Associated-British Pictures Corp and into TV etc. With all this shifting of owners etc it is a wonder much is left intact of these great films.

Wed 10 Mar at 08:28 PM

Daisy

I happen to work at Lionsgate and some of these comments are very mean. I too am a huge fan of the Criterion collection and own many , many titles.
You can’t blame Lionsgate because it is Studio Canal that made the change. The folks who run the DVD dept at Lionsgate care very deeply for the films that are put out on our lable. Most of you folks who are writing the comments have no idea how costly it is to restore these film’s image and sound, and add specials features , et al. Perhaps profits were a consideration; anway, it is just a fact of life. In case you been living in a cave for the past year, Lionsgate is just about the only independant film company left here in town. Alot of film makers are proud to have their film released by us, and we release films that other studios won’t touch. We also have some real gems in our library i.e. “Open Your Eyes” ," Requiem for a Dream" and on and on. Long live the Criterion collection and may they find other worthy titles!

Mon 15 Mar at 10:40 AM

Pascal

When I partake of a Criterion collection offering I am sitting at my favorite table at the Paradise restaurant near the marina. Consuming the bread of angels.

Tue 16 Mar at 04:35 AM

telecine

Disagree. StudioCanal is making a bad business decision, as they have done with the theatrical rights to many of their films. StudioCanal could have easily allowed both versions to exist on the market.

There are certain parties which want to put these films out of print on DVD, so audiences will not have easy access to them in the future, a certain “Cinematheque” which Criterion has done business with in the past.

The logic is simple: If audiences cannot buy the DVD, they will have to go to see the films at the “Cinematheque” — Criterion should be more careful in the future with who it does business with.

Criterion fans should speak up — Criterion should be allowed to renew the rights to these films. Removing these films them from the market shortchanges customers who might be interested in these films, and the marketplace itself.