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Amazing Website That Lets You Know When Films/TV Shows Hit NetFlix Streaming

u2roolz

By u2roolz,
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RainDogToo

RainDogToo

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Since today is the last day of the sale, I went back and bought more... :yes

 

Here is everything I purchased!

 

The Night of the Hunter

Modern Times

Pandora's Box

For All Mankind

Paths of Glory

The Thief of Baghdad

Threepenny Opera

Stranger Than Paradise

Mysyery Train

Band of Outsiders

Breathless

Written on the Wind

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GtrPlyr

GtrPlyr

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what makes these Criterion films different than any other film? are they remastered in a special way? I am not familiar with them.

In most cases their releases are the definitive editions for a film. A few of their early releases weren't always the best, some had issues with interlacing ("The Harder They Come" springs to mind) and quite a few were non-anamorphic widescreen releases. But those issues are a thing of the past and thankfully a lot of those so-so earlier releases have been reissued in the past year or so.

 

What makes them different than most others is the care they put into each release. First off their transfers are usually quite sharp and clean, with good bitrates and a good color balance (They often confer with the directors when possible to ensure the transfer is up to par.) Another thing they do really well is the extras, packing their releases with lots of documentaries, commentaries, interviews, etc. Watching a Criterion release is equivalent to a tasty seven course meal; you leave satisfied and not craving more. Sometimes there's actually too much goodness packed into them.

 

 

edit: A company I find comparable to Criterion is Eureka! Their "Masters of Cinema" series is quite topnotch. They actually release a lot of the same titles as Criterion. The biggest difference is that a lot of their releases are PAL, but they do a lot of NTSC too.

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u2roolz

u2roolz

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what makes these Criterion films different than any other film? are they remastered in a special way? I am not familiar with them.

 

What GtrPlayer said and the fact that Wes Anderson has Satanic Cult footage of the "good" people over at Criterion, since he's batting a thousand.

Seriously, all of his films are featured as part of the collection. Fantastic Mr. Fox is due out sometime next year.

 

And don't forget that some films somehow slipped under the radar and weren't double checked: The Rock, Robocop, and Armageddon. :blink

 

Also, there's the Eclipse Collection that has been going on since 2007 and is usually released about once a month. This collection focuses on a particular filmmaker usually and features a boxset of their films.

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bleedorange

bleedorange

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What GtrPlayer said and the fact that Wes Anderson has Satanic Cult footage of the "good" people over at Criterion, since he's batting a thousand.

Seriously, all of his films are featured as part of the collection. Fantastic Mr. Fox is due out sometime next year.

 

And don't forget that some films somehow slipped under the radar and weren't double checked: The Rock, Robocop, and Armageddon. :blink

 

Also, there's the Eclipse Collection that has been going on since 2007 and is usually released about once a month. This collection focuses on a particular filmmaker usually and features a boxset of their films.

 

What's wrong with Robocop? That's a classic.

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bigshoulders

bigshoulders

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What GtrPlayer said and the fact that Wes Anderson has Satanic Cult footage of the "good" people over at Criterion, since he's batting a thousand.

Seriously, all of his films are featured as part of the collection. Fantastic Mr. Fox is due out sometime next year.

 

And don't forget that some films somehow slipped under the radar and weren't double checked: The Rock, Robocop, and Armageddon. :blink

That's good news on Fantastic Mr. Fox! I wasn't aware of it, but have been putting off purchasing the blu until I heard if it was going to be released. I didn't go overboard on the B&N sale. Just 2 titles: Bottle Rocket on blu and the 23 Films by Jean Painleve on DVD. I look forward to watching that one over the Thanksgiving holidaze. It was a blind buy but I found it pretty intriguing-- and the soundtrack for some of them is by none other than Yo La Tengo. :thumbup

 

To name another film that "slipped under the radar" Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy. Never understood why that got the Criterion treatment.

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u2roolz

u2roolz

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What's wrong with Robocop? That's a classic.

 

I like Robocop too, but how can that get the Criterion treatment and Blade Runner hasn't?

 

Certain directors that are pretty famous do not have one single film in the Criterion Collection.

I'm assuming there's a lot of reasons why that is.

 

@ bigshoulders RE: Chasing Amy - I don't agree with you on that one. I think that is probably my favorite Kevin Smith film and was quite a good story to tell and obviously very connectable for people of that generation.

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GtrPlyr

GtrPlyr

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And don't forget that some films somehow slipped under the radar and weren't double checked: The Rock and Armageddon.

I think those Michael Bay releases were Criterion's way of testing the waters, see if their fanbase would accept these sort of blockbusters, I think they got their answer pretty quickly. I'm sure they regret the inclusion of those films nowadays; definite low points in their catalogue.

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bigshoulders

bigshoulders

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@ bigshoulders RE: Chasing Amy - I don't agree with you on that one. I think that is probably my favorite Kevin Smith film and was quite a good story to tell and obviously very connectable for people of that generation.

Maybe I need to revisit it. I saw it not long after it came out, and promptly forgot about it. I think my initial knee-jerk reaction was that it wasn't funny, in the way his other previous films hooked me: Clerks and Mallrats. Perhaps it would speak more to me now than it did then, but I won't know until I see the film again, if I ever do. There's too much to watch already. :blink

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sureshot

sureshot

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Another really great new company is Oscilloscope. Great list of films, and the DVDs get top-notch treatment and unique extras. Plus, it's headed up by Adam Yauch!

 

Speaking of Yauch, its pretty awesome that the Beastie Boys anthology got the Criterion treatment. I doubt something like that would get released today since Criterion has changed so much as a company, but its still one of the most fun things theyve ever put out. Its worth it for the audio commentary alone. Theres also a mind-boggling amount of customization options on each video (from alt camera angles, alt shoots, and remixes)

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sureshot

sureshot

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I think those Michael Bay releases were Criterion's way of testing the waters, see if their fanbase would accept these sort of blockbusters, I think they got their answer pretty quickly. I'm sure they regret the inclusion of those films nowadays; definite low points in their catalogue.

 

This user submitted comment on the Armageddon page which explains why those films got released is spot on. (emphasis mine)

 

The only reason Criterion added this title – and The Rock for that matter – to their illustrious roster is because Michael Bay asked them to before even Criterion knew what the collection would eventually represent.

 

You see, before production companies realized the big money there was to be made in releasing special editions, limited editions, 2-disc sets and noticed the general interest in special features and featurettes among consumers, Criterion was ahead of that game and began… The Collection. Michael Bay noticed, and he wanted Armageddon to get the whole shebang – features, commentaries, the complete package. That’s just how much Michael Bay loves his own movies, and CC were the only people willing to go forward with such a project. And why not? They were still establishing the business, and at the time it was a big license… art-film or not. Bay made some calls, got the licensing together, blah blah blah… and there we have it, Armageddon in the collection and licensing for The Rock on the way. Years after, the Criterion collection has expanded and expanded and gained loyal buyers and collectors who eagerly await their every release with bated breath. But alas, the stain remains. They can’t just banish these titles from Criterion history, but I sure wish they’d tell the story and set the record straight to avoid such confusion among collectors.

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  • 2 weeks later...
M. (hristine

M. (hristine

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My son just hooked me up with the whole HDMI cable situation, so I can watch whatever is on my laptop on my telly.

 

We started off with my first ever viewing of Donnie Darko. Now I finally get all the jokes from my first forays into the RTT so many years ago. :blush

 

This is great. Thanks for the linkage.

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Sir Stewart

Sir Stewart

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My son just hooked me up with the whole HDMI cable situation, so I can watch whatever is on my laptop on my telly.

 

We started off with my first ever viewing of Donnie Darko. Now I finally get all the jokes from my first forays into the RTT so many years ago. :blush

 

This is great. Thanks for the linkage.

CHUT UP!

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