Collecting Criterion

[Zot!]

I've never considered being a completist, even if I could afford it, as I find that large swaths of the catalogue hold little interest to me or I outright detest the films. That is very much to Criterion's credit, as they definitely do a good job of appealing to broader tastes than mine. If I do buy films that I'm iffy about, I'm much more tempted to collect directors, genres, or perhaps even favorite actors. I did buy the Aliens box for purposes of being "complete" despite only enjoying the first two films (I drew the line at Prometheus and the AvP films). Piecing together a Wong Kar Wai on BD collection from multiple labels and countries is a modest and achievable accomplishment. Otherwise I much prefer curating my own "collection" of films that I like, or are important to me, which most definitely includes some of the Criterion titles.

[Bando]

I tend to operate under a few simple premises when it comes to Criterions. I use the library to test a lot of things out. If I love it, I'll buy it. This leads to a lot of later blind-buys for directors and related films, etc. If a film is a total chore to get through, or I feel like there's no reason I ever need to see it again (I'm looking at you, Salo), I don't need to take up the shelf space. It's not really that easy to be a Criterion completist when you're on a grad student budget AND also curating a completist record collection.

As a result, I have a really random, but interesting Criterion shelf of about 60 titles. Sometimes I wonder what someone would think if they were to stumble across my page on the Criterion site. There's no rhyme or reason to it at all.

[Matt]

I'd love to own just my 100 favorite films! But the damage is done already, over the years, and DVDs are hell to get rid of these days

Isn't it awful? I'd love to pare my collection down, too, but it's damn hard to get any money for anything anymore. If I'm not going to make at least $1 getting rid of something, I may as well just keep it.

[Moe Dickstein]

I'm sort of the opposite, there are many more reasons I keep a copy of a film around beyond it being a favorite, sometimes it's just one shot that I want to be able to refer to or show someone, but I think that comes under a professional need, but often I've had meetings with cameramen where we sat down and went through looking at shots and pieces of dozens of films and the larger my "inventory" has gotten the easier and more productive those meetings are. It's one of the reasons I like having a nearly complete set of Criterions, I know if I want to go explore Malle or Godard, they're right there on the shelf waiting when I'm ready to do so

[colinr0380]

I regularly re-watch films, but even those that I do not, or don't think that I'm going to watch at the moment, I cannot say with certainty that I'll never watch again. I love the idea of having a library of titles of all types and genres to pick and choose from, sometimes in response to certain whims (or discussions on this very forum - for instance the King & Co thread inspired me to finally watch that Room 237 documentary last week) but just as often something that I only have a vague idea about. And I also like going back to films that I haven't watched in ten or fifteen years and re-experiencing them, so I never think that I will have closed the book on any film. Even Eraserhead, which I don't ever think that I'm going be able to bring myself to re-watch, is still on my VHS shelf from when I last saw it back in 1997!

I also really like the idea of having a variety of new material at my fingertips to choose from, such as my ongoing (enjoyable I hasten to add!) project to watch the BBC Shakespeare set. I love particular films and kinds of films but I wouldn't want to limit myself to that, as I would end up missing valuable experiences otherwise. And I do expand that philosophy to extra features as well, leading to my having a few multiple copies of certain films and a general sense of annoyance when films in different regions have uniquely different extras!

On collecting, I think it is great to have a goal (and one of the unsung benefits of collecting is as a handy method for learning and remembering various associated facts about films, years of production, filmmakers and so on - one of the reasons that I still have a wall of VHS tapes is that I could point to any physical area of a shelf and be able to describe a film from that location. It is a little like having a crude, physical rather than metaphorical, 'memory palace' to work with and build upon) but not to let that overwhelm the main reason for building up a collection - to have a way of being able to watch and see the films (and their extra features and commentaries, which can often be more interesting than the main feature!) themselves. You know, if you do complete your collection and are looking for another goal then add a piece of writing to the forum about what each film means to you, or what you got out of seeing it! That is a goal that we can all benefit from!

Having said all of that, I do have a core collection of titles that will be the first to be saved from a hypothetical fire or the last to be put up for sale when I need to clear space for a move or something like that. I can be ruthless but like to consider myself as more of a benevolent overlord of my DVD library!

[Sledge.]

I'm the type of guy that likes to acquire a pile of Criterions during the B&N sale. Sometimes it takes me awhile to get to them, but I'll know I'll eventually watch them. I do this because when I get sick or when I end up having some quiet time to myself I can sit back and enjoy some great films that are new to me. Once I got pretty ill and having a few movies that were new to me and on my shelf really helped a lot. Some of them are ones that I'll only end up watching maybe once or twice. I still pick them up because I have a few good movies friends that I know would love to see them.

[matrixschmatrix]

I'd love to own just my 100 favorite films! But the damage is done already, over the years, and DVDs are hell to get rid of these days

Isn't it awful? I'd love to pare my collection down, too, but it's damn hard to get any money for anything anymore. If I'm not going to make at least $1 getting rid of something, I may as well just keep it.

On another forum I frequent, people would put up giant listings of $3 DVDs, with the stipulation that they'd be sent out media mail and you had to buy a minimum of 5 or 10 or whatever. It worked out pretty well- $3 each is cheap enough that it's always a better deal than Amazon, and dumping a few dozen $3 movies still adds up to a reasonable sum. Plus, movies went to a better home.

The only time I usually have sizable purges is when I've upgraded DVDs- otherwise, it only happens when I really specifically dislike something, and even then I usually hang on to it if I'm working on a complete filmography from the director or something. So my numbers are low enough that I can mostly give them away or trade them in at the Best Buy $5 upgrade and save things.

[vsski]

Collecting Criterions and getting interested in films for me have always been closely connected, which I guess is the main reason I started collecting them (and now can't stop any more). I started to get into films before the Internet and all the resources at hand like IMDB, so my education other than university came through reading loads of books about film. At first I focused on the classic Hollywood period through the 50s, but soon became hugely interested in European and Asian films. I remember the first time I saw a Bunuel film (Tristana) and it blew my mind. So I started taping on VHS whatever I could get my hands on. At the same time I created my own folders writing down filmographies and complete cast and crew lists of all the movies I had taped, as I couldn't find anything in book form that came close to what I wanted. And right around that period I discovered Criterion Laserdiscs. While I couldn't afford them, the sheer knowledge of having a director give a commentary about his own movie sounded like heaven. Finally when I had my first job, I remember saving money and buying a few select laserdiscs and I was hooked from then on.

DVD really opened the floodgates to movies I had only read about but was never able to see and the price point finally allowed me to start building a collection. Naturally when CC started pusblishing their first DVDs I immediately jumped on the band wagon and was ecstatic to be able to have my beloved classic arthouse movies in great editions. And movies I didn't yet know I would buy as well since Criterion almost always promised the discovery of an interesting title, even though I remember shaking my head when Armageddon came out.

At the same time I have always been a sucker for collections, it used to be vinyl records and books and then became CDs and DVDs, so after having collected the first 50+ titles in the collection, I didn't want to stop anymore, even though as CC started growing, there were many titles I knew I would only watch once and same I normally wouldn't have bought - but that is where the collector's brain kicked in (as silly as this may be). So 16 years later I still keep spending a lot of money on buying CC as well as many other, mostly BDs these days, and I do spend a considerable amount of my free time watching movies.

[dustybooks]

I'm sure some of you (esp. Matt) already know this, but speaking as an employee of a small public library where DVDs are extremely popular: if you have some you're wishing you could get rid of but don't want to deal with the pain of shipping them out for very little money, do consider donating them if you're okay with the idea -- it's tax deductible, even. The donations we get are strongly appreciated by our patrons, who by and large are not of the economic bracket necessary to purchase a lot of movies (or even subscribe to Netflix or whatever) and the amount of circulation the collection here gets is quite staggering.

[matrixschmatrix]

Our local library got the benefit of an amazing little indie video store's entire collection when the store went out of business, so I don't know that there's a DVD I own that they don't already have. It's pretty cool, though- the video store ran a donation campaign so that they wouldn't have to declare bankruptcy where people could sponsor individual titles being donated to the library, instead of buying them as they normally might.

[cpetrizzi]

I've posted this under the Cabiria thread, but because we're on the topic of cases, 'll ask it here, also. I finally got a used copy of Cabiria but to my amazement the case is NOT the black Amaray one. It's a completely CLEAR Amaray case which I've never seen before! Initially I thought it was a new Scanavo case, but after I popped the disc out (same yin/yang button as Amaray), it has Amaray imprinted underneath the disc. Has anyone ever seen a clear Amaray case? It's kind of cool, but it's now different than any other case from the early spines.

Yeah, they exist. Since it's used somebody probably just replaced a damaged case with whatever they had lying around. Cabiria was released in a black Amaray case.

I contacted the seller and her reason for replacing the original case with a clear case was that a movie of this caliber should have a brand new case with it void of shelf wear! After I told her I preferred to have the original case, she sent it to me so all's well. (And from what I discerned there was little to no wear on the bottom at all, go figure.)

[TomReagan]

I'm sure some of you (esp. Matt) already know this, but speaking as an employee of a small public library where DVDs are extremely popular: if you have some you're wishing you could get rid of but don't want to deal with the pain of shipping them out for very little money, do consider donating them if you're okay with the idea -- it's tax deductible, even. The donations we get are strongly appreciated by our patrons, who by and large are not of the economic bracket necessary to purchase a lot of movies (or even subscribe to Netflix or whatever) and the amount of circulation the collection here gets is quite staggering.

This. My local library is relatively small, and -- much to my surprise -- I found out they too do a very brisk circulation. I've been donating for the past few years, and I use about half the value that Amazon sells the title for for my deduction. Moreover, and as corny as it may sound, it actually makes me feel good when I pop in there and notice a few of my titles (usually ones I've upgraded to blu, especially Criterions) have been checked out. Plus, to echo what Matt and others have stated earlier, if there's little to no recoup value, it seems a much better use for my past purchases.

[ShellOilJunior]

I'm sure some of you (esp. Matt) already know this, but speaking as an employee of a small public library where DVDs are extremely popular: if you have some you're wishing you could get rid of but don't want to deal with the pain of shipping them out for very little money, do consider donating them if you're okay with the idea -- it's tax deductible, even. The donations we get are strongly appreciated by our patrons, who by and large are not of the economic bracket necessary to purchase a lot of movies (or even subscribe to Netflix or whatever) and the amount of circulation the collection here gets is quite staggering.

My library won't take any kind of donated item unless it's brand new. It's silly because many of their films are scratched up from being in circulation for a while. On a side note, I'm surprised the (1) copy of Third Man on Blu hasn't been stolen yet seeing as the fine (Retail price of the blu-ray) would be much less than the selling price point!

[Zot!]

I've never considered being a completist, even if I could afford it, as I find that large swaths of the catalogue hold little interest to me or I outright detest the films. That is very much to Criterion's credit, as they definitely do a good job of appealing to broader tastes than mine. If I do buy films that I'm iffy about, I'm much more tempted to collect directors, genres, or perhaps even favorite actors. I did buy the Aliens box for purposes of being "complete" despite only enjoying the first two films (I drew the line at Prometheus and the AvP films). Piecing together a Wong Kar Wai on BD collection from multiple labels and countries is a modest and achievable accomplishment. Otherwise I much prefer curating my own "collection" of films that I like, or are important to me, which most definitely includes some of the Criterion titles.

Again, somehow the box-set packaging of related films help me accept the chaff with the wheat. I'm looking forward to the rumored Doinel upgrade, even though some of the later installments are cheap cash-ins. Also that Rohmer box-set from Potemkine is impossible to resist, though I would likely skip some of the titles if they were available only individually. My Existenz "Fast Action Pack" has the opposite effect however.

[Yaanu]

I made these spreadsheets for the Criterion Collection Facebook Page a while ago. They act as checklists to determine not only how many Criterion Collection titles you own, but also how many you need to complete your collection, as well as how much money you'll need.

To save your own copy, you need a Google Account. Then click "File" and "Make a copy...".
Let me know if anything goes wrong. Like, seriously. I have a feeling there are a few bugs I need to fix. Also probably incorrect information regarding prices or OOP information.

BD: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... G5ZVHU5dWc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
DVD: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... sp=sharing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Eclipse: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... sp=sharing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[woodsietx]

[quote="Yaanu"]I made these spreadsheets for the Criterion Collection Facebook Page a while ago. They act as checklists to determine not only how many Criterion Collection titles you own, but also how many you need to complete your collection, as well as how much money you'll need.

First I want to thank you for sharing these spreadsheets. Like most serious collectors of movies, books or any other items that fall into a readily defined lists, I already have several of my own spreadsheets including my master Criterion one. However, the math work you do on yours is a nice addition and let's me see where I'm at. I don't have to count on my fingers this way.

Bear with me, the next is a bit convoluted. I'll try not to be boring.

I fall into the completest category (sans laserdisk) of Criterion fans. I have a retail copy of every title. I started collecting them around the end of 2009, early 2010. The second or fourth movie I bought was Sid and Nancy in Feb. 2010. The receipt is still in the disc case. My first purchase was Ran shortly before that. I saw it in a used DVD store for around $25. I wasn't aware of the Criterion collection though so I didn't know it was OOP. Just knew Kurosawa was important and that the packaging was awesome. I later went into the same store and found S&N for $45 (and it was labeled OOP and on the "employee picks" shelf) or I found 1st edition copies of Yojimbo and Sanjuro sitting together.

Previously, I was trying to collect every movie on Entertainment Weekly's top 100 (done) and Seven Samurai is on that list. This was my first awareness of Kurosawa's place in cinema. I wasn't collecting Criterions yet. The book, 1001 Golf Holes You Must Play Before You Die (one of them I've played locally), led me to discovering the other books in that series including 1001 Movies. I've since made it a goal to get some version of every movie on that list. I'm still short about 12. RAN, Seven Samurai, Rashomon are on that list, maybe one or two more so Ran made sense to me even though I thought it very expensive for a used DVD. Little did I know what lay ahead. S&N was an unknown. Its price made me shudder but I knew what OOP does to the price of old books so I bit the bullet, assuming the same for movies. After investing in those first four, combined with the knowledge of how many of the Criterions are on the 1001 list, I decided to start collecting them all.

So over the next 2.5 years, I've managed to find copies of every Criterion title. I have every OOP title in both DVD and Blu. Picked up a Playtime blu a couple weeks ago after I found out it was OOP. Didn't know it was. I have a handful I am not 100% sure are not bootlegs but they are well done if not. The reason I say "find copies" is that the majority of my copies were not new. I'm a solid eBay user and have quite a bit of success finding stuff there. I also scoured the used stores in Austin for everything I could. My first big B&N purchase was on the road in Fargo, ND when I was visiting my future wife in Winnipeg, MB Canada. Now I make a spreadsheet to plan my purchases when the sale comes up.

I'm short a complete collection of DVDs by 25. I am missing the single disc Last Emperor, four 2nd editions and most everything from spine #636 up. This last B&N sale was the first time I bought more blus than DVDs. Starting to add up the costs of DVDs I'll probably never open. I'm short about 90 blu-rays. I have the collection on display on two wire racks in the living room that contain one each of the latest version of each spine number. I box up the 1st editions and DVDS that I have blus of unless there's a significant reason to keep an older version on display. One rack is 7' high and contains spine #1-491. Very impressive display. I hope to grab some picts eventually. One day we'll have enough room to put them all out on display.

I also own 29 of the Eclipse sets and 6 of the Merchant Ivorys. Again, a mix of new and used. I don't plan to get any of the Essentials or the other box sets available from Criterion. I kept planning to pull the trigger on the Kurosawa box but since there's only 1 movie in it I don't have elsewhere, I waited. Too late now.

I'd say I have close to 1500 blu-ray/DVD movies in my living room.

Sorry for going on but it's so rare to find any place to talk about the collection to people who actually appreciate what it is.

Todd

[Mouse]

Does anyone else have rules to their Criterion buying habits? I've slowly developed mine for the last few years:

1. I will only impulse buy a title if it is OOP and/or below list price.

2. I will never buy an OOP title for more than list price. The only exception are the blu-rays of Man who fell to earth, Third Man, and Ran ( ).

3. I will never buy a title online. I would never have money, like ever, If I did.

I'm sure I'll think of more, but so far these rules have not let me down. I've found authentic copies of "The Killer" and "The Man Who Fell to Earth" blu just a few miles from my house in used dvd stores. It takes a lot of luck, but the hunt is so much more fun when you find a non-bootleg copy of "The Killer" just 6 blocks from your house because you bothered to look in the used dvd bin at the mall.

[jindianajonz]

I gave in on the OOP price thing; I generally watch the prices for a while and snag something when it was reasonable. I got most things for under $50, but I did end up paying close to $150 for Tokyo Olympiad...

For everything else, though, I won't pay any more than the B&N sale under most circumstances. But I also tend to grab anything I need that is under 50% when I see it.

[Moe Dickstein]

Yeah, that was pretty much my policy. OOPs I made a spreadsheet of the prices so I'd know when I had a deal - I managed to find Tokyo Olympiad earlier this year for $70 in a store. But I found the best deals were usually online, and I only ever got a couple bootlegs that way, which were quickly refunded. I think the one I paid the most for was Third Man blu for like $100 or $110 around there.

I never paid more than BN sale prices except for rare cases. I managed to complete my collection (save 2) in about 13 months that way. I saved a lot of money from single people selling many discs on eBay which cut down on shipping and tax costs. I also scoured used stores and took advantage of their sales and bundle discounts. Every sale, be it BN or the Best Buy 50% or CC Flash Sales, I jumped on those too.

Depends on how fast you want or can do it. I think if you're willing to wait for the very best deals you can probably do very well, I'm sure I overpaid $10 here and there for some box sets and the like. But considering I'd figured this would be a 5 year project I'm glad to be in the "maintenance" phase.

Going forward I'll just get the new releases that I most want when they come out, then clean up the gaps at Flash sales and BN sales.

[domino harvey]

Back when it was the only game in town, long before the MGM releases and long after it went OOP, I paid ~$95 for a mint Criterion edition of Rebecca and that is by far the most I've ever spent on one title and was a testament to my love of the film and the edition's extras and the possibility of it never resurfacing at that time. I can not imagine paying that much for any title ever again, Criterion or otherwise. I've been trying to think what the next most I've paid for one film and I can't think of anything higher than $35 or so, and even that's pretty wild-- I rarely go over $25 for anything that isn't a boxed set

[Moe Dickstein]

The funny thing is the ones that were the most expensive were thankfully ones I wanted too. I've watched Tokyo Olympiad a couple times, the commentary is great. Third man as well. Thankfully I got the Hitchcocks when the MGMs had already come out so they were more in the $30-40 range but those films are so good it's worth it to have all the different versions for the commentaries. I'm just glad we're past the Laser days when Brazil was $150 and Evita was $125, I saved for those and still have them, and considering how much I love those two films and the level of analysis and extras on each set, it never felt like it wasn't worth it.

[domino harvey]

I sold my Third Man Blu-ray a couple years ago for probably $80 or so (I can't remember) but kept my rerelease DVD copy that I hadn't bothered to sell when I upgraded, so as far as I'm concerned the extras I want (namely the Soderbergh and Gilroy commentary) are already in tact and in my possession and if I ever hungered for the film in HD, I could pick up the Studio Canal Blu

[matrixschmatrix]

I found a Tokyo Olympiad and a copy of the Saura Eclipse set in a store for $25 each once, and sold them for a few hundred dollars- but I wound up rebuying the former, because it's actually really compelling and a fantastic commentary. I don't think I'd buy the Saura set back unless it dropped down to $20-30, though, particularly since I think you can get all the individual movies in region 2.

The only thing I'm really desperate to buy to scratch a collector's itch right now is a Mystery Science Theater set, volume 9- it's the last one I need, but it's going for $150 or more on Amazon, which is absurd. I'd buy it for $80 in a second, though. I mostly just hate paying OOP prices for things when I'm not sure that they're not going to drop later, the way the Criterion Hitchcocks did.

[domino harvey]

Jesus, just checked and that Saura Eclipse set is going for $160+ new? Well, putting my sealed copy up now because it's not like I'd ever open it at that price anyways-- this thing's the Star Wars toys of DVDs

EDIT: I will sell my new and sealed to any collector here for an unbeatable $150, and it will even come packaged with a lock of my hair (Lock of hair optional)

[MichaelB]

This is the thing I can't fathom about the obsessive-collector mentality - why pay $160+ for something that you can get for much, much less elsewhere? All three Saura titles are available in recent English-friendly UK editions for the equivalent of about $12 apiece, so you're effectively paying $124 for a box and some brief liner notes.