Poll: What Will You Buy in the November 2015 Criterion Collection Sale?

The last time Barnes & Noble held its semi-annual Criterion Collection sale, I commented that these sales seemed less essential ever since Costco started regularly carrying Criterion discs at 50% off MSRP. Wouldn’t you know it, within weeks of that post, my local Costco drastically cut back its Criterion selection. Barnes & Noble to the rescue once again!

At each of these sales, I try to compile a list of recent Criterion titles that are now eligible for the discount pricing. The following is not intended to be a comprehensive listing of every Criterion Blu-ray. This is merely a reference to those discs issued since B&N’s previous sale ended on July 27th, 2015. If you plan to buy older Criterion releases during this sale, vote “Other” and tell us which ones in the Comments section.

From now until November 30th, all in-print Criterion Collection titles are 50% off MSRP, both in stores and at barnesandnoble.com. The discounted price applies to upcoming titles that will be released through the end of the sale period, but not to any preorders scheduled for after the sale ends.

It seems to me that Criterion’s output has slowed down during the second half of 2015. This poll only has 22 new titles, whereas the July 2015 poll had 44. On the other hand, that appears to be consistent with 2014. I guess Criterion is just more active early in the year.

Which Blu-rays Will You Buy in the November 2015 Criterion Sale?

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Despite the lower overall volume, there are a bunch of really great titles in here. I already own ‘Dressed to Kill’, ‘Moonrise Kingdom’, ‘Mulholland Drive’ and ‘A Room with a View’. If I had the money to get everything I wanted, I’d also pick up ‘The Apu Trilogy’, ‘Breaker Morant’, ‘The Brood’, ‘Day for Night’, ‘Ikiru’, ‘In Cold Blood’, ‘Kwaidan’, ‘My Own Private Idaho’, and ‘Night and the City’. Also, I never got around to purchasing the dual-format edition of ‘Throne of Blood’, so the new single-disc copy is very appealing.

Since I’m on a budget, I will try to prioritize ‘Day for Night’, ‘Ikiru’, ‘Throne of Blood’ and ‘My Own Private Idaho’.

Will you hand over any money to the sale this time, or will you sit this one out?

14 comments

  1. NJScorpio

    I haven’t bought a Criterion movie in months, and in fact sold a handful on Amazon (including Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project). I still love my collection, but my money must go other places right now. Perhaps the next sale, I’ll pick up a few, but not this time.

  2. Chris B

    Financial circumstances being what they are, I’ve made the decision to sit this one out. The Canadian dollar is significantly lower than it has been in the past and I don’t have near the disposable income I used to. Heck, onetime I picked 15 titles in a single sale! Ahhh the good old days.

    Luckily I recently “sold” my old plasma TV to my folks in exchange for a substantial gift card to HMV. I was able to pick up My Own Private Idaho, Mulholland Drive, Night and the City and Eraserhead with it. As a result, I feel like I’ve gotten my Criterion fix for the moment. The great thing about these sales is there’s always the next one to look forward to, hopefully my situation will be a little more advantageous in July.

  3. Csm101

    As far as this batch goes, Mullholland Drive, The Honeymoon Killers, Throne of Blood interest me the most. I just picked up the cheapo version of Dressed to Kill from best buy a couple of weeks ago, so maybe I’ll wait for the next sale for that one. In Cold Blood and My Own Private Idaho slightly interest me. I never know for sure until I’m actually at the store sorting through them. The fun part of Criterion shopping for me is that its’s kind of impulsive so I may wind up with stuff I had no intention of getting. I only plan on picking up probably just three as I want to keep the budget under 100. I still have some Christmas shopping to do.

  4. William Henley

    I think this is the first time that I really haven’t heard of any of the movies, so I chose “what the hell is this crap”

    But truthfully, I can’t buy anything right now anyways, I am about to close on a house.

  5. Josh Zyber
    Author

    I popped into my local B&N this weekend. I wound up buying Day for Night, Kwaidan, My Own Private Idaho, Sullivan’s Travels and Time Bandits. I set myself a limit of $100 this sale, so I had to put back Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! and My Dinner with Andre.

  6. I meant to pick up three titles, but since I spent about 40 unexpected dollars, I only picked up two. The Devils’s Backbone and Rashomon. I really meant to pick up The Ice Storm but the case was damaged.:(
    Depending on my work week, maybe I’ll stop back by again.

  7. Chris B

    I received an unexpected cheque recently so I decided to order Dressed to Kill today. Used the Black Friday coupon and got an extra 30% off in addition to the 50%. Never seen the film but generally enjoy Depalma’s stuff. Hoping this turns out to be a smart purchase.

    • Csm101

      It’s like an Americanized giallo. Sleazy and creepy. It’s a little slow paced, but still very enjoyable. One of my favorites by De Palma.

      • Chris B

        I love some of his stuff, Carlito’s Way is a phenomenal movie. The scene where Pacino is telling his G/F he has no choice but to help his friend. “It’s what I am!…I can’t change that!” is so powerful, as well as Sean Penn’s horrifying metamorphosis. I still dig The Untouchables and Blow-out is pretty cool. I just don’t get Scarface though…I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy Dressed to Kill, Michael Caine is one of the greats.

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