Ever since Costco started regularly selling Criterion Collection Blu-rays at 50% off MSRP, the semi-annual Barnes & Noble sale has seemed less essential than it used to. However, Costco typically has a very limited selection of titles, and of course not everyone has a membership to that store. If you’ve been waiting, the new B&N sale starts today. Start emptying your wallets!
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 December 1st, 2014. 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 July 27th, 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.
These days, I don’t have nearly as much disposable income as I used to before I had kids. As a result, I won’t be able to collect every Criterion disc I might like. Nevertheless, some titles from this list that I would personally consider essentials include: ‘Don’t Look Now’, ‘Fellini Satyricon’, ‘The Fisher King’, ‘Time Bandits’, ‘The Friends of Eddie Coyle’, ‘My Dinner with Andre’, ‘Hoop Dreams’, ‘Sullivan’s Travels’, ‘Hiroshima mon amour’, ‘The Thin Blue Line’, and the ‘Gates of Heaven / Vernon, Florida’ double-feature. I already picked up a couple of these at Costco. Of the others, I think I will prioritize ‘Satyricon’, ‘Time Bandits’ and ‘The Thin Blue Line’.
Do you expect to part with some dollars at this sale?
Mark
I plan on getting Time Bandits, Repo Man, and a bunch of Wes Anderson movies that I haven’t gathered yet. Depending on available funds I may grab a few others.
Chris B
I don’t have as much money to blow this time around so I’m limited to four titles tops. I plan on picking up Badlands, Videodrome, 3:10 to Yuma and Don’t Look Now.
yotum
Are all the B&N titles only on DVD? I didn’t see an option for Blu. Perhaps I missed it?
Josh Zyber
AuthorBoth DVDs and Blu-rays are on sale. There’s a sorting option for Blu-rays in the column on the left.
moremovies85
I didn’t know the sale was semi-annual! I thought it was only in November. I am getting Hiroshima mon amour and My Beautiful Laundrette for the newer titles, then filling in a few more older titles. I haven’t made up my mind yet. I am probably limited to 4-6. The bigger new titles are usually available at Costco.
Deaditelord
Time to add some more Kurosawa to my library and maybe The Sword of Doom.
Jared Chamberlain
Brazil, Scanners, and Salo are all on my list barring financial distress…
Chris B
Isn’t Salo OOP?
Josh Zyber
AuthorNo. You’re probably thinking of the original Criterion DVD for Salo, which famously went out of print and fetched high prices on eBay for years. The Blu-ray was released in 2011 and is still in print. Here’s the link to it at B&N:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-salo-or-the-120-days-of-sodom-paolo-bonacelli/3931423?ean=0715515087414
Frank
Salo OOP……out of poop? Never.
Peter
I’m not a Costco member, and my friends and I look forward to the B&N Criterion sale. Hope to get depending on funds The River, Sullivan’s Travels, La Silence de la mer, The Killers, Odd Man Out, My Winnipeg, and The Confession.I was thinking of getting Z as a companion to The Confession, but it is only available on DVD. I would hate to buy it then in a few months they announce they are releasing it on Blu-ray. That happened to me with The Vanishing, which I bought the last sale or two sales ago then it came out in a new 4k restoration on blu-ray.
Rob Larsen
Am eager to bring into my life the 2-disc blu-ray iteration of “The Lady Vanishes,” which delivers the “non-compressed monaural soundtrack” I am hoping will improve on the audio quality which has disappointed in alternative releases I’ve otherwise enjoyed; also, the 3-disc version of “Fanny and Alexander” which, unaccountably, I’ve never seen, despite knowing for decades of the sublime regard it is accorded; also, the heartbreaking “Sundays and Cybele,” which I haven’t seen since I was a college freshman and which wrecked me for the better part of my second semester….
Csm101
The Fisher King, Fellini Satyricon, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, The Sword of Doom. Older titles include, The Naked Kiss, Shock Corridor, The Devils’s Backbone, The Killing, and The Phantom Carriage. I’ll be lucky to be able to pick up one or two of these.
Krawk
Wow Josh you left the list rather short this go round!
In addition to my votes, am looking at Godzilla, Brazil & It Happened One Night. I am still reviewing available titles for more possibilities. For ones that I voted on above; Watership Down, The Bridge, The Fisher King, Time Bandits, My Winnipeg, The Thin Red Line & The Black Stallion.
What will I truly end up with? One the titles are in my face it’s hard to tell. I might even pick up a few on impulse.
Josh Zyber
AuthorThe criteria for the list are spelled out in the post. Criterion has released over 350 Blu-rays at this point. It would take me forever to make a poll with that many options, and I’m certainly not going to do it every time B&N runs these sales.
Krawk
It Happened One Night is a newer title.
I know you won’t list em all but that title goes against criteria doesn’t it?
Josh Zyber
AuthorIt Happened One Night was included in the list during the last B&N sale:
http://www.highdefdigest.com/blog/barnes-noble-criterion-sale-nov-2014/
cardpetree
So what’s MSRP? Is this like the scam Amazon ran a year ago or so where they said all Pixar Blu-rays were 50% off MSRP but MSRP was like $45 dollars?
Josh Zyber
AuthorMost Criterion Blu-rays have an MSRP of $39.99. The 50% off brings them to $19.99. There’s no scam. That’s just how sales work, pretty much everywhere.
Chris B
I know what he’s saying, most Criterion blu-rays even up here in Canada sold at HMV are $35 dollars even and some are $32.99. To state the regular price for all titles is $40 seems a little inflated. It’s still a good deal though, hence why I take part in the sales.
cardpetree
Well, looks like Amazon is having a 40% off sale right now on Criterion Collection Blu-rays.
Adam
I picked up so far:
The Fisher King
12 Angry Men
Rashomon
Seven Samurai
Yojimbo/Sanjuro
The Ice Storm
Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas
The Magician
The Royal Tenenbaums
Macbeth
Just got my extra 20% off coupon in the mail! Going back for more!
Jack
I love this sale. It’s my first time partaking in it and there are so many choices to choose from. I picked up:
Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush
Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven
Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate (blindbuy)
Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront
I’m planning on going back hopefully this weekend. I really want Five Easy Pieces and maybe another blindbuy. Any recommendations on what that should be?
Josh Zyber
AuthorHard to say without knowing your tastes and what you already own. Personally, I think anything by Kurosawa is a safe bet (Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, High and Low), or Fellini (8 1/2, La Dolce Vita, Amarcord). Glancing over at my Criterion shelf, some random suggestions: It Happened One Night, M, Nashville, Repulsion, Rosemary’s Baby. If you like Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line seems like an obvious pick.
Does any of that help?
Jack
Sorry for not getting back sooner! Yes, your suggestions have been noted. I actually own It Happened One Night and it’s amazing. 12 Angry Men and A Hard Days Night (big Beatles Fan) are the others. I’ve seen the Thin Red Line and it’s amazing. I’ve heard the sale has been extended until the 3rd of August, so yay to us Cinephiles!
Chris B
I’d totally grab Riffifi, King of the Hill and Paths of Glory….
Chris B
I blind-bought Heaven’s Gate as well (partly because I dig The Deer Hunter so much) and I was floored while watching it. I’ve never seen a movie that meanders so much. Half-way through I started yelling at my TV things like “Why the fuck are we watching these people talk about this?! What’s the point of this fucking scene?!
Nothing’s happenning!! Etc.” It was quite the experience lol. Like Josh sais in his review of the disc, the movie plays much better if you break it up like a tv mini-series or something along those lines.
Jack
I love the Deer Hunter. It’s my favorite film of all time, so I, like you, wanted to see this disaster. I watched all 216 minutes of it and I thought it wasn’t too bad. The cinematography really held this film together. It was just breathtaking. I also liked Kristofferson and Walken as their particular characters. The soundtrack was beautiful. But the script and the fairly wooden acting of Ruppart really brought this film down.
William Henley
Nothing for me this time. I only have half a dozen Criterion discs – most of the stuff Criterion releases, I don’t care for, but every now and then there is a gem in there.
Nothing on this list sounds interesting. I have subscribed to Criterion’s Youtube channel to learn about movies they are releasing that I may never have heard about, but I haven’t seen anything interesting yet. There was one trailer they released a couple of weeks ago that looked strange (Valerie and her Week of Wonder), and I almost picked it up mainly out of amazement, but as the trailer went on and it got weirder, I decided to pass.
David H.
I’m definitely going to get Hiroshima Mon Amour first.
I will probably try to get at least one box set, either The Complete Jacques Tati, The Jacques Demy Collection, or maybe By Brakhage.
Csm101
I’m bummed. My local Barnes & Nobles went out of business. 🙁
Dan
Saw this article after the B&N sale ended but as a fan of both B&N and Criterion, I had to include my list but just for memorialization of what I actually bought:
1. Always for the Pleasure-Les Blank films
2. To Ride with the Devil
3. Eraserhead
4. Watership Down
5. My Beautiful Laundrette
6. Tootsie
7. My Darling Clementine
8. Jubal
9. La Dolce Vita
10. The Rose
11. All That Jazz
12. The Black Stallion
I’m still happily watching these terrific movies