With the start of July comes the latest Criterion Collection sale at Barnes & Noble. As always, this is a great time to stock up on Blu-rays from the label. However, I really wonder whether Criterion’s new streaming service will undermine the sense of urgency fans feel to run out and buy physical media?
At each of these B&N 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 3rd, 2018. If you plan to buy older Criterion releases during this sale, vote “Other” and tell us which ones in the Comments section.
The sale began last Thursday, June 27th, and runs through August 4th. 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.
Loading ...This is another very impressive slate from Criterion. Among the must-haves on my list are Blue Velvet, Do the Right Thing, Notorious, House of Games, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s BRD Trilogy and Berlin Alexanderplatz miniseries are also big wants, though might be too expensive for me at the moment, even at the sale pricing.
Regrettably, this Criterion sale comes right on the heels of the Arrow Video BOGO sale at Arrowfilms.com and Zavvi, which is running through July 7th. I just spent a bunch of money there and don’t have much left over to spend on more Blu-rays. Anyone who happens to be a fan of both labels will need to prioritize and make some hard choices. (If you haven’t gotten in on the Arrow sale yet, Zavvi has better prices but Arrowfilms.com has more selection.)
Chris B
I just got back from a trip to the United States and was lucky enough to hit up a B&N the day after the sale started. I only ended up grabbing two titles (Blue Velvet and M), but it was a cool experience to be able to take part in the sale via a “brick n’ mortar” store as opposed to ordering online.
Csm101
Where’d you visit?
Chris B
Houston, Texas. It was a fantastic trip. Ate a ton of barbecue, hit up U.S. staples like Target and Waffle House, visited Galveston and the Nasa museum, ate at a huge crawfish boil, fired off some guns etc. I had a fuggin’ blast down there, America is awesome👍.
Robert Stokes
Glad you had fun. Had I known you were coming I would have recommended some BBQ spots!
Chris b
We went to Pinkerton’s for dinner, it was epic!
Csm101
Awesome! I’ve yet to visit Texas but it’s definitely on my to do list.
njscorpio
I knew this sale was coming, but I bought Police Story 1/2 prior (with a coupon), because I just couldn’t wait.
For this sale, I’ll probably get ‘Blue Velvet’ and ‘Detour’.
John M Burton Jr.
A face in the Crowd and Lost in America maybe Time Bandits
Csm101
I’m hoping to at least be able to pick up In the Heat of the Night, but it’s been a tight month and I’m not sure how July will fare.
Josh Zyber
AuthorI think we should be heartened that “I have no more need for Blu-ray now that Criterion has a streaming service” is doing pretty poorly in the poll with only 6 votes.
Judas Cradle
Going with Streaming over a disc is the equivalent of saying “I don’t need a 4K disc, since I have the DVD.”
Chris B
Yeaaahhhh…no it isn’t at all. 4k streaming is available albeit slightly less better than owning tge movie in discs.
Julian
Bitrate is better on disc, and, you know, if streaming servers are down (yesterday, both Facebook and Instagram were down for hours, so it can happen), a disc will never disappoint you. Unless it’s scratched.
Clark
The thing is, I sometimes buy Criterion discs because I’m curious to see the movie. I end up not loving the movie (or not liking it at all) and I’m stuck with a disc ocupying precious shelf-space. I’d rather stream to kill the curiosity and, if I like the movie, I buy it. But I rarely revisit these “art movies” (time and shelf-space are limited, as is money) so I end up never buying anything from Criterion.
Chris B
Bitrates may be better, but differences in PQ are damn near imperceptible. I buy 4k discs because my internet sucks and I get tired of the quality dropping every time Netflix and Amazon Prime are streaming.
Owning the movie on disc obviously has it’s advantages in terms of accessibilty, but also disadvantages (they cost $$$). If someone has a hard-wired connection and don’t give a shot about owning physical media, the A/V quality is virtually the same and streaming suits their needs just fine.
Trond Michelsen
No it isn’t!
Look, I prefer physical media, and I don’t even have a Netflix subscription. But, claiming that the image quality of streaming services is comparable to DVD, is ridiculous. The quality of HD and UHD streaming services today are really, really good.
Jacob
So, I have bought Police Story 1 &2, Repo Man, Bull Durham, and Election.
dave
I’d like to get “The Thin Red Line”, but I’m trying to not buy BluRay’s of movies that I think will relatively soon be released on 4k UHD.
Richard Thomas
Godzilla, Seven Samurai, Twelve Angry Men so far.
Jon
1984