The year's most anticipated screener shipment yields another adventurous year, including the best film of 2024. But it's not without a few bumps in the road.
I really wish NEON would sell a higher-end, consumer-facing version of this box for non-critics. While I’m so happy to have mine, I really wish others could get their hands on it.
Yeah, as a physical media collector I was going to ask if there was any way for us random peons to get our hands on this thing. Neon put out a really nice Oldboy limited edition last year, they’re capable of doing good things with physical media.
I wonder how much brand loyalty folks might have for a company like Neon. Maybe it's worth assessing for them. On the other hand, a handful of Neon films tends to get picked up for Criterion release, so maybe that complicate things a bit. It's a cool idea, though. It stands to reason that if critics are excited to get the box every year, regular 'ole cinephiles might be too.
If they put together snazzy packaging (like the Oldboy set) and courted the physical media community a bit, I think they could *build* brand loyalty. People will buy all manner of schlock from Vinegar Syndrome, for instance, if the packaging is cool and the transfer is decent.
Criterion releases might hurt them a bit, but just as an example, Second Sight released a Mean Streets box simultaneous with the Criterion 4K release and it sold like hotcakes, as they say. Probably difficult to get your hands on one now (I bought one when it released, it’s excellent).
That’s a great question, for a lot of people I think it would depend on packaging. The closest analogue I can think of right, with multiple movies, is the Columbia Classics sets (I think Sony may have done something similar):
I have one of their sets, but not that one! May be time to pick it up. That price is actually the best I’ve seen for it and I would love to have all of these films in 4K. Which ones did you guys write about? I love the content that came with the one I bought (I don’t remember the # but it’s the one with Taxi Driver and The Social Network).
I really wanted to like Handling the Undead, but "determined somnambulism" is the perfect description for why it bored me. But I also had the weirdest experience when I watched it on the Sundance stream. So much dialog, possibly even the majority, was only in subtitles. News reports, offscreen conversations, even descriptive audio of zombie attacks in the distance were all appearing as text on screen but I could not hear one of them.
Once it hit wider release I heard other people had the same problem, so it wasn't just the festival stream. I really wonder what the issue is, because some of those subtitles implied a much more exciting movie than what was actually visible or audible.
I cannot believe somebody made a movie about Mavis Beacon. I remember the printed ads in the computer magazines I used to read back in the day. It never even occurred to me she was a real person - for some reason I thought she was like Carmen Sandiego...!
I really wish NEON would sell a higher-end, consumer-facing version of this box for non-critics. While I’m so happy to have mine, I really wish others could get their hands on it.
Yeah, as a physical media collector I was going to ask if there was any way for us random peons to get our hands on this thing. Neon put out a really nice Oldboy limited edition last year, they’re capable of doing good things with physical media.
I wonder how much brand loyalty folks might have for a company like Neon. Maybe it's worth assessing for them. On the other hand, a handful of Neon films tends to get picked up for Criterion release, so maybe that complicate things a bit. It's a cool idea, though. It stands to reason that if critics are excited to get the box every year, regular 'ole cinephiles might be too.
If they put together snazzy packaging (like the Oldboy set) and courted the physical media community a bit, I think they could *build* brand loyalty. People will buy all manner of schlock from Vinegar Syndrome, for instance, if the packaging is cool and the transfer is decent.
Criterion releases might hurt them a bit, but just as an example, Second Sight released a Mean Streets box simultaneous with the Criterion 4K release and it sold like hotcakes, as they say. Probably difficult to get your hands on one now (I bought one when it released, it’s excellent).
realistically, how much would you be willing to pay, though? producing such small runs of this can't be cheap
That’s a great question, for a lot of people I think it would depend on packaging. The closest analogue I can think of right, with multiple movies, is the Columbia Classics sets (I think Sony may have done something similar):
https://www.amazon.com/Columbia-Classics-Collection-Anatomy-Sensibility/dp/B096WV4447/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=TZYF0T92D0JS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vAycKQGql5QhQbZ7jUoQu4q2jI9ElKFBfnzd7kvPoLJjS3NfmeIC0J_QOmz_PF7k4mVZN50eHJWIxVf268VaEdaKTVkkG_TF5DtcXe28q9ynZHDNtSPSMqaE-_hr067nGJFf9F1defyPrUEJXglC8A.kiQNIu1EXz1Gf1g01PLqHIE4rklNFgLpXrV-7R6QIGc&dib_tag=se&keywords=columbia+classics+4k&qid=1736358944&sprefix=columbia+clas%2Caps%2C110&sr=8-4
For a set like this that will have some movies that people are interested in and some that they aren’t, maybe $150?
Columbia Classics? It's my understanding that a couple of handsome devils contributed to the liner notes on this volume: https://www.amazon.com/Columbia-Classics-Giftset-Digital-Blu-ray/dp/B0D9CJZCT7/ref=sims_dp_d_dex_ai_speed_loc_mtl_v5_t1_d_sccl_2_2/142-5820010-7527267?pd_rd_w=GNZXE&content-id=amzn1.sym.281550a9-05fa-4fa0-a033-b1923adca8ef&pf_rd_p=281550a9-05fa-4fa0-a033-b1923adca8ef&pf_rd_r=F4RFK6924T4V9M5HJQYP&pd_rd_wg=LmsO6&pd_rd_r=82610279-4f58-4177-abba-8ecbc77dc6b8&pd_rd_i=B0D9CJZCT7&psc=1
I have one of their sets, but not that one! May be time to pick it up. That price is actually the best I’ve seen for it and I would love to have all of these films in 4K. Which ones did you guys write about? I love the content that came with the one I bought (I don’t remember the # but it’s the one with Taxi Driver and The Social Network).
I really wanted to like Handling the Undead, but "determined somnambulism" is the perfect description for why it bored me. But I also had the weirdest experience when I watched it on the Sundance stream. So much dialog, possibly even the majority, was only in subtitles. News reports, offscreen conversations, even descriptive audio of zombie attacks in the distance were all appearing as text on screen but I could not hear one of them.
Once it hit wider release I heard other people had the same problem, so it wasn't just the festival stream. I really wonder what the issue is, because some of those subtitles implied a much more exciting movie than what was actually visible or audible.
I liked the film, but I wonder now if that wasn’t residual affection spilling over from the very good, truly mournful novel.
Anora's still in theaters, at least in my area!
I really fucking loved CUCKOO, even if it left me scratching my head a little. Any movie that lets Dan Stevens off the leash is aces in my book.
I watched last night and wished he went more off the leash, like he did in the Eurovision movie.
I cannot believe somebody made a movie about Mavis Beacon. I remember the printed ads in the computer magazines I used to read back in the day. It never even occurred to me she was a real person - for some reason I thought she was like Carmen Sandiego...!
Wait, SHE IS NOT REAL! https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/mavis-beacon-teaches-typing-documentary-18635435.php Okay, so I guess I was actually right, she is akin to Carmen Sandiego. 😁
I wish I had seen the version of Anora you describe! Really wanted to love it but instead was mildly relieved it was finally over.