Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Plundering Barnes & Noble for Criterion


Don't forget to stop off at your local Barnes & Noble, where today they started the first of their bi-annual 50% off all Criterion standard & blu-ray discs. It's a hell of a bargain, one any ardent cinephile would be remiss to not take advantage of. The sale is both in-store and online, so if there's not a store located nearby, you can still get the offer through their site.

I've just come home from my own haul, which as you can see above, saw me walking away with Renoir's The Rules of the Game, Kiarostami's Close-Up, Antonioni's Red Desert, Yates' The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Soderbergh's Che, Fellini's 8 1/2 (which I've still for some ungodly reason yet to see, that will change soon), Mizoguchi's Ugetsu, Wajda's Danton, and the special edition of The Killers which contains both Siodmak's classic version as well as the '64 Don Siegel version. All of this for just under $200, and with a batch of gift cards I've been sitting on for some time, I laid out about $100 even cash for all of these. Just can't beat it. The sale runs through August 1 I believe, so there's plenty of time to act. This is a perfect opportunity for all film lovers to beef up their libraries, so take advantage while you can.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Agreed! I just picked up WRITTEN ON THE WIND and AND GOD CREATED WOMAN for under $35!! Amazing...

The Taxi Driver said...

Damn, living in Canada sucks. I wonder what the S&H would be. I'm off to check. You got quite an amazing haul there.

Hans A. said...

Great haul! Thanks so much for the head's up on the sale. My Criterion Rules of the Game has to be one of my favorite DVDs that I own. Off to peruse the sale, and thanks again!

Drew McIntosh said...

Great stuff J.D.! Those are excellent grabs, and that Sirk in particular is one I've had my eye on. They didn't have it in stock at the store I visited today, or else I would have nabbed it for sure.

Mike, I have no clue what the shipping situation is like, but I hope you find good news!

Hans, glad I could give you the heads up! Also glad to hear that the The Rules of the Game disc lives up to what appears to be quite the impressive treatment. I will admit that the inclusion of the doc by Rivette was the tipping point for me. Really looking forward to delving into it.

snarkyjack said...

Wow, I will have to visit Barnes & Noble very soon. I love my Criterion versions of Videodrome and Vampyr. Thanks for the information!

Simon said...

Curses...such a tragic lack of store...

Drew McIntosh said...

No problem A.J.! I love those sets you've listed as well, and the Videodrome one has always been one of my very favorite Criterion packaging jobs.

Simon, the sale is being offered online through B&N's site as well - I even believe it's free shipping on orders over $25 (though don't quote me on that) - so it's quite easy to take advantage of it even if there's not a store near.

Unknown said...

Yep, if you order over $25 online, the shipping is free. That's how I got my DVDs.

Sam Juliano said...

I have also made a major haul Drew, and today will make good on the blu-rays of both BLACK NARCISSUS and THE RED SHOES, which streeted yesterday. Over the weekend I picked up blu-rays of: CLOSE-UP, THE SEVENTH SEAL, M, THERE WAS A FATHER/THE ONLY SON (non blu-ray actually), LOLA MONTES, HUNGER and the Elipse set of the Oshimas. While I regularly collect all Criterion releases all year round, and am only missing maybe six in the entire collection, I have slowed up now over the last year, so as to make good on this admittedly fantastic deal.
I do love making the appearance in the store for the sale, though as opposed to on-line where most of our odering is done.
You've done quite well yourself there, and your promotion post here is a great one (as is that appetizing photo!) Ha!

Drew McIntosh said...

Wow, Sam! Only missing six from the entire collection?! THAT is impressive. I consider myself an ardent Criterion collector, but I only have maybe in the vicinity of 110-120 titles?

That is quite the haul you had yourself; I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on those Powell/Pressburger re-issues!