Quality criteria
C is for… cult or con?
I’ve mentioned previously (and here) how my formative musical experiences were on a Sony Walkman listening to records borrowed from friends/the library then recorded onto cassette tapes (cassette tapes? Is that tautological like vinyl records is?).
Likewise with my formative film experiences; I wasn’t that bothered about quality, I just had to see a (usually scratched) print of Buñuel’s Los Olvidados in a fleapit in South London (can’t remember why now) or Kenneth Anger at the Scala. Around this time, we’d rent out VHS films all the time, mostly at the local video shop (also a greengrocers) and some illegal films (at the time) – dodgy versions of A Clockwork Orange and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. These were terrible tenth generation copies, but it didn’t matter, actually it probably added to the excitement and atmosphere. I have yet to watch any of these films on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray DVD, or have any inclination, or know what that even means (though 8K and 16K is coming or maybe already here).
Despite the supposed death of physical media, CDs, vinyl and Blu-rays are flourishing in these days of never-ending reissues where the song or film remains the same but the packaging and format changes.
I’ve also mentioned previously how record companies rubbed their hands with glee when they realised they could release exactly the same album via LP, cassette, CD, anniversary edition with bonus tracks, remastered, remixed, mp3, streamed, vinyl edition again as it’s fashionable (this time on white, red or green coloured vinyl) etc. I’ve been guilty of buying the occasional Bob Dylan Bootleg Series but the recent reissue of Who’s Next by The Who in a 10CD+Blu-ray super deluxe edition had me scratching my head. (The Super Deluxe Edition website – which I guiltily read – writes about nothing else, but does the world really need Duran Duran on High Fidelity Pure Audio Blu-ray audio with Dolby Atmos and Stereo Mixes or a 13CD Debbie Gibson retrospective? Unfortunately the answer seems to be yes – they’ll never be any accounting for taste. It looks as if every album ever released will eventually be… rereleased, remastered, reissued, remixed, resold. With bonus tracks. And cost a lot of money.)
Films are going through a similar process to music, with many being repackaged and resold in different formats – from streaming to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, with extras the equivalent to bonus tracks on CD box sets – for no reason but to make money. Formats have included Betamax, VHS, LaserDisc, DVD, Blu-ray, downloads and streaming.
Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is the latest format (actually released way back in 2016), providing enhanced sharpness and definition. Who cares? I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’ve seen such films as Walkabout and After Hours lots of times (they’ve been on TV over the years; besides I’ve probably owned them on VHS and DVD), they don’t strike me as the most exciting of releases, so Criterion releasing them on Ultra HD Blu-ray for £30 doesn’t impress me much. Plus you need a Ultra HD Blu-ray player and compatible TV to play it – a regular Blu-ray player won’t work. (NB: I still don’t own a TV or DVD player.)
Despite my love of film and music, paying £30 for a single film (which I’d watch once every five years at most – just in time for it to be rereleased on a newer format) or, say, £20 for a single record, would be crazy when I could have both for a fraction of the price in a cheaper format, and it would look and sound basically the same. I don’t care about Blu-ray 4K or extra content or outtakes or bonus tracks or heavywight vinyl. It’s all marketing crap.
• Watch The Cult of the Criterion Collection.
Previously on Barnflakes
Notes on nowhere (Top ten recent DVD Barngains section)
Top twenty free films on the Internet Archive
Top ten films to watch on Kanopy, April 2022
Top ten films on Kanopy, January 2022
Alternative cinematic streams
Lifetime subscription
Notes on being me
South London record shops
Revenge of the VHS tape
Scala Beyond
Scala Forever!
Weekend Barngains
Quality Dichotomy
Music Vs. Film and CDs Vs. DVDs
Greatest Hits
A Guide to Buying a New Television