The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films".[3] A de factosubsidiary of arthousefilm distributorJanus Films, Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinephiles[4][5] and public and academic libraries. Criterion has helped to standardize certain aspects of home-video releases such as film restoration, the letterboxing format for widescreen films and the inclusion of bonus features such as scholarly essays and documentary content about the films and filmmakers. Criterion most notably pioneered the use of commentary tracks. Criterion has produced and distributed more than one thousand special editions of its films in VHS, Betamax, LaserDisc, DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray formats and box sets. These films and their special features are also available via The Criterion Channel, an online streaming service that the company operates.
The company was founded in 1984 by Robert Stein, Aleen Stein and Joe Medjuck, who later were joined by Roger Smith. In 1985, the Steins, William Becker and Jonathan B. Turell founded the Voyager Company[8] to publish educational multimediaCD-ROMs (1989–2000),[8][9] and the Criterion Collection became a subordinate division of the Voyager Company, with Janus Films holding a minority stake in the company, and decided to expand its product on videocassettes and videodiscs.[10] In March 1994, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH bought 20% of Voyager for US$6.7 million; the four founders each retained a 20% owner's share.[8]
In 1997, the Voyager Company was dissolved (Aleen Stein founded the Organa LLC CD-ROM publishing company), and Holtzbrinck Publishers sold the Voyager brand name, 42 CD-ROM titles, the Voyager web site and associated assets to Learn Technologies Interactive, LLC (LTI).[11] Stein sold 42 Voyager titles to LTI from his Voyager/Criterion company share. The remaining three partners, Aleen Stein, Becker and Turell owned the Criterion Collection company,[11] which has a business partnership with Janus Films and had one with Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) until 2005, when Image Entertainment bought HVE.[12] On November 4, 2013, it was announced that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment would handle distribution.[13] In May 2024, Janus Films and Criterion were acquired by Steven Rales.[14]
In 1986, Charles Benton founded Home Vision Entertainment (HVE), the home-video division of Public Media Inc. (PMI), which he had previously founded in 1968. The HVE company sold, advertised, marketed and distributed Criterion Collection DVDs, and also sold its own HVE brand of DVDs (co-produced with Criterion), including The Merchant Ivory Collection[16] and the Classic Collection, a joint venture between Home Vision Entertainment and Janus Films. The latter enterprise published HVE imprint films, for which Janus Films owned the video rights, but which were unavailable from the Criterion Collection; however, Criterion published the Classic Collection films. In 2005, Image Entertainment bought HVE making it the exclusive distributor of Criterion Collection products until 2013.[17]
Online ventures and marketing
The Criterion Collection began to provide video-on-demand (VOD) in partnership with Mubi (formerly The Auteurs) in 2008. In February 2011, Criterion began switching its VOD offerings exclusively to Hulu Plus.[18] In November 2016, FilmStruck, a film streaming service from Turner Classic Movies, succeeded Hulu as the exclusive streaming service for the Criterion Collection.[19] Some Criterion films were streamed by Kanopy. On October 26, 2018, Warner Bros. Digital Networks and Turner announced that FilmStruck would shut down on November 29.[20] Criterion stated in a blog post that it was "trying to find ways we can bring our library and original content back to the digital space as soon as possible".[21]
On November 16, 2018, Criterion announced the launch of the Criterion Channel as a standalone service, wholly owned and operated by the Criterion Collection, in the United States and Canada. Some of the VOD service's offerings are also available on the Max streaming platform.[22]
British film magazine Sight & Sound revealed in its April 2016 issue that Criterion would be expanding its releases to the United Kingdom.[23][24] The first six titles were released on April 18, 2016.
Contributions and influence
The Criterion Collection video company pioneered the correct aspect-ratio letterboxing presentation of films, as well as commentary soundtracks, multi-disc sets, special editions and definitive versions. These ideas and the special features introduced by the Criterion Collection have been highly influential, and have become industry-wide standards for premium home video releases.[citation needed]
Letterboxing
With its eighth LaserDisc release, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Criterion introduced the letterbox format, which added black bars to the top and bottom of the 4:3 standard television set in order to preserve the original aspect ratio of the film.[25] Thereafter, Criterion made letterboxing the standard presentation for all its releases of films shot in widescreen aspect ratios.[26]
Commentary soundtracks
The Criterion Collection's second LaserDisc title, King Kong (1933), was the debut of the scene-specific audio commentary[27] contained in a separate analog channel of the LaserDisc,[28] in which American film historian Ronald Haver spoke about the production, cast, screenplay, production design and special effects.[29] He also provides commentary on the LaserDisc editions of Casablanca (1942), Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Singin' in the Rain (1952) and The Wizard of Oz (1939). Typically, the chapter-indexed commentaries are exclusive to the Criterion releases and their initial DVD reissues; they became collectors' items when the original studios reissued titles previously licensed to Criterion, regardless of whether new commentary tracks were produced.
Special editions
The Criterion Collection began in 1984 with the releases of Citizen Kane (1941) and King Kong (1933) on LaserDisc, the latter's source negatives courtesy of the Library of Congress.[30] The company later became known for pioneering the "special edition" DVD concept containing bonus materials such as trailers, commentaries, documentaries, alternate endings and deleted scenes.[31] The success of these releases established the special-edition version in the DVD business. In 2006, taking advantage of advanced film-transfer and film-restoration technologies, Criterion published higher-quality versions, with bonus materials, of early catalog titles such as Amarcord (1973), Brazil (1985) and Seven Samurai (1954).
Film restoration
Originally, Criterion released art, genre and mainstream movies on LaserDisc such as Halloween (1978), Ghostbusters (1984), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), Armageddon (1998) and The Rock (1996). Increasingly, the Criterion Collection has also focused on releasing world cinema, mainstream cinema classics and critically successful obscure films. Using the best available source materials, the company produced technologically improved and cleaner versions, such as those for The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), M (1931), Children of Paradise (1945), The Third Man (1949), Seven Samurai (1954) and Amarcord (1973). Almost every title contains film-cleaning and film-restoration essays in the booklets, while some even have featurettes comparing the restored and unrestored images.
Licenses
Some previously licensed Criterion Collection titles, such as The Harder They Come (1972), are now commercially unavailable as new product, and are only available in resale (used) form. Titles such as RoboCop (1987), Hard Boiled (1992), The Killer (1989) and Ran (1985) became unavailable when their publishing licenses expired or when Criterion published improved versions, such as those for Beauty and the Beast (1946), M (1931), The Wages of Fear (1953) and Seven Samurai (1954). As of October 2023,[update] over 200 of the 384 titles from the List of Criterion Collection Laserdisc releases have been re-released.[32]
Another example is the film Charade (1963), which had become a public-domain property for lacking the legally-required copyright notice. Criterion produced a restored edition under license from Universal Pictures for the initial edition and for the later anamorphic widescreen re-release edition of the film.[33][34]
Periodically, Criterion releases material on DVD and Blu-ray disc licensed from the studios with whom the company had previously dealt (such as Universal's and Terry Gilliam's 1985 film Brazil); these new releases are generally undertaken on a case-by-case basis.[35]
Criterion released its first Walt Disney Pictures title, Andrew Stanton's WALL-E, in 2022. This was not the result of an ongoing deal between Disney and Criterion, but rather licensed as a one-off, with Stanton approaching Criterion and "wanting to be part of the club".[36][37]
The Criterion Collection began publishing LaserDiscs on December 1, 1984, with its release of Citizen Kane, until March 16, 1999, with Michael Bay's Armageddon (#384).[38] Three of the company's early titles (The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes and The Third Man) were also issued on VHS and Betamax.[39] These were Criterion's only releases on those formats—other Janus/Criterion titles were often released to VHS through Home Vision Entertainment.
DVD and Blu-ray
Criterion entered the DVD market in 1998 with a reset numbering system, beginning with Seven Samurai, spine #2 (Grand Illusion, #1, was delayed for a year while restoration was underway on a then-newly-found camera negative.) As with its laserdiscs, Criterion's early DVD editions of widescreen films were presented in the letterbox format, but Criterion did not anamorphically enhance its discs for 16:9 monitors until mid-1999 with its release of Insomnia (#47).[40]
Criterion was slow to expand into high-definition releases, partly because of the HD format wars between Blu-ray and HD DVD.[41] Once Blu-ray had emerged as the industry-standard high-definition home-video format, Criterion began to release Blu-ray editions of select films from its collection, beginning with the Blu-ray release of Wong Kar-wai's Chungking Express (#453; currently out of print) on December 16, 2008.[42][43] In late 2013, Criterion announced that with the November release of the Zatoichi boxset (spine #679), all future releases would be in dual format (DVD and Blu-ray packaged together) rather than as individual releases.[44] This decision also applied to most upgrade re-releases introduced after November 2013. After customer feedback revealed some reluctance to this approach, All That Jazz (#724) became the last chronological spine number released as a dual-format edition, and the decision was reversed to release separate discs for titles beginning in September 2014.[45]
Despite the emergence of Blu-ray as the industry-standard high-definition format, Janus/Criterion continues to support the DVD format. Not only are all their new Blu-ray releases accompanied by a standard-definition DVD version, but revised and upgraded releases are also released on both formats (barring the brief foray into dual-format releases). Moreover, the company's standalone line of Eclipsereleases are currently only made available in the standard DVD format.
Aside from the core catalog, the company has also released films through its Essential Art House, Eclipse, Merchant Ivory and Janus Contemporaries lines, as well as a few releases outside of any product line. Many of these releases have also been collected and sold in various box sets.
In early 2016 for the first time in its history, Criterion announced it would begin releasing its catalogue outside of the US and Canada (earlier international Criterion titles such as the Japanese LaserDisc of Blade Runner were licensed to other companies). In partnership with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, releases began to be distributed with the launch of six titles in the U.K. during the month.[46]
Criterion's DVD releases are a mixture of NTSC-standardRegion 0 (region-free) and Region 1 DVDs. Blu-ray discs are Region A-locked in North America or Region B-locked in the United Kingdom (though there are exceptions).[47] However, when SPHE stopped distributing Criterion's releases in the UK, the distribution moved to Spirit Entertainment.
Ultra HD Blu-ray
On August 11, 2021, Criterion announced that it would begin publishing titles in Ultra HD Blu-ray format in November 2021. All Criterion Ultra HD Blu-ray releases will include both an Ultra HD Blu-ray copy and a regular Blu-ray copy of a film (with all the special features on the regular Blu-ray), with select releases including Dolby VisionHDR and Dolby Atmos. The first such releases were announced on August 16 for a November 21 release: Citizen Kane (#1104, returning to the collection for the first time since 1992), Mulholland Drive and Menace II Society. The company also released The Red Shoes, A Hard Day's Night and The Piano on Ultra HD Blu-ray disc.[48][49] The film Uncut Gems (#1101), which was previously planned for Blu-ray and DVD release in October 2021, was delayed until November in order to also give the film an Ultra HD Blu-ray release.[50]
Streaming as The Criterion Channel
After forays in providing titles from the Collection as streaming video-on-demand (VOD) in partnership with other companies – Mubi (formerly The Auteurs, 2008), Hulu Plus (2011–2016)[18] and TCM's FilmStruck (2016–2018)[19] – Criterion titles found themselves without an online home when FilmStruck announced it would be shutting down on November 29, 2018. The company stated in a blog post that it was "trying to find ways we can bring our library and original content back to the digital space as soon as possible".[21]
A month later, Criterion announced their own standalone subscription service, The Criterion Channel available to subscribers in the United States and Canada. The service began on April 8, 2019.[51] The Channel's offerings include rotating playlists, temporarily licensed films (and some television offerings) from a variety of studios and rights holders alongside streaming editions of Criterion Collection releases replete with special features. The Channel also hosts some original content, including academic overviews and curated introductions as well as featuring some Janus-owned titles that have yet to be released on physical media. Criterion maintains a close relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery's streaming platform Max, which frequently also houses Criterion-released titles.
^ abLawler, Ryan (February 15, 2011). "As Netflix Goes After TV Fans, Hulu Chases Movie Buffs". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. OCLC1645522. Retrieved March 30, 2011. Hulu is looking to court movie buffs to its subscription Plus offering, announcing Tuesday that it has acquired streaming rights for hundreds of classic films from The Criterion Collection. [...] Hulu Plus will soon be the only place old movie buffs will be able to catch Criterion titles.
^Atanasov, Svet (November 22, 2008). "Chungking Express Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
American actress Mabel TrunnelleMotion Picture Story Magazine, 1914Born(1879-11-08)November 8, 1879Dwight, Illinois, U.S.DiedApril 20, 1981(1981-04-20) (aged 101)Glendale, California, U.S.OccupationActressSpouseHerbert Prior Mabel Trunnelle (November 8, 1879 – April 20, 1981)[citation needed] was an American actress who appeared in 194 films between 1908 and 1923. Biography Trunnelle was born in Dwight, Illinois and died in Glendale, California.[1] Photoplay magazin...
Pour les articles homonymes, voir HMS Hero, HMCS Chaudiere et H99. HMS Hero Le HMS Hero de l'entre-deux-guerres. Autres noms HMCS Chaudiere à partir du 15 novembre 1943 Type Destroyer Classe H Histoire A servi dans Royal Navy jusqu'au 15 novembre 1943 Marine royale canadienne Constructeur Vickers-Armstrongs Chantier naval Newcastle-on-Tyne, Angleterre Quille posée 28 février 1935 Lancement 10 mars 1936 Commission 23 octobre 1936 Statut Transféré à la Marine royale canadienne le 15...
Este artigo não cita fontes confiáveis. Ajude a inserir referências. Conteúdo não verificável pode ser removido.—Encontre fontes: ABW • CAPES • Google (N • L • A) (Agosto de 2014) Várias medalhas de premiação com desenhos anversos, anéis de suspensão e fitas típicas de medalhas destinadas a serem cobertas sobre a cabeça e penduradas no pescoço Medalha é um pequeno objeto artístico portátil, um disco fino, norma...
Untuk orang lain dengan nama yang sama, lihat Than Tun. ThakinThan Tun(Myanmar)Menteri Pertanahan dan PertanianMasa jabatan1942–1943PendahuluJabatan dibentuk Informasi pribadiLahir1911Kanyutkwin, Distrik Taungoo, Burma BritaniaMeninggal1968 – 1911; umur -58–-57 tahunBurmaKebangsaanBurmaPartai politikPartai Komunis BurmaSuami/istriKhin GyiHubunganPho Maung (ayah)Aung San Suu Kyi (kemenakan)Sunting kotak info • L • B Dalam nama Burma ini, Thakin adalah sebuah na...
هذه المقالة تحتاج للمزيد من الوصلات للمقالات الأخرى للمساعدة في ترابط مقالات الموسوعة. فضلًا ساعد في تحسين هذه المقالة بإضافة وصلات إلى المقالات المتعلقة بها الموجودة في النص الحالي. (أغسطس 2023) أوليفر وشركاهOliver & Company (بالإنجليزية) معلومات عامةالتصنيف فيلم رسوم متحركة الص
UmedaDistrik bisnis pusat梅田Pemandangan UmedaNegaraJepangPrefekturPrefektur OsakaKotaOsakaDistrik kotaDistrik KitaPopulasi • Total1.316Zona waktuUTC+9 (Waktu Standar Jepang)Kode area telepon530-0001 Umeda (梅田code: ja is deprecated ) adalah distrik bisnis, komersial, perbelanjaan dan hiburan utama di Distrik Kita, Osaka, Jepang. Nama harfiah distrik ini berarti ladang bunga prem. Sejarah Hingga tahun 1870-an, daerah yang sekarang disebut Umeda adalah lahan pertanian berupa s...
هذه المقالة يتيمة إذ تصل إليها مقالات أخرى قليلة جدًا. فضلًا، ساعد بإضافة وصلة إليها في مقالات متعلقة بها. (نوفمبر 2019) جورج أ. دود معلومات شخصية الميلاد 26 يوليو 1852 مقاطعة ليكومينغ الوفاة 28 يونيو 1925 (72 سنة) أورلاندو، فلوريدا مكان الدفن مقبرة أرلينغتون الوطنية...
1939 film Midsummer Night's FireGerman film posterGermanJohannisfeuer Directed byArthur Maria RabenaltScreenplay byAlf TeichsKurt HeuserBased onFires of St. Johnby Hermann SudermannProduced byErnst Günter TechowStarringAnna DammannErnst von KlipsteinGertrud MeyenCinematographyWilly WintersteinEdited byAlice LudwigMusic byHerbert WindtProductioncompanyTerra FilmDistributed byTerra FilmRelease date 3 November 1939 (1939-11-03) Running time83 minutesCountryGermanyLanguageGerman M...
Australian not-for-profit organisation providing legal services to disadvantaged people A community legal centre (CLC) is the Australian term for an independent not-for-profit organisation providing legal aid services, that is, provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. They provide legal advice and traditional casework for free, primarily funded by federal, state and local government. Working with clients who are mostly the...
Historical names for the modern Pakistani province This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: Names of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Location of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan The Pakistani province o...
Tabletop role-playing game supplement This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: Wizards Presents: Races and Classes – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Wizards Presents: Races and Classes GenreRole-playing gamesPublisherWizards ...
American actor and screenwriter For other people with the same name, see Stanley Adams. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: Stanley Adams actor – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Stanley AdamsAdams in High School Bi...
Untuk pemain bisbol abad ke-19, lihat Charlie Sweeney. Charles W. SweeneyGambar USAFLahir(1919-12-27)27 Desember 1919Lowell, MassachusettsMeninggal16 Juli 2004(2004-07-16) (umur 84)Boston, MassachusettsPengabdian Amerika SerikatDinas/cabang Angkatan Udara Amerika Serikat Korps Udara Angkatan Darat Amerika SerikatLama dinas1941–1976Pangkat Mayor JenderalKomandanSkuadron Bombardemen ke-393Sayap Penyerang Taktikal ke-102Perang/pertempuranPerang Dunia IIPengeboman Atom HiroshimaP...
For other people with the name Amda Seyon, see Amda Seyon (disambiguation). Emperor of Ethiopia in 1494 This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.Find sources: Amda Seyon II – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2018) Amda Seyon II ዐምደ ጽዮንEmperor of EthiopiaReign1494 – 26 O...
Not to be confused with Radical Party (France). This article relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: Radical Party of the Left – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Political party in France Radical Party of the Left Parti radical de GaucheAbbreviationPRGPresident Guillaume LacroixFo...
For the similarly named cruise ship, see Disney Adventure. Children's magazine This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: Disney Adventures – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Disney AdventuresDisney Adventures' fifth and fin...
Ambassador of the United States to BotswanaSeal of the United States Department of StateIncumbentHoward Van Vrankensince May 24, 2023NominatorThe President of the United StatesAppointerThe Presidentwith Senate advice and consentInaugural holderCharles H. Pletcheras Chargé d'AffairesFormationSeptember 1966WebsiteU.S. Embassy - Gaborone From 1885 until 1966 the area of Southern Africa that is now Botswana was part of the Bechuanaland Protectorate of Great Britain. In June 1964, Britain ac...
Pour les articles homonymes, voir Aure et Aurea. Aure de ParisPeinture murale du XVIIe siècle représentant sainte Aure arborant la croix. Église de Tohogne (Durbuy), Belgique.FonctionAbbesseBiographieNaissance Début du VIIe siècleDécès 4 octobre 666ParisAutres noms Aurea, Aurore, AuréeNationalité FrançaiseActivité ReligieuseAutres informationsÉtape de canonisation Sainte catholiqueFête 4 octobremodifier - modifier le code - modifier Wikidata Sainte Aure de Paris ou Aure...
Voce principale: Unione Sportiva Avellino. Questa voce o sezione sull'argomento stagioni delle società calcistiche italiane non cita le fonti necessarie o quelle presenti sono insufficienti. Puoi migliorare questa voce aggiungendo citazioni da fonti attendibili secondo le linee guida sull'uso delle fonti. Segui i suggerimenti del progetto di riferimento. Unione Sportiva AvellinoStagione 2002-2003Sport calcio Squadra Avellino Allenatore Massimo Ficcadenti, poi Salvatore Vullo Presid...