More Criterion Collection Films Going Out Of Print

One of my favorite parts of this news reporting facet of our podcast, is discussing the new releases. Every month, around the 15th, we get several new titles to look forward to, knowing that this collection of films continues to grow, and that our passion for important films has not passed into the night. Easily the worst, most disappointing part of the news reporting has to be when the titles go out of print. This is something we all have come to expect, as titles have gone out of print since Criterion has been licensing films on Laserdisc.

Over the past few months, we’ve seen the incredible Blu-ray and DVD edition of the Third Man go out of print, along with a slew of releases that Studio Canal had originally licensed to Criterion, and then moved over to Lionsgate. Two of the Studio Canal titles, Ran and Contempt, have seen their Blu-ray’s release under Lionsgate now, and while they may not be up to the same quality standards that we have come to know and love from Criterion, it is still nice to know that the films themselves will not be unavailable to future cinephiles, and we all still hold onto the hopes that they will return one day to live under the banner of The Collection.

Criterion released the following post today, indicating that these titles which were licensed by Studio Canal (they did not mention Canal by name, but I have since confirmed it with a source), will be out of print by the end of June. As with past “Out of Print” deals, Criterion will be selling the titles through their website until they are sold out, and if you can find them at Barnes and Noble (there is talk that a 50% off sale is not too far away), or over on Amazon, who usually will go head to head with most discounts online. Below the post, I’ve included cover art for all of the titles that will be going out of print this month, and they are linked to their corresponding Amazon pages, which will support our blog and podcast, should you want to purchase them.

Dear Criterion collectors,

The following titles are going out of print effective June 30:

Billy Liar
Bob le flambeur
Diary of A Chambermaid
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Kind Hearts and Coronets
The Man Who Fell to Earth (DVD and Blu-ray editions)
The Milky Way
The Phantom of Liberty
That Obscure Object of Desire
Touchez pas au grisbi
A Woman Is a Woman

We will be selling copies only while supplies last, so order yours soon. As ever, we will try to relicense the films so that they can rejoin the collection sometime in the future.