Questions about the Criterion Collection should be addressed to mulvaney@criterionco.com. Before writing, check the index of The Mulvaney Archive for the most in-depth answers.

Questions about orders and defective discs should be addressed to orders@criterionco.com

This column includes recent mailings to the Criterion Collection. A heartfelt thanks to all for these kind words!

Correspondence is edited for length only, not typos.

April 17

From: The Listener

I have been a long-time fan/supporter of Criterion since the very early days. I have always maintained that the best film studies one can receive is by watching Criterion Collections. I learned more about filmmaking in 4 months of watching lasers than I did studying 2 years at film school.

Keep up the excellent work,
-- Steve Organ



Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 15:02:16 -0600

Hi Jon,
I just finished reading your Q&A pages at the Criterion site. This is merely a quick note to say keep up the great work and the excellent responsiveness to customers. Alas, I don't have the $$ to purchase all the Criterions I'd like, but over the 6 years or so during which I've collected LDs, Criterion discs remain the focus of my attention and they continually renew my enthusiasm for the medium. Criterion is simply a company and product that is too good to be true. For what it's worth, my sincerest best wishes as Criterion (company and people) transitions to DVD. My primary interest is in foreign films and/or older English-language films, so your initial DVD offerings exactly mirror my enthusiasms.

With highest regards,
Dave Franson



Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 19:56:08 EST

I would like to say that your laserdiscs are wonderul, I have several and plan on owning many more. When I see an annoucement for a title and the word "Criterion" appears after it, my day is made. Even my ton of non- laserdisc owning friends are excited to see that Criterion is doing a special edition, becuse they know I'll show it off to them the first few months after I get it.
Thanks for reading, please keep up the good work.
-- Philip Pomeroy



Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 11:19:29 +0000

Dear John,
I'd like to congradulate Criterion on the excellence with which they've produced all of their titles, especially the care and attention lavished on classic foreign films which often suffer from sloppy transfers and horrible dubbing at the hands other less capable companies. Criterion might even consider consider making more discs with an isolated score. Films such as the 400 blows, the Seven Samurai and Amacord all have their corresponding scores available as seperate entities, and it would be a great leap forward for music, as well as film preservation.
Thanks for your time,
-- Richard Eii



Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 08:07:54 -0500 (EST)

Dear Jon,
Let me just tell you how much I have enjoyed getting Criterion Laserdiscs. I have always found their quality high and the extras have always been enlightening. The BRAZIL set went way beyond my expectations and was well worth the money.
Thanks,
-- George R. Willeman, Nitrate Film Vault Leader
The Library of Congress Motion Picture Conservation Center



Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 23:13:52 -0600

I just want to say that I am a huge fan of Criterion Collection laser discs. 35% of my entire LD collection are Criterion titles. I was wondering when titles such as Seven, Chasing Amy, The Rock, and The English Patient are going to be on DVD, or if they ever are. Because I would love to have them in the best quality available. And I can not wait for The Killer, and especially Hard Boiled to be put out on the shelves. I am already planning my trip to the video store that day. Keep up the good work.
-- Kevin Clemons



Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 19:51:21 -0500

First let me say that I LOVE Criterion laserdisc titles. Whenever I can, I always prefer the Criterion edition...
Keep up the good work!
Cheers,
-- Douglas Lanier



Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 01:28:13 -0500

Dear Mr. Mulvaney,
Ever since I started buying Criterion discs (and all my discs are Criterion) four years ago, it has always been in my heart to support your company, as you have enabled me to see so many cinematic treasures that it would have been near impossible to view otherwise. So I thank you for the quality that Criterion has always maintained, and if you're enlisting, I'm ready to be drafted.
Sincerely,
-- Robert Quirk



Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 08:29:30 -0800

Dear Mr. Mulvaney,
First and foremost, I'd like to thank you and your exceptional staff of quality film-lovers for the job (that I believe to be one of the finest this country has to offer) of putting together the finest films from around the world and placing them into the mainstream. Any laserdisc, or dvd for that matter, which carries the CRITERION seal of approval is a disc worth purchasing.
-- Joe Magallanes



Date: Tue, 3 Mar 1998 18:06:16 -0500

Thanks again for both the web site and the great discs. Criterion LDs are the only ones I buy without always having seen the movie, because I consider your name to be a mark of quality and that the movie will rarely disappoint.
-- Michele Harvey, Dulles VA



Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 14:56:06 -0500

I feel it necessary to voice my support for the wonderful work that Criterion continues to make available to film enthusiasts around the world. I have a fairly large laserdisc collection and am proud to say Criterion takes up nearly half of it (although I've had to "re-purchase" many titles because Criterion's versions have come out after the originals e.g. Brazil, Last Temptation of Christ, etc.). It's great to see contemporary directors with unique vision and style have a home video forum to compliment their brilliance. I hope someday licensing from other studios like Paramount, Warner Bros., and Fox can be obtained in order to give other great directors and their films the treatment they deserve - the Criterion Treatment. Keep up the excellent work.
-- Jeff Taylor



Date: Fri, 06 Mar 1998 20:21:00 -0600

I was just wondering how much it would cost to purchase the entire Criterion Collection all at once. I just can't decide which title to buy first!
Thanks
-- Cernunnos Morrigu



Date: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 19:58:30 +1100

Dear Jon,
I would like to express my absolute joy in owning a laserdisc collection that is predominalely Criterion. Brazil and Seven are so beautifull to look at, and I am learning so much about filmmaking from the commentary tracks and supplementals. Fantastic.
Kind regards,
-- Charles Ivory
Sydney film company



Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 14:54:19 -0600 (UTC -06:00)

Dear Mr. Mulvaney,
I think what you guys do for movies is terribly important (and enjoyable) and hope that you will thrive in the "DVD era".
Cheers,
-- Professor Jeffrey Aubé
University of Kansas



Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 15:45:51 -0700

Let me start off by saying that the Criterion Collection and their extraordinarily supplemented collector's edition laser discs are what first got me into laserdisc, and from there I've become a full blown home theater junky. But, I never lose sight of the fact that my love of movies is what is at the heart of all this. With this in mind, the best news i've heard on the DVD front is Criterion's involvement with the fledgling format. I've been thinking for quite sometime that Criterion is the perfect company to exploit all the fantastic features that DVD technology allows and really push the envelope of what is possible and set the industry standard for the quality of transfers and supplements on DVD in the same way you did for laserdisc. So far the library titles that have been announced are terrific, and i'm sure more will follow.

-- Shane Buettner
Denver CO



Date: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 21:27:35 -0800

Dear Jon,

This note is long overdue. I've been a customer since I drove over to a house on Manning in West LA to buy Citizen Kane and King Kong. That day I waited while someone shrink-wrapped the disks in back. Since then I've purchased maybe 100 of your titles, probably more. Today, as I await your first DVD releases, I'm happy to say that Criterion's work over the years has deeply enriched my life. Picking my favorite disks would be difficult, but Seven, Brazil, and I Am Cuba come to mind. These disks and many others you've done have given me a much deeper appreciation of film as an art form. Thank you for this, and I wish you continued and extraordinary success.

Warm regards,
-- Michael Backes, co-chair Digital Media Studies
The American Film Institute