Barnes & Noble’s turn to discount DVDs, Blu-rays

Above : Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis star in Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy “Some Like It Hot.” (Photo/Criterion Collection)

On Monday I wrote about DVDs and how Turner Classic Movies was offering great deals on its archived collection. Today it’s the Criterion Collection ’s turn.

At the same time, I’ll be giving a plug to a bookstore chain: Barnes & Noble.

B&N is running a 50-percent-off campaign on hundreds of films bearing the Criterion Collection brand. For the uninitiated, that brand represents some of the best cinema ever made.

In other words some great films … along with some others.

And these aren’t just ordinary DVDs. They include Blup-rays, too.

Example: A Blu-ray disc of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 film “Seven Samurai” is selling for $24.99, which is one cent less than half its normal price of $49.99. (A regular DVD goes for the same discounted price.)

If you haven’t already seen this Kurosawa classic, Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington describes it as “The greatest movie ever made about warriors and battle.”

Another example: A Blu-ray disc of Billy Wilder’s 1959 comedy “Some Like It Hot” is being priced at &19.99, one cent less than half its normal price of $39.99. (A regular DVD goes for just $9.99.)

The late Roger Ebert described “Some Like It Hot” like this: “Wilder’s 1959 comedy is one of the enduring treasures of the movies, a film of inspiration and meticulous craft.”

And among the not-so-classic offerings: John Hughes’ 1985 teen study “ The Breakfast Club,” a Blu-ray copy which goes for $19.99 (regular DVD $8.99).

While Hughes’ film might be among the best teen films ever made, it is still a teen film – not something ranking with Bergman, Kurosawa or Scorsese.

Sorry, my personal biases are showing. Must be the heat.

Anyway, if you’re still using the old formats to watch movies, now would be a good time to get some of the best films ever made.

And some others as well.