DVD of "Thelonious Monk Straight No Chaser" 1/2 off

[medjuck]

Criterion has reissued Charlotte Zwerin's film "Thelonious Monk Straight No Chaser" on DVD and it's 1/2 price at Amazon right now. I remember when this was out of print and they were asking big bucks for a used DVD at Amoeba. 

[HWright]

I though Criterion edition was Blu Ray only?

[medjuck]

1 hour ago, HWright said:

I though Criterion edition was Blu Ray only?

You are right.  My fault-- even though i tend to buy BluRay I still call them DVDs.  Is there a reason some people prefer DVDs?

[felser]

21 minutes ago, medjuck said:

Is there a reason some people prefer DVDs?

Can't think of a reason related to picture/sound quaility, but DVD's can be played in machines blu-ray's, can't, and in some cases, DVD anniversary sets have good extras which did not make it onto later blu-ray anniversary editions (Field of Dreams, It's a Wonderful Life, The Princess Bride being three instances of that.  In those cases, I kept both DVD and blue-ray editions).

[HWright]

I have issues with getting some new Blu Rays to work on my player - in fact although I own the Criterion Monk release I’ve never seen it!

[Holy Ghost]

Love that exchange Monk has with Johnny Griffin on the tour bus when he was looking at Johnny's threads, like Monk said, "man, those are some bad ass motherfuckers"  

[Holy Ghost]

Amazing candid footage. Worth buying for that alone. 

Edited December 8, 2025 by Holy Ghost

[HWright]

I wanted especially to watch the Criterion bonus material (I already have the old DVD).

[Gheorghe]

I still have it on VHS and recently watched it. 

[RiRiIII]

On 11/28/2025 at 9:24 PM, medjuck said:

Criterion has reissued Charlotte Zwerin's film "Thelonious Monk Straight No Chaser" on DVD and it's 1/2 price at Amazon right now. I remember when this was out of print and they were asking big bucks for a used DVD at Amoeba. 

I just received it and I am watching it right now. Really nice. Thank you for notifying us about this Criterion release.

[mikeweil]

I first saw this on a widescreen, it was like seeing Monk live, which I never could. Great way to start the film.