The Criterion Closet is expanding to Toronto.
asserted
Closet → expand → Toronto
Criterion, a boutique distributor of physical media, has long been famous for the tiny room of shelves in its New York office — shelves that are filled with a curated selection of some of the best movies in the world.
asserted
that → fill → world
In what might be one of the most brilliant marketing strategies ever, Criterion has long invited filmmakers and actors — including Martin Scorsese, Guillermo del Toro, Christopher Nolan, Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster and Cate Blanchett — to participate in making videos of themselves perusing the titles and taking home a selection of films for their personal use.
uncertain
themselves → invite → use
(Fun fact: Blanchett choosing Guy Maddin’s My Winnipeg in her Criterion Closet visit led to Maddin and Blanchett working together on the 2024 satire Rumours.)
asserted
Maddin → choose → Rumours
This time last year, a mobile version of the Criterion Closet showed up at the Toronto International Film Festival.
asserted
version → show → Festival
Cinephiles lined up at the fest’s epicentre — the corner of John and King streets — and waited for up to five hours to have three minutes of the Criterion Closet experience (except they paid for the videos, of course).
asserted
they → line → course
This year they’re lining up again, but this time it’s at a permanent store, Cinema Cellar, on the corner of John and Nelson streets, located between the TIFF Lightbox and the Scotiabank Cinemas.
asserted
it → line → Lightbox
During the TIFF run, it will sell exclusively Criterion products, and it will maintain a Criterion presence through most of the store after TIFF — but allow other boutique Blu-ray/4K brands such as Arrow Video and Kino Lorber into the mix.
asserted
it → sell → mix
“We had such a success in Toronto last year when Criterion brought the Mobile Closet here,” said Criterion’s executive director of physical media, Angie Bucknell.
asserted
director → have → media
“We had over 1,000 visitors over the weekend.”
asserted
We → have → weekend
(The closet was so tiny, they could only fit two customers at a time.)
uncertain
they → fit → time
In Canada, Criterion is sold exclusively by Cinema Cellar, formerly known as Unobstructed View.
asserted
Criterion → sell → View
The company rebranded after Blue Fox Entertainment purchased it last year.
asserted
Entertainment → rebrande → it
Though the store’s retail space is approximately 700 square feet, it can accommodate up to 20 customers at a time, says Cinema Cellar executive vice-president Ian Goggins.
asserted
Goggins → accommodate → time
He adds that they have already surpassed the number of last year’s closet visitors, averaging about 750 customers per day since opening Sept. 10.
asserted
they → add → day
When Goggins and his Cinema Cellar partner Dave Hudakoc saw the reaction to the mobile Criterion Closet last year, they realized a Criterion retail outlet had potential beyond the more mature film buff.
asserted
outlet → see → buff
“One of the things that really got us going on it was that probably about 80 to 85 per cent of the visitors were under the age of 30,” Goggins says.
asserted
Goggins → get → 30
“And that was when we realized this is not just the old-school collectors.
asserted
this → realize → ?
And that was really the impetus for us to do this,” he says.
asserted
he → do → this
“We saw just, like, a sheer appreciation of what Criterion did, everything from the artwork to the restorations to the care and attention that they took with their product.”
asserted
they → see → product
“We watched very closely what was going on with vinyl and the resurgence of physical media in general,” Goggins says.
asserted
Goggins → watch → media
“And we thought, there is something analogous about what we’re seeing with Blu-ray.
asserted
we → think → ray
“There were a lot of people having a little bit of streaming fatigue,” Goggins says.
asserted
Goggins → be → fatigue
“And there was literally a whole generation that never really had physical media.
asserted
that → be → media
They basically grew up with streaming.”
asserted
They → grow → streaming
In short, streaming has become the equivalent of channel-flipping on cable TV.
asserted
streaming → become → TV
Putting a disc in a player remains more of a special occasion.
asserted
Putting → put → occasion
“I think the idea of intentional viewing became something that people were very interested in,” Goggins says.
asserted
Goggins → think → that
Brendan Whelton would agree.
asserted
Whelton → agree → ?
Whelton is the manager of Bay Street Video, a Toronto retail outlet lurking in a hidden mall behind the Tim Hortons on Bay Street near Bloor.
asserted
Whelton → lurk → Bloor
It has weathered the physical media market for 33 years.
asserted
It → weather → years
Defying the market norms, they still rent videos, even as they have embraced newer formats such as 4K.
“Rentals kept us going when sales were sparse and sales kept us going when rentals were sparse,” Whelton says.
asserted
Whelton → defy → us
Whelton says the secret of that store’s success has been in viewing the store’s customer base as a community.
asserted
secret → say → community
“One of the things that was really important to me when I took over well over four years ago was making sure that we felt more like a community hub where you could go and discover your next favourite movie.”
uncertain
you → take → movie
For his part, Whelton welcomes the competition at Cinema Cellar.
asserted
Whelton → welcome → Cellar
“I think a rising tide raises all ships,” he says, referring not just to Cinema Cellar but outlying Toronto stores such as Eyesore Cinema, on Bloor Street near Dufferin, and Vinegar Syndrome, on Roncesvalles Ave.
asserted
he → think → Ave
“The more ways that people can see movies, the better.
asserted
people → see → movies
The Aporia
