What?!? Criterion is releasing Benjamin Button?!?

[domino harvey]

Has the Game been discussed at length anywhere on this forum because uhhh I feel like I'm missing something

It, like Michael Mann, is one of the peculiarly popular mainstream things here. I don't get it either, but I like mainstream stuff no one here likes, so we're even

[mfunk9786]

The Curious Smell from Benjamin's B*tthole.
Sorry I just had to do it.

No, you didn't.

[Harold Gervais]

Eh. Matt is right. They are a business and if a big-name Hollywood production helps them make some money and grow the brand, then everyone wins...especially the people who support Criterion on a regular basis. Criterion gets a big title, Fincher gets his name in the Collection and we get to keep buying our DVDs featuring directors such as Bergman, Kurosawa, Renior, Maddin and the like. And it isn't as if anyone has a gun to their head forcing them to buy this.

[domino harvey]

Surely the big winner here is whoever was eating breakfast with Aronofsky when he found out Fincher got into Criterion

[mfunk9786]

Surely the big winner here is whoever was eating breakfast with Aronofsky when he found out Fincher got into Criterion

Especially if it was Wes Anderson or Michael Bay.

[LightBulbFilm]

It seems the press release is already out

[HerrSchreck]

Specs:

- Academy Award-nominated director David Fincher introduces the surprising beginnings of what would become an epic masterpiece including the casting of Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett

I know they hafta pump the film as important, and it's a nice coup for their cash flow and all that, but did they really call this film-- CC themselves in their specs-- "an epic masterpiece"? They loco in de coco??

This isn't Seven Samurai or Andrei Rublyov furchrissakes! Button is NOT Lawrence of Arabia!!

[CSM126]

I know they hafta pump the film as important, and it's a nice coup for their cash flow and all that, but did they really call this film-- CC themselves in their specs-- "an epic masterpiece"? They loco in de coco??

This isn't Seven Samurai or Andrei Rublyov furchrissakes! Button is NOT Lawrence of Arabia!!

Yeah, I think Paramount wrote that one themselves. I doubt Criterion wanted to call The Life Aquatic a "wildly original adventure-comedy" either. Sometimes studios just insist on that kinda gobbledygook even if it makes no sense. It just sounds good.

[MyNameCriterionForum]

And certain directors want their films to be in the Criterion Collection because of the cachet it affords.

I didn't realize this was now part of CC's mission statement.

[mfunk9786]

I doubt Criterion wanted to call The Life Aquatic a "wildly original adventure-comedy" either.

Seems like a pretty accurate description to me.

[Michael]

Eh. Matt is right. They are a business and if a big-name Hollywood production helps them make some money and grow the brand, then everyone wins...especially the people who support Criterion on a regular basis. Criterion gets a big title, Fincher gets his name in the Collection and we get to keep buying our DVDs featuring directors such as Bergman, Kurosawa, Renior, Maddin and the like. And it isn't as if anyone has a gun to their head forcing them to buy this.

What I don't understand is that if Paramount is going to release TCCOBB, then how could CC make a bundle of money by adding it to its collection? Paramount release is cheaper and most average people will choose that over the CC release. Doesn't make sense to me that CC would put itself in competition with Paramount.

[kaujot]

A lot of people have to have the special edition of a film, even if they don't know what/who Criterion is.

[swo17]

It seems the press release is already out

Good to see the level of discourse brought on by this recent development.

I don't get the Criterion Collection=film snob thing. I have probably 20-25 Criterion DVDs and at least 150-200 more that aren't. I buy movies I know I'll want to watch again. I don't care what they call their Editions or Collections. I care about a. the movie and b. the bonus features...however, I do wish Doomsday Unrated Edition had come with a sexy Rhona washing the Bentley in black latex deleted scene. Maybe they could go film that some afternoon and add it to the next Edition? Please? I'll pay.

[Matt]

And certain directors want their films to be in the Criterion Collection because of the cachet it affords.

I didn't realize this was now part of CC's mission statement.

I guess I don't see what one has to do with the other, but the mission statement (if we're going down that old crumbling pike again) says "a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films." That's important as defined by Criterion, not as defined by MyNameCriterionForum (or anybody else on this forum).

[mfunk9786]

Paramount probably insisted [on the one disc release]. But even with the one disc release out, Criterion will still sell way more copies of this than 99% of their other releases. It'll be on the new release rack in every store nationwide.

[Lemmy Caution]

Some internet wag has summarized The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as:

Chocolates of box a like is life.

[CSM126]

I doubt Criterion wanted to call The Life Aquatic a "wildly original adventure-comedy" either.

Seems like a pretty accurate description to me.

Romancing the Stone is an adventure comedy. The Life Aquatic is a drama with a few jokes thrown in to prevent the profound sadness of it's characters from being unbearable.

[mfunk9786]

You must be thinking of The Squid and the Whale, happens all the time.

[CSM126]

You must be thinking of The Squid and the Whale, happens all the time.

Well if you want to think The Zissous are a wild and wacky pair of happy-go-lucky adventurers on a madcap comedy escapade, you go right ahead.

[mfunk9786]

Will do! \:D/

[MyNameCriterionForum]

And certain directors want their films to be in the Criterion Collection because of the cachet it affords.

I didn't realize this was now part of CC's mission statement.

I guess I don't see what one has to do with the other, but the mission statement (if we're going down that old crumbling pike again) says "a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films." That's important as defined by Criterion, not as defined by MyNameCriterionForum (or anybody else on this forum).

And I guess I don't see how "directors wanting their films to be in the Criterion Collection" is justification for their inclusion. I didn't realize it was their choice as much as Criterion's.

[knives]

Wouldn't it be funny if they got someone who hated the film to write the notes, if there are any.

[domino harvey]

I know you don't have to touch fire to know its hot and all, but how many people whining about horrible this film is have actually seen it? Because it seems to me that suddenly everyone has an opinion on the film's merits

[CSM126]

I didn't realize this was now part of CC's mission statement.

I guess I don't see what one has to do with the other, but the mission statement (if we're going down that old crumbling pike again) says "a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films." That's important as defined by Criterion, not as defined by MyNameCriterionForum (or anybody else on this forum).

And I guess I don't see how "directors wanting their films to be in the Criterion Collection" is justification for their inclusion. I didn't realize it was their choice as much as Criterion's.

If you think Criterion would put their mission statement above the mighty dollar, you've got your head up your ass. If you had a tiny boutique label and David Fincher asked you to release his multi-million dollar earning, Academy Award Winning movie that has a massive fan base...would you say "Um, no. I'm fine with my Mizoguchi releases that sometimes manage to break even"?

[tavernier]

Well put.