Criterion Random Speculation Vol.2

[mmiesner]

russ meyer is one of the greatest artists of our time. the way he makes those titties bounce brings tears to my eyes and makes my pants feel squirmy everytime. beautiful stuff.

i just wish he was alive to record a commentary - could you imagine that??

[Cinephrenic]

Well they always have the cult line to release it. But that is also arguable if it belongs there. Yeah, how could I forget about the Malle titles. We should be getting a boxset which is most likely Phantom India or all his documentaries. I think Elevator to the Gallows could possible come soon. Isn't this a limited theatrical run as Masculin, Feminin?

[Narshty]

russ meyer is one of the greatest artists of our time. the way he makes those titties bounce brings tears to my eyes and makes my pants feel squirmy everytime. beautiful stuff.

i just wish he was alive to record a commentary - could you imagine that??

You know he did record some commentaries for the LDs of his films? They're now preserved on the recent UK DVDs.

[What A Disgrace]

Thanks to Ebert's Great Movies review, I'm reminded of another title owned by Fine Line that deserves releasing.

In short, Jean-Claude Lauzon's Léolo.

[Theodore R. Stockton]

When was the last month that no titles leaked out?
Oct. seems like everything that is announced will be a suprise of sorts since we usually know atleast one of the titles half way through the month.

[Cinéslob]

Il Bidone seems very likely at some point, given the BFI's upcoming release of a new longer version, and the previous collaboration with Image on I Vitelloni.

Such a release would also allow for a boxset of Fellini's 'trilogy of loneliness', along with La Strada and Le Notti di Cabiria. I for one would certainly go for it such a boxset.

[Derek Estes]

When was the last month that no titles leaked out?
Oct. seems like everything that is announced will be a suprise of sorts since we usually know atleast one of the titles half way through the month.

Well, I don't think it is a matter of no leaks as it is which of the titles that have been announced as coming this fall will be released in OCT. So far, we are expecting RAN, Wages of Fear (Oct. 18?), "Au Revoir Les Enfants...more Malle? Playtime or Jour De Fete? La Bete Humaine(306)? Since Criterion usually doesn't release films in Dec (last year being an exception) that leaves only Oct and November for releasing any of these titles before the new year. But, who knows? We may still be surprised.

[backstreetsbackalright]

What remasters are left? Playtime is all I can think of at the moment. High and Low and Seven Samurai too I guess, but wouldn't they go out of print first?

So the remainder of our one-time 2005 probables list seems to be Ran, Pickpocket, Ugetsu, This Sporting Life, Au revoir les enfants, and maybe My Night at Maud's, Claire's Knee, The Two of Us, and some more Malle. Am I missing any others?

[jorencain]

What remasters are left? Playtime is all I can think of at the moment. High and Low and Seven Samurai too I guess, but wouldn't they go out of print first?

So the remainder of our one-time 2005 probables list seems to be Ran, Pickpocket, Ugetsu, This Sporting Life, Au revoir les enfants, and maybe My Night at Maud's, Claire's Knee, The Two of Us, and some more Malle. Am I missing any others?

Well, "The Milky Way" should be out any time now. I assumed that it would have been when "The Phantom Of Liberty" was released, but now I'm just hoping it's out by the end of the year.

[mikeohhh]

So the remainder of our one-time 2005 probables list seems to be Ran, Pickpocket, Ugetsu, This Sporting Life, Au revoir les enfants, and maybe My Night at Maud's, Claire's Knee, The Two of Us, and some more Malle. Am I missing any others?

Pickpocket is coming in November.

[zedz]

So the remainder of our one-time 2005 probables list seems to be Ran, Pickpocket, Ugetsu, This Sporting Life, Au revoir les enfants, and maybe My Night at Maud's, Claire's Knee, The Two of Us, and some more Malle. Am I missing any others?

I'm pretty sure that when the two Powell / Pressburgers were mentioned as forthcoming it was indicated that they'd be released in the first half of this year. Don't know what the snag is, but I hope they don't go the way of Tales of Hoffmann.

[the dancing kid]

Turner Classic Movies is showing 49th Parallel on September 11th this year, which might indicate a forthcoming CC release. I think they're actually making Powell and Pressburger some kind of feature for that month because they're screening quite a few of their other films as well. I think all of the others have had DVD releases though.

[tryavna]

Turner Classic Movies is showing 49th Parallel on September 11th this year, which might indicate a forthcoming CC release. I think they're actually making Powell and Pressburger some kind of feature for that month because they're screening quite a few of their other films as well. I think all of the others have had DVD releases though.

Not necessarily. TCM has shown 49th Parallel several times before, and the image quality is about the same as the old VHS I own. That's not to say that it isn't coming from Criterion. There have been pretty extensive rumors that it and A Canterbury Tale will both be released before the year is out. But we'll have to wait and see.

As for the TCM festival: Yes, TCM is showing at least 6 or 7 Powell/Pressburger films in September. I'm guessing that, since September marks the centenial of Powell, TCM is making him their director of the month. I'm particularly looking forward to seeing A Matter of Life and Death unedited for the very first time. Here's hoping that TCM's showing means that DVD release is just around the corner from Sony!

[Alain3000]

I asked about Raoul Walsh and got this response

"Dear Al,

No Walsh films appear on our current production schedule.

Best,
JM"

Q:Is there any consideration for Criterion to release some Raoul Walsh
titles?

[Derek Estes]

God! I wish they would release a Raoul Walsh film! My suggestion would be to license THE BOWERY from Fox. Not only does it have historical and influential importance, it is far too politically incorrect for Fox to release themselves.

[FilmFanSea]

This may be old news (I did a search but couldn't find any threads where it's been discussed), but ....


Image's release of Orson Welles' Othello is now OOP (and being priced at upwards of $70 on Amazon Marketplace). Any bets on whether Criterion might finally get a crack at updating its laserdisc of this title?

[ByMarkClark.com]

I'm very happy with the October slate of releases, especially Le Samourai and Samourai Rebellion. But with only 2 months left on the release calendar for 2005, and December a historically slim month, it seems that we WON'T see some of the following until 2006: Confidential Report, The 49th Parallel, A Canterbury Tale, Playtime, Jour De Fete, Ugetsu, Ran or any further Bunuel, Bergman or Ozu. Oh, I think we'll get SOME of those titles -- 3 or 4, maybe. But not all, there's no way. Which is a bummer -- some of those I've been looking forward to all year!

Anybody want to venture a guess which ones we'll see and which we won't?

I'm hoping we'll see the long overdue Tatis in December. I'm also very curious to see whether or not Eclipse gets off the ground in 2005.

[Lino]

I speculate that we will see Bergman's The Virgin Spring getting a CC spine very soon seeing as I bought the Tartan edition just recently. You know how this works...

[justeleblanc]

I'm hoping that the new buy-out might push Lang's DESTINY and MABUSE - DER SPIELER into Criterion territory. For the love of God those films need the good treatment.

[Cinesimilitude]

This may be old news (I did a search but couldn't find any threads where it's been discussed), but ....


Image's release of Orson Welles' Othello is now OOP (and being priced at upwards of $70 on Amazon Marketplace). Any bets on whether Criterion might finally get a crack at updating its laserdisc of this title?

This could be happening very soon, with Image's acquisition of Criterion Distribution.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

What version of Othello does Image own? The Cannes one, the '92 version, or both?

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

janus has a few films at the Ameircan Cinematheque in Hollywood (one of the movie events is specialy hosted by Janus and the L.A. Film Critics Soceity.

-Symbriopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (William Greaves, followed by it's recent sequal, Take 2 1/2)
-Three Outlas Samurai (Hideo Gosha)
-Assassination (Masahiro Shinods)

Never seen any of these. Are they any good?

Edited, removed all ass related content.

[FilmFanSea]

anus has a few films at the Ameircan Cinematheque ...

Why would the American Cinematheque have anything to do with that asshole?

[kazantzakis]

Re: Carlos Saura

More to add:

Carmen (1983, Carlos Saura) Screening at Images of Flamenco photo exhibit & film series held in Boston. Courtesy Janus Films
Bodas de Sangre (aka Blood Wedding)(1981, Carlos Saura) Screening at Images of Flamenco photo exhibit & film series held in Boston. Courtesy Janus Films

From the wonderful films Saura made, why did they have to choose filmed dancing?

[Cinephrenic]

I believe Carmen is more highly regarded internationally, but Janus owns the following too: Cria!, Deprisa, Deprisa, and Peppermint Frappé.

I wonder when Criterion will start putting out some of their Spanish films into the collection. Some Bunuel, Saura, and Erice would be nice. I wonder if they got a hold of El Sur from New Yorker. Would be great to see it along with The Spirit of the Beehive.