Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.3

[nolanoe]

A short question: how likely is it that LE SAMOURAI will get a BD-treatment soon? Some we had not thought of were announced out of nowhere, and Le Samourai is one of my VERY favorite films.

[Brian C]

I'd check with Vegas for odds. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you ... my crystal ball was cracked, tea leaves have gotten too expensive, and the wife's using the Ouija board right now for slightly more important things than forecasting Criterion releases. And everyone knows Tarot cards are a crock of shit.

[nolanoe]

Hey, I laid Tarot cards for a friend recently, and she got the same cards twice in a row.

[Drucker]

I played poker with tarot cards the other night. I got a full house and 5 people died.

I think that's the joke.

[Taketori Washizu]

Anyone think a Sirk/Rock Hudson boxset of their five remaining films could get some traction?

[knives]

No, at least two of them have already been released by Universal in the US.

[Feego]

All of them have been released by Universal in the US. The Tarnished Angels, Captain Lightfoot, and Taza, Son of Cochise are all available in the TCM Sirk set, Has Anybody Seen My Gal is in a Rock Hudson set, and Battle Hymn is available individually.

[HistoryProf]

so what's left from the New Years illustration that we didn't get for 2011?

Wild Strawberries
Bitter Rice
Y tu Mama Tambien
Sunday Bloody Sunday

any others?

[CSM126]

We still have December, you know.

[domino harvey]

Which will have two releases max

[Jeff]

Sunday Bloody Sunday

I think the clue that some assumed was referencing Sunday Bloody Sunday was actually a hint for People on Sunday.

[HistoryProf]

We still have December, you know.

that was the reason for my question...they'll be announcing in a couple of days and I was wondering what we might get. It'll probably be one or two of that list if any of them. Maybe Wild Strawberries and Bitter Rice and that's it.

[movielocke]

Which will have two releases max

I'm not so sure, barring a surprise big set, we may have a december that's out of trend with three or four titles. They've been increasing their output steadily the last three years.

Dec 2008: 4 bluray upgrades, 2 new titles: 7 discs total
(avg #discs/month in 2009 was 8.75)

Dec 2009: 1 bluray upgrade, 1 new title, 1 giant set: 29 discs total
(avg #discs/month in 2009 was 12.25 or 10.17 if you don't count AK25)

Dec 2010: 1 new title, 1 dvd set : 11 discs total
(avg #discs/month in 2010 was 12.75)

If we get just Y Tu Mama Tambien, Bitter Rice and a Wild Strawberries upgrade we'd only have, presumably five-six discs, which would be about what most people expect. right now they're sitting at an average of 13.8 discs/month for 2011, I'd expect that to drop somewhat with the typically lower volume december, but last year's december of 11 discs was pretty close to the average so perhaps there's room for another title or two, or a plethora of blu upgrades. Three new titles, and two bluray upgrades would be within reason, based on their overall higher volume/month throughout 2011 and 2010.

[Tom Hagen]

Yes, the DVD set that was a Blu-ray set the month before in 2011, and the giant box of barebones titles they had already released (with an Eclipse set that they hadn't) in new packaging in 2010.

[movielocke]

The DVD set that was a blu-ray set still has to go through the full process before its approved, it means its the same level of time investment in checkdiscs and QC as the bluray and more room for errors to crop up with bad encodes since there are nine discs rather than six.

The giant box of barebones titles did have the benefit of streamlining the QC process by only needing to check down the feature, but that's still 25 full length films, many of them longer than two hours. even with features, it's a rare criterion month that contains 3072 minutes of material. All these titles had to undergo the full process, even if they'd had an EAH release, a change in a menu results in a complete change to the disc encode, necessitating a full QC for the entire disc.

The eclipse set was not yet released and is irrelevant to december, but those films also had to undergo another full check disc process etc when they were released to eclipse.

[movielocke]

I'll guess:

Bitter Rice
Y Tu Mama Tambien
City Lights
Wild Strawberries blu
Royal Tenenbaums blu

and if we're lucky one of these as well:
Rashomon or Lady Vanishes blu

[matrixschmatrix]

The DVD set that was a blu-ray set still has to go through the full process before its approved, it means its the same level of time investment in checkdiscs and QC as the bluray and more room for errors to crop up with bad encodes since there are nine discs rather than six.

Which is why I'm guessing they intended it for simultaneous release with the blus, and then had to bump it back. I really doubt they did the staggered release on purpose.

The bigger point, though, is that it's not really how much time Criterion has on their hands that limits the December releases (at least, as I understand it)- it's that it's commercially a bad idea to release a product between Black Friday and Christmas, so they try to limit how many come out in that range. I don't see any reason to think that's changed.

[colinr0380]

...and the giant box of barebones titles they had already released (with an Eclipse set that they hadn't) in new packaging in 2010.

Which reminds me that whilst Criterion released the Eclipse set of the early Kurosawas a few months later, will they ever get around to releasing Madadayo separately? (I assume if I e-mail to ask I'll get the pithy reply "Not yet"!) I'm not too concerned as I have the UK disc of the film, but would certainly be interested to see what extra features they might bring to an 'official line' release.

[Tom Hagen]

^ Maybe it will be a December release.

[med]

Re: Madadayo, probably the corresponding "It Is Wonderful to Create" and a trailer. They same they did for Dodes'ka-den. I can't imagine a lavish treatment for what's generally ranked among Kurosawa's minor works, though, unlike the earlier film, this one will get a Blu.

[HistoryProf]

The DVD set that was a blu-ray set still has to go through the full process before its approved, it means its the same level of time investment in checkdiscs and QC as the bluray and more room for errors to crop up with bad encodes since there are nine discs rather than six.

Which is why I'm guessing they intended it for simultaneous release with the blus, and then had to bump it back. I really doubt they did the staggered release on purpose.

The bigger point, though, is that it's not really how much time Criterion has on their hands that limits the December releases (at least, as I understand it)- it's that it's commercially a bad idea to release a product between Black Friday and Christmas, so they try to limit how many come out in that range. I don't see any reason to think that's changed.

i've never understood that last point. it would seem putting a big release out in early December would be the BEST time to do so for xmas shoppers. and then people go batshit crazy in the week after christmas w/ gift cards, so it would seem even mid December would be ideal. what is the rationale behind it being a bad time to release something?

[agnamaracs]

They let Robert Downey, Sr. raid the closet.

...Putney Swope?

[matrixschmatrix]

i've never understood that last point. it would seem putting a big release out in early December would be the BEST time to do so for xmas shoppers. and then people go batshit crazy in the week after christmas w/ gift cards, so it would seem even mid December would be ideal. what is the rationale behind it being a bad time to release something?

I think the idea is, if you release something on Nov. 20th, it's still going to be around to catch all those things- it's not like a movie release, where it's only around for a week or two. If you release it on Dec. 10, though, you miss out on all the people who already finished their Christmas shopping. The whole month is so lucrative that you don't want to miss a day of it.

Though dropping a huge piece of obvious gift-bait like AK100 in December seems difficult to explain in that context, unless that was the earliest they could get out that year and they didn't want to wait until the next Christmas season.

[Drucker]

I get that point about not missing a day, but Criterion announces their releases 3 months in advance. Theoretically, people can plan ahead and put it on their wish list. A quick look at the current release calendar shows that Hangover 2 comes out December 6--certainly intended to be a holiday seller.

[willoneill]

It's true that Criterion announces their releases 3 months in advance, but those announcements don't usually penetrate the consciousness of the average consumer, or even the average Criterion consumer.