Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.3

[zedz]

(Sorry to rain on the parade. This was just a call-back gag, as swo caught. Even though City Lights is a sound film, the chances of Criterion or anybody else acknowledging it as such as this late stage is beyond remote.)

[Michael Kerpan]

City Lights is one of those films I just have never managed to see yet -- but I promise that I will get the Criterion BluRay when it comes out. ;~}

[artfilmfan]

City Lights is one of those films I just have never managed to see yet -- but I promise that I will get the Criterion BluRay when it comes out. ;~}

You'll always have a smile on your face whenever you read or hear the word "boxing" after you see this wonderful film.

[knives]

If you like it.

[swo17]

Keep silent, you!

[Vegeta84]

I'm not sure where else to post this (if there is anywhere else, I would appreciate the input) but I was scrolling through the films criterion is streaming through Hulu and I saw four Hideo Gosha films! Four! And one of them was Hunter In The Dark which is one of my all time favorite movies. Has anyone heard anything about this and if Criterion was planning on releasing a Gosha set soon? I'm still in shock that Hunter In The Dark actually has a distributor.

[matrixschmatrix]

Keep silent, you!

Does that mean he can't talk, or that he can't make noise of any kind?

[swo17]

:-#

[colinr0380]

It's more of a silent than Modern Times, but it still has a synchronized soundtrack, including moments where people are made to "speak" with whistles or kazoos.

I have a short attention span, so most people sound like that to me after a while! (I wonder if that had any influence on the way the adults are treated in the Charlie Brown films?)

[Peacock]

Any chance of Criterion using a difference source than the European Blu-rays of City Lights? I'm guessing not.... but judging by the Beaver review it probably looks the worst of all those released so far, very soft..... You'd think that some prints of Chaplin's films would exist to rival the quality of the Blus of City Girl, Battleship Potemkin, Coeur Fidele etc...

[Jun-Dai]

I think if the film depends on a synchronised soundtrack, then it's not a silent film even if parts of it are silent or the audio was all dubbed in later. M, for example, despite being silent in many other ways. If the film's identity is largely the same without a synchronised soundtrack, then in most senses it would still be a silent film, and I recall City Lights and Modern Times seeming like they fit into that category, but it's been so long since I've seen either…

[Harmonov]

Criterion Cast just tweeted Lubitsch's Design for Living...

[jwd5275]

I think Inagaki's Samurai Trilogy is being upgraded very soon (though probably not to be annouced today). Not only is the set is on back order, also they have taken down from Hulu, both which lead me to believe they have an upgraded HD transfer that they are about to replace it with....

[swo17]

Criterion Cast just tweeted Lubitsch's Design for Living...

It must be a slow news day because he hinted this four times in a row.

[ptatler]

BRANDED TO KILL
TOKYO DRIFTER

[movielocke]

Decent slate of december releases.

They really amped up the do-overs in 2011, the fullers, the sezukis, diabolique and orpheus compared to the one or two do over titles in previous years. and they got all the remaining titles that had been reissued on DVD upgraded to bluray, amarcord, lady vanishes, high and low, beauty and the Beast, Salo. Overall 26 catalog titles upgraded to bluray plus the 6 reissues is a pretty great year for upgrades. With 38 new releases there is almost an equal split between upgrades and new titles, hopefully the pace of upgrades will continue or increase in 2012. six eclipse is par for the course, though I wish they were doing more.

[matrixschmatrix]

Design for Living? I can't see why anyone would opt for this over the boxset.

Um, presumably because it's a blu with features and the other one was crammed on to a dvd with two other movies?

I'm kind of disappointed in the features on the Suzuki rereleases, I almost wish they'd have gone barebones and released them at a lower price point. Still pretty exciting for a December release, though. I'm starting to feel as though I should sell my copies of Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, as they seem to like upgrading the sequential-spine number director's duos.

[swo17]

I don't see why people are so eager to predict that this December is going to be huge, as it just sets you up for disappointment if/when it isn't. Just expect two new releases on the mainline like there typically are (including Blu-ray upgrades). Anything more than that would just be a pleasant surprise.

i don't think anyone is necessarily eager to predict that it will be a bigger month than usual...more just curious to see if the uptick in upgrades continues into December as much as it has the last few months.

I was mostly referring to Facebook, where several people were predicting a huge release slate for December, and are now chiming in with "That's it?" even though this year's slate is double what it's been in at least the last two years (if you count upgrades). Some are even debating Criterion's "right" to have a light release month. It's pathetic.

I also would have hoped that CC would pair DFL with To Be or Not to Be, but that's mostly just because I'd like to see it on Blu-ray during the window for the '40s list.

[knives]

Those are two pretty great movies. Better than what they mustered up. The Blu elements are the only plus comparatively and that's a small plus considering that the DVD had a pretty reasonable transfer.

[Finch]

Tokyo Drifter on Blu at long last! Finally I can retire my Second Sight DVD.

Good to see Lubitsch getting the Blu treatment, with Design for Living and Studio Canal's prepping of To be or not to be; Trouble in Paradise can't be far behind?

[-o<

[Wu.Qinghua]

There's no new release in December, is there? Following the discussions, I got the impression De Santis' Riso Amaro/Bitter Rice would have been informally announced for 2011, but it will come next year then, won't it? That leaves me hoping that CC will release it not on its own, but in a box with 'Tragic Hunt' and 'Under the Olive Tree'. [-o<

[captveg]

The Lady Vanishes and Tokyo Drifter are definite purchases. Not a fan of Branded to Kill. Need to see Design for Living, but I do love Lubitsch.

[matrixschmatrix]

If anyone has the UK W.C. Fields set, the entire If I Had a Million is available there.

Is it just me, or has Criterion gotten really shy about putting a full commentary on things lately? Adding them to the Suzukis seems like it would have been a natural- it's not as though you would run out of things to talk about- and it would have bumped the blus up to sure things for me.

[swo17]

I get the same sense, though looking more closely at just the new and upcoming releases, Kiss Me Deadly, Phantom Carriage, Four Feathers, Island of Lost Souls, and the Vigo set each have commentaries. I don't know, did more of them used to have one?

[cc99999]

I'm pretty sure the transfer on Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter will be phenomenal. Branded to Kill was one of my favorite movies the year or two after it came out. It looks to me that the John Zorn supplement may have gotten the axe? is that so?