Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 4

[agnamaracs]

Equinox is more "schlock" than "camp" (and is therefore one of my favorite Criterion releases).

Criterion recently posted the gynecological instruments from Dead Ringers on its Current site. Wishful thinking: Warner's license is expiring?

[Minkin]

Demy breakdown list

Great list, although I'd naturally hope for something better than Eclipse for some of those titles (though, that's what Criterion has been trending towards lately).

Not that it's any official confirmation of something greater, but I did find that both Bay of Angels and Lola played in 2006 with prints coming from Wellspring. So, I assume Janus at least also has Lola.

Not sure what to make of it, but I found this list that includes Donkey Skin as a Janus title. They also list Revanche, Chaplins and Valerie, so it's at least updated fairly recently.

If we take that list as accurate, then some other new Janus titles include:
The Troublemaker (1964, Theodore J. Flicker)
When the Woman Butts In (1959, Zdeněk Podskalský) - I see this film is mentioned here on the forum as being translated as Where the Devil Cannot Get (Czech: Kam čert nemůže)

Any explanations/speculations then (on Demy)?

[SamLowry]

Any explanations/speculations then (on Demy)?

Well I don't think there's any question that Criterion would love to release The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, I'm sure it's one of their most requested. I think they'd also release The Young Girls Of Rochefort as a twofer if need be.

[duck duck]

Actually they had Waters on Laser Disc and I'd love to see an "Early films of" set even if it is Eclipse. He did quite a few things before New Line picked up his films and I think those films have been talked about enough.
I have also hoped for a Meyers set since he is dead and Criterion could do better for his estate that the weak and overpriced website.
The Dead Ringers instruments were posted because it was Cronenberg day, I think that already existed and Criterion just pushed the link up further.

[Matt]

I can't find a good link to back this up, but John Waters has "retired" his pre-Pink Flamingos films from circulation. I think he considers them embarrassing juvenilia at this point.

I had hoped that Meyer's death would have the silver lining of someone getting the rights to his films, restoring them, and releasing them on DVD. That obviously has not happened, and the best we have right now is still the not-perfect Arrow discs.

[duck duck]

I have heard Waters talk about his early films with a bit of embarrassment but a few years ago they showed at some place like MOMA, including "Hag in a Black Leather Jacket". Other than shorts and unfinished films I've gotten the impression that "Mondo Trasho" and "Multiple Maniacs" just weren't deemed profitable. Clips of them appear in documentaries like Blank City.

[Matt]

You might be thinking of the 2004 "Change of Life" exhibition at the New Museum of Contemporary Art (which also toured to some other museums). That was the last time those early films were screened with Waters' approval.

I remember now that I posted about this years ago.

[Peacock]

Waters never cleared the music rights for his pre-Flamingos sound films and has said it would be prohibitively expensive to purchase them now, I think he's happy with them existing purely as bootlegs.

[SamLowry]

I have heard Waters talk about his early films with a bit of embarrassment

When I saw him at an Xmas show (when his Xmas album came out), there were questions about Mondo Trasho, Multiple Maniacs & The Diane Linkletter Story getting released finally. He wasn't the least bit embarassed, but didn't say anything about why they still hadn't been released yet.

[Minkin]

Moving away from Demy (did anybody have any better confirmation on Donkey Skin actually being a Janus property- other than that one page?)...

I wonder if the Chaplin extra might pave way for some future Ouedraogo. Tilaï would be a superb addition. Didn't that only get a VHS release from New Yorker in R1?

Sorry for turning into that random, random speculation guy.

[What A Disgrace]

That Ouedraogo extra is almost a decade old, so its a pretty huge stretch to think that it could signify a Criterion interest in him. Not that I'd ever discourage such an interest.

[rrenault]

Is Valeria and Her Week of Wonders going to be mainline or Eclipse?

[swo17]

It's supposed to end up in the third Eclipse set.

[dwk]

Down By Law Blu-ray in July

[HistoryProf]

hopefully at the $29.95 price point! I wondered if the $24.95 DVDs were eliminated from upgrade contention....glad to know that's not the case.

[Gregory]

Was the price of the DVD set dropped at some point? I believe that's (almost) unheard-of for a regular Criterion release (as opposed to Buena Vista licensed titles) but I could swear the SRP of this was $40 when I bought it.

[dustybooks]

Weirdly, there's a $3.99 cutout of the DVD at my local Walgreen's. Definitely the only time I've seen a Criterion in there...

[sickofsickness]

When are the monthly announcements of forthcoming titles usually made, in this case July?

[knives]

Six days.

[Drucker]

Won't they be on Friday? Since the 15th is a Sunday?

[Askew]

Since the 15th is a Sunday, it is more likely that they will make announcements on Monday.

[captveg]

They've done announcements on Friday the 13th before, though not always. Would be nice considering the one-day delay last month.

[jwd5275]

They've done announcements on Friday the 13th before, though not always. Would be nice considering the one-day delay last month.

Yes, but they usually clamor around facebook and twitter trying to create some buzz the week before the announcement and we have heard nothing yet. If anything, it is far more likely the silence means they are delaying til Monday (and have better things to do about than listening to people whine about a whole day's delay).

[captveg]

They've done announcements on Friday the 13th before, though not always. Would be nice considering the one-day delay last month.

Yes, but they usually clamor around facebook and twitter trying to create some buzz the week before the announcement and we have heard nothing yet. If anything, it is far more likely the silence means they are delaying til Monday (and have better things to do about than listening to people whine about a whole day's delay).

I don't disagree with that. Just saying it can be either Friday or Monday, and there's no consistent precedent either way. No skin off my back one way or another since I won't be able to own any of the titles until July.

[Matt]

Amusing how the announcement of a release has become such a major event in the entertainment world now. Nobody cared all that much about when Criterion was announcing new titles until they started doing it with some consistency on the same day of the month, and now, thanks to Prometheus, we have countdowns to releases of teaser trailers and red carpet premieres for trailers.