Criterion and Sony

[bainbridgezu]

According to a customer email, Sony will be handling the U.S. release of From Here to Eternity themselves; the U.K. edition has already been announced for October.

[hearthesilence]

It's gotten plenty of flack in recent years - different interpretations of what the film has to say about gender and especially the dated homophobia have been the biggest targets - but I should've been clearer, I don't really hate the film. I'm not his biggest fan, but I think it's Pollack's best movie, and it's probably Hoffman's most enjoyable performance. It's also great to hear how much the role came to mean to him - he was reluctant to do the film for so long, but apparently his relationship to the material dramatically changed as he delved deeper into it. (He talks about it at length in the current DVD's supplements, but in at least one of the AFI's otherwise worthless "100 Greatest" specials, they interviewed him about this picture and he broke down talking about how it made him aware of his own views on women.)

I'm sure Grusin's done worse, but I cringe every time I hear the score. Even the placement of music can seem terrible - never mind that dated "piano" sound and the smooth sax, when Michael runs out on his friend's audition to see his manager, the music cues feel completely wrong.

[captveg]

I think Criterion was more likely to get blockbusters because laserdisc was such a niche market. Now that streaming & blu-ray is commonplace, I think it's less likely, unless they do some type of special edition (i.e. different cuts of a film) that your average home video consumer won't likely splurge for, not sure if a commentary alone cuts it. I'd also think that The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy or Straw Dogs would be more likely candidates (with picture quality complaints on at least 2 of those current blu-ray titles) or Lenny (unreleased on blu) than Tootsie or Kramer vs. Kramer or Rain Man (the other Hoffman titles I've heard speculation/wishful musings).

Midnight Cowboy, The Graduate and Straw Dogs are with MGM though, not Sony.

[knives]

Lenny too.

[Moe Dickstein]

I'm sure Grusin's done worse, but I cringe every time I hear the score. Even the placement of music can seem terrible - never mind that dated "piano" sound and the smooth sax, when Michael runs out on his friend's audition to see his manager, the music cues feel completely wrong.

I am trying to figure out why I feel the way I do about the score. It's actually maybe the only time I feel like Grusin DIDN'T ruin a movie (Condor works fine too though). Maybe it's just having grown up with the film and the fact that I very much love the late 70s-early 80s sound in music, but I've always thought the music worked well in this film. I've had the main theme in my head the last two days due to this conversation and haven't minded. The Stephen Bishop songs are pretty good too.

All around I just think this is a great film, one of my favorite comedies and a model of construction next to the other great comedy of the era, 9 to 5. I would MUCH rather see a "C" on this than get it through Sony, it's a film truly worthy of the collection, and I think if you look at the last few years they have been going with bigger studio films when they can get them (Waterfront, Anatomy, etc.).

[onedimension]

Apologies if these have come up, but I'm a little fuzzy on the particulars of Sony's current approach- any chance Criterion will finally get 'A Matter of Life and Death', or put any of the Boetticher films on blu?

[Jeff]

Apologies if these have come up, but I'm a little fuzzy on the particulars of Sony's current approach- any chance Criterion will finally get 'A Matter of Life and Death', or put any of the Boetticher films on blu?

I believe Sony's current approach could be best described as "create beautiful new HD masters for everything but farm it out for release to anyone willing to distribute it." I would say the only things that aren't Criterion possibilities are the tiny handful of evergreen titles that Sony is keeping for themselves (maybe a couple dozen?) and what they've licensed to Twilight Time, Shout, Mill Creek, whomever. I'd say just about everything else is fair game, including the titles you mentioned.

[Jeff]

La vérité, Sundays and Cybele, and Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion are all licensed from Sony from new Grover Crisp restorations (that guy is gunnin' for sainthood the last few years). One title they didn't mention is Visconti's Sandra, the new extra Crispy print of which is debuting at Venice. Surely they've got it too?

[dwk]

I mentioned this in the OOP thread, but Mill Creek just announced that they've licensed another 665 films from Sony. It is most likely a bunch of junk titles, but I'd guess there are quite a few that would have been better served by Criterion.

[Minkin]

I mentioned this in the OOP thread, but Mill Creek just announced that they've licensed another 665 films from Sony. It is most likely a bunch of junk titles, but I'd guess there are quite a few that would have been better served by Criterion.

How the hell did Mill Creek/Echo Bridge go from PD bandits to respectable companies getting all kinds of big studio contracts (I bet Alpha feels out of the loop)? Most will probably just be reprints of whats already been released, but I doubt anything will be improved upon (especially all of that television - which I hope is just DVD licenses, since I've been waiting for some of those titles to get Blu upgrades). What a crazy world.

[domino harvey]

There's at least a chance some DVD-only titles will get cheap double-feature Blu-rays at least. They're not great but they're better than Echo Bridge at least!

[captveg]

Yeah, I'd say we may get 5% of those feature films on double feature Blu-rays, totally dependent on the quality of the masters available at Sony.

[dwk]

I don't know how Mill Creek can afford to license nearly 1000 titles from Sony(these recent 665 plus the previous 250), but they can. The good thing is, unlike Echo Bridge, when Mill Creek is given good materials, they can deliver a decent Blu-ray.

[ShellOilJunior]

Looks like Sony will be handling Before Midnight. I guess it lowers the chances Criterion will release all 3 'Before' films in a set. Sony could still license it out (a la Easy Rider) but I don't think it's likely.

[zedz]

I agree it's unlikely, but it could still work if Sony gets six months to a year exclusivity with their basic, low-cost release before Criterion follows up with a bells-and-whistles, expensive box set. $15 for a regular BluRay of the film vs. $80 for the elaborate box set that also contains it would still provide Sony with the majority of the casual sales, I'd imagine.

[Moe Dickstein]

Thats how the Qatsi box got done, two separate studios involved.

[Jeff]

Sony's asking near-Criterion prices for what is presumably a bare-bones disc, but I'm sure it will come down over time. Warner and Sony have collaborated on boxed sets before, so it's certainly not out of the question -- with or without the participation of Criterion.

[tenia]

$35.99 RSP ?

[sorrysomehow]

Looks like Sony will be handling Before Midnight. I guess it lowers the chances Criterion will release all 3 'Before' films in a set. Sony could still license it out (a la Easy Rider) but I don't think it's likely.

Ugh, this is awful news. I've been so excited just imagining the special features Criterion could round up to put in a box set release of this trilogy. Fingers crossed that it still happens.

[Anthony]

Yeah, probably a box set of the trilogy is still not out of the question, but I doubt we'll see anything within year or more from now. I highly doubt Sony would allow Criterion to release the trilogy within a year of their single disc release.

[mikeohhh]

Criterion's just holding out till 2022's Before Noon to release the quadrilogy. Boy will they have egg on their face when 2031's Before I Dunno, Afternoon Tea or Something? has to be shoehorned in!

[zedz]

Tetralogy.

[colinr0380]

Any elderly couple film confronting mortality simply has to be called Before Twilight!

[zedz]

Or maybe Linklater realises that he's running out of hours of the day and has to start conserving them. Roll on the polite middle-age, country-house comedy of resignation Before Elevenses.

[ryannichols7]

$35.99 RSP ?

this is every Sony Pictures Classics bluray's list price, and it's kind of bullshit.