2014 New Year's Day Drawing

[ianungstad]

I think the scarf is Mann's Winchester '73.

http://www.amazon.com/Winchester-73-Jam ... chester+73" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hasn't been released on blu. Universal title. Red Scarf. Jimmy Stewart. DVD seems to be out of print. (only available from third party sellers on Amazon.)

[matrixschmatrix]

May be a stretch, but I wonder if the X in the cliff could be a hint to Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure- they've had it on Hulu forever now, and the X seems like it's in a prominent place for a mark that doesn't signify anything.

[swo17]

I think the scarf is Mann's Winchester '73.

It seems like a bit of a stretch for the hint to be pointing to a colorized DVD cover for a B&W film.

[Moe Dickstein]

It's a shame if It's A Wonderful Life isn't coming - I'm surprised nobody mentioned that it was one of the very early Laser releases and has a great commentary track that's never been reissued. I also couldn't find a copy of the blu in stores at all this season so I thought it seemed pretty likely. is there a link to the info that it's for sure not it?

[Feego]

I think the scarf is Mann's Winchester '73.

http://www.amazon.com/Winchester-73-Jam ... chester+73" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hasn't been released on blu. Universal title. Red Scarf. Jimmy Stewart. DVD seems to be out of print. (only available from third party sellers on Amazon.)

Actually, the DVD is still available in this box set. Although, being Universal, that does not necessarily preclude a Criterion release. I would gladly pick up Blu upgrades of the Mann-Stewart westerns in a heartbeat.

[Jrmac]

It's a shame if It's A Wonderful Life isn't coming - I'm surprised nobody mentioned that it was one of the very early Laser releases and has a great commentary track that's never been reissued. I also couldn't find a copy of the blu in stores at all this season so I thought it seemed pretty likely. is there a link to the info that it's for sure not it?

I agree! I don't understand the negative comments about the film on here. Perhaps because it is on tv every year? Anyway I have heard that criterion would eventually love to reissue their entire laser catalog one day, so it makes total sense to me that they'd want to release it on blu.

[domino harvey]

Winchester 73 was announced to be forthcoming on Blu by Universal a million years ago for whatever that's worth

[bamwc2]

Upon seeing the dancing woman, my first thought was Josephine Baker, but that hardly seems likely.

[flyonthewall2983]

Weren't they doing a full restoration the last few years?

"When we got halfway through restoring it, we looked at the outtakes and realized: this stuff is still controversial. It raised a lot of old issues."

It's owned by Apple.

Thanks for the info. A shame if they never finish it up and release it, but I guess that's their right.

Musician Mike Portnoy met Paul backstage after a show this past spring and asked him about it, and this is what he relayed on his website from memory of the meeting.

So after lots of small talk: how I saw Wings in 76, how awesome the new band is, how he sounds better than ever, the setlists have been great every tour, etc etc...I was thinking, hmmm...what do I really want to know from him that I don't already know??
And it dawned on me, there was indeed something: so I asked him what the hell is going on w Let It Be on video/DVD/Blu-ray

And we talked about that for a few minutes...he said there's been technical and legal reasons its been tied up all these years (didn't go into details), but that it is indeed happening and finally in the pipeline for a release soon..and told me about all of the incredible hours and hours of unused footage there is (and I told him most of us hardcore fans know about and have it!) But it was pretty surreal to talk about it directly with him and hear it from the horse's mouth!!

[Lowry_Sam]

Upon seeing the dancing woman, my first thought was Josephine Baker, but that hardly seems likely.

Would be nice, but The Josephine Baker Collection (Zouzou, Princess Tam Tam, & Siren Of The Tropics) is on Kino (dvd) & in print.

Another thing that bothers me about the pic (besides the random use of red on 2 of the Demy titles)....is that it doesn't look like much of a bay at all (Bay Of Angels), more like an island. Birdman Of Alcatraz might be a stretch for the prisoner, but it is one of those MGM titles that has been rumored for a while now (and a possible follow up to Seconds).

I'm also not convinced Red Sun would be a likely title & am trying to rationalize why A Place In The Sun is a better fit.

[Buttery Jeb]

Whoever connected the jazz musicians/dancers with Buena Vista Social Club may have hit the nail on the head. Ever since I saw that, I can't see any other title working with them.

[zedz]

Jazz on a Summer's Day still seems like the best fitting answer to that clue by far. Likewise Raisin in the Sun for the raisin in the sun. That great big sun impinges on a number of clues, and I'm definitely hoping its hugeness indicates the Yang (though I expect it doesn't).

[domino harvey]

Jazz on a Summer's Day was making the rep theatre circuit last summer too

[zedz]

Hey, here's an idea: since all the other angels are Demy films, perhaps the one with the bell heading away from all the others is Le bel indifferent.

[mallo543]

A couple random thoughts.

I wonder if the girl on the picnic blanket is Alice in the Cities.

And the Tati head in the box could possibly double as a clue for Barton Fink.

[Yaanu]

Hey, here's an idea: since all the other angels are Demy films, perhaps the one with the bell heading away from all the others is Le bel indifferent.

I'm okay with this. Maybe it'll be a box set like "Pierre Etaix".

[AfterTheRain]

Has anybody else considered that the four beetles in the drawing could also possibly refer to Saul Bass' Phase IV?

[boywonder]

Band Playing: Shoot the Piano Player

[Gregory]

Has anybody else considered that the four beetles in the drawing could also possibly refer to Saul Bass' Phase IV?

Yes, a couple of people have mentioned that possibility, but Phase IV is about ants and there are no ants in the drawing.

[Moe Dickstein]

We know The Big Chill is coming, so the raisin is most likely for that

[ShellOilJunior]

Birdman Of Alcatraz might be a stretch for the prisoner, but it is one of those MGM titles that has been rumored for a while now (and a possible follow up to Seconds).

Birdman may arrive eventually but that prisoner (and no.11) is not a clue for it. Lancaster's number in the film is #17431.

[George Kaplan]

Terence Young's RED SUN is too depressing a thought to take seriously - even if it were to introduce the divine Capucine into the collection. Hopefully, then, the "X" marks the spot, of "A" PLACE IN THE SUN (Hadn't this been assumed a CC pick-up as of some time back? Or was I just guessing that because of it having gone out of print?) While the sun itself indicates A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY (please let it be true, please let it be true, please...)

Actually, I think the red clues indicate some linking concept, the pair of Demy's being obvious. The RED RIVER and red sun pointing to a pair of early Montgomery Clift titles. SCANNERS might then be linked with the blood-grouping, THE BROOD, on the hanging rock. Though I don't know where that puts the red-scarfed "Jimmy Stewart" except, possibly, paired with the other guy who really does suggest Stewart to me, particularly as he is about to fall backward into the pool in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Yet, if my red linking idea makes any sense it would suggest a pair of Stewart-Mann westerns, with BEND OF THE RIVER being one of them.

As for the MILLIE figure, that pose is from the ad art for the Broadway revival, which, thankfully, makes no sense in this context (while the Julie Andrews key art pose is much more distinct, and simpler to draw), and means that yet another depressing piece of irredeemable garbage is not the correct guess! Also, I should hope that IAMMMMMMW is sufficient to keep similar lunacies at bay for a long time to come.

What the "Millie" figure suggests to me is SWEET CHARITY, though again this pose does not recall the key art of that film, which is, however, a static pose, so... Who is the woman doing the twist with the distinct knot (twist?) of hair atop her head? And might the two women be a pair? (Both Charity and Millie are solo acts, or parts of trios, not duos.) And might that be a lei around her neck instead of beads or pearls? And if that means GIDGET GOES... HAWAIIAN and TO ROME, I'll start maintaining now that any Paul Wendkos is always preferable to any Terence Young or any George Roy Hill.

[britcom68]

Montgomery Cliff is coming to the Criterion in 2014 one way or another: between A Place in the Sun and a Red River both drawn next to the cliff, it reminds me of this moment in "Bowfinger" between the screenwriter and Eddie Murphy arguing over the climax of their next movie, "And you say, 'It's been nice meeting you Cliff.' Then you push him off a cliff!" "Man, that's too cerebral! The audience has to know that cliff and Cliff are the same thing!"

[britcom68]

My final thoughts/observations of the NYD clue: I agree now that those are Tootsie (roll) wrappers, although my family has used ketchup packets for years that looked so similar that at first I rejected the idea they could be anything else! Who brings Tootsie rolls to a picnic anyway?! Ketchup packets, yeah, not happening inside the universe that is the Criterion drawing, also four "ants" approaching a picnic is just way too convenient, must be "beetles." I apologize for jumping to conclusions, in print.

Regarding the dancers: I have watched Thoroughly Modern Millie several dozen times in my life, my family has a thing for Mary Tyler Moore, and those figures are not the same as the poster/ads for Millie, even if the bent female figure has a chignon similar to Bee Lillie as "Mrs. Miers." Are those dancers really for The Big Chill though? The guy looks like Kevin Kline slightly, but neither of those two female dancers resemble any of the cast members, nor are they exactly dressed for the 80s. I'd say the California Raisin fits that clue much better.

Last item: I am thinking that it is not an "X" in the [Monty] cliff, but instead a cross. A grave or burial marker yes, but an X? Whatever it is, it marks the spot. Hey! It's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade... ](*,)

[Sandman]

Er...that's Montgomery Clift (w/a "t") but I'm sure you knew that.

I'm thrilled that a Tati boxset will be coming out this year, along with a set for Demy. My only disappointment in the drawing was to see no clues to any Bresson or Powell and Pressburger films, but I hope to be pleasantly surprised.