MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

[EddieLarkin]

Genuinely more interested in Eureka's announcement for The War Lord (1965). Obviously the MoC line up is better, but I can't get excited about stuff that's been available in the U.S. for some time (or soon will be).

[Finch]

MoC are releasing Paramount's films because Paramount can hardly be bothered to do so and when they do so, it's barebones stuff even for the likes of Rosemary's Baby which, luckily for us importers, was also out from Criterion months earlier. We know a Crit BD of Ace in the Hole is coming but MoC beat them to the punch and it happens to be cheaper for me. Same with If... (MoC's cover is, IMO, also better than Crit's bland one)

Boomerang sounds like a pretty good choice for a Kazan and a film noir at that. Financially, Harold and Maude is a total non-brainer (same with If...). Titles like that one will broaden MoC's appeal beyond forums and fans like ourselves and help offset the financial risk of more obscure titles that they'll keep releasing still. Too Late Blues at the very least will have a booklet over the barebones Olive disc which even if you import from importcds will either cost the same as the MoC or will be only ever so slightly less cheaper. The cover by swimminghorses is the only thing to dislike about this release.

[Tommaso]

MoC are releasing Paramount's films because Paramount can hardly be bothered to do so

Sure, but the MoC of earlier days would have done Stroheim's "The Wedding March" instead. For instance.

[domino harvey]

Obv these announcements were part of the effort to get Moe to start collecting MoCs

[tenia]

Like others, I'm disappointed by the overlapping VS US releases, but at least 2 of these (Boomerang! and Too Late Blues) are bare-bones (or almost bare-bones) releases which MoC can easily top on the extras department (and price, for Boomerang!, since importing this FoxConnect exclusivity is one of the worst idea ever).

I'm also quite happy to see a formal announcement of Ace in the Hole (being there or from Criterion, I don't care so much), and still eager to see what they will do with Nashville regarding the extras.

It's something which I now tend to find quite bothering with MoC : final specs are always given extremely late, since they only update the product page very late.

[RossyG]

What a strangely redundant set of releases for MoC: Harold and Maude, Nashville, Too Late Blues, If... all have decent US blus. Moreover, Criterion has already announced an Ace in the Hole upgrade. Oh well.

But for those of us in the UK who can't be arsed to go multi-region, it's a great line-up.

[swo17]

I'm also quite happy to see a formal announcement of Ace in the Hole (being there or from Criterion, I don't care so much)

Criterion's newsletter hint is nearly as formal as MoC's detail-free tweet.

[chatterjees]

I'm also quite happy to see a formal announcement of Ace in the Hole (being there or from Criterion, I don't care so much)

Criterion's newsletter hint is nearly as formal as MoC's detail-free tweet.

Probably the easiest hint ever
BTW, we still haven't received this month's Criterion newsletter with a hint, right?

[otis]

Will Violent Saturday be a port of the Carlotta disc? I'm not convinced that the horizontal stretching which that exhibits (compared to the Twilight Time disc) is a result of CinemaScope mumps, as some people have suggested. Looks more like what can be seen comparing the BFI and Criterion editions of Bigger than Life, where the BFI disc is stretched (and cropped) compared to the Criterion (compare the shot of James Mason and Barbara Rush in Bigger than Life with that of Richard Egan and Margaret Hayes on the stairs in Violent Saturday). Any thoughts?

[criterion10]

What an odd set of announcements. I suppose it's good for UK Region Locked buyers that they will now have access to Blu-Rays of Nashville, If...., Harold and Maude, etc., although considering I already own the Criterion editions of these, there is obviously no reason to double dip. (Also, I know more features may be announced later down the line, though some of these releases only seem to contain booklets as extras...)

I have not seen Boomerang!, Violent Saturday, and Too Late Blues, so those I will probably give a watch before considering a purhcase.

[Props55]

Damn! How could I have forgotten about those? Yes, by all means! Criterion stopped just short of greatness by shrugging off the potiential to go blu.

And why stop there? How about THUNDERBOLT? BEGGARS OF LIFE? CITY LIGHTS? THE VIRGINIAN? (And yeah I know the talkies are Universal but lets continue the Paramount run started by the MaCareys and the DeMille!)

[tomN245]

I am pretty disappointed. No WCF vol 2 with A Brighter Summers Day, No upgrades, No foreign films.
Surely Love Streams is a better choice than Too Late Blues.
I have seen 4 of the 6 releases, and I'm not bothered about the other two.
I suppose it gives me a chance to catch up a bit more on their back catalogue.

btw did anyone notice the Red River Steelbook on Amazon?

[Moe Dickstein]

Obv these announcements were part of the effort to get Moe to start collecting MoCs

And if I did start, I'd end up double buying so many movies :/

The most interesting MoC stuff is when they do stuff we can't get over here like Rock Hunter, at least in my heathen opinion

[cdnchris]

Damn! How could I have forgotten about those? Yes, by all means! Criterion stopped just short of greatness by shrugging off the potiential to go blu.

They didn't shrug it off. There was a heavy demand for a Blu version but they came right out and said they only had DVD rights and couldn't release a blu version. If I recall Paramount was very reluctant at the time to give up Blu-ray rights to anything and apparently there was a lot of arm twisting to get Days of Heaven (which is the only title I know of where Criterion has a flat out non-exclusive license.) Now that it's obvious Paramount no longer gives a shit, and Criterion has been revisiting those titles on Blu, I'm sure they will upgrade it at some point.

[swo17]

The most interesting MoC stuff is when they do stuff we can't get over here like Rock Hunter, at least in my heathen opinion

That is a great release. If only it were possible to purchase MoC titles individually...

[HJackson]

btw did anyone notice the Red River Steelbook on Amazon?

My recollection is that it was announced and then cancelled in favour of a Mabuse, der Spieler steelbook.

[Moe Dickstein]

[
That is a great release. If only it were possible to purchase MoC titles individually without your OCD demanding you complete the set

Corrected.

[tomN245]

On the list of upcoming blu rays on Wikipedia, Muriel is announced. Did I miss this announcement or is Wikipedia pulling my leg?

[Drucker]

On the list of upcoming blu rays on Wikipedia, Muriel is announced. Did I miss this announcement or is Wikipedia pulling my leg?

It's been hinted at I believe, but there has not been an official confirmation. And it's been in the hinted-at pile for at least two years.

[tomN245]

It's been hinted at I believe, but there has not been an official confirmation. And it's been in the hinted-at pile for at least two years.

As I thought. I hope it does get a release, Resnais's 'Providence' is phenomenal and I hope that gets a release as well.

I am selling my oop Truffaut R2 box-set on ebay for £60 as I know Masters of Cinema are bound to release some of his films soon. They have released films from every other director, so I better sell it before they announce any of his films.

[swo17]

I am selling my oop Truffaut R2 box-set on ebay for £60 as I know Masters of Cinema are bound to release some of his films soon.

Unless you have some insider information, that's a pretty naïve assumption.

They have released films from every other director

Yes, all 90 of them.

[tomN245]

Yes, all 90 of them.

*facepalm* I meant the vast majority of classic and World Cinema directors. If you have Goddard, Melville and Resnais, why would an assumption about Truffaut be so incorrect? The 'classic' directors which aren't in the collection are sold to other labels (Varda and Angelopoulos to Artificial Eye), and France is featured heavily in the collection (unlike Russia, or Iran), so I believe Truffaut is imminent!!!

Want to bet?

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

*facepalm* I meant the vast majority of classic and World Cinema directors.

I am waiting on the attacks from everyone on this forum any minute now.
"What about Hou Hsiao-hsien!?"
"Where's Straub-Huillet from MoC, huh?"
"Classic directors? I don't seem them releasing any Aldrich!"

[tomN245]

I didn't mean to start a war, but hey, I'm not backing down.

Firstly, I meant 'Classic and World Cinema directors', so they create classics, and the films are foreign. I think I phrased it wrong.
Secondly, I forgot to mention this, I meant 'known' directors, so that rules out 'Straub-Hulliet'.
Thirdly, they are from MOC preferred countries like France or Japan and not Russia or Taiwan.

"What about Hou Hsiao-hsien!?"

I would consider him unknown, despite being one of my favourite directors. A City of Sadness and The Puppetmaster are incredible.

I was merely commenting on the vast array of different directors they have in the MOC collection.

[ex-cowboy]

Whilst I can see your reasoning, I'm not so sure it's a matter of 'Truffaut being a big name they've not yet released, ergo...' I think it definitely depends on issues such as who has the rights to the particular film or films in question and whether the staff at MoC have a particular interest in that particular filmmaker. Criterion, for instance are not keen on Rivette (or so I understand). Also, I wouldn't exactly call Straub-Huillet and Hou Hsiao-hsien unknown.