Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 6

[criterion10]

I hate to be that person, but this still seems like yet another light month, assuming that these are all of the titles.

It's good to see both Red River and Like Someone in Love entering the collection (I haven't seen either yet, but I will be checking them out upon their release), though it is disheartening to only see two new titles enter the collection (and yet again, only a total of five titles as a whole!).

That being said, the upgrades themselves are decent (Life Aquatic is probably my favorite Anderson film and I remember liking Ace in the Hole when I saw it at a young age; haven't seen Overlord yet).

[sir_luke]

I dunno, while the supposed lineup is pretty slim, I'm in favor of a few upgrade-heavy months now and then. I love seeing my favorite films in the Collection getting nice, new, shiny transfers. While I love to see new titles, I definitely appreciate upgrades.

[jindianajonz]

Has there been another year that has had this many "new movies" (released theatrically within a year prior to the disc) as we've had this year?

[captveg]

Red River and Life Aquatic are definites for me. My guess is that'll put Moonrise Kingdom as no sooner than August.

[captveg]

Also, I gotta think that the relatively light April/May releases means that an upcoming box set (Tati, Road Trilogy, Demy, etc.) should land in June or July.

[SpiderBaby]

Also, I gotta think that the relatively light April/May releases means that an upcoming box set (Tati, Road Trilogy, Demy, etc.) should land in June or July.

Hope they put the ATG Oshima films together.

[AfterTheRain]

Criterion's May lineup has just been leaked on Amazon:

Red River
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Like Someone in Love
Overlord
Ace in the Hole

I shit you not.

Light month for new releases, but at least it's two long-awaited winners. Excited to see what the 4-disc Red River holds...

I'm taking a wait-and-see stance on this little kernel of news, because it may not be the final lineup when Tuesday comes around. Anyways, just take it with a grain of salt is my advice.

[BillWatkins]

Is it possible there could be an Eclipse set among the May releases that Amazon hasn't listed yet?

[Jeff]

No month with Red River being released can be referred to as "light." Believe it or not, after nearly 30 years, this is the first Hawks film in the collection. Criterion has been working on this release for quite a while, and it has been a challenging one for them.

Like Someone in Love is pretty great too -- a terrific companion piece to Certified Copy. It's on my "runners up" list for the best of 2013, and I feel I might be underrating it at that. I need to watch again.

I'm certainly not going to complain about any month with Billy Wilder and Wes Anderson Blu-rays either, but I'd agree that there is probably a time-intensive box set in production.

[hearthesilence]

IMHO, Ace in the Hole is Wilder's third, possibly second best film, behind Some Like It Hot and Sunset Blvd., and Red River is a huge release in itself, so no, not light at all.

[FrauBlucher]

There is a misconception what light means, at least for my previous post (can't speak for anyone else). I meant quantity, and definitely did not mean quality. Over the past several years CC almost always released 6 to 7 titles, and if 5 titles were announced there was a box set or Eclipse that went along with the 5. I am waiting for Tues to see if something else will be confirmed, that's all.

BTW... I can't believe that Amazon would list CC's for pre-order without Criterion knowing about it. I think this was Criterions intent to let the titles get leaked so folks wouldn't have to wait till Tuesday. I actually like this then having to wait. I wish they would do this more often if for some reason they can't get them out themselves.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I would say that 99.9% of the time, each month is a "light" month for your standard. Don't complain and move on. For God's sake, Red River is coming out on a FOUR DISC SET no less. Between this and complaining about packaging on Criterion films, I question if most people here even like Criterion releases anymore.

[captveg]

Red River 4-Disc is misleading. That's 2 Blu and 2 DVD, which is awesome since it means a lot of bonus content, but not the same as if it were 4 Blu.

[Lowry_Sam]

I was hoping Criterion would be surprising us with a serious upgrade catchup in April or May, as the list of titles available on Blu ray in other regions continues to grow larger:

2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
49th Parallel
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud
An Autumn Afternoon
And The Ship Sails On
Ashes And Diamonds
Au Hasard Balthazar
The Bad Sleep Well
La Bete Humaine
Bicycle Thieves
Boudu Saved From Drowning
Burden Of Dreams
Burmese Harp
Casque d'Or
Classe Tous Risques
Cria Cuervos
Daisies
Danton
Drunken Angel
Early Summer
Equinox Flower
Floating Weeds
Good Morning
Great Expectations
Hamlet
Henry V
Hiroshima Mon Amour
Ikiru
Insect Woman
The Killers
The Last Wave
The Lost Honor Of Katharina Blum
Madadayo
Made In The USA
Maitresse
Make Way For Tomorrow
Man Bites Dog
Les Miserables
Mishima
Mouchette
The Night Porter
A nos amours
Le Notti Bianchi
Oliver Twist
Onibaba
The Only Son
The Passion Of Joan Of Arc
Peeping Tom
Picnic At Hanging Rock
Pigs And Battleships
Le Plaisir
Port Of Shadows
The River
Rohmer's Moral Tales
Le Samourai
Scenes From A Marriage
Sisters
La Strada
Stray Dog
Sullivan's Travels
Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse
The Thief Of Bagdad
This Sporting Life
Ugetsu
Veangance Is Mine
Victim
The Virgin Spring

Not to mention blu rays not yet released stateside that could (?) be re-acquisitioned:
Alphaville
Billy Liar
Blood For Dracula
Dead Ringers
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie
The Fallen Idol
Flesh For Frankenstein
Forbidden Games
Odd Man Out
Touchez Pas Grisbi
Le Trou
Une femme est une femme

And I would have expected at least one of the rumored box sets (Apu, Tati or Demy) to be out (or any box for that matter) in the first 1/2 of the year. Not to mention that we're overdue for a Fellini or a Godard (given the number of titles in the retrospective currently touring, I'm assuming of which are several restorations)

So of this month's releases, only a Western (not something I normally buy) interests me..... Here's hoping that the Xmas season is bigger than last years & that I save enough to indulge (and that B&N doesn't go out of business before November).

[Noiradelic]

Not to mention blu rays not yet released stateside that could (?) be re-acquisitioned:
Alphaville
Billy Liar
Dead Ringers
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie
The Fallen Idol
Forbidden Games
Odd Man Out
Touchez Pas Grisbi
Le Trou
Une femme est une femme

Emphasis on the doubt implied by your question mark. As has been explained here ad nauseam, these are StudioCanal and therefore will not be rereleased by Criterion for the foreseeable future. DCotB is available in Canada and could be released here via Lionsgate at any time.

Warner has the rights to Dead Ringers, so not that likely.

Blood For Dracula
Flesh For Frankenstein

These were mentioned as a possibility somewhere on here recently.

[zedz]

Has there been another year that has had this many "new movies" (released theatrically within a year prior to the disc) as we've had this year?

Like Someone In Love will be two years old by the time Criterion's disc is released. The world doesn't end at the US border!

[Moe Dickstein]

Yes, but it is very much "new" in the fact that it is the first release of the film in this market on home media. I believe that's what they meant by new as opposed to catalog titles that make up the bulk of releases.

[Brian C]

Like Someone In Love will be two years old by the time Criterion's disc is released. The world doesn't end at the US border!

It does if you're a US company putting out releases of films coming off of their initial US theatrical run. I mean, I know American provincialism is annoying but it seems like a case where American circumstances are not just relevant but the key determining factor! Poor jindianajonz even put "new movies" in quotes as a built-in caveat and he still gets jumped all over.

[Jeff]

Looking at their list of releases sorted by year, you can see that they've generally done about four to five films from each calendar year for the past decade. They did nine films from 2008 when they first got IFC Fever.

I think that it just feels like a lot right now because Frances Ha, Blue is the Warmest Color, The Great Beauty, and Like Someone in Love are all being released around the same time U.S. year-end lists featuring these films are coming out. It looks as though Like Someone in Love will actually be their only film credited as a 2012 release until Moonrise Kingdom comes out.

[FrauBlucher]

Jeff, perhaps Beyond the Hills could be another from 2012, if that is the Mungiu they are releasing.

[zedz]

I think that it just feels like a lot right now because Frances Ha, Blue is the Warmest Color, The Great Beauty, and Like Someone in Love are all being released around the same time U.S. year-end lists featuring these films are coming out. It looks as though Like Someone in Love will actually be their only film credited as a 2012 release until Moonrise Kingdom comes out.

And my point is that the actual age of the Kiarostami is closer to what Gomorrah, Che, Revanche, Hunger etc. were when they were released. It's not really part of the same 'class' as the 2013 titles Criterion has released, and there's nothing particularly new about Criterion releasing films that debuted 24 months earlier.

When Che was released in 2010, members of the forum were commenting about how long it took to come out on home video, but the gap between its Cannes debut and Criterion's release was considerably shorter than the same gap for Like Someone in Love, so I don't see how a two-year gap can be remarkably short for one film but a 20-month gap can be excruciatingly protracted for another.

[HistoryProf]

Criterion's May lineup has just been leaked on Amazon:

Red River
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Like Someone in Love
Overlord
Ace in the Hole

I shit you not.

leaked how? None of these are on Amazon....

[Professor Wagstaff]

DVDBeaver has the Amazon links on their homepage.

[Noiradelic]

If on Amazon you search under "[title] criterion blu", the listings appear in the results, but in the lower "Results for...." section of the page. No artwork, of course.

[rspaight]

I suspect the "leaking" of these has to do with some lingering kinks in the Sony distribution setup. The timing of things appearing on Amazon has been all over the map since they took over.