MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

[Ribs]

I am setting the bar low/high by expecting an Ashby set with everything that hasn't been released in the UK.

(I would be delighted by this, but incredibly disappointed to have spent the money on the TTs this year; a win/lose scenario)

I wish I had the capacity for optimism to believe it could actually be a HHH set. Seems like you're just setting yourself up to be disappointed.

[FrauBlucher]

What are the chances Eureka/MoC struck a similar deal Kino did with 20th Century Fox?

[TMDaines]

More Von Sternberg would be lovely.

[TMDaines]

Worth mentioning too that we have had confirmation of releases like Varieté that have not been officially announced yet. Wouldn't mind seeing Der müde Tod and Herr Tartüff which will come sooner than later. There's a load of other Weimar silents desperate for Blu-ray releases too: see the Arte broadcasts, and Murnau Stiftung and Edition Filmmuseum releases

[rapta]

Maybe Targets as one of their remaining Paramount titles? It'd complement the other Bodganovich in the series nicely and it'd attract the interest of genre fans for Boris Karloff alone. Personally, I'm also hoping for a Blu-Ray of Queen of Earth and more Von Sternberg silents, and one or two Japanese titles (Death by Hanging might be a possibility though it wouldn't be on my own wishlist). Perhaps a Hou Hsiao Hsien set comprising A Brighter Summer Day, Dust in the Wind, and A Time To Live and A Time To Die? More French titles would be welcome, too. I can't remember who owns Elevator to the Scaffold in the UK (Optimum had it on DVD and are now owned by Studio Canal but do they still have the rights?) but if the rights are available, porting the recent French BD would be a good choice.

For the Eureka Classics line-up, I'm hoping for a Lone Wolf BD boxset beating Criterion to the punch.

Targets is one of my most-wanted Paramount titles for MoC, along with Days of Heaven and Witness (and a whole host of others, to be honest). I would love for them to announce 12 of those all in one go!

Queen of Earth is something I was hoping they'd release, but I'm not sure they'd go for another Perry film as there seemed to be some grumbling about Listen Up Philip on forums and social media channels (although not as much as there was for Simon Killer). I'd love to see another Perry film released by MoC though, and Queen of Earth would indeed make the most sense right now. A shame they didn't get Bujalski's follow-up to Computer Chess - Results - because I found it to be very funny and very enjoyable.

Death by Hanging would be excellent, or any other Oshima for that matter. Unfortunately, I already asked them if they were planning on releasing anything by Shindo, Teshigahara, Kobayashi, Shinoda, Ichikawa, Ôshima, Suzuki, Okamoto, Nakagawa or Imamura, and they essentially said "not for the next few months at least". They said 'maybe' to Kwaidan, as they had said when I asked them last year, so it still sounds hopeful they will be able to do their own disc for that film and that Criterion won't beat them to it (as far as the UK market is concerned).

I too was wondering if they'd do a Hou set, seeing as several of his films have been restored yet and not yet released by an English-speaking label...especially considering his recent film has gone down so well with both critics and audiences. And yes, I'd love some Malle (or some other French stuff...Bresson, Renoir, Cocteau, Resnais etc), but I think Lift to the Scaffold is still with Artificial Eye, and there seems to still be some problem with it - hence why they still haven't released it on Blu-ray after indefinitely delaying their announced release. I'd love to see something more along the lines of Black Moon, or perhaps Renoir's Swamp Water. I think the latter may be more likely (it's with Fox) because the former could well be part of the large library Criterion recently bought up (in which case, they might end up releasing it here).

Lastly, I agree with Lone Wolf & Cub, but I also reckon they would have done it by now if they had planned on upgrading it to Blu-ray (much like Hausu, which has also been requested a bunch over the years).

I am setting the bar low/high by expecting an Ashby set with everything that hasn't been released in the UK.

(I would be delighted by this, but incredibly disappointed to have spent the money on the TTs this year; a win/lose scenario)

I wish I had the capacity for optimism to believe it could actually be a HHH set. Seems like you're just setting yourself up to be disappointed.

I would love that. In fact, Bound For Glory is high on my MoC wish list! However, I think The Landlord is still with StudioCanal, The Last Detail with Sony, and Being There with Warner Bros (I have the OOP UK BD). So that really only leaves Bound for Glory and Coming Home as likely candidates for MoC (and maybe Shampoo), which wouldn't be enough to justify a box set. I hope at least one other Ashby title shows up soon though!

I'm pretty sure we'll get at least one Hou from MoC in the next year or so, as evidenced by this Instagram post.

What are the chances Eureka/MoC struck a similar deal Kino did with 20th Century Fox?

What's Kino's deal with Fox? It seems there are a few MGM/Fox titles popping up at the moment as part of MoC, so I expect there'll be a few more from whatever that deal was...but not sure it'd be a 12-picture deal, one-off deal. If it was a studio-specific run of titles, I'd place my bets on it being Paramount. Since they put Universal in control of their international distribution (for home video) as of last July, perhaps it's getting more difficult to license their catalogue - and this could potentially be one last multi-picture run of most-wanted titles for MoC. Of course, they may have figured out the licensing difficulties and I'm just being wildly speculative, but we'll have to wait and see.

Apparently new kids on the block Signal One will be announcing a 'huge deal' with a major studio soon, but haven't revealed any specifics as of yet - so far they've only released titles from MGM and Fox, so it could well be them they're talking about.

[Tommaso]

Worth mentioning too that we have had confirmation of releases like Varieté that have not been officially announced yet. Wouldn't mind seeing Der müde Tod and Herr Tartüff which will come sooner than later. There's a load of other Weimar silents desperate for Blu-ray releases too: see the Arte broadcasts, and Murnau Stiftung and Edition Filmmuseum releases

That's what I am hoping for, too. "Varieté" is a certainty, but we still need to see whether they'll come up with an alternative soundtrack, which would be mandatory in this case. In the backchannels someone recently found an easy way to slow it down to 20 fps, too, and the result looks much more natural than the 24 fps version that Murnau-Stiftung has provided. But I doubt that MoC are going to release it at a slower speed than the official restoration. But if they come up with a new piano soundtrack at least, it'll be a cause of joy in any case. Otherwise, yes, of course "Der müde Tod" and a release of the new resto of "Tartüff", which is so much better than the old version. Additionally of course "Grieshuus", and as Kino are releasing it in the US, the great 1934 Hans Albers/Brigitte Helm film "Gold" would be very desirable, too. Dreaming of Edition Filmmuseum releases which never seem to happen: okay, MoC, give us "Der Student von Prag" (any version, or best of all, all three of them).

[tenia]

As usual, Amazon.co.uk is a bit of a suspense Killer :
That Cold Day in The Park (June 20th)
Enemy Mine (June 20th)
Early Murnau - 5 films (Aug 22nd)
Complete Buster Keaton Shorts (July 18th)
The Flight of the Phoenix (Sept 12th)

There's also what seems to be the French TV Show Resistance, but on DVD-only (Sept 12th)

[TMDaines]

I was hoping that the early Murnau set would include the early, non-lost works that are yet to be released, but I'll still gladly sell my DVDs and upgrade.

If the Keaton proves to be definitive, I'll grab that too.

The rest, meh.

[rapta]

Queen of Earth is something I was hoping they'd release, but I'm not sure they'd go for another Perry film as there seemed to be some grumbling about Listen Up Philip on forums and social media channels (although not as much as there was for Simon Killer). I'd love to see another Perry film released by MoC though, and Queen of Earth would indeed make the most sense right now. A shame they didn't get Bujalski's follow-up to Computer Chess - Results - because I found it to be very funny and very enjoyable.

Happy to say I was wrong about Queen of Earth! Also very happy to hear some of their other acquisitions - Tobias Nölle's Aloys, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Creepy, and Naomi Kawase's An. I expect there will be a few more from Berlinale, such as the Deutsche Kinemathek title (or was that the Murnau set?) and whatever they were teasing with Hou's Daughter of the Nile.

Must say, I like this quarterly announcement thing, much like BFI and Artificial Eye tend to do. Excited for the Altman, Wilder and Aldrich, and will have to save up for Keaton and Murnau. Cocoon and Enemy Mine were both a surprise, and something I though Arrow might have got. So all in all, I'm interested in everything announced today and will now have to decide which I want to buy straight away and which I can wait on...

[Drucker]

Fedora is another title. As is Ron Howard's Cocoon (presumably Eureka, not MOC).

Have to say, as someone that almost always defends the announcements, I'm a bit disappointed. I'll pick up Buster and Murnau, as well as finally get to Fedora. It's also nice to see Flight of the Phoenix which is apparently a blu ray premiere, but boy I was hoping for some great new silent or pre-code film. Synthetic Sin is a great example of a pre-code film that underwent a restoration recently, and still doesn't have a physical release. Give us something like that MOC!

[Tommaso]

The question is what exactly they mean by 'early' Murnau. "Nosferatu" is already out on a separate blu, so probably it means "Vogelöd", "Phantom" and "Großherzog".

Eureka's Twitter announcement has already specified the other two as Der letzte Mann and Tartuffe... not exactly "early" works!

Thanks for pointing me to twitter, Jonathan S. The greatest disappointment for me is that the much fabled Berlinale acquisitions were Nölle's "Aloys" and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Creepy" (nothing against these, of course!) and not "Der müde Tod". Let's hope that "Tartüff" at least will be the new resto, and that they upgrade their old standalone dvd, too, in this case.

[Bürgermeister]

Thanks for pointing me to twitter, Jonathan S. The greatest disappointment for me is that the much fabled Berlinale acquisitions were Nölle's "Aloys" and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Creepy" (nothing against these, of course!) and not "Der müde Tod". Let's hope that "Tartüff" at least will be the new resto, and that they upgrade their old standalone dvd, too, in this case.

I think it's very safe and rather obvious to say. That they do have Der müde Tod.

[rapta]

Thanks for pointing me to twitter, Jonathan S. The greatest disappointment for me is that the much fabled Berlinale acquisitions were Nölle's "Aloys" and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Creepy" (nothing against these, of course!) and not "Der müde Tod". Let's hope that "Tartüff" at least will be the new resto, and that they upgrade their old standalone dvd, too, in this case.

I believe those were just two of their Berlinale acquisitions. I fully expect they will have Der müde Tod (they posted about it enough already), as well as Hou's Daughter of the Nile (at the very least), but just aren't ready to announce them yet. I believe they also have Dupont's Varieté lined up, but haven't announced that yet either, as well as a film from Deutsche Kinemathek (potentially some Pabst or Dreyer), and a new 4K restoration of a film beginning with 'M' (guess away).

It might just be that they're scheduled for release later this year or early next year, and still want to keep a few cards close to their chest(s). They're wise to announce newly-produced films now, to generate a little interest, than spill the beans on a bunch of catalogue titles they haven't scheduled for Blu-ray release yet. They may let it slip randomly though, as they did with the King Hu titles or Man with a Movie Camera, so for now it's just speculation.

[Alphonse Tram]

It's good that these films are getting decent releases, but for me, Kawase and Kurosawa's films have been getting pretty bad of late, I thought Still the Water, An (Sweet Red Bean Paste) and Journey to the Shore were all pretty awful.

I guess someone at Eureka is a fan.

[tenia]

I watched An in theaters a few weeks ago and thought it was very good (but I've avoided Still The Water since the critical feedback was pretty mixed).

[What A Disgrace]

What an underwhelming announcement. Though I'm all over the Murnau* and Keaton set, and I may as well get Fedora and That Cold Day in the Park. And when they come out...Queen of Earth and Creepy.

*What do we have to do to get The Burning Soil?!

[Finch]

I'm in for the Keaton, Queen of Earth and possibly the Aldrich. The mixed reviews for Creepy are disappointing. I'd have preferred Eureka to pick Cure instead, a much older title, but universally acclaimed and on many contemporary best horror lists. Both Creepy and Journey to the Shore seem widely regarded as lesser Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and people might be forgiven for thinking why he'd warrant a place in the MoC canon if it wasn't for Tokyo Sonata. Great director but represented by one very good film and two reported failures. I keep begging Eureka on their Facebook page for Cure; heck most of his older films are better reviewed than his most recent ones.

[rapta]

I'm in for the Keaton, Queen of Earth and possibly the Aldrich. The mixed reviews for Creepy are disappointing. I'd have preferred Eureka to pick Cure instead, a much older title, but universally acclaimed and on many contemporary best horror lists. Both Creepy and Journey to the Shore seem widely regarded as lesser Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and people might be forgiven for thinking why he'd warrant a place in the MoC canon if it wasn't for Tokyo Sonata. Great director but represented by one very good film and two reported failures. I keep begging Eureka on their Facebook page for Cure; heck most of his older films are better reviewed than his most recent ones.

I'd have to see both films first before I comment, but it sounds to me like they've decided to fully support Kurosawa and represent him in the UK - they made this quite clear when they announced they had acquired Journey to the Shore a month or two ago. It's clear that Third Window Films are the only label entirely dedicated to contemporary Japanese cinema, so it's great to see Eureka pitching in and backing a modern auteur like Kurosawa, as well as introducing Kawase to UK Blu-ray as well. I welcome this move after their flirtation with Sion Sono, whose output doesn't particularly fit alongside the MoC canon (though some people seem to love everything he makes).

Perhaps their hope is that UK audiences will get a taste for more Kurosawa and they will then try and acquire some of his older, more popular titles. As with Kawase, I generally disagree with the trend of disregarding a director's output after repeated lukewarm responses of their films at competitive film festivals, and it's great to see them given a chance to succeed in a more specific platform. For example, I've noticed that Arrow Films seemed to be releasing Koreeda's output for a short while, but presumably they 'gave up', and his newest film has been picked up by Artificial Eye (who are only releasing it on DVD, which is a shame).

In a more general sense, thankfully it seems the UK still has a thirst for more J-horror and contemporary Japanese (and Korean) thrillers - the kind Tartan Asia used to release on DVD (with varying transfer quality). Arrow's recent release of Miike's Audition proved very popular, and I hope labels are encouraged enough to go back and pick some of the best from that era of Japanese cinema. My personal favourite is Shimizu's Ju-on: The Grudge, which I'm hoping will reach Blu-ray sometime in the next few years. Whilst I doubt Eureka will go as far as release straight-up horror films as part of MoC, perhaps they will as part of the general Eureka label (or Eureka Classics), or maybe Arrow Video will release some more of them.

[Michael Kerpan]

I thought Journey to the Shore was a very fine (and likeable) film -- KK's first romantic "
ghost story" -- a la Ghost andmrs Muir and Story of Marie and Julien. Don't know anything about Creepy.

[repeat]

Surprisingly that's the first mention I've seen of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir in connection with Journey, I immediately thought of it myself too! (Should probably finally watch Marie & Julien!) Journey to the Shore is right up on the level of Tokyo Sonata, so by no means a "failure" - I think it's become pretty clear by now that next to no English-language reviews of his work can be trusted (I usually stop reading at the first mention of "J-horror").

As for more Kurosawa, I'm still holding out hope (besides Barren Illusion and License to Live, both of which are indispensable central parts of his oeuvre) that Beautiful New Bay Area Project would crop up as an extra somewhere. In fact someone should really put out a disc with that one and Seventh Code (and maybe Kokoro, odoru) - maybe some of these would make sense for the upcoming Creepy disc..?

[What A Disgrace]

I'm more excited to see Journey to the Shore than I am for most of MoC's forthcoming output, and I'm glad to hear such praise of the film in the face of almost overwhelming dismisal from English language critics. I frankly hope this release, plus Queen of Earth and Sweet Bean, signal an increasing preference for contemporary cinema over a lot of the B-list Hollywood classics and stuff-I-already-have coming out.

All of which I'm buying, mind you, and also looking forward to.

[repeat]

Oh yeah, and count me in for team An as well - it's a good film, nice to see it doing so well after all the shit that's been heaped on Kawase (towards which she seems to remain admirably oblivious).

[jpglaarh]

With the Blu-ray release by Kino of The Spiders, are there indications that MoC will pick this up?

[rapta]

So I just figured something out. That photo that Eureka posted on their Instagram from Berlinale (here) mentioned something restored in 4K beginning with 'M', and Adrian Martin recently let slip that MoC will release The Man from Laramie, which could well be that title. Seeing as Sony would have been there to screen their 4K restoration of John Huston's Fat City (another title Twilight Time have previously released), I reckon MoC might be releasing that as well.

Of course this is complete speculation, but it would make sense for Eureka to have struck a deal with Sony for a number of titles rather than just one, and they'd be looking at fully restored classics by filmmakers like Anthony Mann and John Huston. I wonder if there are any other Sony-owned titles that Twilight Time (or perhaps Image Entertainment as well) have released in the US that MoC have acquired?

I'm thinking Hal Ashby's The Last Detail, John Carpenter's Christine, Fritz Lang's The Big Heat, Brian De Palma's Body Double, Paul Schrader's Hardcore, Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake is Missing, Walter Hill's Hard Times, Robert Rossen's All the King's Men, Martin Ritt's The Front, Stanley Kramer's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, John Ford's Two Rode Together and Arthur Penn's The Chase.

And perhaps for Eureka Classics, titles such as Richard Fleischer's 10 Rillington Place, Blake Edwards' Experiment in Terror, Cy Enfield's Mysterious Island, Robert Zemeckis' Used Cars, and Tom Holland's Fright Night.

All of these would be some choice picks from already reliable transfers, and Eureka would obviously assemble their own extras and writings to create valuable UK editions. Some of these aren't even available on DVD over here!

Of course, there are non-Twilight Time Sony titles I'd love to see from MoC too, such as Steven Soderbergh's sex, lies, and videotape, Robert Altman's Images, John Carpenter's Starman, Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes (or Fail Safe and/or The Deadly Affair), Orson Welles' The Lady from Shanghai, Franklin J. Schaffner's Papillon, Spike Jonze's Adaptation, Milos Forman's The People vs Larry Flynt, and Elaine May's Ishtar.

I imagine it'll only be a handful of titles at first - and obviously the older and less obvious, the more likely Eureka can acquire it - but obviously this is great news and means we'll start to see some titles little-seen in the UK turn up in great HD editions. It also means Eureka have now successfully engaged with a fifth major studio (after Universal, MGM, Fox and Paramount), which is pretty impressive for such a small label. Even Arrow haven't yet managed to crack that nut, nor have BFI (to my knowledge). I suppose they won't be able to release anything that Criterion already have though, as they themselves might want to release it in the UK sometime in the future.

[Finch]

tenia mentioned on BR.com that Kevin Lambert switched from MoC to Arrow and I wish Kevin best of luck in the new position of course but as Jon Robertson surely can't run MoC single-handedly with all the best will in the world, I wonder who's taking Kevin's place at MoC? Is Nick Wrigley coming back? Didn't he do the Paths of Glory cover?