The Mystery of the Phantom Web Pages

[Luke M]

I'm not super excited for this either, but I don't think it'll be any more damaging to Criterion's reputation than having two Michael Bay films in the Collection.

It's no so much an issue of damaging the brand but that there are so many rarely seen films in need of restorations. If Criterion was making greater progress on upgrading their DVD only releases, I'd be more inclined to support these kind of releases.

[MongooseCmr]

Were Hughes and Zemeckis on camera in any documentaries that could be of interest to Criterion?

Please let it be no more than this!

Yep. Really not excited about Criterion's limited resources being used for Zemeckis and/or Hughes films.

These releases are the kind that print money for Criterion, thus giving them more resources for whatever you think is more deserving.

[Luke M]

Please let it be no more than this!

Yep. Really not excited about Criterion's limited resources being used for Zemeckis and/or Hughes films.

These releases are the kind that print money for Criterion, thus giving them more resources for whatever you think is more deserving.

I wonder when/if we'll get to the point where the casual buyer won't matter very much because the majority of Criterion buyers will be Criterion enthusiasts.

[dwk]

Zemeckis could be Contact, which had one of the last laserdisc-exclusive director commentaries ever.
It would be cool to have some archival Carl Sagan stuff.

I did remember one member of the forum here mention that I Wanna Hold Your Hand being confirmed by Bob Gale - one of the writers of that film - for future release, so it might be that.

This. A week or two ago, someone at the Home Theater Forum posted that they talked to Bob Gale at a Comic Convention and he said Criterion will be releasing I Wanna Hold Your Hand next year.

[anton]

.

[djproject]

As long as its not Forrest Gump I'll be able to contain my outrage!

It...it's Forrest Gump isn't it?

Wasn't that fulfilled through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button? =D

[okcmaxk]

Concerning the Robert Zemeckis phantom page, I have also found an Angela Bassett phantom page

https://www.criterion.com/people/119304-angela-bassett" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Angela Bassett was in Contact, a Robert Zemeckis film. Coincidence? Jodie Foster & Matthew McConaughey already have pages.

[flyonthewall2983]

How do you find these pages?

[Buttery Jeb]

Angela Bassett was in Contact, a Robert Zemeckis film. Coincidence? Jodie Foster & Matthew McConaughey already have pages.

Keep in mind that Angela Bassett's on the Criterion website from back when they did the April Fool's prank about a Kindergarten Cop special edition.

[justeleblanc]

For Hughes, isn't Breakfast Club the most obvious choice given other releases like Big Chill or Dazed and Confused?

[colinr0380]

Concerning the Robert Zemeckis phantom page, I have also found an Angela Bassett phantom page

https://www.criterion.com/people/119304-angela-bassett" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Angela Bassett was in Contact, a Robert Zemeckis film. Coincidence? Jodie Foster & Matthew McConaughey already have pages.

Although Jodie Foster and McConaughey are both already in films in the collection, but I like the idea that its confirmation could be enough to stun even James Woods: "What's interesting is that there wasn't just one phantom page...there was an overwhelming number of phantom pages!"

[cdnchris]

I still won't buy it's Contact until I see Jake Busey show up in the pages.

[domino harvey]

I can't be the only one who just straight-up forgot Contact existed

[comicfan1969]

I can't be the only one who just straight-up forgot Contact existed

You are not the only one. I love the cast and still forgot it ever happened.

[colinr0380]

I still won't buy it's Contact until I see Jake Busey show up in the pages.

I was just going to say that Jake Busey did a couple of memorable bad guy roles around this time, in a small but crucial role here and especially as the ghostly serial killer in Peter Jackson's The Frighteners.

[med]

I can't be the only one who just straight-up forgot Contact existed

I'll always remember it for this exchange it inspired in the first season of South Park (Spoiler-tagged because it actually spoils something from the film):

Spoiler

Mr. Garrison: I feel kinda nauseous.
Tom: Yes, that's to be expected. We did some major reconstruction, sawed through some bone, snapped some cartilage, all the blood and mucus just the sound of bone and sinew coming apart. [makes disgusting noises of bone and blood]
Mr. Garrison: Arrgh!
Tom: By the way, did you ever see that movie Contact?
Mr. Garrison: [throws up] Stop! That movie was terrible!
Tom: I'm sorry, Mr. Garrison. Why don't you get some rest and I'll check on you a little later.
Mr. Garrison: Sat through that entire movie to see the alien and it was her goddamn father!

[beamish13]

Hopefully these phantom pages also signify the beginning of a new wave of films coming from Universal and Paramount like At Play in the Fields of the Lord and Play it as it Lays (Frank Perry has a page, too).

[domino harvey]

Play it as it Lays (Frank Perry has a page, too).

Back in the days of DVD-R trading and iOffer, this was one of the worst bootlegs I ever picked up, as someone took at Pan and Scan TV broadcast and imposed black bars on the top and bottom to make an artificial widescreen version even more compromised than the fullscreen one!

[Buttery Jeb]

At Play in the Fields of the Lord

At Play is a weird beast, as it's now handled by Warner Bros as part of their distribution deal with the Saul Zaentz Company. As far as I'm aware, they've never released a version of the film in North America.

[cdnchris]

I can't be the only one who just straight-up forgot Contact existed

It has a couple of good things (one of them being James Woods) but yeah, it's mostly forgettable. If there is a Zemeckis film coming I would highly doubt that one and, not to upset colinr, I'd say Forrest Gump would be more likely. Though I doubt it's that one as well while we're at it.

[PfR73]

I'm a huge Zemeckis fan, and Contact is one of my favorites, but it's already got a pretty great Blu-Ray release. In fact, most of his films already have good Blu-Ray releases. There's really only the non-released I Wanna Hold Your Hand* & What Lies Beneath, and then the only existing releases that I feel could use some improvement are Cast Away (missing bonus features from the DVD release) & Beowulf (missing the theatrical cut). Though I feel doubtful Criterion would release What Lies Beneath, Cast Away, or Beowulf (I would have even disbelieved Criterion would release I Wanna Hold Your Hand, but Gale says it's happening), I'd prefer them to do any of those before spending their resources (and potentially my double-dip money) on the films that already have good releases.

*released on Blu-Ray in the UK, I almost ordered it recently. I guess now I'll hold off to see if a Criterion release does come to pass.

EDIT: I guess the other disc that could be improved would be a fully uncensored Roger Rabbit...

[beamish13]

At Play in the Fields of the Lord

At Play is a weird beast, as it's now handled by Warner Bros as part of their distribution deal with the Saul Zaentz Company. As far as I'm aware, they've never released a version of the film in North America.

That's what I thought, but according to WB, they do not own it. I think Universal even presented it at Cannes Classics a few years ago.

[beamish13]

Play it as it Lays (Frank Perry has a page, too).

Back in the days of DVD-R trading and iOffer, this was one of the worst bootlegs I ever picked up, as someone took at Pan and Scan TV broadcast and imposed black bars on the top and bottom to make an artificial widescreen version even more compromised than the fullscreen one!

Yep. That bootleg likely came from the Independent Film Channel, which aired it quite a bit about 15 years ago. Universal also has Diary of a Mad Housewife

[Buttery Jeb]

That's what I thought, but according to WB, they do not own it. I think Universal even presented it at Cannes Classics a few years ago.

Interesting. Maybe the rights have reverted back to the Zanetz Company outright. I always assumed Universal held onto a chunk of the film elements for At Play..., and that was why Warners' never got around to putting out a a U.S. DVD release; so their sourcing a print for the Cannes screening also makes sense.

[colinr0380]

I can't be the only one who just straight-up forgot Contact existed

You are not the only one. I love the cast and still forgot it ever happened.

It seems around the right time for a revisit of Contact if anyone was going to do it. Cosmos has just had a rebooted TV series, I'd argue that Matthew McConaughey's recent role in Interstellar resonates back to his role here, and Ernest Cline's recent novel Armada as well as namechecking Carl Sagan also uses the panic over the Berlin Olympics imagery for its own alien invasion tale!

(But yes this is all pure speculation based around a Robert Zemeckis and Angela Bassett page!)