Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

Message

Mooney · #2426 Post by **Mooney** » Mon Aug 27, 2018 10:16 pm

criterionoop wrote: Fri Aug 24, 2018 5:41 pm Looks like Janus has the rights to LA FIEVRE MONTE A EL PAO

http://www.americancinemathequecalendar ... ttle-beach

This is great news. Hope they delve into more of Bunuel's 1950s films.

moreorless · #2427 Post by **moreorless** » Tue Sep 04, 2018 12:35 pm

One potential release I'd been expecting to happen from somebody for the last 2-3 years is a revisiting of Jonathan Glazer's Birth. I'd have thought with the acclaim Under the Skin got that we'd seen an effort to go back to the relatively overlooked previous film that's still only on DVD as far as I'm aware. Not a bad DVD at all but still its surely a film that would have some market? I know I'd order a well done Blu-Ray in an instant.

PfR73 · #2428 Post by **PfR73** » Tue Sep 04, 2018 6:59 pm

One of my most wanted Criterion (or at least Blu-Ray) titles.

Boosmahn · #2429 Post by **Boosmahn** » Tue Sep 04, 2018 9:59 pm

I'm still waiting for the Freaks (1932) release. Criterion has a good relationship with Warner, right? What's the holdup?

Drucker · #2430 Post by **Drucker** » Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:51 pm

Boosmahn wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 9:59 pm I'm still waiting for the Freaks (1932) release. Criterion has a good relationship with Warner, right? What's the holdup?

Any films like this my guess is it has to be the elements are not up to snuff.

senseabove · #2431 Post by **senseabove** » Tue Sep 04, 2018 11:32 pm

Another reveal from the French Noir retro at the Aero in LA, Clouzot's L'Assassin habite au 21: http://www.americancinemathequecalendar ... ives-at-21

Gregory · #2432 Post by **Gregory** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:05 am

Drucker wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:51 pm
Boosmahn wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 9:59 pm I'm still waiting for the Freaks (1932) release. Criterion has a good relationship with Warner, right? What's the holdup?
Any films like this my guess is it has to be the elements are not up to snuff.

Have Warner debuted themselves or licensed any films from before the 1940s on Blu-ray in 2016–2018, aside from Bringing Up Baby? The elements to films from that entire era can't all be that bad, so my guess is some irrational corporate decision at work. Criterion licensing Bringing Up Baby stands out as a lone exception to this.

Boosmahn · #2433 Post by **Boosmahn** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:52 am

Drucker wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:51 pmAny films like this my guess is it has to be the elements are not up to snuff.

Good point, although didn't Island of Lost Souls have subpar A/V quality? Maybe there's some hope for better prints of Freaks, unlike the former?

senseabove wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 11:32 pmAnother reveal from the French Noir retro at the Aero in LA, Clouzot's L'Assassin habite au 21: http://www.americancinemathequecalendar ... ives-at-21

I knew there was a reason I haven't bought the Eureka release!

Roger Ryan · #2434 Post by **Roger Ryan** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:37 pm

Boosmahn wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:52 am
Drucker wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:51 pmAny films like this my guess is it has to be the elements are not up to snuff.
Good point, although didn't Island of Lost Souls have subpar A/V quality? Maybe there's some hope for better prints of Freaks, unlike the former?...

The last time TCM showed Freaks, it was in true HD and looked very good.

HitchcockLang · Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:24 pm

Gregory wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:05 am Criterion licensing Bringing Up Baby stands out as a lone exception to this.

Is that officially confirmed? I know it's been heavily speculated but I didn't know if we really knew for sure it was coming or not. I'd certainly be thrilled. I love screwball comedies and it's my favorite of them all.

Gregory · #2436 Post by **Gregory** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:35 pm

Not officially confirmed, but the 2018 New Years clue drawing contained a dog that looked exactly like this:

My phrasing surely reflected wishful thinking, as I adore Bringing Up Baby. I guess it's about as certain as the fact that upgrades of both Written on the Wind and The Lady Eve will be announced this month.

Spoiler

Not happening

#2437 Post by **swo17** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:38 pm

That's from Awful Truth

Gregory · #2438 Post by **Gregory** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:38 pm

I'm often an idiot when it comes to details (like Dunne looking nothing like Hepburn even from the side/back). Why do I even post here anymore? ](*,)
In my defense (?) I was very hastily searching for evidence on the forum about the Bringing Up Baby rumors and found my way back to the New Years drawing. So what was the reason it was getting so many guesses in the quarantined thread? Anything remotely solid?
Bringing Up Baby seems to be OOP from Warner but who knows what that means.

Minkin · #2439 Post by **Minkin** » Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:39 am

Gregory wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:38 pm I'm often an idiot when it comes to details (like Dunne looking nothing like Hepburn even from the side/back). Why do I even post here anymore? ](*,)
In my defense (?) I was very hastily searching for evidence on the forum about the Bringing Up Baby rumors and found my way back to the New Years drawing. So what was the reason it was getting so many guesses in the quarantined thread? Anything remotely solid?
Bringing Up Baby seems to be OOP from Warner but who knows what that means.

My apologies, for I'm mostly the guilty party!

The issue here was that besides that Filmstruck nonsense, everything in the New Years Clue was for unannounced titles, and they hadn't included any already-announced films for many years. While Dead Man hadn't been listed on the website yet, Criterion sent out an email saying it was coming + we had the newsletter clue! So that left us with a question over the Skeleton - where the obvious answer would be Dead Man. If the skeleton wasn't for Dead Man (given the "already released" precedent) - then it would be for something else.

Since the dog overlapped the skeleton, then it stood to reason they were connected somehow. Thus, we looked for movies that would make sense + had that same dog in it. That gave us best-guess answers of The Thin Man or Bringing Up Baby (Mr Bone). To add to the conspiracy, Bringing Up Baby was one of those WB DVDs that went OOP along with a bunch of other "obvious" Criterion WB picks.

But of course, it could just be like others (mostly Domino) thought: just a clue for Dead Man. I will give Criterion the rest of 2018 to release Bringing Up Baby before relenting (I'll remove it when the next New Years clue comes out). Granted, we're still waiting on 16 Candles or 4Months 3Weeks and 2Days from previous New Years clues (and don't get me started on that Possum / Rat). But, we've had some dueling newsletter clues this year, so the final answer won't be until its released somewhere. I'd strongly bet on it coming, clue or not, but I'll remove it if we don't get it in December.

If Ribs needs a new avatar, then here you go.

#2440 Post by **domino harvey** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 6:29 pm

KL Insider just implied Winchester '73 and Destry Rides Again are with Criterion

connor · #2441 Post by **connor** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 6:34 pm

domino harvey wrote: Thu Sep 13, 2018 6:29 pm KL Insider just implied Winchester '73 and Destry Rides Again are with Criterion

Criterion also had Mann's The Naked Spur up on their streaming channel a few months ago. I imagine that will get a blu-ray release soon.

FrauBlucher · #2442 Post by **FrauBlucher** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 7:29 pm

Winchester ‘73 and The Naked Spur would be excellent.

movielocke · #2443 Post by **movielocke** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 8:15 pm

The naked spur looked fairly rough on FilmStruck, it probably needs a new harvest and grading in addition to digital clean up. Could be a while.

starmanof51 · #2444 Post by **starmanof51** » Thu Sep 13, 2018 9:02 pm

connor wrote: Thu Sep 13, 2018 6:34 pm
domino harvey wrote: Thu Sep 13, 2018 6:29 pm KL Insider just implied Winchester '73 and Destry Rides Again are with Criterion
Criterion also had Mann's The Naked Spur up on their streaming channel a few months ago. I imagine that will get a blu-ray release soon.

Naked Spur is with Warner’s, the other two are with Universal

Costa · #2445 Post by **Costa** » Fri Sep 14, 2018 4:01 am

are we still waiting for West Side Story?

I don't believe those 2 flags were both for Buena Vista Social Club..

Saturnome · #2446 Post by **Saturnome** » Fri Sep 14, 2018 7:55 am

The other Cuban film is Memories of Underdevelopment

Costa · #2447 Post by **Costa** » Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:11 am

Saturnome wrote: Fri Sep 14, 2018 7:55 am The other Cuban film is Memories of Underdevelopment

but it's not a musical.
those 2 flags have musical notes around them..

Chrisrobles27 · #2448 Post by **Chrisrobles27** » Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:43 am

Has anyone pointed out the fact that one flag has six stripes while the other has five stripes?

Minkin · #2449 Post by **Minkin** » Fri Sep 14, 2018 10:19 am

I still suspect that clue is for West Side Story. Shortly after, we had a phantom page which clearly pointed to this movie - which hasn't been resolved yet. Its also MIA in terms of a re-release from any company / studio, and Criterion has been going after a lot of Best Pic winners lately. I think I said before that the 6-stripe flag was probably Polan's joke at the fake Puerto-Rican culture on display in the movie.

We're also missing 16 Candles from that image - which was confirmed by Criterion with a telecine picture or something from Instagram. Sometimes these things take several years (ala Y tu Mama Tambien). Its possible (but don't make my speculation into a Twitter trending topic) that the #MeToo movement has forced their hand to either delay or abandon the release. I'm sure the character Long Duk Dong didn't exactly help matters either. I believe someone mentioned Criterion might also have had plans for The Usual Suspects - and I'm sure (if true) that was another project that had a fallout because of the current climate + the actions of Spacey / Singer. I'm sure there's probably several others films that Criterion is fairly hesitant about promoting right now (like anything from Polanski). This is of course just speculation, and I think Criterion has already gone out of their way to address potential issues in certain films - as with the extra on Shanghai Express and Othello. I'd expect them to do the same if / when they finally get to some of these more controversial films - but releasing certain films right now would likely result in a large backlash.

In terms of over-do New Years Clues, we're still missing stuff from the 2015 New Years clue:
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days - Confirmed (cover art seen in Apu restoration video)
This is Spinal Tap (stone henge)

Sometimes things get delayed, sometimes for many years, but I'll leave them up until they turn up at Criterion or elsewhere -as its not doing too much harm.

#2450 Post by **domino harvey** » Fri Sep 14, 2018 2:48 pm

I think, unless they commission extras critical of the film's sexual politics and racial shortcomings, Sixteen Candles is dead in the water in this climate. Breakfast at Tiffany's special edition did it to deal with Mickey Rooney's role and no one seemed to mind, but I guess Criterion may be weighing whether it would turn off the 80s nostalgia audience the release needs to attract

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