Post-Bergman Boxing Speculation

[therewillbeblus]

Since they still haven’t released a standalone blu of The Last Picture Show following the annual late-springtime 2015/2016 back-to-back Five Easy Pieces/Easy Rider reissues breaking up the Lost and Found box, I wonder if they’re planning on a Bogdanovich box. I’ve long questioned why Criterion or another company hasn’t jumped on Paper Moon, which seems like a no-brainer release, and plenty of titles in his oeuvre (pre-Stratten’s death, at least) feel like easy enough pickups. Especially a rescue of At Long Last Love since the Fox blu is OOP and going for hundreds, before the merger squashes it even further into obscurity, would be beyond gratifying.

[hearthesilence]

Since they still haven’t released a standalone blu of The Last Picture Show following the annual late-springtime 2015/2016 back-to-back Five Easy Pieces/Easy Rider reissues breaking up the Lost and Found box, I wonder if they’re planning on a Bogdanovich box. I’ve long questioned why Criterion or another company hasn’t jumped on Paper Moon, which seems like a no-brainer release, and plenty of titles in his oeuvre (pre-Stratten’s death, at least) feel like easy enough pickups. Especially a rescue of At Long Last Love since the Fox blu is OOP and going for hundreds, before the merger squashes it even further into obscurity, would be beyond gratifying.

Hell, I'd settle for a double-feature package that includes The Last Picture Show and Bogdanovich's longer and long out-of-print director's cut for Texasville (with the released theatrical cut as a bonus).

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

With a Hollywood director like Bogdanovich who never had a studio home for long, you're getting into the issue of convincing multiple studios to play ball on a single project. Criterion got Sony and WB to sign off on the Del Toro and Before boxes and WB/Universal on the Stillman set, but even a collection of, say, Bogdanovich's '70s comedies would require the cooperation of Sony, WB, Fox/Disney, and Paramount. For a Bogdanovich/Shepherd set you'd be talking those minus WB; for Bogdanovich/O'Neal it's those minus Sony. The only way I could see Criterion pulling it off is if it's something smaller like hearthesilence's idea, or an "Essential Bogdanovich" set of whatever random titles they're allowed to throw together but which would probably exclude more of the key and sought-after films than the Fellini set.

Does the Texasville director's cut actually exist on 35mm? I can't find any online record of the director's cut being screened theatrically, so I'm wondering if the part of the holdup is that it might've been assembled on SD video and would have to be reconstructed for an HD release.

[therewillbeblus]

I hear you, and I’m obviously in the dark here somewhat about rights and deals, but Criterion’s various partnerships seem to indicate that a fair amount of these films would be easy to enough to get- nobody is fighting over who can release Daisy Miller, Nickelodeon or They All Laughed (sadly). Between Paramount and Warners, I think Criterion could get a solid chunk out, and I’m really just wishful thinking about anything contingent on Fox.

I imagine in those other examples, especially the Before films, there was leverage since it needed to be released as a trilogy, but nobody -except a few of us here- is going to gripe about what is and isn’t “essential” in a Bogdanovich set. The whole thing is really just baseless speculation and hard to package around a focal point in his career- I could see Indicator doing something more easily, especially since they don’t seem as averse to releasing titles with low critical appraisal that are actually good.

[soundchaser]

Paper Moon could be one of those mystery titles Paramount just refuses to license out in the US, especially given Tatum O’Neal’s Oscar win. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it as a future Paramount Presents release. (Although the MoC disc is excellent!) I’m surprised to see the silly money What’s Up, Doc? is going for these days, since it’s almost certainly going to be rereleased on Warner Archive.

[therewillbeblus]

Paper Moon could be one of those mystery titles Paramount just refuses to license out in the US, especially given Tatum O’Neal’s Oscar win. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it as a future Paramount Presents release. (Although the MoC disc is excellent!)

Yeah I could see that, it’s continued absence from the market is inexplicable, especially when there’s (I agree) an excellent print on the MoC disc

[willoneill]

It seems to me that the majority of these big sets revolve around directors who have some sort of art-house cache, where Criterion has access to large chunks of their catalogue. So the most obvious possibilities to me are Ozu, Kurosawa, classic-era Godard, Truffaut, Rossellini, Fassbinder, and maybe Powell/Pressburger (plus WKW, of course). God help me, I'd buy all of those. Another interesting possibility would be Almodovar; a sizeable chunk of his catalogue is with Sony, who at this point probably won't be doing a blu-ray version of their old Viva Pedro DVD box set.

The rights are way too complicated, but the Complete Directorial Works of Orson Welles would be interesting.

With regards to the culty genre sets (Zatoichi, Godzilla, Bruce Lee), that's harder to guess for me as to what might come next.

[dustybooks]

Not to belabor the obvious but I would certainly love an Ozu or Kurosawa (or Mizoguchi!) set.

Janus has been sitting on Sabotage, Young and Innocent, possibly Secret Agent, etc. for a good while; I wonder if a box devoted to Hitchcock's Gaumont material (which would also encompass The Pleasure Garden and Easy Virtue among the currently-unreleased silents, I think) is a possibility. Assuming Criterion holds onto control of the ABC/Selznick and Wanger titles of his it could be expanded into a fairly comprehensive collection of major works up through 1946-47. But perhaps I'm dreaming.

[therewillbeblus]

Another interesting possibility would be Almodovar; a sizeable chunk of his catalogue is with Sony, who at this point probably won't be doing a blu-ray version of their old Viva Pedro DVD box set.

True, Almodovar has stated that all his films will eventually come to Criterion, and similarly Wenders. There may be a few of these filmmakers who just eke out solo releases slowly over time, but if this strategy catches on things could shift pretty hard. Wenders in particular is an interesting case where all of his films received restorations in the roadshow five years back and we still have yet to see many since (my guess is that if Criterion was already into this giant masterwork box set thing back then we’d have gotten one for him already).

Having said that, I can’t exactly imagine them releasing good underappreciated stuff like The End of Violence and Land of Plenty (not to mention the actually-bad films he’s made in the last few decades) outside of a box set, so maybe we will get one for him after all? Would be a pretty solid plan and probably not too hard if Wenders has a say, restorations are complete, and Criterion can include a bunch of titles that wouldn’t be big sellers alone and jack up the entire set price with them in it.

[acroyear]

It seems to me that the majority of these big sets revolve around directors who have some sort of art-house cache, where Criterion has access to large chunks of their catalogue. So the most obvious possibilities to me are Ozu, Kurosawa, classic-era Godard, Truffaut, Rossellini, Fassbinder, and maybe Powell/Pressburger (plus WKW, of course).

Satyajit Ray as well, I'm certain.

[dwk]

I believe 2021 is Ray's centenary, so a big box is likely. And I still think that a Complete Kiarostami Collection is going to happen.

As for more genre stuff, they have a handful of early Jackie Chan titles (& who knows what other Fortune Star titles they have), the Bulldog Drummond movies, a bunch of Hideo Gosha titles, and the Hanzo the Razor trilogy.

[Rayon Vert]

Not to belabor the obvious but I would certainly love a... Kurosawa ... set.

There was one!

[feihong]

Criterion has a bunch of the higher-profile Seijun Suzuki titles––not just the two they released on blu ray and the two parts of the "Flesh" trilogy they released on DVD (both of which have blu ray transfers in France, a great one for Gate of Flesh and an odd one for Story of a Prostitute), and Youth of the Beast, but at least three from Home Vision (Tattooed Life, the superlative Kanto Wanderer, and Underworld Beauty), as well as Everything Goes Wrong and (I think) Carmen from Kawachi. They could do a cool mature period Suzuki box, but there are other titles like Story of Sorrow and Sadness and Capone Cries Hard and maybe even Pistol Opera and Princess Raccoon that they might be able to get. I could see a "the two late stages of Suzuki" set, profiling his mature period as a Nikkatsu director and contrasting with his mature period as an independent filmmaker. There's also interesting curios they could probably find, like Suzuki's part in the omnibus film, Marriage, and TV movies like The Fang in the Hole, the awesome Cherry Blossoms in Spring, and Choice of a Family: I'll Kill Your Husband for You!, which briefly reunites Suzuki with one of his mainstay Nikkatsu actors, Tamio Kawaji.

[mteller]

I believe 2021 is Ray's centenary, so a big box is likely.

I sure hope so. Maybe this is why the Ray releases have slowed down.

The Music Room - Jul 2011
Charulata/Big City - Aug 2013
Late Ray - Jan 2014
Apu trilogy - Nov 2015
The Hero - Feb 2018

We know they have more (all?) of his titles, and while they've released most of the heavy-hitters, there are still some significant omissions (Devi, Days and Nights in the Forest, the Calcutta trilogy). I would buy a complete box in a heartbeat.

[therewillbeblus]

He's not my favorite, but I think The Adversary is his masterpiece and would love at least a release of that film getting its due.

[Calvin]

I see that a restoration of The Great Dictator is showing as part of Il Cinema Ritrovato. It's credited as a 2020 restoration by Criterion. I can't imagine a reason for them to upgrade it on its own, but next year will be the centenery of The Kid, Chaplin's first feature - reason enough for a box set?

[yoloswegmaster]

I've held off from buying any of the Chaplin titles since I've had a strong feeling that they would release a Chaplin boxset. I wonder if it would be possible for Criterion to include all (if not most) of the silent short films he did, as well as the excellent documentary 'Unknown Chaplin' from Kevin Brownlow and David Gill.

[barryconvex]

Since they still haven’t released a standalone blu of The Last Picture Show following the annual late-springtime 2015/2016 back-to-back Five Easy Pieces/Easy Rider reissues breaking up the Lost and Found box, I wonder if they’re planning on a Bogdanovich box. I’ve long questioned why Criterion or another company hasn’t jumped on Paper Moon, which seems like a no-brainer release, and plenty of titles in his oeuvre (pre-Stratten’s death, at least) feel like easy enough pickups. Especially a rescue of At Long Last Love since the Fox blu is OOP and going for hundreds, before the merger squashes it even further into obscurity, would be beyond gratifying.

Hell, I'd settle for a double-feature package that includes The Last Picture Show and Bogdanovich's longer and long out-of-print director's cut for Texasville (with the released theatrical cut as a bonus).

Texasville starts with Jeff Bridges sitting in his hot tub contemplating the trouble his dick has gotten him into over the years- am I remembering that correctly? Annie Potts plays his wife and the film ends with a parade? I haven't seen it since the VHS days...

[Toby Dammit]

Hello!
Is there new information about a reissue of Kurosawa's Boxset?
Now only "Seven Samurai" will be released in UHD. Waiting for the other movies can take YEARS. Would a less ambitious box be feasible on BluRay-only, leaving aside the old (pre-Rashomon) unrestored titles??

[yoloswegmaster]

There has been no new info about that. If there were plans for a box, then I think it would be more feasible to do a box that has 4K discs for the major titles like SS, High and Low, and Ikiru, while doing BD-only discs for the lesser titles.

[mfunk9786]

Texasville starts with Jeff Bridges sitting in his hot tub contemplating the trouble his dick has gotten him into over the years- am I remembering that correctly? Annie Potts plays his wife and the film ends with a parade? I haven't seen it since the VHS days...

Still no answer to this COVID-era plea...

[Finch]

Ikiru 4K makes no sense given the state the material is in. Didn't nicholas say that Stray Dog was similarly rough? High and Low is in good enough shape to warrant a UHD upgrade as is Kagemusha which, given they just announced two Fox titles, leaves me hopeful that they'll be getting to it in 2025 IF the US license is still with Fox/Disney at this point.

[beamish14]

Ikiru 4K makes no sense given the state the material is in. Didn't nicholas say that Stray Dog was similarly rough? High and Low is in good enough shape to warrant a UHD upgrade as is Kagemusha which, given they just announced two Fox titles, leaves me hopeful that they'll be getting to in 2025 IF the US license is still with Fox/Disney at this point.

Stray Dog is the one with the missing OCN. I remember how Criterion’s original release seems to have a piece of scotch tape visible in the corner for a few shots. I’ve seen a pretty good 35mm print of it, though

It really is frustrating that Madadayo and Rhapsody in August (a still of which was used to proper this year’s Cannes Film Festival) have been so neglected

[MichaelB]

Ikiru 4K makes no sense given the state the material is in.

The BFI is bringing it out on BD only, almost certainly in line with their admirable policy that unless a 4K master demonstrates a substantial quality improvement over 1080p, it's not worth going to the extra expense of authoring and manufacturing a UHD release.

[nicolas]

Ikiru 4K makes no sense given the state the material is in. Didn't nicholas say that Stray Dog was similarly rough? High and Low is in good enough shape to warrant a UHD upgrade as is Kagemusha which, given they just announced two Fox titles, leaves me hopeful that they'll be getting to it in 2025 IF the US license is still with Fox/Disney at this point.

Yes, Ikiru and particularly Stray Dog are the ones that don’t necessarily need a UHD. Here are my screencaps from the Toho 4Ks: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... stcount=57. The other Kurosawas they put out in 4K are definitely UHD-worthy.
Hopefully BFI were able to get rid of the filtering Toho imposed on Ikiru too.