Criterion and Warner Bros.

[Dr Amicus]

I've recommended it before, but The Crash Controversy by Martin Barker, Jane Arthurs and Ramaswami Harindranath is excellent covering both the controversy and some audience / viewer research.

[FrauBlucher]

Was there any indication that Criterion will release Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, or just guessing?

[flyonthewall2983]

My guess is that they will, and that The Wild Bunch will get a UHD release by WB when/if Mel Gibson's remake comes out.

[colinr0380]

(Ferman was notorious for pulling stunts like that.)

Didn't something similar occur with Natural Born Killers too with the video release not being rejected outright but rather stalled on by the BBFC for years after events like Dunblane occurred, so the film was not banned but effectively suppressed on video because it would have made easy fodder for the tabloid press and/or politicians to use in their articles. (Which is why Channel 5 ended up being able to premiere it on UK television before it had a home video release)

[MichaelB]

Not quite - it was passed uncut by the BBFC, but it was Warner Bros themselves who took the decision to postpone the video release. The sale to Channel 5 had already happened by then, so they couldn't do anything about it, although they weren't expecting it to be the UK's small-screen premiere.

The Tarantino-related BBFC stalling involved Reservoir Dogs, much to the annoyance of its distributor. In fact, when James Ferman retired in 1998 (or, more accurately, was retired), one of his successor's first promises was that decisions would be swift regardless of any controversy - a promise that he kept.

[colinr0380]

Thanks for clarifying the Natural Born Killers situation. I knew that there was some caution about the release that held up the distribution but had mixed up the parties who were doing the holding up!

[beamish14]

(Ferman was notorious for pulling stunts like that.)

Didn't something similar occur with Natural Born Killers too with the video release not being rejected outright but rather stalled on by the BBFC for years after events like Dunblane occurred, so the film was not banned but effectively suppressed on video because it would have made easy fodder for the tabloid press and/or politicians to use in their articles. (Which is why Channel 5 ended up being able to premiere it on UK television before it had a home video release)

Interestingly, at a 25th anniversary screening of Natural Born Killers at the American Cinematheque last year, Oliver Stone
railed against WB for not allowing the extended cut of it to be screened. I imagine it is to WB as Kundun or Blood In, Blood Out
are to Disney nowadays.

[FrauBlucher]

My guess is that they will, and that The Wild Bunch will get a UHD release by WB when/if Mel Gibson's remake comes out.

It sounds like Passion of the Christ sequel may be coming before the The Wild Bunch remake. I always thought once a WB/Criterion deal was struck that The Wild Bunch was a no brainer to go to CC

[Blutarsky]

I finally snagged The Cameraman this B&N sale and I remember the days when TCM would release combo packs with screen icons. The Cameraman was in the Keaton set, now OOP. I am wondering, with the Garbo set now OOP, could we see Criterion releasing The Flesh and the Devil?

[What A Disgrace]

Personally, I'd love to see a great big Lon Chaney at MGM box. Unlike with Keaton, there's more than just two good movies and at least four which are widely beloved silent classics.

[Orlac]

Personally, I'd love to see a great big Lon Chaney at MGM box. Unlike with Keaton, there's more than just two good movies and at least four which are widely beloved silent classics.

Yes please!

[captveg]

Defending Your Life is the latest licensed title. Like Crash the WAC DVD-R is still in print, so it seems that being OOP cannot be relied upon to guess future titles anymore.

[FrauBlucher]

This was in the Criterion thread from bluray.com

Ben Stoddart on Facebook:

Quote:
I can’t divulge the label or my source but Bringing Up Baby is getting a restoration and Blu-ray. Probably in 2021.

[Calvin]

I discovered earlier that Warner own Louis Malle's A Very Private Affair with Brigitte Bardot and Marcello Mastroianni. It has been a while since Malle has had a new spine number, but I thought that this would be a shoo-in. Warner have never even put it out on DVD as far as I can make out.

[FrauBlucher]

Last night I caught the second half of Body Heat on TCM's neonoir night. I've seen this a bunch of times and it always draws me in. This is one of my favorites from this genre. I'm really hoping Criterion releases this. The WB bluray is from 2008 so this could definitely use an updated release

[therewillbeblus]

I'm with you Frau- I know plenty of people are cool on it, but this is another of the 80s William Hurt films that defined my childhood. On a purely visceral level this is one of those movies that makes you feel the physical heat- even though it was apparently shot during cold temperatures!

[captveg]

In addition to the long suspected Citizen Kane, good on Criterion for picking up Menace II Society from Warner as well, and for UHD no less.

[dwk]

Menace II Society has been crying out for a new transfer. The current Blu-ray looks awful.

[FrauBlucher]

Which is another laserdisc rescue

[FrauBlucher]

Just a thought, with CC releasing Kane in 4K, does that open the door for other classic WB titles? King Kong, Casablanca and Singin' In the Rain which were all Criterion laser discs getting UHD releases via CC. If the new WB mgmt is not committed to physical media in the longterm then what's to say they wouldn't license these out

[Blutarsky]

What I am more curious about is will we be getting the chicken sex scene in 4K UHD in the future? John Waters in a 4K UHD would be one of the most beautiful things to be gifted this year.

[Noiradelic]

Just a thought, with CC releasing Kane in 4K, does that open the door for other classic WB titles? King Kong, Casablanca and Singin' In the Rain which were all Criterion laser discs getting UHD releases via CC. If the new WB mgmt is not committed to physical media in the longterm then what's to say they wouldn't license these out

I'm skeptical about Casablanca, but King Kong seems like a good bet.

[Big Ben]

King Kong will be in the public domain with the next decade though right? It entering the public domain might resolve a lot of rights headaches.

[flyonthewall2983]

One 4K/laserdisc title that wouldn’t surprise me is Se7en, especially if Criterion has its eyes on putting out Mank

[shiftyeyes]

Just a thought, with CC releasing Kane in 4K, does that open the door for other classic WB titles? King Kong, Casablanca and Singin' In the Rain which were all Criterion laser discs getting UHD releases via CC. If the new WB mgmt is not committed to physical media in the longterm then what's to say they wouldn't license these out

I really hope so! WB's 4K disc output has been pretty abysmal for anythign before 1980. Other than the Kubrick titles, they've only put out The Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Superman: The Movie and the Peanuts holiday specials. They've even passed over big anniversary releases of some of their evergreen titles like Gone with the Wind and Ben-Hur. Licensing these to Criterion would be a great way of getting these classics out there. It really seems like 4K UHD is the new laserdisc when it comes to studios licensing out their titles.