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Barbet Schroeder's More and La Vallee (Obscured by Clouds) are attributed to Janus

I wonder if they might consider a Pink Floyd set and include The Wall + Zabriskie Point + Wizard of OZ

Maybe Criterion will finally put out a Blu-ray of Pink Floyd The Wall. As far as I know, no one has ever put out that movie on Blu.

Graphist wrote: If they release only TCOP, I just hope they don’t include it in another WCP box. The film is truly one of a kind, it is #84 on the S&S list and definitely deserves a packaging of its own. Plus there are rumors that they restored two versions of the film: the original Armenian (director’s) cut and the shorter Soviet cut, which they would include in the release. Now, wouldn't that require a separate, standalone release to issue the both cuts and some other additional extras?

I similarly wish that Memories of Underdevelopment will receive at least a semi-lavish treatment (Gutiérrez Alea's other films have always sounded interesting, but I guess Underdevelopment is the one that took hold, in the States at least), but it seems any forthcoming volumes would need an "anchor" film ala Taipei Story and Touki bouki (S&S #93). Just looking at the list above, the only titles that seem like they could serve as anchors are Underdevelopment and Pomegranate (maybe the early Hou?).

Minkin wrote:Barbet Schroeder's More and La Vallee (Obscured by Clouds) are attributed to Janus

hVe released More, so Criterion already passed once. And the BFI Blu-rays are region free. So, I doubt it

From what I recall, the old hVe release of More credited Janus as a rights holder, similar to Pale Flower which was subsequently released by Criterion. And then there's this from over a year ago. Looks like we had the exact same debate then.

Omensetter wrote: I similarly wish that Memories of Underdevelopment will receive at least a semi-lavish treatment (Gutiérrez Alea's other films have always sounded interesting, but I guess Underdevelopment is the one that took hold, in the States at least), but it seems any forthcoming volumes would need an "anchor" film ala Taipei Story and Touki bouki (S&S #93). Just looking at the list above, the only titles that seem like they could serve as anchors are Underdevelopment and Pomegranate (maybe the early Hou?).

A Brighter Summer Day and Black Girl, both from the WCP collection, were released separately. I strongly feel Parajanov’s film needs to be a standalone issue as well. It is not a film you can pair with anything else (if not the auteur’s other films). If they do include it in a monstrous dual-format set I won’t buy the box set, no matter how crazy I am about the film.

And if any film ever needed contextualization....

The Film Foundation had a hand in preserving and restoring both the Armenian release and the international (Russian-language) release versions of The Color of Pomegranates, though given that the latter is the one that has been circulating in DCP I don't know if it would be a simple matter to license both for home video. I would hope that Criterion would release them side-by-side, but I wouldn't hesitate to email them to encourage this.

If anyone's curious about the differences between the two versions (other than just the language they're dubbed into), Parajanov scholar James Steffen goes into some detail on his blog.

domino harvey wrote:

Minkin wrote:Barbet Schroeder's More and La Vallee (Obscured by Clouds) are attributed to Janus

hVe released More, so Criterion already passed once. And the BFI Blu-rays are region free. So, I doubt it

Also, both films were released on Blu-ray and DVD as part of that massive Pink Floyd: The Early Years (1967 - 1972) box set that came out last year...although that wouldn't necessarily preclude a separate release.

Especially since you can only get those films if you buy the whole thing, as they're exclusive to it (which runs at about 400 bucks on Amazon) and not the individual volumes that were released separately (all of which run there currently at about under 50 each) earlier this year.

Unless something has changed recently, the home video rights to Pink Floyd The Wall belong to Sony which is Pink Floyd's American label (and now I believe they distribute titles under the name Pink Floyd Records). For the last several years it's been rumored that a new 5.1 mix of the original album has been in the works, and I'm guessing that once work on that is done there will be a new 4K restoration of the film done as well. I don't see Sony letting it go to Criterion.

The one title I do hope to see Criterion release is Live at Pompeii. I'm pretty sure that a restoration for the film has already been done and so it's just sitting around waiting to be released by someone. Beyond that it makes sense because the band doesn't own it, Universal does.

Regarding Schroeder it appears Maitresse will be on the Criterion Channel on Filmstruck at the end of the month. Hopefully this bodes well for a Blu-ray release down the road.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:The one title I do hope to see Criterion release is Live at Pompeii. I'm pretty sure that a restoration for the film has already been done and so it's just sitting around waiting to be released by someone. Beyond that it makes sense because the band doesn't own it, Universal does.

That's also in the box set, but unlike the Schroeder films it's also available in one of the smaller individual sets, so it seems unlikely.

Sort of. It just contains the musical performances (with both parts of "Echoes" joined together and minus the brief blues number with the dog), and none of the Abbey Road footage that was included in the 1974 cut, which is the version that was subject to a recent restoration. The version on the 1972: Obfusc/ation set is also presented in a stretched image, looking closer to the version on the previous DVD iteration.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:...The version on the 1972: Obfusc/ation set is also presented in a stretched image, looking closer to the version on the previous DVD iteration.

Just for clarification...is the image actually "stretched" to fit a 16:9 frame (in effect, distorting the picture) or is the image cropped at the top and bottom to convert it to a 16:9 image? The "Director's Cut" on the DVD was cropped to 16:9 whereas the original theatrical version was presented full-frame 4:3 on the same disc. Cropping the image is questionable, but "stretching" the image is an abomination.

Pretty sure it's cropped. Here's a clip that was used in promotion for the box.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Pretty sure it's cropped. Here's a clip that was used in promotion for the box.

Yes, that snippet shows top-and-bottom cropping (not an actual distortion of the image). While the new framing is satisfactory for the right-to-left tracking shot and the shots of Nick Mason on the drums, the loss of the top of David Gilmour's head demonstrates why this is not an ideal aspect ratio for the material. Note that the subsequent live footage in the promo (not from Pompeii) is full-frame 4:3. By the way, the Pompeii footage used in that clip looks like it comes directly from the DVD with compression jags and a standard definition look - I wonder if the actual Blu-ray image looks any better?

I doubt it. If the band had full ownership (they do have the rights to the audio, as a soundtrack of the performance was released with the box set) over the movie it's likely that whatever resulted from the new restoration would have been released fully here. The real draw of it is the new 5.1 mix that was created for the performances, anyway.

I wonder if Steven Soderbergh will release Logan Lucky through Criterion. He's been doing numerous interviews touting the new financing/distribution method he's trying to employ on mid-budget films. It's self financed through his new company Fingerprint Releasing. He signed a service deal with Bleeker Street (he's paying Bleeker Street a flat fee to distribute the film theatrically on his company's behalf) and signed the VOD/streaming rights to Amazon Prime. As far as physical media....I don't see why he would go with another label/studio. He seems like a Criterion nerd.

At a screening of Stalker this weekend, a friend overheard a rumor from someone who claimed to work with Criterion that a Maya Deren box is in the works. Sketchy source, but if it has any weight I'll be very happy.

Considering now Awful Truth, Philadelphia Story, and Bringing Up Baby are all coming, I guess it's reasonable to assume the classic Hollywood screwballs are selling pretty well.

Ribs wrote:Considering now Awful Truth, Philadelphia Story, and Bringing Up Baby are all coming, I guess it's reasonable to assume the classic Hollywood screwballs are selling pretty well.

Any time a screwball comedy is announced, it's an insta-buy for me (blind or otherwise). Was there ever confirmation Bringing Up Baby was coming? I just saw a lot of speculation.

Superswede11 wrote:At a screening of Stalker this weekend, a friend overheard a rumor from someone who claimed to work with Criterion that a Maya Deren box is in the works. Sketchy source, but if it has any weight I'll be very happy.

Sadly she wasn't prolific enough in her short life to fill out a Criterion box. Even with the posthumously assembled work included it's less than three hours, and it could be hard to round up tons of extras. The most coveted single film was undoubtedly Meshes, and the Blackhawk restoration of that one was of course already released by Flicker Alley—on two different sets, no less!

Ribs wrote:I guess it's reasonable to assume the classic Hollywood screwballs are selling pretty well.

And yet The Lady Eve has yet to receive an upgrade...

ianthemovie wrote:

Ribs wrote:I guess it's reasonable to assume the classic Hollywood screwballs are selling pretty well.

And yet The Lady Eve has yet to receive an upgrade...

I think it's pretty fair to assume LE would have to get a new restoration to warrant a release. Certainly not a guarantee, but PBS had a 4k restoration, can't imagine LE wouldn't eventually be a candidate as well.

Wait, Philadelphia Story was a comedy?