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fdm wrote:I dunno, as an example of too much speckling, I found #III of the Samurai Trilogy to have way too many speckles (especially when compared to #I and #II). Hope that would not be typical for Eclipse.

But that was totally unrestored from woeful source elements (I'm certain if the licensors offered Criterion a digital master like that nowadays, they'd laugh in their face). There's no way the quality of the Eclipse line will revert to 1998 standards.

Woeful? Aside from the speckling on the third one, I didn't really mind too much their quality. It seemed to fit in with others from that DVD timeframe (Seven Samurai I thought was kinda iffy - but at least it didn't lock up toward the end like my (returned for refund) laserdisc copy). Woeful would be more like the crappier (if such a distinction can be made) Fox Lorber DVDs. Regardless, looking forward to the Eclipses.

This is incredibly exciting and, as has been mentioned before, this new blog is the best thing criterion has done from a public relations perspective. I know that it has been discussed elsewhere, but the lapse in criterion-to-forum chats left a lot of people unhappy; the consistency of this new blog as well as the information divulged certainly makes up for any feelings of neglect.

My only problem now is that I'm probably going to have to ask for a cost-of-eclipse raise from my boss!

>>I think it's a great idea, but does anyone else think that they might run out of material somewhat quickly?<<

No, there's plenty of foreign/art-house material out there long overdue on DVD. Look at the Janus catalogue for starters, or some of the Wellspring stuff they still haven't gotten round to, or the properties now available since the Image merger.

They could probably do a half-dozen sets of Japanese directors alone: Ozu, Mizoguchi, Imamura, Ichikawa, Kobayashi (HUMAN TRILOGY, anyone?), etc. Not that I think they will, mind you -- they'll spread it around and do two, maybe three, Japanese directors in Year One.

Anyhow -- there's no shortage of material. The only real concern would be that they are going to risk competing with themselves.

Actually, thre real loser here could be other smaller labels such as MoC that have been cutting into Criterion's customer base -- and maybe that's the point.

At least now we know what On Five means. Happy Holidays to Peter, Jon, and all the crazy kids at Criterion.

What a wonderful working environment. I love that phrase Criterion is not only a company—we're a culture.
I would love to taste Johanna's 'cookies'

Yeah, but I bet they didn't have a white elephant cook book exchange at their office holiday party.

8-[ I got a book of Norwegian recipes.

Man, talk about glamorizing the workplace. I've never wanted to quit my job more. I too would like to wish Happy Holidays to all the folks at Criterion, all the folks here, and film enthusiasts everywhere.

Subbuteo wrote:I would love to taste Johanna's 'cookies'

Jeff wrote:At least now we know what On Five means.

Ha ha, reading Mr. Becker's entry, I was wondering if the over-emphasis was an attempt to assuage the curiosity on this very board. Another (minor) mystery solved!

In the latest blog, the fact that he mentions Linklater's fictional Before Sunrise/Sunset as opposed to plugging the also fictional Antoine Doinel boxset makes me curious and slightly excited.

Even though Phantom India would make a great stand alone set, they are probably releasing all his documentaries on Series II. Probably themed from his American, French, and India documentaries. My guesses:

Disc 1
God's Country (1986)
And the Pursuit of Happiness (1986)

Disc 2
Place de la republique (1974)
Humain, trop humain (1974)
with short Vive le tour (1962)

Disc 3
Calcutta (1969)

Disc 4
Phantom India (Episodes 1-3) (1968)

Disc 5
Phantom India (Episodes 4-7) (1968)

SncDthMnky wrote:In the latest blog, the fact that he mentions Linklater's fictional Before Sunrise/Sunset as opposed to plugging the also fictional Antoine Doinel boxset makes me curious and slightly excited.

As wonderful as that might be, its WB property. They do not license out their material. He also mentions "Up" which would have been a good boxset from Criterion, but I understand that Apted's doc series also has a DVD home (can't remember the label).

Good news on the Malle docs. I will be picking up that one.

yes but things change. warner may be so confident in THD that they may seize the opportunity to grab some extra money before releasing titles on it.

Regardless of policy, things change All the time.

SncDthMnky wrote:yes but things change. warner may be so confident in THD that they may seize the opportunity to grab some extra money before releasing titles on it.

Regardless of policy, things change All the time.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to disagree. It's a strict policy of WB and they would make more money releasing their own SE version than liscensing it to Criterion. Further, the mention of the titles in the blog entry are not subtle clues. Surely Criterion should be able to allude to any of their favorite films not have it be a hint to what they will release in years down the road. In this case, Criterion clearly has a good relationship with Linklater and they are fans of his work, and comparing the Malle docs to Linklater's films and the Apted series seems like an effective way to get more people interested in the films.

Also, the Linklater series is not over. They have hinted at making another one further down the road. If Criterion were going to release it (which they wont), I'm sure they would want to wait until the series is done.

They also mentioned Borat, Citizen Kane and King Kong. We should warn them to mention only Criterion titles in their blog so people stop speculating.

Is there any chance of The Silent World making an appearance in the Malle set?

Highway 61 wrote:Is there any chance of The Silent World making an appearance in the Malle set?

Your answer might be here.

Lovely new blog from Susan Arosteguy. She's still my favourite producer.

Latest entry is up. check it out.

Wow, they had to hand assemble the Polyester Scratch n Sniff cards?

That stinks.

Narshty wrote:Lovely new blog from Susan Arosteguy. She's still my favourite producer.

Agreed -- it's an excellent blog entry. As a Boulder resident and as a film student at CU, it's wonderful to see Video Station receive some well-deserved praise -- it's like a temple for me and many others I know. With a vast silent section, a Criterion section, and a knowledgeable staff and clientele, it is a haven for cinephiles. Again, nice to see Video Station get some love.

It's kind of nice to read about someone that came from a background like that--i.e., like one of us--landing the dream job. It makes it seem like any of us could. Then again, we discover that she gets the job through knowing Sean Anderson, which makes the dream job seem impossible, because you have to know someone to get it. I wonder how many people Criterion has hired through the front door, if any. I feel like precious few people land software jobs through the front door, it must be that even fewer do at a specialized DVD company.

[quote]People (mostly men and occasionally drunk sorority girls) would come in and flip through the pages, picking out their choices, writing down the numbers assigned for each title (number 69 was always rented). This eliminated the need for them to say, “Hey, is Thanks for the Mammaries in?â€

Abbey Lustgarten and Alex Mabilon reported back on their interview with Claude Berri ("short and sweet").

Anyone care to speculate as to what that might have been for?