criterionforum.org

Empire of Passion is owned by Nouveaux Pictures in the UK.

Peacock wrote:Empire of Passion is owned by Nouveaux Pictures in the UK.

Oh, I didn't know that.

Any chance of MOC releasing Bruno Dumont's Hadewijch? I don't think it's been picked up by anyone yet.

It doesn't seem to be setting the world on fire on the festival circuit, Cannes passed on it. I thought it was excellent.

We love Dumont *hard* and we'd love to put this out (we'd put it out on BD) -- but New Wave Films have got it (and will probably just put it out on DVD).

Life of Jesus BD then...please?

Ah, that's a shame, it would have been nice to see it getting the MOC treatment. But at least someone is releasing it.

It was one of the best films at the London Film Festival last year, along with White Material, Dogtooth and Wolfy.
It's also another Dumont film that could have been titled 'the life of Jesus'.

Assuming MoC still has good relations with Fox, would MoC consider putting out some of Raoul Walsh's unavailable Fox films? Me and My Gal or The Bowery would be swell, and Tag Gallagher writing or video pieces on either would be great.

Maybe i'm missing something obvious, but can anyone tell me whether there is a reason why Stroheim's Greed isn't out on a widely available dvd/bd?

Because obviously that would be a great moc addition

Warner Bros. owns Greed, and they don't license.

Good answer. Still, it seems insane they've sat on it thoughout the dvd era without doing anything.

What A Disgrace wrote:Assuming MoC still has good relations with Fox, would MoC consider putting out some of Raoul Walsh's unavailable Fox films? Me and My Gal or The Bowery would be swell, and Tag Gallagher writing or video pieces on either would be great.

Although it's difficult to see all of Walsh's (voluminous, ranging) output, of the pictures I have seen, I would confirm (and this made possible by Tag) that THE BOWERY is indeed one of the masterpieces of American cinema.

Unrelated to Walsh, but related to certain pictures that Tag has championed over the years, I would also say that the world deserves premium editions of these (but by no means only these) pictures by Ford:

SALUTE
AIRMAIL
THE LONG GRAY LINE
THE RISING OF THE MOON

The latter two, and especially TLGL, are among the greatest of all films. (There was a Sony DVD, I believe, years ago, but it's a very 'early-era' disc.) The same well deserved accolades that MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW is now receiving would seem to apply to TLGL, too. (And that's saying nothing of THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT. I genuflect before both films.)

Any plans for any of the current Lang SDs (Frau Im Mond, Spione, Mabuse Box) to be upgraded to Blu? I don't want to ask this every time I buy an MoC SD DVD, but with Criterion's pick-and-choose Blu upgrade schedule, I'm paranoid.

There are no plans right now for us to put out BDs of previously released Lang titles (other than METROPOLIS). DIE NIBELUNGEN is coming along well, though --- finally.

HD materials do not exist for the titles you mention, and even if they were to be made next month, we'd still be about a year away from putting them out.

If wonderful HD materials do get made, we will do our best to put them out on BD.

peerpee wrote:There are no plans right now for us to put out BDs of previously released Lang titles (other than METROPOLIS). DIE NIBELUNGEN is coming along well, though --- finally.

HD materials do not exist for the titles you mention, and even if they were to be made next month, we'd still be about a year away from putting them out.

If wonderful HD materials do get made, we will do our best to put them out on BD.

Nick, will Die Nibelungen be released in Blu?

We're hoping so. Nothing is definite at the moment.

Thanks for the response! I'm new to MoC (have the two Murnau Blus as of today, both are brilliant) and I'm gonna buy some of those Lang SDs right away.

peerpee wrote: DIE NIBELUNGEN is coming along well, though --- finally.

Do you know approximately when we can expect it?

Early 2011.

Does MoC ever do their own telecines? I read an interview with someone at Criterion some time ago that made mention of them doing their own transfers and actually traveling to wherever the best film elements were to do so. I realize a lot of studios probably just do their own and license them out or whatever, but when you say that no HD materials exist for those Lang titles, is that not something MoC could do yourselves, if you were so inclined?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the process (and I'm almost certainly underestimating the cost).

merch wrote:Does MoC ever do their own telecines? I read an interview with someone at Criterion some time ago that made mention of them doing their own transfers and actually traveling to wherever the best film elements were to do so. I realize a lot of studios probably just do their own and license them out or whatever, but when you say that no HD materials don't exist for those Lang titles, is that not something MoC could do yourselves, if you were so inclined?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the process (and I'm almost certainly underestimating the cost).

My understanding is that MoC is pretty much a three man unit that doesn't have a centralized office and only limited equipment. Telecine equipment is incredibly expensive and Criterion is one of the few independent labels that have their own.

Nick do you have any dates for the Costas and /or their specs to see how they rack up against the big C?

As soon as we have that info we'll post it. We're not going to be releasing them before August.

Is there a Naruse Vol. 2 on the way? [-o<

Nick,

I noticed on the MoC website that Le Grand Jeu is coming in June - does this mean Profound Desires is the only release for May?

No MoC releases in May.

3 x MoC releases in June - PROFOUND DESIRES BD, LE GRAND JEU DVD, and a mystery BD.

MoC people are currently involved with a number of exciting forthcoming Eureka DVD and BD releases that will be announced shortly. The first of this new batch is PRINCE VALIANT, which has been announced already.