criterionforum.org

George Feltenstein answers questions

Some highlights...

- No August releases
- Hinted a huge title getting released in UHD at end of year. It's no doubt Casablanca
- Popeyes the 50s will happen. No date though
- Banana Splits will also happen
- Around the World in 80 Days is being worked on
- Explains what the issues are with restoring Raintree County
- Talks about hoping to release Bill Gunn's Stop! (1970)
- Towards the end he talks about the state of physical media

Wow, Stop! would be absolutely huge- hopefully they allow someone else to snag it if they won't undertake the challenge themselves

Is there somewhere to send in questions? I'd be keen to ask what the status is of Ford's 7 Women, which I don't think anyone at Warner Archive has ever spoken about.

You can try to email the gent that runs The Extras podcast. There is an email icon on the top of the site

FrauBlucher wrote: Tue Jul 26, 2022 9:53 pm
- Hinted a huge title getting released in UHD at end of year. It's no doubt Casablanca

Another label is sidetracked by UHD

Warner Archive releases Jan—September 2021: 57 (75 total for the year)
Warner Archive releases Jan—September 2022: 21
(by my count)

Wasn’t this previously teased as an amazing year filled with big releases? This label is comatose with the occasional sign of life. Can we go back to them releasing completely random movies? I didn’t know how good we had it!

Have to agree. If we get to year's end without the remaining Lewtons announced, I'll file Warner Archive under the Most Disappointing Output by a Label for 2022.

Withholding The Seventh Victim makes us all victims (of an ostensibly similarly limp group too...)

Surely I Walked With a Zombie and The Seventh Victim are with Criterion? Or were Cat People, The Leopard Man and Curse of the Cat People a different rights situ than the other Lewtons?

I believe Feltenstein has actually since said that most of this year would be slow, at least through the Summer. Remember that restoration work stopped while they were being shuffled around different owners, getting laid off in February '21, then getting rehired in August '21. On his most recent podcast appearance, he said that in the best case, it takes ~9 months from negative procurement to release. So assuming it took a month or two to get the gears turning again, we're just now about 9 months out from real work getting under way again. He also said they're limited by a few things, like how much nitrate they can have on premises, competing for scanner time with non-WAC work, and working with about a quarter of the staff they had before. So I have the impression they've got things planned, but it's taken a bit longer than expected to get back up to full speed. We do know there's at least a Casablanca UHD coming later this year, so perhaps that'll be when things pick back up.

He also noted that next year is Warner Bros.' 100th anniversary, so I'm wondering if they decided to stick with slow and not quite steady this year in order to hold back major titles for that celebration.

The AT&T mgmt team really did a number on them. I'm confident they'll get back to where domino is kvetching about the randomness of their releases. Which is always welcomed reading. I wouldn't expect a cascade of UHD titles from them though, but the UHD output will be very select

Their staff was reduced quite a bit too, so there is that as well.

This above is good context for the numbers I posted. I hadn't followed everything that was going on, particularly about the staff cut. That's brutal, I'm sure. The main thing I noticed is that WAC had very gradually built up their production from slow beginnings to something that was truly impressive (and more than I could keep up with)—but then hit a wall and are currently at about the 2015–2016 level of releasing. And for years they've struggled to keep some of their major properties in print on Blu-ray.

Of their 2022 offerings I've only watched a few so far. Stage Fright was fine. Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, I attempted the Smilevision version projected (maybe I didn't sit close enough) and thought, How can anyone watch this?—and for more than one reason. I know it has its fans here. And I'm definitely planning to pick up The Clock.

There is going to be another 4-for-$49 sale at MovieZyng, and it will be from August 8-14.

I love how their shipping FAQ opens with

Movie Zyng ships worldwide. FAQs below:
Our customers ask us – do we really ship for just $2.99? The answer is YES! We want to be your favorite place to shop and buy. And, if just one DVD is all you need, we don’t want you spending as much on shipping as you do for the DVD itself

but then they charge .99 for every single item you get past $2.99 with no free shipping threshold at all

October titles:

Glad to be able to strike the Mamoulian Jekyll and Hyde off the upgrade list.

On the other hand..

The old DVD of DR. JEKYLL always had an annoying problem, originating in the source material, no doubt -- spoilers ahoy:

Spoiler

the moment where Hyde announces to a terrified Ivy that "I AM JEKYLL!!" is missing the actual line, there's an annoying jump in the sound and image

I'm hoping they've managed to rectify that at this stage.

you can add Freaks to that above meme!

nonetheless, cool announcement WAC. nice to get the two Jekyll and Hyde movies this year.

yoloswegmaster wrote: Tue Aug 30, 2022 12:03 pm October titles:

Spoiler

Most controversial ending until Jungle Fever

ryannichols7 wrote: Tue Aug 30, 2022 5:03 pm you can add Freaks to that above meme!

“Warner Archive announces 1930s Tod Browning horror film on blu ray”


At least they are getting closer!

What is it they "have" again (besides WB)? RKO, and MGM until which year?

Besides Lewton we need more Walsh films.

Maltic wrote: Tue Aug 30, 2022 8:24 pm What is it they "have" again (besides WB)? RKO, and MGM until which year?

Besides Lewton we need more Walsh films.

I believe they also have Samuel Goldwyn.

Maltic wrote: Tue Aug 30, 2022 8:24 pm What is it they "have" again (besides WB)? RKO, and MGM until which year?

MGM through April 1986 released titles.