MoC Forthcoming, Wishlist, and Random Speculation

[Eureka]

Well. The website seems to be having trouble.

Hopefully this means an update?

Unfortunately, nothing that exciting. Our website hosts made a system wide change to all the database passwords, they just needed changing but our web guru was unavailable until this morning.

[TMDaines]

I sure hope that's new. And that it has a very good reason to be there.

It's been there for an eternity.

[eerik]

I was browsing through the July special offers and started thinking: how about Battleship Potemkin on Blu-ray?

I know there already is a great release from Kino but I'd rather give my money to Eureka.

[CrazedCollector]

I was browsing through the July special offers and started thinking: how about Battleship Potemkin on Blu-ray?

I know there already is a great release from Kino but I'd rather give my money to Eureka.

Yes! Make those hypocrite bastards drown in their copies! And The General, too!
Kino pisses me off something fierce. I resisted the Best Buy $9.99 sale for Battleship with exactly that in mind.

[eerik]

And The General, too!

re: THE GENERAL. We've been trying to pull it together for a year, but can't get the right mix of materials that we want to make the best edition there is, due to the Carl Davis score already being licenced to a company in the UK (who aren't a DVD label) and who believe they own the rights to the film as well.

http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... 17#p293717" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CrazedCollector]

re: THE GENERAL. We've been trying to pull it together for a year, but can't get the right mix of materials that we want to make the best edition there is, due to the Carl Davis score already being licenced to a company in the UK (who aren't a DVD label) and who believe they own the rights to the film as well.

http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... 17#p293717" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yeah, we need to send a good American pimp over there who can bitch-slap the company in question.

[Finch]

Peerpee, is there no way a deal could be struck with whoever owns the Davis score? And if they had a good claim for owning the rights to the film overall, I was wondering if an agreement could be reached if the other company agreed to cover some of the production costs and getting an appropriate share of the profits in turn? Just a thought anyhow.

I also wanted to put a plea in for a MOC Blu of Steamboat Bill Jr, with Sherlock Jr thrown as the bonus feature.

[Awesome Welles]

I also wanted to put a plea in for a MOC Blu of Steamboat Bill Jr, with Sherlock Jr thrown as the bonus feature.

That makes it sound a bit like Sherlock Jr. is the lesser film when I would argue the reverse, but to have both in HD would be amazing.

[Finch]

Didn't mean to give the impression that I thought Sherlock Jr inferior - au contraire, as good Steamboat Bill Jr is, Sherlock is in a different class altogether. I only suggested it as a bonus feature due to its 40+ min length although I'd very happily buy a Blu of Sherlock on its own too. As long as it comes with a new score that supports the film better than the painful jazz soundtrack with its Bond cues etc.

[Awesome Welles]

You know, I completely forgot it was 40 mins, for some reason I remember it being 70 minutes or something. I think it's tough doing double packs, like the Mizoguchis, one film ends up being marginalized, and as you say Bill Jr would end up taking precedence. But how I would love to see a BD using this still as cover art!



[put it out at £12.99 anyway]

[Frankinho007]

With the announcement of "Make Way for Tomorrow", how about "Ruggles of Red Gap"?

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I'd buy it from anyone, but I wish that MOC would release Eustache's Mes petites amoureuses.

[Peacock]

So would I, but I'm pretty sure the rights are still a problem, unless anyone knows otherwise?

[What A Disgrace]

With the announcement of "Make Way for Tomorrow", how about "Ruggles of Red Gap"?

And on that note, whither The Girl Can't Help It?

I'm still pleased as punch at one of my favorite films getting a Blu-ray treatment, and I'm sure MoC will treat it right...even just porting the R1 commentary and a little essay would be fine with me; as long as that gorgeous film shines.

I hope you manage to snag more and more goodies from Universal and Fox (I'd be partial to a Blu-ray or even standalone DVD of Lazybones, but that's enough out of me from that).

[Der Spieler]

I'd buy it from anyone, but I wish that MOC would release Eustache's Mes petites amoureuses.

Or The Mother and the Whore.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I'd buy it from anyone, but I wish that MOC would release Eustache's Mes petites amoureuses.

Or The Mother and the Whore.

That'd be great, but I think it's unfairly overshadowed the rest of Eustache's work. At least, Mes petites amoureuses has a built-in angle most people can relate to.

[FerdinandGriffon]

Just finished watching Kon Ichikawa's The Key (AKA Odd Obsession) last night, an adaptation of the Tanizaki novel of the same name. Where to begin with this remarkably strange but terrific film? Tatsuya Nakadai gives a wonderfully bizarre performance as a sub-Sorelian medical intern intent on insinuating himself into the sexual life of an entire collapsing family, all bug-eyes and drooping smiles. The film is pretty strictly confined to just two locations, a clinic and the family's home, but Ichikawa's continually inventive compositions make this a visually stunning experience. Color is used brilliantly, the palette confined to dull browns and greens except for a few striking flashes of red, most notably in one of the penultimate scenes, which I couldn't help but feel was meant as a hilarious and perverse parody of Ozu. Also an interesting use of freeze frames that may have been an influence on Imamura's The Insect Woman. Is there any chance MoC would look into this? I think Janus has rights in the US but I worry they'll end up dumping it in some Eclipse box, when the film really deserves Blu. In any case, this seals the deal on The Burmese Harp Blu for me, I hadn't seen much Ichikawa before (only Fires on the Plain), but this one pressed all the right buttons.

Another Ichikawa I think would be a really good fit for MoC, but which I haven't had a chance to see (there are no subbed copies available, even in internet back waters), is 1954's A Billionaire. Everything I've read about it sounds terrific, and it's from an early screenplay by Kobo Abe (The Face of Another, Pitfall, one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century), so I'm sure it would be a no-brainer for any Ichikawa or Teshigahara fans out there.

[Steven H]

The only Ichikawa film that's already been issued on blu-ray in Japan is Kofuku AKA Lonely Heart (1981) which I haven't seen but, considering critical estimations of most of Ichikawa's 80s stuff, I'd be a little surprised to see MoC being too interested. My vote for "available Japanese blu-ray for MoC" would go to Hosada's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, but I wonder if the MoC base would be hostile to anime (and I don't even have a blu-ray player yet, so my vote means nothing).

[tojoed]

Just finished watching Kon Ichikawa's The Key (AKA Odd Obsession) last night, an adaptation of the Tanizaki novel of the same name. Where to begin with this remarkably strange but terrific film?...

Completely agree with everything you say. Great film. It's sad that so many fine Ichikawas are not available on DVD in the west. Did you get a copy from back channels or did you see it in a theatre? If the latter, I envy you.

[Eureka]

My vote for "available Japanese blu-ray for MoC" would go to Hosada's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, but I wonder if the MoC base would be hostile to anime (and I don't even have a blu-ray player yet, so my vote means nothing).

This is owned by Manga Entertainment in the UK, I believe they are releasing it on BD in March next year.

[Steven H]

My vote for "available Japanese blu-ray for MoC" would go to Hosada's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, but I wonder if the MoC base would be hostile to anime (and I don't even have a blu-ray player yet, so my vote means nothing).

This is owned by Manga Entertainment in the UK, I believe they are releasing it on BD in March next year.

Thanks for the heads up! Unlike the Japanese version, at least that one will have English subtitles and not retail for $84.75.

[perkizitore]

Can we hope for a Tokyo Olympiad blu-ray, Nick? [-o<

[Finch]

A lower-tier price Blu of Ida Lupino's The Hitch-Hiker for 2012 - you know you want to!

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

A lower-tier price Blu of Ida Lupino's The Hitch-Hiker for 2012 - you know you want to!

Make mine a double and add The Bigamist (pun intended).

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

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

Nearly six months on and am getting itchy for another fix of Costa. Any news on whether Blu is contemplated for the new titles or is it a straight choice between MoC single issues and the Criterion box?