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Oh, and just as an FYI, Gray's Anatomy looks pretty awesome, so have no concerns about that one.

domino harvey wrote:

Oedipax wrote:Very strange. And no Swimming to Cambodia or Monster in a Box.

That's the real surprise. I'm glad to have the Soderbergh films (and having seen And Everything Is Going Fine, it's no extra feature, it's a film in itself), but I was hoping for more. Guess there's two more Spalding Gray sister releases in our future (or a two-film Eclipse?)

I doubt Swimming to Cambodia would be in an Eclipse set, although Monster in a Box could be an Eclipse if Criterion got their hands on Terrors of Pleasure and the remaining more shorter monolouges. I suppose this will also depend on how well the current Criterion-Spaldings sell.

If Monster in a Box gets it own non-Eclipse release there is already a get deal of possibilities on supplementary materials to use from referencing Thorton Wilder or Our Town and the processes of writing itself. There is also the fun but remote possibility that Criterion could provide- in an online supplementary video- the parody of Monster in a Box: "Spalding Monster," Sesame Street's parody of Monster in a Box as part of its "Monsterpiece Theatre." Sesame Street itself would likely not agree to have an entire Monsterpiece Theatre spoof used in a home release but it has allowed online tie-ins for some of its materials with non-Henson/Disney, etc films

mfunk9786 wrote:I know this is somewhat trivial, but I LOVE the disc art on the Blu-ray version - do you know if they're still doing that thing where the DVD art and Blu-ray art are different from one another? That may end up being a deciding factor too if the art on the DVD disc is weak.

The disc art is completely different. I'm actually not sure what the image is on it and I admittedly prefer the Blu-ray's. So there you go.

Not that it's a big deal, but I can't help but wonder why "Gray's" doesn't come first numerically, since it was released first. :-k

I don't know why, but they frequently do that (Naked Kiss & Shock Corridor, Diabolique & Wages of Fear, Branded to Kill & Tokyo Drifter, etc.) They also frequently don't do that, so it's anybody's guess.

Watched Gray's Anatomy last night, and while it was a solid bit of filmmaking and certainly the most clever way of presenting Gray's monologue, I don't necessarily see Soderbergh's need to pad it so heavily. The introductory stories are wonderful, and there could've been more without any complaint from me - but the idea of interrupting the flow of the piece with these same individuals saying "An Indian healer? Whoa, I don't know if that's my cup of tea!" strikes me as tremendously wrong-headed and, though I watched the interview and realize he had to extend the runtime of the film with these interviews, it comes off during the film as a bit of a distrust in the audience to be able to stick with the monologue without a little bit of an intermission. Obviously I may not be taking into account budget restrictions, time restrictions, etc - but I feel like Soderbergh could find a few more stories for the beginning of the film or have a few of them told a bit more in detail (the karate student's, for example) and more effectively extend the film rather than take the audience out of Gray's fabulously paced storytelling for a bit of an aside from the eye injury brigade. That being said, Criterion has put together a lovely set here, with a stunning transfer and perfectly curated bonus features, and I look forward to revisiting it sooner than later despite its flaws.

swo17 wrote:I don't know why, but they frequently do that (Naked Kiss & Shock Corridor, Diabolique & Wages of Fear, Branded to Kill & Tokyo Drifter, etc.) They also frequently don't do that, so it's anybody's guess.

Alphabetical?

Shout! has just announced they'r releasing Swimming to Cambodia on May 28 with a commentary track by Demme.

albucat wrote:Shout! has just announced they'r releasing Swimming to Cambodia on May 28 with a commentary track by Demme.

MGM logo plays at the beginning of the Canadian DVD, so that seems the likely source, given Shout's recent dealings. I'm just as happy with this arrangement as a CC, very good news.

albucat wrote:Shout! has just announced they'r releasing Swimming to Cambodia on May 28 with a commentary track by Demme.

So how did that happen? For me, the SG releases were the biggest Criterion disappointment of 2012. First, I was hoping for a complete box, then the extras turned out to be SG's weakest material and not all that interesting, and now we find out Criterion didn't even get his best work & that someone else is releasing it on DVD only with probably few if any extras. With all of the SF interviews, bits, & unreleased stuff, now probably not seeing the light of day. Lame.

The press release they sent me never mentioned any other extras, so unfortunately I think you're right.

Ugh - I had assumed Shout! would be releasing a Blu-ray version as well, but DVD-only? It's not like this film was shot on video; the cinematography is quite good. Man, if CRIMEWAVE can come out on Blu...

Well the Amazon listing looks rather lackluster, but it is only $13.95 pre-order.

Spalding Gray's Catastrophe (Oliver Sacks in the New Yorker)