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fdm wrote:

justeleblanc wrote:Seriously, at what point can we say Criterion is just re-releasing Jaws every five years?

Dunno, but a bit disappointed they aren't yet releasing the few titles that were unique to the box.

Isn't Le jour se leve the only one left?
To juste: the dynamic's a bit different if it's a bare-bones lower-price release six to ten years after the initial one. No risk of any double-dipping here, surely? Worst case scenario is somebody fuming: "If only I'd waited seven years I could have got a worse edition for a few dollars less!"

zedz wrote:

fdm wrote:

justeleblanc wrote:Seriously, at what point can we say Criterion is just re-releasing Jaws every five years?

Dunno, but a bit disappointed they aren't yet releasing the few titles that were unique to the box.

Isn't Le jour se leve the only one left?

Also some documentaries I think: The Love Godesses; The Great Chase.

very nice, I might start picking up some of these, because by this point in the life of dvd I'm primarily interested in watching the movie and rarely have time to spend devoting myself to criterions extras. Grand Illusion and Lord of the Flies are two favorites and were some of the first dvds I bought, so I won't be going for them, but I might pick up rashomon at that price. Another clearinghouse for more titles with great transfers and competitive prices is allright with me. Bring on a new group of titles a month!

The forthcoming wave of Essential Arthouse titles includes Black Orpheus and Pygmalion. The original Criterion-branded discs of those two films included no supplements whatesover. The two new discs are, essentially, exactly the same, but ten dollars less. What motivation could there possibly be to purchase the original discs? More to the point, why wouldn't Criterion just lower the MSRP on the existing product?

Jeff wrote:The forthcoming wave of Essential Arthouse titles includes Black Orpheus and Pygmalion. The original Criterion-branded discs of those two films included no supplements whatesover. The two new discs are, essentially, exactly the same, but ten dollars less. What motivation could there possibly be to purchase the original discs? More to the point, why wouldn't Criterion just lower the MSRP on the existing product?

Yes, and what's the deal with airline food?

(Quite off topic, but unfortunate nevertheless.)

AfterTheRain wrote:

Jeff wrote:The forthcoming wave of Essential Arthouse titles includes Black Orpheus and Pygmalion. The original Criterion-branded discs of those two films included no supplements whatesover. The two new discs are, essentially, exactly the same, but ten dollars less. What motivation could there possibly be to purchase the original discs? More to the point, why wouldn't Criterion just lower the MSRP on the existing product?

Yes, and what's the deal with airline food?

(Quite off topic, but unfortunate nevertheless.)

I thought that was a good question, not deserving a smart-ass reply like that...
Back to topic, one could hope for a re-release sometime in the near future. Both would benefit from a new high-def transfer. But I doubt it's high on Criterion agenda.

Well, in some cases they might not be the same transfer. The transfer for Pandora's Box on E. Arthouse vs the CC are completely different. Arthouse's Pandora is total un-MTI'd pal-ntsc-ghosted smut, whereas the CC is... well.. the CC.

Not to mention you get a *cough* little booklet in the titles you mention above.

This whole ESSENTIAL ART HOUSE line or whatever it is really, is starting to piss me off.... i paid real good money, top dollar for some of these releases like Wild Strawberries or Life and Death of Colonel Blimp just a few months ago (which are in fact single disc editions), and now i see these $15 dvds, which on one of those e-site sales could be less than $12.XX....quite frankly i doubt either the supplements or whatever are found on the original CCs are much better than these "bare bones" editions. Besides, one less pamphlet with Armond White's shitty comments is fine by me....I wish they would've just released these editions sooner....

Yeah, that ninety minute documentary and commentary track on Wild Strawberries pales in comparison to nothing

yea well maybe its just me. I just don't feel the documentary is worth paying twice as much for the film....

Maybe Last Holiday? Otherwise, a bonus-feature-like stand-alone documentary, two rereleases, a Janus Essential Art House only release and a skipped (so far of course!) spine number (and a somewhat invisible cover) makes all this month a bit weird.

I got an email response from Mulvaney. Last Holiday will get the criterion treatment in the future but it's not on the production schedule.

Hmm.it seems very stranger for them to release it on essential arthouse first. I'm game for the film but will hold off till whenever the criterion shows up...which probably isn't that far off, in spite of mulvaney saying it's not on the schedule.

ianungstad wrote:I got an email response from Mulvaney. Last Holiday will get the criterion treatment in the future but it's not on the production schedule.

Hmm.it seems very stranger for them to release it on essential arthouse first. I'm game for the film but will hold off till whenever the criterion shows up...which probably isn't that far off, in spite of mulvaney saying it's not on the schedule.

Sort of the same scenario for Le Jour se lève.

Forgive me if this was posted before, looks like the next batch of Arthouse titles (dated 6/16/09) are going to be: Ashes and Diamonds, Forbidden Games, The Hidden Fortress, Last Holiday, Richard III, and Variety Lights.

Emerging Pictures, a digital theatrical distribution company, will be touring twelve titles from the Essential Arthouse series around the country. I'm not sure what to think about this. One the one hand, for theaters with a decent digital setup this will be a great way to see these films on the big screen, but using my local arthouse as purely anecdotal evidence, if the theater has a cheap or lo-fi digital setup it will look awful. And then there is another part of me that would prefer to see an actual film print, but that's just one part of a larger aesthetics vs. technology debate.

The titles are 400 Blows, Black Orpheus, High & Low, Jules & Jim, Knife In The Water, La Strada, Pygmalion, Seven Samurai, Seventh Seal, Summertime, Spirit Of The Beehive, Wild Strawberries.

Antoine Doinel wrote:Emerging Pictures, a digital theatrical distribution company, will be touring twelve titles from the Essential Arthouse series around the country...The titles are 400 Blows, Black Orpheus, High & Low, Jules & Jim, Knife In The Water, La Strada, Pygmalion, Seven Samurai, Seventh Seal, Summertime, Spirit Of The Beehive, Wild Strawberries.

What an odd choice for Janus, especially after running an extensive 35mm print tour within the last couple of years. I've been fortunate to see seven of those twelve titles in very nice 35mm prints. My experience with digital projection at my local cinemateque (Starz FIlmcenter) has been similar to yours. The scaling on subtitles is especially unpleasant on the big screen.

Does that fact that the above mentioned titles are touring art houses around the country give any hope that a blu-ray edition of "Summertime" could be named in the next list of titles to get the b-r treatment.

It seems as if we are nearing the end of the original b-r list (but when is that friggin' 'Contempt' going to get announced - maybe this Friday, huh?) Would also make sense to do the gorgeous 'In The Mood For Love' in the next round. Am I crazy, or are these possibilities??

visuallyimpaired wrote:when is that friggin' 'Contempt' going to get announced

Hate to break it to you, but...

Le Jour se leve

Kinda bummed its not in the main line, but I can accept it.

ZizouJuve wrote:Le Jour se leve

Wow, not even a spine number for this classic!

39 Steps, Throne of Blood, Gervaise, Mayerling, and Tales of Hoffmann

It's interesting that we're starting to get a number of non-Criterion titles in this line (this makes, what, four now?). Le jour se leve is a surprise, given its reputation, but if they couldn't manage any compelling extras for it, it's better off to be here at the lower price. Of the others, I've seen Gervaise and found it middling. Does anybody recommend Mayerling?

Seems like Arthouse is essentially becoming a miniature Eclipse for miscellaneous films Criterion isn't sure what to do with. Not enough of related films to make an eclipse set, and not enough extras/interest to get a spine number.

It's certainly more interesting than the original "All your old favorites- but cheaper!" approach.

Are these going to make it the main line at any point? I've been wanting to see Le jour se leve for quite some time..any real possibility these might be the only editions they have and won't release anything further?

Shrew wrote:Seems like Arthouse is essentially becoming a miniature Eclipse for miscellaneous films Criterion isn't sure what to do with. Not enough of related films to make an eclipse set, and not enough extras/interest to get a spine number.

It's certainly more interesting than the original "All your old favorites- but cheaper!" approach.

More like a new version of HVE.