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Jeff wrote:

Graham wrote:April marks the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking so perhaps A Night To Remember is coming in March or April.

The Narrator Returns wrote:Not to mention the release would also coincide with the 3-D re-release of that other Titanic movie.

Plus Fox is releasing the 1954 Titanic on Blu in early April. Come on, Criterion; catch Titanic fever.

And surely A Night to Remember has a valid claim to being "the best Titanic movie of them all," a pretty decent angle to work even with all that competition.

This has me thinking it's a great time for silent cinema fans to be alive, as the next 18 years ought to see some great centennial edition blu-rays. Let no anniversary go unacknowledged!

Is the '54 version good? Naturally I find Baker's to be the best of the five or so film versions I've seen, but I do love seeing old tales retold.

knives wrote:Is the '54 version good? Naturally I find Baker's to be the best of the five or so film versions I've seen, but I do love seeing old tales retold.

Depends in part on how fond you are of Stanwyck and Webb. Their story is a melodramatic overlay to a fairly good representation of the actual events. There's a rather shocking - for the day - twist to the melodrama that gets your attention the first time through, but like Lang's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, subsequent viewings may not hold your interest. However, it's better than the bloated James Cameron horror, whose only saving grace is Kate Winslet's tits. (And the fact that Leo dies. If he did that in more films I'd like him better.)

I guess you were a fan of J. Edgar then.

knives wrote:I guess you were a fan of J. Edgar then.

Haven't seen it. Not a big Eastwood fan.

I would like to see Jiri Trnka's films make it into the collection. The only region 1 released was that awful Image DVD from 2000 that omitted so many good films. So how about some more Czech films Criterion? Karel Zeman deserves the treatment as well.

The same with Russian fantasy filmmakers like Vladislav Starevich and Alexander Ptushko. Just paltry releases by Image and nothing else.

Also some Russian and Czech scifi stuff would be nice. Any thoughts?

Two things:

One, Criterion posted an image of Blithe Spirit on their Facebook page. Looks like that Lean/Coward set is really coming.

Two, Carlotta Films is releasing Jean Renoir's The River on Blu-Ray, along with Harakiri and Black Narcissus. Might this be a hint that coming to Blu in America, as well?

Criterion on Facebook said "Maybe..." to a Blu of Last Temptation, I would take that as a good sign as they rarely bother to answer anything these days.

I can't think of a film where Leo didn't die.

Try harder.

Taketori Washizu wrote:Also some Russian and Czech scifi stuff would be nice. Any thoughts?

I believe Marketa Lazarová and Ikarie XB-1 have already been announced and are being distributed theatrically by Janus. See about 15 pages back... I'm tired.

Marketa Lazarova is about as far away from sci-fi as you can get.

ahem. Part joke, but I do think Marketa Lazarová is one of the few other historical films that could equally considered to be speculative fiction.

Taketori was not only talking about sci-fi films, but Czech films in general, though I forgot to quote that part of the post.

March announcements will be the last announcements before a new newyears clue, I wonder if we'll get the remaining films...

Luke M wrote:I can't think of a film where Leo didn't die.

Just off the top of my head

Spoiler

Inception
Catch Me If You Can

That's kind of a reverse-spoiler for everything else he's been in, though

If Catch Me if You Can came to Criterion, I don't know if you could ever wipe the grin from my face.

You guys are forgetting the movies where he gets carted off in his insanity.

domino harvey wrote:That's kind of a reverse-spoiler for everything else he's been in, though

I was going to watch What's Eating Gilbert Grape tonight, but knowing going into it that captveg can't remember off the top of his head whether Leo dies in it or not, I probably won't bother.

Don't know if this is the right place to ask this, but if I am watching a Criterion BD of an older foreign film (eg Seven Samurai, Breathless, etc....) and the only audio track is a, PCM, LPCM 1.0 track or LPCM 2.0 track, I still shouldn't expect to hear anything in the rear channels, right? Everything should be coming from the front speakers on a 5.1 system, correct?

Thanks

aox wrote:Don't know if this is the right place to ask this, but if I am watching a Criterion BD of an older foreign film (eg Seven Samurai, Breathless, etc....) and the only audio track is a, PCM, LPCM 1.0 track or LPCM 2.0 track, I still shouldn't expect to hear anything in the rear channels, right? Everything should be coming from the front speakers on a 5.1 system, correct?

Thanks

You probably just need to switch your speakers to mono or stereo if you're getting sound from the rear.

TMDaines wrote:

aox wrote:Don't know if this is the right place to ask this, but if I am watching a Criterion BD of an older foreign film (eg Seven Samurai, Breathless, etc....) and the only audio track is a, PCM, LPCM 1.0 track or LPCM 2.0 track, I still shouldn't expect to hear anything in the rear channels, right? Everything should be coming from the front speakers on a 5.1 system, correct?

Thanks

You probably just need to switch your speakers to mono or stereo if you're getting sound from the rear.

Right. But generally, you don't want sound coming out of the rear channels at all? Even if they are just mirroring the front? PCM, LPCM 1.0 track or LPCM 2.0 track should be front and center only. Even if Seven Samurai claims to be "Surround" with a 2.0 track?

Yes that's right. Especially if it's just mirroring the sound coming from the front - that will usually create an disorienting echo effect. It should be an actual surround mix in order for any sound to be coming out of your surround speakers.