Criterion Random Speculation Vol.2

[Gigi M.]

Now that RAN is official, what others movies from Wellspring can we expect. Maybe we'll see Costa-Gavras´s Z getting a Criterion release.

I sure hope so.

[Cinephrenic]

More Truffaut and Rohmer for sure, Gray's Anatomy from that "Wellspring Deal". I'm hoping for Nostalghia.

[oldsheperd]

I have the Z Masterworks edition and its got an audio commentary by Gavras(havent listened to it) so at least it was a decent attempt on Wellspring's part. If they release any Costa Gavras, Criterion should visit Missing. The Universal disc doesnt even have chapters.

[backstreetsbackalright]

I have the Z Masterworks edition and its got an audio commentary by Gavras(havent listened to it) so at least it was a decent attempt on Wellspring's part. If they release any Costa Gavras, Criterion should visit Missing. The Universal disc doesnt even have chapters.

Or State of Siege.

[emcflat]

Now that RAN is official, what others movies from Wellspring can we expect.

Hopefully "My Dinner with Andre."

[Gordon]

The Melville matters are far from finished. Many of his fine films are unavailable, such as Le Silence de la mer, The Second Breath, When You Read This Letter, Army in Shadows and Two Men in Manhattan.

Amen, cafeman! L'Armee des ombres is coming out in early 2006 from the BFI and will probably be a Criterion release, also via Rialto. Deux hommes dans Manhattan was recently released in Japan. No English subs, alas. There must be a red tape with Le Silence de la mer, as it isn't even on DVD in France, which is staggering, yet the recent TV version is on DVD - boo!

[cafeman]

There must be a red tape with Le Silence de la mer, as it isn't even on DVD in France, which is staggering, yet the recent TV version is on DVD - boo!

Upon reflection, this one might even be my favorite Melville film, second only to Le Samourai. I saw it projected from 35mm and it looked as good as any film of that age can look, so I know that isn`t a problem. I wonder who holds the rights? Maybe we can go and ask them about it...

[davida2]

From JBFC

Barbara Kopple presents
HARLAN COUNTY, USA
Tues., Oct. 11 at 7:00
NEW RESTORED PRINT
Barbara Kopple. 1976. 103 min. PG. US. Criterion/Janus.

MIRACLE IN MILAN, 1951, Criterion/Janus, 92 min. Director Vittorio de Sica

This is great to hear - these are both excellent films, my VHS copies are nearing the end of their respective lifespans.

I would also second the earlier suggestion of Egyptian films - I have been very eager to check out some of Youssef Chahine's 50s-60s-70s work, which has a rather lofty reputation to be so rarely seen in the West.

And I'll always advocate for worthy Latin American and Indian film...

[Dr. Mabuse]

I suggested Pathfinder to JM more than a year ago when the norwegian DVD special edition was in the making. The producer, John M. Jacobsen, was quoted on release.no (norwegian film site) that he wanted Criterion to put out the DVD in the north america.

[FilmFanSea]

I suggested Pathfinder to JM more than a year ago when the norwegian DVD special edition was in the making. The producer, John M. Jacobsen, was quoted on release.no (norwegian film site) that he wanted Criterion to put out the DVD in the north america.

According to IMDb, a US remake of Pathfinder is in production (Marcus Nispel [The Texas Chainsaw Massacre] is directing), with Fox as the distributor, which could possibly affect the R1 DVD release of the Norwegian original.

[Panda]

I could get excited about "Billy Budd." Fine adaptation, standout Robert Ryan, early Terence Stamp performance, and an interesting Peter Ustinov, if perhaps a bit soft. Robert Kraskers's b/w photography is outstanding-even more so in that the entire film was shot at sea aboard a man-of-war.
I'am not aware of any DVD of it. At least not Region 1.

I think there are some ruminations on De Sica's "Shoeshine" in another thread.

Panda

[Derek Estes]

The Crowd is an MGM film, and is held by Warner Bros. I would expect this to hit streets around the same time as The Big Parade is released. I haven't heard anything about either title for awhile, but it was mentioned in the March '04 Warner chat, that The Big Parade was being restored. I imagine a King Vidor TCM Archives release might be down the line.

[What A Disgrace]

The Crowd is an MGM film, and is held by Warner Bros. I would expect this to hit streets around the same time as The Big Parade is released. I haven't heard anything about either title for awhile, but it was mentioned in the March '04 Warner chat, that The Big Parade was being restored. I imagine a King Vidor TCM Archives release might be down the line.

Don't forget Show People, The Patsy, Hallelujah, and The Champ...well enough for three TCM Archives boxes.

As far as Vidor goes, Street Scene is on DVD from Image Entertainment, so isn't there a possibility that Criterion could release it? How does the current disc look?

[Cinesimilitude]

This morning I started my campaign for "The Full Monty" on criterion. emailed JM, emailed Fox Searchlight. I would pay such a ridiculous amount for it. anyone else here a fan of the film?

[Buttery Jeb]

I don't remember specifics, but I think the rights to "Matewan" are tied up between a couple a different companies, including IFC, Lions Gate (from back when Artisan released it on home video), Warner Bros. and maybe another one or two. A Criterion release isn't impossible, but it is unlikely anytime soom.

-BJ

[Ted Todorov]

P.S. Don't knock Malle - He has always been in the shadow of the other New Wavers, but his entire oeuvre stands up equally with Godard, Truffaut, Resnais and Rohmer

P.P.S. I think its silly for Criterion to release only a couple of Rohmer's Moral Tales - Why not all six? That would be a great set!

Speaking of Truffaut -- according to the IFC all 12 MK2 (and ex-Fox Lorber) Truffaut films are now the property of Janus. Look for lots more Truffaut Criterions.

Which leads me to believe that Wellspring has lost the rights to their New Wave films en masse -- so for sure Criterion now has the rights to all six Moral Tales and probably all other Wellspring Rohmer films as well (i.e. pretty much everything except for Pauline at the Beach & Tale of Springtime, which are MGM). I hope there is a massive Rohmer box in the offing, as the quality of the R2 Rohmer DVDs is not nearly as good as the MK2 Truffaut DVDs.

My attitude -- Criterion don't need a separate label for Truffaut, Rohmer or Malle -- just release some large box sets, and soon, please.

[Titus]

Does anyone know if a Criterion release of Hou Hsiao-hsien's The Puppetmaster is in the cards (or a possibility)? I'm a big fan of Hou's and this is regularly listed as possibly his best film, but I couldn't finish the current release of it. It's cropped to 1.33 and the picture quality is as abhorrent as anything I've come across. Given the fact that Criterion has yet to release anything by Hou, despite the fact he's easily one of the world's most revered filmmakers, and the friendly relationship between Criterion and Fox Lorber, I've been holding out hope for such a release.

[backstreetsbackalright]

Which leads me to believe that Wellspring has lost the rights to their New Wave films en masse -- so for sure Criterion now has the rights to all six Moral Tales and probably all other Wellspring Rohmer films as well (i.e. pretty much everything except for Pauline at the Beach & Tale of Springtime, which are MGM).

And yet on July 21st Mulvaney wrote that "Chloe in the Afternoon" is not on their current production schedule, and unless I'm mistaken, that's one of the Moral Tales film. It could just be more Mulvaney non-informational antics, but my gut feeling is that a Moral Tales boxed set isn't going to happen.

[godardslave]

yes i agree, Hou Hsiao-hsien is crying out for the criterion treatment.

i also mentioned to perpee in another thread about whether MOC had enquired into getting rights for HHH in region 2.

[Ted Todorov]

To me such an e-mail proves the opposite -- it means that Criterion owns the rights -- and I am sure he would have given the same answer for Claire's Knee -- the reason it's taking so long is because they ARE doing the box, and getting decent transfers plus extras takes time.

[ftsoh]

Consider there is less then 1% of Chinese films in the collection, I would say BIG FUCKING CHANCE! The same goes for Korean or Indian films.

On the other hand, if it's a Japanese film...

[pzman84]

At the Museum of the Moving Image, they showed a new restored print of "Double Indemnity." Does this mean that Universal is finally going to release a much deserved DVD of this masterpiece, hopefully through Criterion?

[analoguezombie]

At the Museum of the Moving Image, they showed a new restored print of "Double Indemnity." Does this mean that Universal is finally going to release a much deserved DVD of this masterpiece, hopefully through Criterion?

No, not on Criterion.

Did you see a Janus Films logo at the beginning?

...

There seems to be a real sour feeling on this board for Criterion's Samurai film releases. As if genre movies aren't worthy of notable film analysis and the Criterion treatment. snobs, snobs, snobs

Samurai films are a HUGE part of the Japanese film output, so its natural that a large amount of notbale films would also be samurai films. Should we discount The Searchers, or Once Upon a Time in the West, or The Wild Bunch simply because they are Westerns? The only reason lots of western classics haven't been put out on Criterion is because the original studios aren't willing to sell the rights. So I guess it's Criterion's fault that Toho, Nikkatsu, etc... are willing to license Criterion for the international dvd release of films like Yojimbo, Rebellion, and Harakiri?

get over it, there will be plenty of neo-realist, and French New Wave, and German Expressionist stuff coming from Criterion. Don't hate on the Japanese cinema bitches!

[jcelwin]

I don't think that the problem is that they are releasing so many Japanese films (in particular samurai films) but the fact that they are giving them such priority.

Criterion seems to just be going the easy route with these releases. The ones that can still be considered 'classics' while also selling well. I would really like to see Criterion branch out a bit more and perhaps put out some Chinese films, along with films from other countries. And, I wouldn't mind seeing some kung-fu movies in the collection either.

I really don't see Criterion releasing Kung-fu movies, though. Not that there are none deserving of being released, just that many people would not consider them 'classics' of cinema; it could be difficult sifting through the genre to find ones that stand out as classics, but there are some that are obvious. I think most people can understand a samurai movie being a classic a lot easier. It seems fairly obvious that kung-fu movies have had a great influence on cinema (even if many people consider that a bad thing) and should be included within the collection.

[HerrSchreck]

get over it, there will be plenty of ...German Expressionist stuff coming from Criterion.

When have we ever seen-- and when will we ever see-- (or when did you ever see or hear about a forthcoming) "German Expressionist" film via the Criterion Collection?? (and if you say um well Pandora's Box is on the way... I quit)

The Beckers simply cannot be all that emphatically attuned to the beauty ("the only form of Pure Cinema..." Hitchcock) of silent film, and especially German Expressionist silent film... of which the Lulu film most definitely is not.