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Twilight Time said that they couldn't get the rights to BETRAYAL (1983), so is it reasonable to assume that Criterion might have scored it, too? [-o<

Criterion is now listing their Tati films as out of print so it looks like they won't be upgrading them. Thankfully the current BFI blurays are great.

Askew wrote:Criterion is now listing their Tati films as out of print so it looks like they won't be upgrading them. Thankfully the current BFI blurays are great.

Or Ethan's they took them out of print to make way for upgrades? (Hope)

If that were the case, they wouldn't have taken the already-upgraded Playtime down.

A rival company that doesn't licence to Criterion has acquired worldwide rights to the films. That axe has fallen.

Yes, the BFI and Criterion were in the same boat - once they found out that the Tati rights weren't renewable, their only options were to let them go OOP or (in the BFI's case) postpone existing releases, rush BDs out of previous non-HD Tati titles and at least get a chance to catch one Christmas market with them prior to letting them go OOP in turn, presumably quite soon.

I'm not surprised they did that: I can't speak for Criterion's figures, but to say that the Tati DVDs have been good for the BFI's bank balance in the past is a bit of an understatement!

And that approach was always going to be much more suitable to the BFI's more flexible release schedule. If they had been religiously announcing and releasing two Flipside titles per month for the past few years it would have been much harder for them to put the line on hiatus while they worked on the Tatis. Criterion was never in the position to not deliver on announced titles and drastically reduce their new announcements for several months while they redirected all hands to the Tati pumps.

Someone on Criterion's facebook page said that Mulvaney emailed him the following re: the Tati films

"Regarding Tati, we have recently renewed the rights and they will be going back in print with a new restoration sometime in the future. I hope this helps!"

That answer sounds totally fake and makes no sense, but I believe the guy who posted that is a fairly credible poster on Criterion's Facebook page. :-k

TCM just played Bitter Rice in what seems to be HD. Keeping with the trend of films to be released by Criterion "premiering" on TCM first, Bitter Rice could be right around the corner

It may be that they only want to release the films in a box and not want them sold individually, hence the Playtime BD going OOP. Or perhaps they'll do a proper 4k scan from the 65mm instead of 2k from 35mm this time?

In any case, I really hope this news is legit.

MongooseCmr wrote:TCM just played Bitter Rice in what seems to be HD.

I want to say they've done this at least once or twice a year for the past few years.

I really hope the Tati news is correct, as I was just about to order the BFIs. At least I hope we get confirmation before the BFIs go OOP.

vsski wrote:I really hope the Tati news is correct, as I was just about to order the BFIs. At least I hope we get confirmation before the BFIs go OOP.

Why not just order the excellent BFIs anyway? Bird in the hand and all, you know.

triodelover wrote:

vsski wrote:I really hope the Tati news is correct, as I was just about to order the BFIs. At least I hope we get confirmation before the BFIs go OOP.

Why not just order the excellent BFIs anyway? Bird in the hand and all, you know.

Of course you are correct, but if Criterion really issues the Tatis again, then I will feel compelled to order them to keep my collection complete (call it collector's mania, OCD or pure insanity) and I will end up with 2 or even 3 versions of the same movie - I already own the CC DVDs and the Playtime BD. Maybe I should look into the BFI extras to see if they are sufficiently different to warrant owning both versions down the road.

dwk wrote:Someone on Criterion's facebook page said that Mulvaney emailed him the following re: the Tati films

"Regarding Tati, we have recently renewed the rights and they will be going back in print with a new restoration sometime in the future. I hope this helps!"

I just got email confirmation from Mulvaney of this as well, so unless someone has hijacked Criterion's email account, it's legit.

I was a bit skeptical of that Garrett character, but if multiple people are definitely getting this email, this is wonderful news! Not to intentionally open up a can of worms, but knowing what we know about SC's licensing deals, surely this must be an exception and not some policy change...right?

vsski wrote:Maybe I should look into the BFI extras to see if they are sufficiently different to warrant owning both versions down the road.

Mon Oncle includes the '84 version in HD, which the CC DVD did not include. Jour de Fête, which CC hasn't issued, contains both the '49 and '64 versions in HD, the two shorts that CC included on Mon Oncle and Les Vacances plus the Ribowski that CC put on the Playtime BD. And the BFIs are dual format packages with the shorts DVD only. Of course, there's the spine number thingy. :-k

Hopefully it's a policy change. StudioCanal aren't too good at creating the best product themselves. Many titles available on Blu-ray from StudioCanal in Europe aren't available in the US, so hopefully they've realised it's quite difficult to match Criterion on the production side.

peerpee wrote:Hopefully it's a policy change. StudioCanal aren't too good at creating the best product themselves. Many titles available on Blu-ray from StudioCanal in Europe aren't available in the US, so hopefully they've realised it's quite difficult to match Criterion on the production side.

Well, they can certainly do it when they want to (see La Grande Illusion). More likely it's projected sales. I suspect the Tati titles sell better in the UK and on the continent than in the US. They held onto Mulholland Drive in NA, for example.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Lionsgate deal (recently renewed) gave them exclusive rights to distribute SC properties in NA? The wishful (and unrealistic) thinkers have pondered about sub-licensing but I've thought that it's all useless speculation, and Criterion cannot release or distribute any SC titles (exclusions apply for deals not yet expired like Melville, Resnais.)

That was what I understood as well, in which case this would be a big exception.

As peerpee indicates, given the past performance of Lionsgate / Studio Canal it makes sense for them to take the licensing revenue and run instead of sitting on properties they can't be bothered releasing (or releasing well) in the US.

This may be a case where the Tati estate has requested that StudioCanal release the titles through Criterion in the US because they know the Criterion name will help sales.

triodelover wrote:Well, they can certainly do it when they want to (see La Grande Illusion). More likely it's projected sales. I suspect the Tati titles sell better in the UK and on the continent than in the US. They held onto Mulholland Drive in NA, for example.

I'm talking about the whole package. The art direction, the extras, the booklets, the immediate menu screen when you put the disc in, and the *consistency*. All the little things that Criterion take lots of care over and which Studio Canal don't do.

LA GRANDE ILLUSION is a nice feature transfer, but frankly, StudioCanal's quality control and consistency is all over the place. Too many bad discs, too many mucked up transfers. Inconsistent messy package design (digibooks with overcooked samey looking covers and poor thin booklets, or plain cases with original artwork and no booklets, they can't decide). Bottom line is, I don't enjoy buying StudioCanal's releases, and I don't look forward to new announcements from them. Just nowhere near the love and attention that goes into a Criterion release, and it's simply not good enough.

plus the films they produced and the films they distribute are two different things. Universal owns Mulholland Drive and the Pianist in the US, etc

between the Tatis coming back and the Jean Gabin potential clue....I'm starting to have the ridiculous thought Criterion and Studiocanal are friends again. but no, I'm just getting ahead of myself. this forum would implode.