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Asked about Barnet:

We have no current plans to release any of Boris Barnet's films however there is interest!

Are re-releases of SHOCK CORRIDOR and THE NAKED KISS still coming out this year??

HerrSchreck wrote:I was always a vodka boy myself. Usedta drink the shit like water in my 20's, and never got hangovers. Iron constitution I had. Now if I drink past a certain point, I wake up in the morning feeling like a rusty ships anchor is angling up thru my cerebellum-- I simply can't drink any more.

"When I was young I would drink for a month and take a day to recover, now I drink for a day and it takes a month to recover." George Jones, author of such gems as "If The Drinking Don't Kill Me, Her Memory Will" and "Gonna Stand On My Own Two Knees".

Even worse is the point where the tolerance which has been built up over years crashes and you end up never drunk, never sober, just in a vile halfway house full of brain fog. That's when you know you are fucked.

sidehacker wrote:Asked about Barnet:

We have no current plans to release any of Boris Barnet's films however there is interest!

Great news -- even if it may be a long wait until anything happens.

Barnet reminds me -- in some ways -- of Shimizu. Perhaps it is the affection he shows for his characters, the easy-going feel of his films and the (sometimes unorthodox) visual beauty. (The sea cineatography in By the Bluest of Seas has to be some of the loveliest cinematography ever).

Yes, By the Bluest of Seas reminded me a great deal of Shimizu. There's that very natural, unforced tone. Do you (or anyone else) know why IMDB credits this as being the first soviet film in color when it is very obviously in black-and-white?

sidehacker wrote:Asked about Barnet:

We have no current plans to release any of Boris Barnet's films however there is interest!

The weirdest caveat I have seen from a Mulvaney email.

Just badly phrased, as Mulvaney doesn't indicate whether it's CC's or its customers' interest. I hope he simply means: 'No current plans, but we are interested in Barnet and would come up with some Eclipse set in a few years'.

Probably he just heard some employee in the hall saying something like "I saw a Barnet last week, t'was cool and all"

Tommaso wrote:Just badly phrased, as Mulvaney doesn't indicate whether it's CC's or its customers' interest. I hope he simply means: 'No current plans, but we are interested in Barnet and would come up with some Eclipse set in a few years'.

I can't imagine that Mulvaney was speaking about customer interest.

If he were referring to customer interest, he would basically be saying: "We are aware that people want this. However, we do not care."

It would be more like "We don't have any plans for Barnet, but look out for a 3 disc SE of Funny People next year"

sidehacker wrote:Do you (or anyone else) know why IMDB credits this as being the first soviet film in color when it is very obviously in black-and-white?

I read in a review (by Jonathan Rosenbaum, I think) that it was originally shot in color, but no color prints are known to survive. It exists now only in black-and-white.

Kirkinson wrote:

sidehacker wrote:Do you (or anyone else) know why IMDB credits this as being the first soviet film in color when it is very obviously in black-and-white?

I read in a review (by Jonathan Rosenbaum, I think) that it was originally shot in color, but no color prints are known to survive. It exists now only in black-and-white.

I didn't think color film stock was available in the USSR back when Bluest of Seas was made. In any event, the black and white cinematography of the Caspian Sea is so stunning I can't imagine it did not come from something specifically shot in b&w.

Based on this, it seems fairly certain that Paris, Texas, Mystery Train, Hunger, and House will enter the collection, no?

I'd say so. Great news indeed.

Michael Kerpan wrote:

Kirkinson wrote:

sidehacker wrote:Do you (or anyone else) know why IMDB credits this as being the first soviet film in color when it is very obviously in black-and-white?

I read in a review (by Jonathan Rosenbaum, I think) that it was originally shot in color, but no color prints are known to survive. It exists now only in black-and-white.

I didn't think color film stock was available in the USSR back when Bluest of Seas was made. In any event, the black and white cinematography of the Caspian Sea is so stunning I can't imagine it did not come from something specifically shot in b&w.

Here's the Rosenbaum article:

By the Bluest of Seas is a musical, codirected by S. Mardanov, that’s even more intensely physical than Okraina. It was Barnet’s first color film, though lamentably the only surviving prints seem to be in black and white. I’m just grateful the movie survives at all. Even though warfare is a passing offscreen issue, this film is as much about peace as Okraina is about war—a view of paradise to complement the previous glimpse of hell.

Fierias wrote:Based on this, it seems fairly certain that Hunger will enter the collection, no?

And I thought Gamorrah entering the collection was a travesty.

FerdinandGriffon wrote:

Fierias wrote:Based on this, it seems fairly certain that Hunger will enter the collection, no?

And I thought Gamorrah entering the collection was a travesty.

I've never seen it, but have read interesting things about it. Is it really that bad?

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote:I haven't seen Hunger (nor do I care to) but from what I've read and hearing other peoples reactions, I think calling it a travesty for adding it into the collection is a bit of an overkill.

You're right, "travesty" is overkill, but I'd be hard pressed to think of two recent films I've seen that I'd be less interested in having in the collection. At the same time, I can't think of any two recent films that would be less predictable "surprise" entrants into the Collection than Gamorrah and Hunger, considering Criterion recent track record of releasing critically acclaimed but often mediocre pseudo-arthouse fare (Benjamin Button, Howard's End and Monsoon Wedding being the main offenders, but also, to a lesser extent, Cronos and Che). If the whole thing's a joke, it may not be a travesty, but it is in bad taste, is what I'm trying to say.
And yes (re-)confirmation of Hausu is great news, but doesn't Mystery Train already have a perfectly serviceable (if fairly barebones) R1 release? In closing, and seeing as I've whipped all the other dead horses already, Jacques Rivette.

Dmytryk's Obsession is credited to the BFI with permission from Janus Films on the PFA's new schedule.

Looks like Che is getting released on DVD according to Amazon, yet still no Criterion announcement, maybe it was a different film suggested or plans fell through (ALA Ran or Contempt Blus)?

One of the most endearing traits of this Forum is when people pretend they are arguing over releases they might not happen. #-o

psufootball07 wrote:Looks like Che is getting released on DVD according to Amazon, yet still no Criterion announcement, maybe it was a different film suggested or plans fell through (ALA Ran or Contempt Blus)?

Canadian release

Haha, I totally called Mystery Train back in May when the MGM disc went out of print in vol.1 of this thread! Great to see that it's looking like it's going to happen. Probably my favorite Jarmusch.

The only feature that was screened last year that hasn't come out yet is 1991, I emailed David Markley about a month and a half ago iquiring about the status of the release. He said that he and Criterion are still working on it but that they were having problems with the Cobain estate (Courtney Love wants too much $$ or something) and until that gets resolved the disc is on hiatus but the interest is there. Not very good news but can't say that it surprises me.

How odd that i asked Criterion for Naruse and they didn't even reply [-(