criterionforum.org

Any clue if that AE blu for Breaking The Waves next year is a good sign of a US reissue? Criterion or even someone else depending on who holds the rights to it here.

Errol Morris just confirmed and briefly discussed the Criterion release of A Brief History of Time over Twitter:
"I was just interviewed for the new release on Criterion of my film adaptation of "Brief History of Time." (It's one of my best films.)"
"Hawking said to me after his first viewing of the film, "Thank you for making my mother a star." (Now, people will get chance to see why.)"
"I compared Hawking's formula for the entropy of black holes to Euler's formula. (I hope God doesn't punish me.)"
"Thank you, Jason Altman from Criterion."
"People don't get it. It's not me making a connection between Hawking's science and his biography, it's Hawking himself."

That was already a pretty sure thing. What I'm curious about is what other films of his they might be releasing, perhaps at the same time.

IFC has the rights to the first three (plus Tabloid, but they already dismissed that) so they feasibly could be released around the same time maybe with his shorts as extras.

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:Any clue if that AE blu for Breaking The Waves next year is a good sign of a US reissue? Criterion or even someone else depending on who holds the rights to it here.

I always think that when there was a LD release by Criterion they have an extra incentive to try to re-issue it even at this late date - things like The Game, and especially for a collection director like Von Trier. I'd bet that if they have any chance at Breaking The Waves they'll get it, and I'd really love to see them get a hold of Dancer in the Dark and Dogville.

Wasn't when Tabloid was dismissed was the very same time that Certified Copy was "dismissed" and considered minor? Maybe Harmonov can reshed some light.

johnnysnatchclub7 wrote:Wasn't when Tabloid was dismissed was the very same time that Certified Copy was "dismissed" and considered minor? Maybe Harmonov can reshed some light.

Possibly, but I was referring to the fact that a DVD came out of it that wasn't Criterion.

I'd buy it if they could get a Joyce McKinney commentary (risking a subsequent lawsuit from said party). Likely excerpt from the commentary: "Liar! Liar!"

At a retrospective in Toronto last month, Nicolas Winding Refn mentioned that he had to buy back to the rights to Bleeder before showing a restored print of it. With his visit to Criterion a little while ago, I'm wondering if release of Bleeder might be likely at some point.

johnnysnatchclub7 wrote:Wasn't when Tabloid was dismissed was the very same time that Certified Copy was "dismissed" and considered minor? Maybe Harmonov can reshed some light.

I wish I had more to say about this as I REALLY want these Morris films released by Criterion. As I said before, Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC and former member of the board at Criterion, said that Criterion was going to release them. He gave no timetable with his answer. Perhaps the Brief History of Time release will be the catalyst. At least I fucking hope so.

Heads up fellas, I just got back from B&N inquiring about Nashville and Investigation being pre-released (ala Devils Backbone) and/or an extended sale.

The manager let me know that the sale will not be extended and they would be taking a break next week, HOWEVER, the week of December 10 they will be doing a Criterion Buy One Get One Free, which is being done specifically to promote Nashville and Investigation. I confirmed this also via their sales sheet.

\:D/

Here's a bit of random speculation to mix up this thread: MK2 seems to have done a new print of the uncensored version of Frank Borzage's A Farewell to Arms and I'm sure they'll need a company to handle an American release. This seems exactly up Criterion's alley. It looks like they're looking for distribution now and with Criterion's friendship with MK2, I wouldn't be surprised if they would release it.

A Farewell to Arms is already out on Blu from Kino, and Criterion have always avoided treading on their toes in the past, even if it weren't commercially dubious to split the market on such a marginal title.

Kino has the rights to the Eastman House restorations repped by mk2. The collection is almost entirely public domain and orphan films.

Harmonov wrote:I went to a screening of a film at the Indiana University Cinema tonight and had a chat with the director about what filmmakers are coming to campus next semester. Among them are Criterion-faves Chantal Akerman and Abbas Kiarostami (as well as Roger Corman). He told me that Criterion is shooting two bonus features for upcoming blu-rays for Kiarostami'sWhere is the Friend's Home? and Through the Olive Trees. He also mentioned The Traveler as well, but that's on the Close-Up disc already. Perhaps he was mistaken about that one.

Needless to say, if you are anywhere near Bloomington, IN, when Kiarostami is here, you should check it out. I can't remember the dates, maybe I'll repost again when it nears.

Here is the schedule for the Kiarostami screenings at the IU Cinema where Criterion will be filming for at least two supplemental pieces for upcoming Kiarostami releases should anyone want to attend:

http://www.cinema.indiana.edu/?post_type=series&p=5661" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kiarostami will be there...

Harmonov wrote:

Harmonov wrote: Here is the schedule for the Kiarostami screenings at the IU Cinema where Criterion will be filming for at least two supplemental pieces for upcoming Kiarostami releases should anyone want to attend:

http://www.cinema.indiana.edu/?post_type=series&p=5661" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kiarostami will be there...

I would LOVE to do this, but I don't think I can swing it this time. Is there any place I can know about these types of things farther in advance, or do I just have to keep my eyes and ears open? I live in Oklahoma, so I rarely--if ever--have the chance to go to screenings of classic/art films, but I'd be willing to travel as long as I have a good amount of advance notice.

http://mgarosen.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No idea if it's the animated title that Becker alluded to at the Wexner talk but Martin Rosen's website confirms that the rights to Watership Down and The Plague Dogs are for sale.

sir_luke wrote:I would LOVE to do this, but I don't think I can swing it this time. Is there any place I can know about these types of things farther in advance, or do I just have to keep my eyes and ears open? I live in Oklahoma, so I rarely--if ever--have the chance to go to screenings of classic/art films, but I'd be willing to travel as long as I have a good amount of advance notice.

Yeah, I run into that problem when planning trips to L.A. -- I always try to time them to coincide with some interesting screenings and it never seems to work out. Six weeks' notice is actually pretty good for a repertory venue, except for the few that still publish quarterly print calendars (and even then, you won't have as much notice for stuff coming at the beginning of the next quarter). Right now MoMA and Anthology don't have any screenings published beyond the end of the year, for instance.

If you can get on a venue's press list you'll get things a little further in advance (today FSLC sent out a release for the NYJFF, January 8-23, which isn't on their website yet). Beyond that, you'd be advised to try to get chummy with the programmers of whatever venues you'd be likely to travel to, and hit them up for hints as to what's coming down the pike. That's usually not a state secret, although they may not know the exact dates much ahead of the official announcements. One of my friends was a programmer at a major NYC venue for a few years recently, and I was surprised by how much jockeying around there was on the calendar -- they seemed to have a general idea of what they were going to show during the next six months or more, but things would sometimes get kicked down the road six months or a year due to print or artist availability, or office politics or financial issues, and something else would be moved up or cobbled together at the last minute.

I think this flew past all of us but Cry of the City is presumably no longer forthcoming after, what, seven or eight years of waiting: Fox released it to MOD instead

The File on Thelma Jordon was supposed to come with it but was released by Olive Films 6 months ago.

domino harvey wrote:I think this flew past all of us but Cry of the City is presumably no longer forthcoming after, what, seven or eight years of waiting: Fox released it to MOD instead

No, I almost posted it myself, but I think it was mentioned somewhere above a couple of months ago. Sucks. And likely one of those persistent rumors that never consisted of anything except somebody's wishful thinking.

While skimming Teshigahara's career on imdb--antonio gaudi reminded me to go refresh myself on all I've missed--I was reminded he was nominated for Best Director for women of the dunes, I then was surprised to see that it was Kobayashi's Kwaidan that was nominated from Japan that year. I also saw a film I wasn't familiar with, Dear John, from Sweden, nominated alongside it. Skimming over the relatively short career of the writer/director, Lars-Magnus Lindgrin, he seems to be an interesting possibility for an eclipse set along the lines of the more pulpy Raffaello Mattarazzo set. Has anyone seen any of Lindgrin's films or think he might be a candidate for rediscovery via eclipse?

Lindgren may well be a subject for further investigation, but in most circumstances I'd be very wary about using the Best Foreign Film Oscar nominations as a source for potential Criterion titles. In many cases that 'honour' would be the opposite of a recommendation.

zedz wrote:In many cases that 'honour' would be the opposite of a recommendation.

Very true but they have put out an awful lot of winners/nominees in the past (mostly the ones from before 1980).

The Best Director nom was a politically motivated move by the Director's Guild, though that category is a far better metric of taste than the open to the whole Academy categories like Best Picture