Criterion Random Speculation Vol.3

[BrightEyes23]

anyone notice the featured blurb about Guy Maddin's "Brand Upon the Brain" on the mainpage @ Criterion.com? Any chance we could expect this from the CC? I think they really need to add Maddin to the collection, as well as more modern filmmakers.

[Tribe]

anyone notice the featured blurb about Guy Maddin's "Brand Upon the Brain" on the mainpage @ Criterion.com? Any chance we could expect this from the CC? I think they really need to add Maddin to the collection, as well as more modern filmmakers.

That speculative thought crossed my mind also...and it isn't the first time they've mentioned Maddin in regard to some other film event.

Tribe

[Jeff]

anyone notice the featured blurb about Guy Maddin's "Brand Upon the Brain" on the mainpage @ Criterion.com? Any chance we could expect this from the CC?

The blurb is probably just there because Maddin is a friend of the company and it gives them a chance to promote the upcoming Ace in the Hole disc. That said, Brand Upon the Brain!'s nascent distributor The Film Company probably doesn't have the resources to produce and distribute the DVD themselves and will most likely end up licensing it to a third party. I suppose that if Messrs. Becker and Turell like the film well enough, they might consider picking it up.

Criterion also supposedly has the rights to My Dad is 100 Years Old to use as a supplement on a Rossellini film.

[Cinephrenic]

We probably see a Rossellini-Bergman boxet (Stromboli, Voyage to Italy, Europa '51, Fear, others) this year or the next. I'm guessing Open City or Paisan will be released seperately this year perhaps. They could easily use that as an extra.

[justeleblanc]

We probably see a Rossellini-Bergman boxet (Stromboli, Voyage to Italy, Europa '51, Fear, others) this year or the next. I'm guessing Open City or Paisan will be released seperately this year perhaps. They could easily use that as an extra.

There was talk of an Open City, Paisan, German Year Zero box set for Rossellini's birthday, but I was under the impression that Warner owned a few of the Rossellini-Bergman titles. Yes?

Though two bigger rocks in my shoe are The Milky Way and Pierrot le fou, both of which have been definites for quite some time. Rialto said Criterion will be releasing Milky Way this year (we'll see) and Turrel told me via email that Pierrot will be coming this year as well. As much as I would like to see the Rossellini's released, I can understand that they need significant restoration. But Pierrot and Milky don't. Why is Criterion sitting on these????

[Cinephrenic]

There was talk of an Open City, Paisan, German Year Zero box set for Rossellini's birthday, but I was under the impression that Warner owned a few of the Rossellini-Bergman titles. Yes?

Where do you get this info?

[tavernier]

A new print from Janus Films of Pierrot le Fou will be shown at the BAMCinematek in Brooklyn in June....a Criterion DVD will soon follow, I'm sure.

[jbeall]

A new print from Janus Films of Pierrot le Fou will be shown at the BAMCinematek in Brooklyn in June....a Criterion DVD will soon follow, I'm sure.

Good to know! But doesn't a June screening of the Janus print usually mean that the criterion release is 6+ months or so away?

[justeleblanc]

There was talk of an Open City, Paisan, German Year Zero box set for Rossellini's birthday, but I was under the impression that Warner owned a few of the Rossellini-Bergman titles. Yes?

Where do you get this info?

The talk was in this forum... random spec naturally. The Warner thing came up before the Warner chat, which was why I asked about them. Warner had no plans, but they may not have the rights either, hence, the "Yes?"

[tavernier]

A new print from Janus Films of Pierrot le Fou will be shown at the BAMCinematek in Brooklyn in June....a Criterion DVD will soon follow, I'm sure.

Good to know! But doesn't a June screening of the Janus print usually mean that the criterion release is 6+ months or so away?

My "soon" comment doesn't mean it's coming in July....perhaps by the beginning of '08??

[jbeall]

Sounds about right. Ever since Children of Paradise I've been obsessed with the Pierrot figure, even reading several books on Pierrot (and Deburau!). I really want criterion to release this ASAP!!

[Cameron]

The connections in Pierrot le Fou to the figure of Pierrot are either extremely vague or non-existent (I could have just missed, in which case, I'm sure somebody'll correct me). The film is incredible and needs to be released immediately, but the Pierrot reference is just one of hundreds within the film and not a particularly important one. If you're looking for more to do with the Pierrot, I would suggest, if you haven't seen it, Kenneth Anger's Rabbit's Moon which is my absolute favorite cinematic representation of the Pierrot.

Also, there's still that new print of 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her, so maybe that and Pierrot will be put together with some other stuff and we'll have a Godard box set (Breathless is supposed to be coming too, right?)

[jbeall]

The connections in Pierrot le Fou to the figure of Pierrot are either extremely vague or non-existent (I could have just missed, in which case, I'm sure somebody'll correct me). The film is incredible and needs to be released immediately, but the Pierrot reference is just one of hundreds within the film and not a particularly important one. If you're looking for more to do with the Pierrot, I would suggest, if you haven't seen it, Kenneth Anger's Rabbit's Moon which is my absolute favorite cinematic representation of the Pierrot.

Also, there's still that new print of 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her, so maybe that and Pierrot will be put together with some other stuff and we'll have a Godard box set (Breathless is supposed to be coming too, right?)

Well, Pierrot tends to be 'vague' himself, and a very amorphous character throughout his history. Although Deburau reinvented Pierrot (and most interpretations from the mid-19th century to the present day are based on Deburau's Pierrot), the mask predates Deburau by at least a couple of centuries. If you're interested, Robert Storey has written two excellent books: 1) Pierrot: A Critical History of a Mask and Pierrots on the Stage of Desire. There's also a nice discussion of Pierrot in Stefan Jonsson's Subject without Nation (which is about Robert Musil's The Man without Qualities, in which the title character is explicitly compared to a Pierrot).

To get my post back on topic, I'd prefer if the Godards are released individually. With the dent that Berlin Alexanderplatz is sure to put in my bank account, I'd prefer not to buy any more box-sets in the near future. However, I'll buy Pierrot le Fou if it's sold separately.

John Huston's The Dead is rumored to be in the works, but perhaps criterion would hold off until around Christmastime?

[Cinephrenic]

What do you think the yearly gift set will be this year?

Tati films along with some new releases?
Fellini?
Dassin noir?

Any guesses?

[justeleblanc]

Tati films along with some new releases?

I spoke with Criterion about a Tati box and they said it wasn't coming. Plus, the packaging for the 3 films aren't consistent.

[Cinephrenic]

I was talking about the gift set, not boxset.

[Matt]

Criterion's gift sets have traditionally contained older titles that may be selling less than briskly. Looking over the older titles, I don't see any grouping that suggests itself immediately as a gift set (I would have said Fellini if they hadn't just reissued Amarcord), but I wouldn't be surprised to see the 4 Czech films brought out as a set or possibly the Clouzots.

[justeleblanc]

I was talking about the gift set, not boxset.

Sorry. Busy at work, and I'm skimming less carefully.

[dadaistnun]

...possibly the Clouzots.

I thought I had heard something about a reissue of Diabolique being in the works, but a quick search of the forum makes me think I must have imagined it.

[arsonfilms]

I thought I had heard something about a reissue of Diabolique being in the works, but a quick search of the forum makes me think I must have imagined it.

I remember Glenn Erickson wishing for a Diabolique reissue (along with High and Low) in one of his reviews of another reissued title, but I don't think he gave any indication that this would happen beyond "hopefully." Personally I'd love to see it revisited, and I think it would make one of the more appropriate reissues. It's such a cool flick that makes a great rental, but I've never felt a need to own the existing lackluster edition.

[jbeall]

I thought I had heard something about a reissue of Diabolique being in the works, but a quick search of the forum makes me think I must have imagined it.

I remember Glenn Erickson wishing for a Diabolique reissue (along with High and Low) in one of his reviews of another reissued title, but I don't think he gave any indication that this would happen beyond "hopefully." Personally I'd love to see it revisited, and I think it would make one of the more appropriate reissues. It's such a cool flick that makes a great rental, but I've never felt a need to own the existing lackluster edition.

This is the way I've always felt about Alphaville and Black Orpheus. I'd buy both films in a heartbeat if they'd just do a reissue with some extras (and the new 'wacky C'!).

[domino harvey]

I've said this before, but a reissue of Alphaville with Germany Year 90 Nine Zero on a second disc would be a crucial release.

[justeleblanc]

I've said this before, but a reissue of Alphaville with Germany Year 90 Nine Zero on a second disc would be a crucial release.

And would go with Rossellini's war trilogy.

[domino harvey]

...Germany Year Zero is indeed a Rossellini film, and yet the film I mentioned, Germany Year 90 Nine Zero, is a late-period Godard film starring Eddie Constantine, who reprises his Lemmy Caution role from films such as Alphaville, among others.

[tavernier]

Germany Year 90 Nine Zero is a late-period Godard film starring Eddie Constantine, who reprises his Lemmy Caution role from films such as Alphaville, among others.

That would be a superb two-discer, which is probably why we won't get it.