Criterion and Sony

[Werewolf by Night]

Wouldn't it be phenomenal if Criterion just released great editions of everything, all at once, the way they did with the Merchant-Ivory films years ago? One can dream.

[Cinephrenic]

We can expect a Eclipse set "Early Almodovar"

[Ashirg]

If Sony does HD restorations, I wouldn't mind Criterion's first blu-ray Eclipse release (for early Almodovar)...

[tenia]

If Sony does HD restorations, I wouldn't mind Criterion's first blu-ray Eclipse release (for early Almodovar)...

I believe that almost of his "catalog" movies have been recently restored for the TF1 set in France (with some more recent titles being licenced from Pathé or Studio Canal). Maybe Sony will draw from these rather than re-do restorations.

[bainbridgezu]

We can expect a Eclipse set "Early Almodovar"

Much as I'd expect this otherwise, I seriously doubt Criterion will pull that shit with titles licensed from a major American studio and by a contemporary director with Almodóvar's name-brand recognition. That said, I do expect an "Early Almodóvar" collection (albeit in the main line) of his first four films, hopefully along with his shorts and some generous contextual supplements. This is a real opportunity and it'd be a shame if Criterion dropped the ball.

Beyond that, I'd hope for Matador and Law of Desire to have consecutive spine numbers, with the rest probably released individually. They're not going to blow their load on a huge set or two for one of the biggest filmmakers working today. Expect them to trickle these out like other whole catalogues (Chaplin, Lloyd), though hopefully at a steadier pace.

[beamish13]

Sony still owns the North American rights to H.G. Clouzot's La Verite. Have there been any rumblings of them licensing it to Criterion?

[Minkin]

Sony still owns the North American rights to H.G. Clouzot's La Verite. Have there been any rumblings of them licensing it to Criterion?

Criterion confirmed that it was coming a few years ago at some restoration talk they did in Italy. This was back in 2013 and all of the other titles they confirmed at the talk have already come out. Granted, these things can take years to make it to their schedule, do restoration work, add extras, etc. So its coming eventually.

[FrauBlucher]

Beat the Devil is playing at the Film Forum in a 4k restoration. I am posting here because there is a trailor on the bottom of the FF film page. It looks absolutely stunning. I can't imagine Criterion not releasing this.

[Gerald Christie]

Has there been any rumblings on an impeding release of Howard Hawks's Twentieth Century? Honestly, this, Bringing Up Baby and Ball of Fire are the remaining titles from his filmography that I want on blu-ray.

[FrauBlucher]

All The Kings Men (1949) which won an Oscar for best picture and Rossen has a phantom page.

Already out on TT. The phantom page was for Alexander the Great, which though a puzzling choice for Criterion, ended up also coming from TT

The Harder They Fall (1956) is currently on TCM. I wonder if this is what the Rossen phantom page is meant for. Bogart’s last film. It has an interesting back story and Eddie Muller can talk for days about this one.

I guess I’m trying to sell it.

[DRW.mov]

All The Kings Men (1949) which won an Oscar for best picture and Rossen has a phantom page.

Already out on TT. The phantom page was for Alexander the Great, which though a puzzling choice for Criterion, ended up also coming from TT

The Harder They Fall (1956) is currently on TCM. I wonder if this is what the Rossen phantom page is meant for. Bogart’s last film. It has an interesting back story and Eddie Muller can talk for days about this one.

I guess I’m trying to sell it.

All the Kings Men and Alexander the Great were directed by Robert ROSSEN, not Mark ROBSON, who directed The Harder They Fall, Valley of the Dolls.

[FrauBlucher]

Oh wow. Thanks for the correction. It's funny, watching it this morning, it had the feel of a Rossen film to me.

[Drucker]

Not sure if there is a great thread for this random q but is there a simple place online I can go to figure out which studio owns what libraries these days?

[Derek Estes]

I’ve been watching the early Almodovar films on amazon. The restorations look great. I’m wondering if its likely they will eventually be released by Criterion. I’ll purchase them all individually, but I wish they could all be released as a large set. I know Criterion has a number of big boxes on the way, but if possible a comprehensive Almodovar set would be incredible.

[therewillbeblus]

This has been brought up before, I think there was talk that Criterion would be releasing of all of Almodovar's films at some point, but I'm not sure where the information came from

[black&huge]

If true we got a good number of years for them to roll out. Criterion still hasn't released all of Chaplin's stuff after a decade.

[tenia]

And this is quite tiring. They have things like Chaplin, Almodovar or Lloyd and because they chose not to do a boxset, it's taking years for those to be released, to the point it's a bit silly.

[black&huge]

I agree. Isn't All About my Mother the only Almodovar in like 3 years? And the Chaplin's typically took 2 years for a bit and before that it was merely a year or so apart when they first rolled out.

[Glowingwabbit]

And this is quite tiring. They have things like Chaplin, Almodovar or Lloyd and because they chose not to do a boxset, it's taking years for those to be released, to the point it's a bit silly.

This is something I've appreciated Arrow for doing in the case of Kieślowski, Fassbinder, Rohmer, etc.

[Luke M]

I agree. Isn't All About my Mother the only Almodovar in like 3 years? And the Chaplin's typically took 2 years for a bit and before that it was merely a year or so apart when they first rolled out.

Even worse, it seems that release was meant to coincide with the Pain and Glory release. Who knows, we might not get another Almodovar until he makes another movie and then it's released on home video!

[mteller]

And this is quite tiring. They have things like Chaplin, Almodovar or Lloyd and because they chose not to do a boxset, it's taking years for those to be released, to the point it's a bit silly.

Not to mention all the Satyajit Ray they're sitting on... *grumble grumble*

[tenia]

And probably many other instances.
While I understand milking their catalogue through individual releases rather than through boxsets which, I guess, aren't as much profitable per title, they're sitting on so many movies it's hard to understand why, at some point, they don't accept needing to speed up a bit the process for some directors whose movies could be released in a "bulk" way. I don't think anybody will complain if they do more often bix boxsets if it means finally having these titles released on digital home video. I mean : at this pace, the BD market might have disappeared totally before we get these remaining Harold Lloyds !

[dwk]

I wonder, with the success of the Bergman set and four boxsets on tap for this year (that we know of), with three of them potentially being big sets (the Bruce Lee can't be more than five titles), if they are going to be moving toward doing one or two big boxsets a year.

[FrauBlucher]

Can a UHD Taxi Driver be in play for Criterion?

[Calvin]

Can a UHD Taxi Driver be in play for Criterion?

It's already coming from Sony next month, as part of Columbia Classics Vol. 2. I imagine Sony will release it individually themselves next year.