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zedz wrote:with William Friedkin as my gold standard for worthlessness!!

Achhhgghhhg.. Mein Gott! His commentary for the great Leopard Man has got to be among the worst commentaries ever recorded. Certainly up there (though of a completely different kind of badness, the Nothing Worth Saying So I'll Narrate variety) with crap like the CC Pandora strain (the So Irritatingly Overwrought And Out To Lunch I'd Rather You'd-a Narrated variety)

HerrSchreck wrote: Achhhgghhhg.. Mein Gott! His commentary for the great Leopard Man has got to be among the worst commentaries ever recorded. Certainly up there (though of a completely different kind of badness, the Nothing Worth Saying So I'll Narrate variety) with crap like the CC Pandora strain (the So Irritatingly Overwrought And Out To Lunch I'd Rather You'd-a Narrated variety)

If you haven't heard them (if you haven't heard them - don't!), the Bergman commentaries are sort of both of those things (banal and obvious and pretentious and ob(li)vious) at once, layered beneath a smug gnomic quality that makes you want to do a Salo on yourself.

Yes, it's unbelievable that the guy who did them even seems to be a Bergman biographer. He only explains what we actually see (not even details, but really only the MOST obvious things), then makes a pause, and then rambles on in a slow-going manner explaining again what we see. I couldn't stand this any longer than 15 minutes or so. Much worse than "Salo", really.

now that we are on the Bergman topic. Any news on Bergman titles, anything???

Tommaso wrote:Yes, it's unbelievable that the guy who did them even seems to be a Bergman biographer. He only explains what we actually see (not even details, but really only the MOST obvious things), then makes a pause, and then rambles on in a slow-going manner explaining again what we see. I couldn't stand this any longer than 15 minutes or so. Much worse than "Salo", really.

The bits of the two I've heard were boring/off-putting and like you I couldn't stay with them for very long. I idly wondered if the guy just didn't have the time (either calendar or paid hours) to crank out that many commentaries with any quality in what was probably a shortish period. It's possible he's better than what he displayed here, but even indulging with that kindness, his voice is not really something I'd care to listen to for 2 hours no matter what's coming out of it.

This is interesting: I hear that both the Pedro Costa and Jean-Pierre Gorin sets will be Criterion, not Eclipse. Apparently they didn't want to waste the extras they produced, even though both directors are arguably more in line with the Eclipse model (i.e., "introductory" sets for lesser-known filmmakers like Bernard or Shepitko).

Perkins Cobb wrote:This is interesting: I hear that both the Pedro Costa and Jean-Pierre Gorin sets will be Criterion, not Eclipse. Apparently they didn't want to waste the extras they produced, even though both directors are arguably more in line with the Eclipse model (i.e., "introductory" sets for lesser-known filmmakers like Bernard or Shepitko).

Where did you "hear" this?

It was Limbaugh's lead-in story yesterday

I am glad to see The Odd Man Out is likely to be getting released.

Thought I'd try for a longshot and ask about Roy Andersson's You, the Living, but I got a no from Mulvaney:

To the best of my knowledge we have no plans for "You, the Living" at this time. Thanks for your email!

Sincerely,

Jon Mulvaney

I asked Mulvaney about the possibilty of seeing more cult movies. (I used The Blob and Fiend Without A face as exmaples) He replied that the only thing he could think of was a Japanese horror themed box from Eclipse that's on the schedule.

I would assume this would be Goke: Bodysnatchers from Hell, Princess from The Moon and whatever other similar genre fare they have the rights too.

Anyways, J-Horror Eclipse box confirmed and I guess this also confirms that "themed" Eclipse boxes will be debuting sooner rather than later.

This is the relevent portion of the email from Mulvaney : ...However we are going to release a Japanese Eclipse set next year which could be considered part of the horror/cult genre. That's all I'm at liberty to say for now, but feel free to check back.

ianungstad wrote:I asked Mulvaney about the possibilty of seeing more cult movies. (I used The Blob and Fiend Without A face as exmaples) He replied that the only thing he could think of was a Japanese horror themed box from Eclipse that's on the schedule.

I would assume this would be Goke: Bodysnatchers from Hell, Princess from The Moon and whatever other similar genre fare they have the rights too.

Anyways, J-Horror Eclipse box confirmed and I guess this also confirms that "themed" Eclipse boxes will be debuting sooner rather than later.

The Yotsuya Story by Nakagawa that Criterion has will likely be included, along with the possibility of Kuroneko or even Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees.

Would be cool set:

Goke, Body Snatchers from Hell
Princess from the Moon
The Yotsuya Story
Kuroneko
Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees

I'm hoping the J-horror set won't include stuff like Kuroneko or Cherry Trees that has an acceptable R2 release. But I'm looking forward to Goke - I rented the UK disc recently and couldn't watch it. Some kind of weird conversion or interlacing issue.

I'm no expert on Japanese Horror, but I have seen Princess from the Moon and it doesn't seem to belong in that company at all. But then again, I've been scratching my head about that choice ever since I heard Criterion had the rights: it's a mediocre period film generously ripping off Superman and Close Encounters. It's weird, but not weird in a good way, and much less interesting than it sounds.

This news does at least confirm that there's still an intention to issue non-director-themed Eclipse set, even though they don't seem to be in any hurry to do so.

Yes, we plan to release some titles by Jean Grémillon eventually but there's nothing on the schedule at the moment. Thanks for your email!

Best,

Jon Mulvaney

Nothing startlingly new here and no specified titles but I thought I'd share as I couldn't find any definite confirmation other than Remorques and Lumiere being in Cinephrenic's possibilities list.

Yes, we plan to release some titles by Jean Grémillon eventually but there's nothing on the schedule at the moment. Thanks for your email!

Best,

Jon Mulvaney

Now this is a letdown. I had gotten the impression that Grémillon was a distinct certainty for Eclipse in the foreseeable future. Perhaps it was just Schreck's relentless advocating.... Okay, more Ozu then....

Yes, I would've liked the Gremillon sooner rather than later, too. But hey, they haven't quite released every single movie of Louis Malle's yet, so ... priorities, you know.

ianungstad wrote:He replied that the only thing he could think of was a Japanese horror themed box from Eclipse that's on the schedule.

I remember reading somewhere that Janus had the rights to Hausu, maybe that could be a possibility in the box set (although I'd personally prefer a stand alone release for that one).

Japanese Ghost Stories?

Hausu
The Yotsuya Story
Kuroneko
Under the Blossoming Cherry Trees

Goke, Body Snatchers from Hell was actually taken off the list when a member told me that an untold DVD company had plans to bring this out.

Isn't Goke a Janus title though? It would seem strange for Criterion to license their films to other studios.

After thinking about it, if it's a director themed set, I would guess Nobuo Nakagawa ("Jigoku")...as it would still fit Mulvaney's vague response. Black Cat Mansion and some of his other films?

ianungstad wrote:Isn't Goke a Janus title though? It would seem strange for Criterion to license their films to other studios.

After thinking about it, if it's a director themed set, I would guess Nobuo Nakagawa ("Jigoku")...as it would still fit Mulvaney's vague response. Black Cat Mansion and some of his other films?

Criterion has released this though. It wouldn't make sense to re-release in a barebone lower tier label.

With La Promesse OOP, and Rosetta unreleased thus far, I wonder if Criterion would be able to, and willing to, render the Artificial Eye disc a non-entity.

Cinephrenic wrote:

ianungstad wrote:Isn't Goke a Janus title though? It would seem strange for Criterion to license their films to other studios.

After thinking about it, if it's a director themed set, I would guess Nobuo Nakagawa ("Jigoku")...as it would still fit Mulvaney's vague response. Black Cat Mansion and some of his other films?

Criterion has released this though. It wouldn't make sense to re-release in a barebone lower tier label.

I believe ianungstad was referring to 'Nobuo Nakagawa (director of"Jigoku")' as the potential focus of a director-themed Eclipse set, which might include 'Black Cat Mansion and some of his other films,' not Jigoku itself.

That would be a treat. As a friend of mine said, Nakagawa was the Mario Bava of the Japanese horror film and his films are very hard to come by when you exclude the Japanese DVDs and the Greek port (bootlegs?) long OOP.

I would love for Criterion to release an Eclipse set based either on Nakagawa solely or on the Shintoho horror film which he was major part of.

What are the odds that it could include A Page of Madness?