2016 New Year's Drawing

[ianungstad]

Very odd...but The Bling Ring blu seems to be oop (at least only available from third party sellers) on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... dition=all" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

EDIT: The blu's of The Spectacular Now and Spring Breakers also seem to only be available from third party sellers too.

The third party status seems to only apply to early A24 releases. I also cross referenced this with the Barnes and Noble site and they do not have the blu editions of any of these 3 films available either. Very weird.

[DeprongMori]

Re: The Robert Drew Kennedy Films Collection

Remember Alec Baldwin had a recent visit to the Criterion closet? Well, there's this...

http://www.paleycenter.org/paleydocfest ... f-kennedy/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Oedipax]

EDIT: The blu's of The Spectacular Now and Spring Breakers also seem to only be available from third party sellers too.

I'd love to finally see Korine's alternate 'chopped and screwed' edit of Spring Breakers, if he ever actually cut it together and it wasn't just an idea he threw out there.

[gorgeousnothings]

The Criterion Collection already has a film called Phoenix on their Hulu page, so it doesn't have to be either one of those movies.

[The Narrator Returns]

I didn't know about that, but Christian Petzold has a phantom page, and his Phoenix is an IFC title, so even if this is hinting at the 1947 Phoenix, that one is almost certainly coming.

[Jeff]

The naked castaway on the island is almost certainly for Shindo's The Naked Island, which is already up on Hulu with a Criterion logo.

I would go further and guess that the release will be paired with Lucille Carra's documentary The Inland Sea since that film has recently received a major restoration and Lucille Carra has a "phantom page".

Criterion (as Voyager) has handled The Inland Sea since its initial video release 20+ years ago. I'd count on it.

The Criterion Collection already has a film called Phoenix on their Hulu page, so it doesn't have to be either one of those movies.

If Criterion ever were to release that film, it would almost certainly be in another Kinoshita Eclipse set.

[kainanj]

Could the entire drawing, or "road" portion of it, be hinting at an upgrade of La Strada ?

[George Kaplan]

The angel riding the bomb/rocket most suggests DR. STRANGELOVE but could also indicate ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS, which is understood to be upcoming: only the angel has wings, in contradistinction to the "flying" object on which he sits.

[mizo]

Given Oliver Stone has enough pull with Warners to get them to let Twilight Time license a title, perhaps the JFK clue is for JFK. No earthly idea what they could add to the existing release, but when has that stopped Criterion?

Didn't they decline to rerelease Silence of the Lambs for that very reason?

[Jeff]

The angel riding the bomb/rocket most suggests DR. STRANGELOVE but could also indicate ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS, which is understood to be upcoming: only the angel has wings, in contradistinction to the "flying" object on which he sits.

Can't believe I didn't think of the already-announced Only Angels Have Wings earlier. Surely that is what the angel indicates.

[What A Disgrace]

But the phoenix also has wings.

[CSM126]

Could the entire drawing, or "road" portion of it, be hinting at an upgrade of La Strada ?

I don't know about that, but between the radiation from the bomb and all those people trampling on it, you could say it'll be one ill, sore pass-o.


Goodnight, everybody!

[Minkin]

I go to bed, thinking most everything has been squared away, but of course we get the alternate theory gang enter into the picture while I'm away! Now I don't know what to do with the forthcoming page! I will do my best to list all of the alternative options -since (like Coat Unknown) it might not be until the actual announcement that we know what the clue points towards.

It seems bizarre that they would tease some things that they've already announced (which they haven't done since the very first New Years clue) - and I thought our initial mistake in identifying the card meant the others might be tricky alternative ideas as well... but thats certainly The Kid (Chaplin film) and he's stealing a bike, so all bets are off (I guess the release schedule was changed after Polan had submitted his drawing). It just seems bizarre to tease at Phoenix -which was already given a clue only a month ago or to make a clue for Easy Rider (it seemed too easy and odd that a standalone release would get a clue). But I can't think of anything better. I would've expected something trickier from Polan.

-The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums: I chose that one as Janus is currently touring a new 4K restoration -thus I'd given far higher probability to that coming out sooner than the Naruse film (though Criterion has the rights to like four films with Chrysanthemums in the title)

-I wondered about the Naked Island guy since he has some fairly distinctive hair or I thought it might be a caricature, but this puzzle is rather light on double clues and there isn't enough detail, so unless something jumps out at someone, I'll stick with it just being an entire clue for Naked Island.

-Those rolling dolls are certainly in a small valley. I think it was mentioned somewhere that Criterion was planning on releasing both Valley & Beyond the Valley of the Dolls together. Not sure why the dolls are rolling away though. But the valley + previous confirmation seals at least one aspect of the clue.

-Fallen Angels would probably be highly likely as Criterion has been picking up things from Kino -as Kino lets rights lapse - with their new focus on American studio films. Exterminating Angel is also highly likely, as it perhaps makes more sense with the clue, as a bomb tends to exterminate things. Only Angels Have Wings again seems weird to double tease with the newsletter clue haven been released not very long ago. All of these are highly likely regardless of any clue, thus perhaps I'll at least list the first two and keep them on until either Exterminating or Fallen Angel(s) has been announced.

- The center king is the one with the staff - so perhaps he is the King of Kings? This seems as likely as Road Trilogy or Three Kings.

- It seems weird to have a planet for The Bling Ring. Fantastic Planet has been speculated for years (although I like the 2001 notion). I'll put both as possibilities.

-The entire JFK mobile is confusing. As there is the "vote for JFK" badge, I think at least that indicates the Robert Drew documentaries. The question then remains about the assassination car (JFK) and the playing card -which some have posited as Jackie O, but then why only have her in the car? I still would think it has something to do with Alice in Wonderland - given the card suit + hand. Perhaps a look at this list might be of help. Since the Švankmajer one is recently (but poorly) accounted for, I can only think of the 1933 or the 1976 versions, but I don't know why Criterion would bother with either. Perhaps the Chabrol film -Alice or the Last Escapade? Might make sense given the finality of the assassination surrounding the car.

-Not sure about the parade, unless its just a framing device. Big Parade has had a bluray already. What about Le Procès (The Trial)? Kino announced they were releasing it years ago, and then nothing ever came of it, then they lost the rights (I believe). Unless its Triumph of the Will, as that movie is like 50% parades

-If only the clock had a cowboy hat on top of it, we could put one running joke to rest finally.

As for the tallied list, we thus have:

Wenders' Road Trilogy / Three Kings / King of Kings
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
Lone Wolf and Cub
Fantastic Planet / Bling Ring
In the Valley of the Dolls + Beyond the Valley of the Dolls / Bubble
Dr. Strangelove
Exterminating Angel / Fallen Angels / Only Angels Have Wings
JFK (?)
Primary + Robert Drew documentaries
=(Queen of Hearts clue)= Alice or the Last Escapade?
The New World
Phoenix / Flight of the Phoenix
The Kid
Easy Rider
Bicycle Thieves
A Taste of Honey
Chimes at Midnight
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums
Here Comes Mr. Jordon
The Squid and the Whale
The Naked Island
=(Parade clue)=

[Lowry_Sam]

I still can't figure out which of the images is for The Dekalog, surely 2016 is the year.

...and I'm trying to make out how one of the celestial images could portend Ikarie XB-1.

...and unfortunately, The Young Man With A Horn is actually carrying a sax, but maybe it's one of those elusive double clues.

....and the first thing the baby carriage evoked was Bad Taste. An early Peter Jackson box (The Valley/Bad Taste/Meet The Feebles/Dead Alive) would get me more excited than Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls, but I'd probably be in the minority there.

At least I have Chimes At Midnight & The Kid to look forward to.

[palefire]

Wasn't The New World on last year's drawing?

[RSTooley]

It's a stretch, but that sax player is performing really close to the clue for Chimes at Midnight.

Bertrand Taernier's 'Round Midnight, anyone?

[CSM126]

There was an old tyme sailboat, but that wound up being The Emigrants and The New Land.

Although, fwiw, repeated New Year clues wouldn't be a new thing. Y tu mama tambien was in a few of them during its long, long delay.

[Feego]

If the Queen of Hearts (for some reason I keep coming back to that one) is pointing to some Alice adaptation, I think the two most likely ones are the 1933 Paramount film or the 1966 BBC adaptation directed by Jonathan Miller. The 1933 version is no masterpiece, but it's a fascinating Hollywood relic owned by Universal, so there's a definite possibility they would license the title to Criterion, and there would certainly be room for some great supplements on both Lewis Carroll and William Cameron Menzies's fantastic art direction. Not to mention some discussion of the 15 minutes cut from the film after its preview that are presumably lost. The film is up for streaming in HD on Amazon, but I have no idea how it looks.

The 1966 version, featuring Peter Sellers, Sir Michael Redgrave, and Sir John Gielgud, was released on DVD by Home Vision Entertainment back in the early 2000s and later by BBC Home Video. Both featured excellent supplements (with the BBC version containing another Alice-themed film written by Dennis Potter that served as a primer for his later Dreamchild), but both are currently out of print. And before anyone suggests that the card is a hint for Dreamchild, let me point out that the Queen of Hearts makes no appearance in that film, much as I would love to see Criterion release it.

[Omensetter]

I'm at least grateful Criterion blew-up this year's drawing, perhaps in response to the snowblood splotch last year. (I was silently hoping this year's clue would be a "blown-up" photograph ala last year's A Room with a View, hinting at the Antonioni.)

Kings and Queen should probably be added to any comprehensive list going forward. Multiple kings + one queen, Desplechin visiting the office in October (rhapsodizing about Noting Hill!), the Amalric interview...

[movielocke]

I feel like the hand is a separate clue from the queen

[Yaanu]

Maybe we'll luck out and we'll get a box set of several "Alice in Wonderland" adaptations, similar to the "The Killers" release.

[CSM126]

The Kid is stealing the motorcycle, which you might say makes him something of a Boy Hood?

[FrauBlucher]

With the clue of Dr Strangelove forthcoming, what could Criterion do for this release that would be different or better than the Sony release, which was stacked with supplements? Does anyone have a list of what the supps were on the CC laserdisc?

[CSM126]

With the clue of Dr Strangelove forthcoming, what could Criterion do for this release that would be different or better than the Sony release, which was stacked with supplements? Does anyone have a list of what the supps were on the CC laserdisc?

Exclusive transfer, personally supervised and approved by Kubrick, that presents the film in variable aspect ratios of 1.33:1 and 1.66:1
The original theatrical trailer
Rare 1964 Scopitone: "My Teenage Fallout Queen"
An atomic age archive, packed with Cold War-era info about nuclear weapons. Includes the infamous "Duck and Cover" nuclear preparedness video short!
Archival footage and rare photographs

[hearthesilence]

Mike Leigh's High Hopes is definitely coming up - anyone see anything that could represent that?