Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[Bressonaire]

An extra movie on High Sierra too.

[Blutarsky]

Can’t even begin to explain how happy I am High Sierra is getting this gorgeous treatment. An amazing month of releases!

[Pavel]

Uncut Gems, holy fuck

[Ribs]

Glad to see there is apparently a permanent October “waste of everyone’s time” contemporary cinema release

[bainbridgezu]

Uncut Gems, holy fuck

I think you mean

[soundchaser]

Glad to see there is apparently a permanent October “waste of everyone’s time” contemporary cinema release

I like Uncut Gems a lot, but Criterion devoting time and resources to A24 films is...not something that sets my heart aflutter.

[Ribs]

Glad to see there is apparently a permanent October “waste of everyone’s time” contemporary cinema release

I like Uncut Gems a lot, but Criterion devoting time and resources to A24 films is...not something that sets my heart aflutter.

… except when they are titles like The Souvenir that A24 passed on doing a real release. (Or if and when 4K comes to pass).

It certainly won’t help with the people insisting a Moonlight release is urgent.

[bainbridgezu]

Glad to see there is apparently a permanent October “waste of everyone’s time” contemporary cinema release

[willoneill]

For a movie that was supposed to be "free" with my Netflix subscription, I will ultimately end up paying to see Uncut Gems in theatre, and buying it twice on blu-ray. And they say the movie business is dying ... not on my watch!

[Pavel]

I get the people that want Criterion to not focus on very popular contemporary films, but I adore Uncut Gems and my knee-jerk happiness completely and utterly silences those concerns. Might've felt a little bit differently if I'd actually went ahead and bought the regular blu

[Apperson]

This also means it's finally getting released on blu-ray in the UK which I am very happy about.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I'm not interested in about 95% of the contemporary titles Criterion releases, but it's worth noting that most studios have zero interest in doing the sort of packed special editions that were common in the peak era of DVD. It makes sense to ask Criterion to do this instead. For instance, I believe the commentary on this disk was intended for the original Blu-ray, but ultimately wasn't included because of the fast turnaround Lionsgate went through to publish the first Blu-ray, making it too late to include on the disc. Obviously Lionsgate doesn't care about their releases other than just putting them out (aren't most of the A24 releases single layered?). I just wonder if this means there's a future or not in those self-produced A24 releases like their Midsommer special edition.

[Ribs]

This also means it's finally getting released on blu-ray in the UK which I am very happy about.

I would not count on that happening.

[Pavel]

Netflix owns it in Europe, so wouldn't that mean that Criterion should have no problem with releasing it there?

[Ribs]

Netflix has not licensed a single title to Criterion they do not own worldwide rights to. I do not see any reason they would be interested in releasing this title abroad.

[therewillbeblus]

I get the people that want Criterion to not focus on very popular contemporary films, but I adore Uncut Gems and my knee-jerk happiness completely and utterly silences those concerns. Might've felt a little bit differently if I'd actually went ahead and bought the regular blu

I unfortunately did just buy the regular blu... this seems like a solid package, and I might try to gift the unwrapped blu-ray to someone out there I know who doesn't care about extras, but yes, this is more of the contemporary streaming deal annoyance I've been griping about (and for those in favor of the streaming deals who claimed that this is the only way the films are getting blu-ray releases, surely this should have been one of the last titles to upgrade under that logic).

For those of us that are region free, it's been a few frustrating months (at least for me, since I already own the MoC Onibaba and Arrow The Incredible Shrinking Man). I'm always happy to save money, but this release trajectory is selfishly disheartening.

[Glowingwabbit]

Less so with Onibaba (luckily I never bought the MoC), but at least The Incredible Shrinking Man release looks to beat out Arrow when it comes to special features (I also own the Arrow so I'm not sure I'll grab this one for awhile).

[PfR73]

While I agree that it's disappointing to see Uncut Gems released [though the supplement package does look good] instead of other A24/Lionsgate films that don't have a Blu-ray, it's a completely different issue than "streaming deals". Uncut Gems is not from a streaming service, it was an A24 release and already has a physical Blu.

[Ribs]

It is basically the same as them doing Inside Llewyn Davis, except there is the looming inevitability of 4K titles that makes it feel especially pointless, as if they just waited at least it would be offering some kind of upgrade.

[therewillbeblus]

While I agree that it's disappointing to see Uncut Gems released [though the supplement package does look good] instead of other A24/Lionsgate films that don't have a Blu-ray, it's a completely different issue than "streaming deals". Uncut Gems is not from a streaming service, it was an A24 release and already has a physical Blu.

I looped it in though because of Netflix's Sandler deal in the states, making it essentially both here. Sure it was technically released by A24 and not Netflix, but I'm not going to get pedantic about the difference because it's actually not "a completely different issue" from my initial point from months ago, which was about prioritizing available titles. I could care less if it's from a streaming service or A24, as long as it's already available in 1080p- but the last conversation was sparked by Criterion's partnering with multiple streamers (it could have been a bunch of studios and a claim to release already-released-on-blu films and would be the same difference to me regarding a problematic prioritization structure). This only exacerbates that point by being available on both mass physical and streaming accessible channels.

[FrauBlucher]

Raoul Walsh had an early phantom page that has now come to fruition. High Sierra was the title that was heavily guessed, along with The Roaring Twenties (which is what I thought). I still have hopes that the Mervyn LeRoy phantom page turns into I was a Fugitive from a Chain Gang... Shortly before they pulled the carpet out from under George Feldenstein, he had said on a podcast that he had hopes that Warner Archive would release A Night at the Opera but nothing was imminent. Maybe now this is in play for Criterion.

[PfR73]

While I agree that it's disappointing to see Uncut Gems released [though the supplement package does look good] instead of other A24/Lionsgate films that don't have a Blu-ray, it's a completely different issue than "streaming deals". Uncut Gems is not from a streaming service, it was an A24 release and already has a physical Blu.

I looped it in though because of Netflix's Sandler deal in the states, making it essentially both here. Sure it was technically released by A24 and not Netflix, but I'm not going to get pedantic about the difference because it's actually not "a completely different issue" from my initial point from months ago, which was about prioritizing available titles. I could care less if it's from a streaming service or A24, as long as it's already available in 1080p- but the last conversation was sparked by Criterion's partnering with multiple streamers (it could have been a bunch of studios and a claim to release already-released-on-blu films and would be the same difference to me regarding a problematic prioritization structure). This only exacerbates that point by being available on both mass physical and streaming accessible channels.

It is a different issue. There is a big difference between releasing films from a streaming service that have never had a Blu-ray release and re-releasing a film from a physical distributor that has. If Uncut Gems had been released through Netflix in the US and had never been released on Blu-ray then there would be no problem with this release for me.

[therewillbeblus]

I realize that we disagree here, which was established back in March, but as you were responding to my post and quoting "streaming deals" as if that was my rigid sticking point in the comprehensive position, I felt obligated to clarify that it's the least important part of the context of my post, as I was referring to my initial spanning point that conflicts with yours. I said, "the contemporary streaming deal annoyance I've been griping about" which is referring to the entire issue about widening the net of prioritization to contemporary films that are accessible in blu-ray quality, and using "streaming deal" as a signifier because that was where the argument originated from four months ago. Whether or not this counts as a Netflix property 'technically' vs. one streaming on Netflix through another deal is entirely moot regarding my post being responded to, as it's pertaining to an ethos of prioritization and not the literalism of the source. So while it may be "a completely different issue" for you, it's the exact same issue I was referring to upthread and back in March for me.

[Ribs]

Just as a random aside, it strikes me as amusing to see two very old phantom pages, for Raoul Walsh and Jack Arnold, “solved” in one month. Everyone thought Jack Arnold had to be this movie and it wouldn’t surprise me if there was another Walsh movie that the page was created for seeing as he made so many but it’s, again, nice to see that loop closed for those two names.

[Tuco]

HIGH SIERRA - yippee! Ah, if only STRAWBERRY BLONDE would wind up in the collection - Cagney, de Havilland at her most winsome, Jack Carson and Alan Hale at their hammiest, not to mention the Epstein Bros. screenplay. Oh, James Wong Howe too. I have the mediocre Warner Archive MOD, but still watch it from time to time.