The Criterion Channel -- Film and Content Discussion

[therewillbeblus]

What do the asterisks mean?

If you click the link, at the bottom of the page it says the asterisks note films that are only available to stream in the U.S.

[beamish14]

Holy shit, Jon Moritsugu! I love him. Never expected to see his work pop up here. Terminal U.S.A. must be one of the last American Playhouse features made before Republicans completely destroyed the National Endowment for the Arts

Coonskin is brilliant.

I like Night, Mother, but I do wish Kathy Bates had been able to reprise her Broadway performance

[ianthemovie]

I noticed Coonskin as well. Interesting considering that one of the boutique labels had plans to release it a while back and apparently couldn't find usable elements (is that what it was?). Maybe this bodes well for an upcoming physical release.

[beamish14]

I noticed Coonskin as well. Interesting considering that one of the boutique labels had plans to release it a while back and apparently couldn't find usable elements (is that what it was?). Maybe this bodes well for an upcoming physical release.

Yes, it was Scorpion. I believe the issue has long been music rights. I was just thinking about it recently because of the upcoming Hulu series on The Godfather, as this was the film that producer Al Ruddy made in lieu of the sequel

[bainbridgezu]

Has anyone checked out this month's Asian American film series and noticed if any of the entries start with Janus logos? Especially interested in Shopping for Fangs (which was a Pathfinder Pictures release, but not sure of that company's status these days), Fresh Kill (seemingly no longer with Strand), and Terminal USA.

[Timec]

“Terminal USA” starts with an AGFA logo… so maybe that’ll come from them at some point?

The others don’t seem to have any new logos, but “Shopping for Fangs” does says it was remastered by UCLA for its 20th anniversary.

[bainbridgezu]

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm really hoping Criterion double-bills Shopping for Fangs with Lin's solo debut Better Luck Tomorrow, which is joining this streaming program on August 1st.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Holy shit, Jon Moritsugu! I love him. Never expected to see his work pop up here. Terminal U.S.A. must be one of the last American Playhouse features made before Republicans completely destroyed the National Endowment for the Arts

Terminal U.S.A. wasn't made for American Playhouse (which continued until 1996). It was part of a series called "TV Families" commissioned by the then-new Independent Television Service (and produced by James Schamus in his pre-mogul days). The other well-known installment from that series was Haynes's Dottie Gets Spanked.

Given that the Criterion Channel is streaming these as part of an expanded version of the "My Sight Is Line with Visions" online retrospective—which is strangely still available for rent even though it supposedly ended in January—my guess is it uses the same masters, which is a little unfortunate since Terminal U.S.A. is the shorter broadcast version rather than the 70-minute director's cut from the DVD (which was described as a "director's rough cut" but doesn't seem any rougher than the TV edit). On the upside, it looks far better than it's ever looked before, and if AGFA releases a Blu as I assume they eventually will, I imagine they'd include both versions.

[yoloswegmaster]

Films being added to the Channel in June

[ryannichols7]

Films being added to the Channel in June

awesome, I can finally watch The Hole

[fdm]

Oh cool, Fire Music. Wondered if that was ever gonna show up somewhere.

[ando]

It's Pride month and this is the best selection of musicals Criterion could come up with to celebrate gay fabulousness? The clip they chose to feature in the overview is of Robert Preston as Toddy in Blake Edward's musical version of Victor-Victoria (the 1933 German version is streaming on the channel but not mentioned anywhere) yet it's not a part of the retrospective. We're presented with Gentleman Prefer Blondes, meanwhile Black Oprheus, which is nothing if not a fabulous musical (if au naturel), The Young Girls of Rochefort, Don't Play Us Cheap, Streisand's Yenyl (??? - selectors are either blind or straight) and Pyaasa, all musicals streaming on the channel which, like the curious picks, embody the same theme of "real world vs. the illusory world and how those things blur". They, too, have provided an escape for LGBTQ film lovers looking for alternatives to hetero-normative narritives. And, really, aren't we a bit weary of straight icons? And if they have to go straight/white where's Marlene Dietrich (the classic shape-shifter)?

That said, The Pirate is one of my faves. Happy Pride Month!

[Matt]

I thought the interview with Michael Koresky and Andrew Chan contextualized the selections really well (Victor/Victoria will be added July 1).

[ando]

I thought the interview with Michael Koresky and Andrew Chan contextualized the selections really well (Victor/Victoria will be added July 1).

Thanks. The post wasn't a criticism of the analysis, just the lack of inclusion. There's a veritable wealth of musical material that has inspired people in the LGBT community since movies have been made. And for Pride Month we get these seven? And, as I said, other films on CC fall within their purview and, fortunately, there are other options. HBO Max is currently streaming Victor/Victoria (if you're looking for a high res stream). Max also has Fame, Hairspray, Phantom of the Opera, The Wizard of Oz, Les Miserables, Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, Singin' In The Rain, West Side Story (original), Gigi, A Star Is Born (Garland version, not on the June CC Garland retrospective), Brigadoon, Shall We Dance, Pennies From Heaven (among others), plus Kushner's Angels In America, Kramer's The Normal Heart and Genet's Querelle in high res; not musicals but Pride classics.

[371229]

Problem with subtitles while watching The Longest Day...

While the characters are speaking french and german, I can't seem to turn on the english subtitles. Is there a way to do this? I can't seem to find a subtitle menu (other than the one on my Roku) for turning subtitles on or off. If I play the movie with the subtitles "ON" through my Roku, it just shows the subtitles for the english speaking parts.

[dwk]

On the channel, English subtitles for foreign languages are not removable, so assuming that dialogue is meant to be subtitled it should automatically display them. Are those dialogue passages meant to be subtitled?

[Fred Holywell]

Problem with subtitles while watching The Longest Day...

Those scenes should have hardcoded English subtitles. I just sent a quick email about the problem over to their support. Had good luck with them in the past on something similar, so trust they'll get it fixed soon.

[Fred Holywell]

They've fixed their upload of The Longest Day:

Good news! The update is now live and you can now watch THE LONGEST DAY with subtitles, as intended.
Thanks again for your patience and happy streaming.

https://www.criterionchannel.com/videos/the-longest-day

The subtitles for German and French will appear automatically.

[371229]

This is good news. Thanks for your help.

[yoloswegmaster]

Coming in July 2022.

[fdm]

Oh cool, Fire Music. Wondered if that was ever gonna show up somewhere.

This was well done by the way, anyone with any interest in (free) jazz might want to give this documentary a watch or two.

[unclehulot]

Has anyone else had problems with the resume function or getting partially played titles to add to the resume column? I've had a number of differing issues between my Firetv 4k stick and Apple TV (4th gen). At the moment NO titles will properly resume at all...they all start at the beginning whether there's a progress bar or "resume" or "start watching". Firetv stick shows the progress bar and "resume" but Apple TV is not even doing that, although with Apple TV I'm at least getting newly started titles to add to the resume column (with Firetv stick they don't, so you have to keep track of what you're playing or toggle off and back on to "my list"). I've not gotten any satisfaction in the past when I've contacted support, so I've given up. I must keep a log with whatever is in progress, noting the last time played. I'm calling bullshit on the Criterion Channel, because IF they don't like the VHX platform (I'm certainly not a fan) then GET IT TO WORK, please! Arrow video streaming also uses VHX, and guess what.....it WORKS for them. So, please Criterionchannel, take these criticisms and reports here seriously, and get the thing to work. When playing a physical disc is more convenient, something is very wrong.

[Roger Ryan]

Has anyone else had problems with the resume function or getting partially played titles to add to the resume column?...

For what it's worth, I've not had any problem with the Channel's resume function using a stand-alone Roku device.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Coming in July 2022.

I'm not holding my breath, but it would be cool if Petition were the five-hour director's cut, which I don't think has ever been made available to the general public.

[fiendishthingy]

August programming