Criterion and Warner Bros.

[Antoine Doinel]

Home Theater Forum will be doing one of their chats with Warner on March 23. They've been kind of useless the last few times, but this may be our chance to find out the details on the Criterion deal.

And yet again to ask about the silents (Greed, Vidor, etc.) and Magnificent Ambersons.

Oh I can give you the answer on the silents and MA in advance: "These are very important to us, and we're working on it."

[mikeohhh]

Whoa, I just thought of something. With Criterion on a big Rossellini kick in '09, might we see a box of the Ingrid Bergman trilogy (either Stromboli or Europa '51 was made by RKO) now?

[Giles]

would this also include New Line (since it's under the WB umbrella) - I'd love to see MENACE II SOCIETY with all the laserdisc extras on DVD.

[Dr. Snaut]

Any possibility of Barry Lyndon being licensed by Criterion? It is one of the few films that Warners has neglected to upgrade, and the film could use a nice facelift. And it's not my favorite Kubrick film, or anything like that.

[Cde.]

I'm hoping that's the reason that the film was (along with Lolita) the only DVD in the old Kubrick collection Warner didn't reissue, and not that next to Clockwork/Shining/Jacket ect it wasn't considered hip and therefore viable enough for another release.

I think the film is wonderful and one of my favourite films of Kubrick, so I would love to see it released. Obviously Warner doesn't care too much about it, and Criterion could make a lot of money from a nice set.

[Dr. Snaut]

Including the source material would be an incredible (and rather large) supplement if Criterion decided to pick up Barry Lyndon.

[kaujot]

If I recall rightly, when they include a novel, it's usually NOT in print at the time (unless I'm wrong about The Man Who Fell to Earth).

[Dr. Snaut]

Was The Furies out of print?

[Matt]

Was The Furies out of print?

The DVD is the only currently-in-print edition of the novel. In fact, I think it's the first edition printed since a UK edition in 1974.

[LightBulbFilm]

I'm assuming the coming titles are due to The Warner Archive

[Forrest Taft]

"A limited group of titles at the behest of their directors..." I guess that means Zabriskie Point ain´t coming.

[ianungstad]

Before Sunrise/Before Sunset is probably not in the works. Linklater's company told me that SubUrbia is the only Criterion title in the works. Marc English also knows nothing of these proofs that Austinfilms was talking about. Speaking of which, Austin obviously wasn't being honest with us at all with Warners denying Zabriskie Point and saying that the deal is only for a small handful of titles at the request of their directors. It seems very likely Badlands is one of these titles as it was not denied in the chat, like Zabriskie was.

Three possibilities come to mind. Only one of which I actually hope bears fruit:

1) The Fountain (Huge box office bomb, Warners don't give a crap about this movie, Aronofsky desperate for a spine number)
2) Se7en (Prior mentioned that he and Fincher talked about redoing some of Fincher's other films but nothing concrete that he knows of yet)
3) Performance (Criterion and Nic Roeg have a strong relationship, the old WB disc was crap and just because it would be so very awesome to have a special edition of this)

[Max von Mayerling]

Oh I can give you the answer on the silents and MA in advance: "These are very important to us, and we're working on it."

Well, you nailed that one.

[kaujot]

Just because I want to prolong the hope and optimism, would they really mention that Zabriskie is coming via Criterion after their own barebones version? I can't imagine why they'd take the chance of cutting into their profits. Right? Right?

[ianungstad]

Did Criterion deny Cronenberg's Crash? It also fits with the scant info WB provided tonight. Boy, were they being cagey on that question. You could tell it wasn't a topic they wanted to talk about.

[LightBulbFilm]

Brewster McCloud is a shoe in.

[domino harvey]

Brewster McCloud is a shoe in.

Did Criterion break out the Ouija?

[ianungstad]

Everyone talks about The Devils but Warners has a pile of other Ken Russell films as well that have been totally ignored. He's alive and well, it would be nice if Criterion would take some of Russell's better films off Warner's hands and do some of these films justice on home video. Does anyone think Criterion would have an interest in starting a relationship with Russell? (For some reason I vaguely remember a doc of his was a supplement on a Criterion disc...) Another director who is alive and well is Alejandro Jodorowsky. Warner Bros is sitting on his film The Rainbow Thief. Wouldn't that be a great film to "rescue". I just hope that the films Criterion grabbed are interesting. If it ends up just being a bunch of subpar films from contemporary directors who want spine numbers (SubUrbia, The Fountain) I'll be dissapointed and consider this a wasted opportunity. I don't really like Warner's comment from the chat that this deal invoves films from directors who are currently active/living.

[bradass]

An upgraded edition of Dead Ringers might be a possibility. Wouldn't mind seeing the film in the right aspect ratio, anamorphic AND possibly in HD...

[Antoine Doinel]

I'm hoping Criterion gets access to Barry Lyndon and Lolita since WB has confirmed they aren't going to be doing anything with them.

Any plans for Barry Lyndon and Lolita?

Warner: If you mean new editions, no.

[Ashirg]

Kubrick's "behest" to release these titles via Criterion will make Warners shit their pants...

[Buttery Jeb]

I wonder if any of the New Line John Waters pictures would be part of this deal. It's hard to see them fitting into Warner's distribution plans.

[exte]

I'm hoping Criterion gets access to Barry Lyndon and Lolita since WB has confirmed they aren't going to be doing anything with them.

Any plans for Barry Lyndon and Lolita?

Warner: If you mean new editions, no.

Pure shame about Lyndon.

[fdm]

Pure shame about Lyndon.

I think the word is "pathetic".

Edit: Actually, both of them would make for bitchin' blu-rays.

[stereo]

Wow, that response by Warner actually makes me viscerally angry in a way most of these shoddy decisions do not. It's a veritable crime not to have a Lyndon Blu-Ray on the agenda, near or long term. Somebody there needs a lesson in satisfaction from Lord Bullingdon. &*$%$#!!