Criterion and MGM

[med]

They either need to go all out in terms of supplements re: Killer's Kiss or just stick it with The Killing. Even calling it "minor Kubrick" would be generous.

[Tom Hagen]

They either need to go all out in terms of supplements re: Killer's Kiss or just stick it with The Killing. Even calling it "minor Kubrick" would be generous.

Perhaps they'll combine them together with three spine numbers at a single title price ala the recent Ozu's.

[Jeff]

They either need to go all out in terms of supplements re: Killer's Kiss or just stick it with The Killing. Even calling it "minor Kubrick" would be generous.

I imagine that the 67-minute Killer's Kiss will either be a $24.95 companion release to The Killing (like Louie Bluie or Patriotism), or will be tacked on as a supplement to The Killing (a la The Traveler, Permanent Vacation, et. al).

[Feego]

I love the comment from the Criterion Cast link: "They pick the most bizarre Kubrick films to include."

But what others could they possibly include? Warner is certainly going to hold on tight to their Kubricks, and Sony isn't likely to license out Dr. Strangelove, so what's left except Spartacus and the MGMs and Fear and Desire ?

[aox]

I love the comment from the Criterion Cast link: "They pick the most bizarre Kubrick films to include."

But what others could they possibly include? Warner is certainly going to hold on tight to their Kubricks, and Sony isn't likely to license out Dr. Strangelove, so what's left except Spartacus and the MGMs and Fear and Desire ?

I doubt a person that would make that observation has any idea about licensing and which companies own which films in a director's filmography. The person simply can't understand why Criterion would arbitrarily choose Paths of Glory over 2001 or A Clockwork Orange.

EDIT: Unless they are talking about the Phantom Four films... The secret films Kubrick made in the 60s and 70s to be left in a vault and secret until their release on his 100th Birthday (RE: Mark Twain's 5,000 page autobiography) as stipulated in his will and contracts. As far as I know, these are so secret that only the script of one of them (eg Napoleon) has been leaked and even that is giving the Kubrick Estate a huge headache in trying to convince people it was a film he never made. But to their credit, the thousands who worked on these films over the years have managed to keep their mouths shut.

[antnield]

Really, a Holocaust movie gets the thumbs up over the '70s Truffauts?

Europa Europa is a pretty good film though. And Holland also has some cred from directing a few episodes of The Wire.

...not to mention her collaborations with Kieslowski, Wajda and Bugajski. (Although her directorial career has been admittedly somewhat sporadic.)

[oldsheperd]

Certainly getting Criterion to cut a deal with Warners to license Barry Lyndon is feasible since all the other Warner Kubrick titles have seen decent SEs. However, I guess that's an altogether different story since Killer's Kiss wouldn't work as a release with Barry Lyndon.

[aox]

Barry Lyndon and Lolita are being prepared for a BD release currently by WB.

[Howard Roark]

Coleen Gray is still alive, perhaps she can be interviewed for the Red River and The Killing releases.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I actually e-mailed Mulvaney for the first time in about a year in a half a month ago about Thief (and Bruce Conner films which is unrelated to the MGM deal) and I got this:

"I'm sorry, there are no Bruce Conner films or Mann's THIEF on the slate at the moment, but we do appreciate your suggestions and I'll be sure to pass them along to my colleagues."

I want to be skeptical of this information, but they were the same site that leaked the New Hollywood set except but then again they were a lot more clear of that information. I posted on Criterion's Facebook a while ago while they were taking suggestions that Thief really, really needs a re-issue as the current DVD is atrocious. Has anyone seen the DVD? The opening scenes look like a low quality JPEG.

[JAP]

Re: MGM titles. Perhaps Jameson281 could finally give us some more details?...

[ianungstad]

I hope that those titles are on the horizon. Odd that Mulvaney said that Thief wasn't one of the titles but Criterion Cast believes otherwise.

These sound more likely than that other fellow who's been going around saying Criterion licensed 12 Angry Men, The Apartment and Some Like it Hot.

I half wonder if Criterion are leaking information to Criterion Cast on purpose to hype the BBS and MGM releases. They don't seem to be all that bothered that this info is getting out. Hmmmm

[oldsheperd]

I wouldn't count on Mulvaney to be forthcoming in the slightest. I remember asking him if any Peckinpah was in the works and he said no, then like a couple months later Straw Dogs was announced

[flyonthewall2983]

Thief would be a good choice, but I'd hope harder for a Criterion of The Insider.

[zedz]

I doubt Killer's Kiss, if it's released by Criterion, would be hidden away in a twofer. Mediocre as it may be, it's Kubrick, and it's got far stronger commercial prospects on its own that the majority of what they release. Perhaps they could beef it up with his early shorts, if they're available.

[Jeff]

A Mulvaney saying that Thief isn't "on the slate" currently doesn't imply that they haven't licensed it, only that it isn't currently in production. Criterion has supposedly licensed so much MGM product that I think it will be well into 2012 before it all comes out. They may not even have a date scheduled to start production on Thief. It could start a year from now or more. Probably depends on Mann's schedule.

[Cinephrenic]

I doubt Killer's Kiss, if it's released by Criterion, would be hidden away in a twofer. Mediocre as it may be, it's Kubrick, and it's got far stronger commercial prospects on its own that the majority of what they release. Perhaps they could beef it up with his early shorts, if they're available.

I don't believe the shorts will see a release because his widow is keeping Kubrick's wish not to.

[zedz]

I don't believe the shorts will see a release because his widow is keeping Kubrick's wish not to.

That may be an issue of ownership (which I don't know anything about). Didn't Kubrick also want to suppress Killer's Kiss - but couldn't because he didn't own it?

[MoonlitKnight]

Criterion's been teasing us with "Cul-de-Sac" for a few years now. Hopefully this finally seals the deal. :-k

[RyanGallagher]

Seems like confirmation since they could have said, "Ryan is a shitty reporter talking out of his ass, and we aren't even going to dignify his assertions with a confirmation or denial."

If they had said that, my heart would have been broken.

[Cinephrenic]

I don't believe the shorts will see a release because his widow is keeping Kubrick's wish not to.

That may be an issue of ownership (which I don't know anything about). Didn't Kubrick also want to suppress Killer's Kiss - but couldn't because he didn't own it?

I don't think it had to do with ownership, but he didn't think much of his shorts as artistically. Very much like him, being a perfectionist.

[Tribe]

I'm really surprised at the reception Killer's Kiss is receiving here...I mean "mediocre?" I can accept it's not Kubrick's greatest movie and it's not even a great noir, but it is an important film inasmuch as we can see a lot of the techniques that Kubrick would use in later films that would lead to his recognition as a great director. In terms of the merits of Killer's Kiss, it's hardly a bad film noir, especially taking into consideration the bare bones budget (a factor that at least 3/4 of all noirs created during the classic period suffer from), and it does do a nice job of depicting a seedy New York City. It's far from perfect, but I'd hesitate in calling it mediocre.

[zedz]

I should have added the proviso that I think a good handful of Kubrick's later films are also 'mediocre' or worse, so I'm not an especially balanced judge. Even though Killer's Kiss is cack-handed in several important respects (e.g. the handling of the narrative and performances), I do like its views of New York, and would much rather watch it again than The Shining!

[Tribe]

I should have added the proviso that I think a good handful of Kubrick's later films are also 'mediocre' or worse, so I'm not an especially balanced judge.

There isn't a whole lot to choose from what with only thirteen features over the course of 45 years, so since Kubrick only made a handful of movies to being with...but in any event I was using your view of KK as being mediocre as a means to express my surprise at the snubbing of the movie from the community here. Maybe I'm unwarrantedly overly pleased with it...as I am with any bit of classic noir being released by Criterion.

[stereo]

Killer's Kiss is a patchwork film with some great segments that doesn't hold together as a cohesive whole the way The Killing and subsequent films do. The NY views were not only inspired by his work with Look but specifically by Weegee and his book Naked City, which of course also inspired the Dassin film. The rooftop chase sequence toward the end is excellent and the real standout set is the mannequin factory which is downright existential. Also, the almost avant-garde ballerina scene accompanying a voiceover confession is a really intriguing segment. Again, as a narrative whole it fails, but as an evolution in Kubrick's filmmaking style it is a key link between his NY photography days and the evolution of his technique. If you don't like Kubrick or love noir, you probably won't care, but if you do, Killer's Kiss is definitely worth a watch.