Criterion Newsletter (Part 2)

[Shooger]

IMDb gives this...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1548539/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RyanGallagher]

I'm crossing my fingers for Cabeza de Vaca.

[bamwc2]

Well, according to the imdb, there is a production company by he name of "Skinny Cow"...with a single credit to their name. Perhaps this clue is trying to tell us that they've finally secured the rights to the coveted Skinny Cow vaults.

Seriously though, the emaciated states of the cows have to be a part of the clue, and with the exception of Satantango (which I haven't seen and know that I really should as soon as possible), I can't remember any malnourished cows in any of the aforementioned films.

[jwd5275]

Going off of this...could these cows be Hung(a)ry?

Criterion has randomly tweeted about Satantango before, but I always thought any weight put to that would be wish-fufilment on my part...

(though I do think the Facets version is out of print)...

[Tribe]

They have randomly tweeted about Satantango before, but I always thought any weight put to that would be wish-fufilment on my part...

Who's they?

I think if it were Satantango, some sort of clue would have leaked quite a while ago.

[swo17]

I like the Hungary angle but I doubt it's Satantango and have no clue what else it could be.

[knives]

Wouldn't it be hungry cows instead of skinny though.

[Harmonov]

Not terribly long ago, they asked for suggestions of Hungarian films that should be added to the Collection on Facebook, didn't they?

And can't one assume that if a cow is skinny/emaciated like those in the clue that they are hungry?

[swo17]

I thought of Las Hurdes, but I don't remember if there are any cows in that one.

I don't believe there are. If they had Las Hurdes, the obvious animals to use would be the donkey covered in honey or the goat falling over the mountain side.

[onedimension]

You can't spell 'Andrei Rublev' without the 'b' and 'v' in 'bovine'

[Drucker]

I have no idea, but the drinking dog was called wackky drunk dog, these are called wacky skinny cows. Do they always use the prefix "wacky" in their clues? Or could there be some sort of box set...?

[Harmonov]

I just found this:

satantango, a film by bela tarr
3 dvd by artificial eye. includes sound by gyorgy kovacs, cinematogrphy by gabor medvigy, music by mihaly vig and screenplay by novelist laszlo krasznahorkai.
bells, cows, the distruction of old furniture, dipsomania, rain, dogs, and many other beautiful things, and an overwhelming drone soundtrack.
for more information, see: "bela tarr" published in 2001 by filmunio hungary, budapest and the museum of modern art new york.

Not sure I can put much stock in it, but thought that I'd pass it along.

[ianungstad]

Kind of reminds me of Hud, in which the cattle get sick with disease and the government orders the herd to be slaughtered, devastating the family farm. I haven't seen Hud in years though....not sure what the clue is for.

[swo17]

I just found this:

satantango, a film by bela tarr

Well yeah, Satantango has cows in it, but not that type of cow (though it might be difficult to draw cows any other way and have them still be recognizable as cows), and not particularly starving ones (though if that detail is only meant to signify the country, perhaps that can be overlooked). More tellingly though, the Facets DVD (which could, if nothing else, stand to be anamorphized) is not that old and is still in print, as far as I know.

I have no idea, but the drinking dog was called wackky drunk dog, these are called wacky skinny cows. Do they always use the prefix "wacky" in their clues? Or could there be some sort of box set...?

Yes, all the clues have "wacky" in the filename.

[connor]

On the SATANTANGO possibility: perhaps they're "skinny cows" because they're so "Hungary."

[bamwc2]

Kind of reminds me of Hud, in which the cattle get sick with disease and the government orders the herd to be slaughtered, devastating the family farm. I haven't seen Hud in years though....not sure what the clue is for.

It's been awhile since I've seen Hud as well but I don't think that the cows actually looked sick in the film. If memory serves, we just see one cow lying down and then are told that its hoof and mouth disease (or something to that effect). Sorry about the spoilers.

[headacheboy]

I do believe that Criterion released the Andrzej Wajda box Three War Films and Facets Kanal and Ashes and Diamonds were both still in print. And Criterion can occassionally keep a secret: remember how astonished we all were at an entire box set of John Cassavettes movies?

Out of all the Bela Tarr films that have been released in the US over the past few years, Satantango is the one I've yet to see. I'm not adverse to long films, I've just not been willing to sit in front of a Facets DVD for seven hours. I'm still getting over the trauma of watching Facets Heimat VHS series!

[swo17]

Was the Facets release of Close-up in print when Criterion announced its own release?

[matrixschmatrix]

There's a cow in a kitchen in Miracle at Morgan's Creek at one point, isn't there? I recall there being rumors for that one floating around.

[swo17]

Yes (and didn't the cow come in the house because it was hungry?) but presumably if that were the film there would have been six cows in the drawing.

[arthurpewty]

Loach's "Poor Cow"?

[Tribe]

I wonder what Bill Melidoneas on Facebook thinks...

And, the cows in Hud were not black and white (i.e., Holstein) cows.

[joshua]

I hope this clue is better than the groan-worthy "The Thin Blue Line" (the thin bovine) non-joke that is coming to mind. If not, then shame on you wacky pic scribbler!

[justeleblanc]

The Hungarian film MY WAY HOME, by Miklos Jancso? I believe it is about cows.

[Mr. Deltoid]

My penny's worth: Ken Loach's Poor Cow (1967).