Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 4

[Jeff]

Some more Janus confirmations playing at BAM/PFA under French Classics series:

Toni (1934, Renoir)
Hôtel du Nord (1938, Carne)
The Italian Straw Hat (Claire, 1928)
Les grandes manoeuvres (Clair, 1955)
Douce (Autant-Lara, 1943)

All great news. I missed out on the MoC Toni, and would love to see Criterion do it on a loaded Blu-ray. They should pair it with A Day in the Country like BAM/PFA is doing.

Those lucky enough to be in the vicinity of this series also have the opportunity to see an imported 35mm print of Grémillon's L’étrange Monsieur Victor from Institut Français.

[Noodles1977]

Does anyone know whether Beneix's DIVA and Demy's UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG have any chance for a Criterion release in the foreseeable future?

Have been waiting for these forever. Really want to see Criterion blu rays to do these films justice.

[knives]

The former is a Studio Canal title so won't be coming to Criterion.

[beamish13]

Beineix's entire oeuvre was released in a very handsome set by Libra. Check it out-it's got his preferred cuts of ROSELYNE & THE LIONS and BETTY BLUE.

[Noodles1977]

Beineix's entire oeuvre was released in a very handsome set by Libra. Check it out-it's got his preferred cuts of ROSELYNE & THE LIONS and BETTY BLUE.

Thanks. I picked up a box set from Amazon for just around $30. I actually have most of his films on DVD, sometimes double dipping with difference releases. I just want to have the best possible transfer for DIVA. Watched it a few years ago on the big screen when it was restored. Have to say that it's ridiculously stylish and really needs a blu ray release.

[Chaney_TUX]

I've always wondered. how many people are they? is there a gathering every month? how do they choose their titles?

[Gregory]

It's very secretive, but we do know there is some sort of gathering where the selection of titles is determined:

[Chaney_TUX]

Ah! Wilderness...
funny thing about Haxan is that there's a random not-relevant shot about Persian witches in the film!

btw, I thought this forum/board would be more sophisticated than IMDb.

[MichaelB]

btw, I thought this forum/board would be more sophisticated than IMDb.

Well, you thought wrong. Clearly.

[Chaney_TUX]

Obviosuly.

[swo17]

I always hate it when I post a serious question on IMDb and the only responses I can get are quippy references to 100-year old films. When will those guys grow up?

[MichaelB]

I always hate it when I post a serious question on IMDb and the only responses I can get are quippy references to 100-year old films.

90-year-old films, please. We have standards round here.

[Professor Wagstaff]

I imagined the process to be something like this, with Peter Becker in charge of the chicken while Mulvaney plays kazoo.

[zedz]

I believe it's been well established that Criterion closely monitors this forum, waits until some forum member announces that they've finally tracked down a shitty edition of a long out-of-print title and paid through the nose for it, then they announce a newly restored BluRay of the film the following month.

Otherwise, they select directors' names from a Scrabble set missing the letters R, I, V, E and T.

Truer answer: there's a bunch of producers, a bunch of well-established industry contacts (primarily Janus, but also IFC), a long, slow pipeline of ongoing restorations that they'll be keeping their eye on, the vagaries of personal taste, the realities of the market, the nightmare of scheduling, and very occasional bolts of inspiration in the form of consumer suggestions or stray finds. Within those constraints there isn't a lot of wiggle room. Criterion can't just magic up good elements for any desired title, and some rights are unnegotiable or too legally tangled to be economically feasible.

[barryconvex]

...some rights are unnegotiable or too legally tangled to be economically feasible.

can you give any examples of these? would one of them be Out:1?

[ianungstad]

Has anyone heard if Palisades-Tartan has lost the rights to their Park Chan Wook films? The dvds and blurays for Oldboy/Lady Vengeance/Sympathy for Mr.Vengeance all seem to be out of print on Amazon. (Some of the dvds are available from 3rd party retailers). Oldboy is still available for streaming but I figure that won't be for much longer. Tartan filed for bankruptcy back in 2008 and the library was sold on the cheap to Palisades Media. The new company may not have the resources or desire to renew the rights if Criterion, Shout, Kino, etc. went after these films. The director is certainly much more known now than when these were new releases.

Also, it looks like Anchor Bay took Dawn of the Dead off their site sometime in the last week, so they've definitely lost the rights to all their Romero films. It's likely that Scream picked this up since they are reissuing Day of the Dead (but it's worth noting that the films come from different licensors.) Cliff says they don't have it but he could just be playing coy since they might not want to announce it this early. One of the major studios might have also nabbed it since Zombies are so popular at the moment. A Criterion would be nice but existing releases of this film have been pretty stacked. It will be interesting to see which studio/label landed the rights.

[tenia]

...some rights are unnegotiable or too legally tangled to be economically feasible.

can you give any examples of these? would one of them be Out:1?

I understood it is the case.
In France, Fanny and Alexander have always been a nightmare to licence, that's why we still don't have even a DVD edition of it, with Gaumont only planning to release the theater cut and the TV cut next year (finally !).

[Adam]

I received a newsletter from the Flaherty Seminar, named for Robert Flaherty. In it is this:

"Criterion Collection Partnership - We recently negotiated our distribution agreement with Criterion to re-release Nanook of the North and Louisiana Story on DVD. Look for these films along with many exciting special features in 2013!"

That is the full information provided.

Seems pretty official, if limited in info.

[jwd5275]

Let's hope we get Man of Aran and Tabu too...

[swo17]

Hopefully they are just being informal when they say DVD and not Blu-ray. If ever a film cried out for hi-def treatment, it's Louisiana Story.

[htshell]

Nanook was presented in an HD transfer at the Flaherty Seminar, so that's a safe bet.

[zedz]

Hopefully they are just being informal when they say DVD and not Blu-ray. If ever a film cried out for hi-def treatment, it's Louisiana Story.

The prospect of Louisiana Story on BluRay (and I can't imagine Criterion would pass up that opportunity), along with a sampling of the hours of available outtakes, is enough to send my head spinning.

[HistoryProf]

Hopefully they are just being informal when they say DVD and not Blu-ray. If ever a film cried out for hi-def treatment, it's Louisiana Story.

The prospect of Louisiana Story on BluRay (and I can't imagine Criterion would pass up that opportunity), along with a sampling of the hours of available outtakes, is enough to send my head spinning.

I just gasped reading that post. holy cow. I mean...wow. and within the year? This with the Medium Cool hint is the best 24 hours not around the 15th of the month in a long long time.

Throw in a Rouch box set of his ethnographic work and I will officially know what heaven looks like.

[stroszeck]

Anyone know what the chances are that we will ever see Patrick Dewaere in some capacity in the collection? I just finished watching his manic, pitch-perfect performance in Serie Noire and have to say, in spite of his untimely death at 35, his short but amazing body of work should be more recognized, both in Europe and, especially, in America.

[Arthur House]

I'd like to second that. I recently celebrated my birthday by taking some friends to a rep screening of Get Out Your Handkerchiefs. The problem is, I just checked up on some of Dewaere's biggest titles on IMDB, and it appears Studio Canal owns or at least distributes many of them--Serie Noire, Get Out Your Handkerchiefs & Beau Pere to name three.

Claude Miller's The Best Way To Walk is with MK2, and saw a now OOP dvd release via Fox Lorber. So it could be in play perhaps?