Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 5

[swo17]

What "important" Animated title could they license?

I don't know what rights are available, but I'd love Criterion sets devoted to Yuri Norstein, Karel Zeman, Tex Avery, Lillian Schwartz, the Whitneys, Starewicz, Trnka, Lye, or perhaps even McLaren, whose comprehensive Image release just went OOP.

[ianungstad]

Other random animated possibilities:

GKids said they tried to get the rights to Fantastic Planet and the other Rene Laloux films years ago but someone else nabbed them. They have been out of print forever. I've just assumed it was Criterion.

GKids also told me that Only Yesterday and Princess Mononoke were licensed out by Disney to some unknown party. Supposedly Only Yesterday was going to be released in R1 this year but nothing has materialized yet.

Criterion released Akira on laserdisc. It's also been out of print in R1 for a long time. The old blu ray is going for over $100 on amazon. It's a big enough title that I'm sure someone bought the rights. Who knows why they haven't reissued it.

[Moe Dickstein]

As Matrix said though if this is just about checking the mission statement than there are bigger whole out there then popular 1980 comedies already with good DVD releases.

When it comes to films in the Criterion Collection, what other companies have released is irrelevant. The point is to have a representation of that type of film IN the collection, not just extant in the universe...

[domino harvey]

As the kids say, SMH

[starmanof51]

When it comes to films in the Criterion Collection, what other companies have released is irrelevant. The point is to have a representation of that type of film IN the collection, not just extant in the universe...

I think you're taking the mission statement waaay more seriously/literally than Criterion does.

[Jeff]

I don't doubt Moe's assertion that we're going to be seeing a lot more mainstream titles from Criterion in the coming years. The market has changed dramatically and studios are licensing almost everything. That means some previously unthinkable big titles that will surprise and thrill our little sub-subculture (On the Waterfront, Rosemary's Baby) and some that will send monocles flying (...Mad World, something else in the works). It's a return to the laserdisc days (and probably quite a few of the laserdisc titles that they're sitting on supplements for). The percentage of Criterion titles that I purchase may drop a little bit overall, but the percentage of Criterion titles that the average home video consumer purchases will probably increase. If it fills the coffers and lets them occasionally do more stuff like a loaded Rossellini-Bergman set, or Lonesome, or Hollis Frampton, so be it.

The times they are a-changin', my friends. In the home video world, they happen to be changing back to the late 80s/early 90s. I hope my Hammer Pants still fit.

[zedz]

When it comes to films in the Criterion Collection, what other companies have released is irrelevant. The point is to have a representation of that type of film IN the collection, not just extant in the universe...

I think you're taking the mission statement waaay more seriously/literally than Criterion does.

Oh come now - it's been literally weeks since we've had a big pitchforks / torches / mission statement set-to, and I've just made popcorn! Now is not the time to douse the conflagration with your bottled common sense!

[domino harvey]

Live Cam Feed From Zedz' Estate:

[Jeff]

His movie collection looked more impressive in the earlier pics.

[dwk]

Other random animated possibilities:
Criterion released Akira on laserdisc. It's also been out of print in R1 for a long time. The old blu ray is going for over $100 on amazon. It's a big enough title that I'm sure someone bought the rights. Who knows why they haven't reissued it.

Last year, FUNimation announced that they had acquired Akira. This year is the films 25th anniversary, so maybe they'll release it sometime this year.

[Lowry_Sam]

or a boxed set of stuff from the Quays or Svankmajer- all vital, none of it available on R1 blu,

Well it's been a year since the Quay brothers visited the closet. I was expecting a Criterion Alice or Institute Benjamenta by now, but maybe they're actually doing a complete (Svankmajer or Quay Brothers) collection & need more time to assemble it. But I've also been of the opinion that Criterion would probably want their first animated blu-ray to be a big one (Akira, Princess Mononoke or Fantastic Planet being the most likely candidates), but who knows now that at least one of those titles is a no-go. Given that all of those titles had been picked up by other (often smaller) labels & not by Criterion in the past 15 or so years, it's a safe bet to say that Criterion is not interested in all genres equally.

[MichaelB]

Most of the Quays' films (at least twelve shorts plus Institute Benjamenta for definite) already exist in filmmaker-approved HD masters, but last time I checked Zeitgeist had the US rights.

But I'm not aware of any Švankmajer shorts currently available as HD masters - and I'm currently involved with a UK-based Švankmajer project (not DVD/BD-related), and got the impression at a meeting a fortnight or so ago that this was still the case.

Incidentally, the BFI's Blu-ray editions of Alice and Institute Benjamenta are both region-free.

[Moe Dickstein]

Criterion did do Akira on Laser so at least the interest was there at one point. Surprising they didn't go after it again but perhaps they did and didn't get it?

[Dragoon En Regalia]

There still isn't a Blu out for Mind Game as far as I know, and I'd definitely buy that over Akira. It's got a little bit of everything when it comes to animation, not to forget some bizarre humor.

[nolanoe]

Getting back to the mad world, it would be interesting to debate which lynch and Cronenberg films definitely won't come out as CC titles.

For example, A History of Violence, eXistenZ and Lost Highway all were butchered and look horrid on their respective BD releases, while Mulholland Drive and A History of Violence look pretty good (and yes, I know MD is coming, but I would have been more excited about LH).

Rabid and Shivers would be incredible, but how amazing would be a longer Dune-edit??

[Roger Ryan]

Rabid and Shivers would be incredible, but how amazing would be a longer Dune-edit??

You'd have to convince Lynch to actually attempt a re-edit of DUNE (which I doubt he would even consider) and be able to access raw film elements that may or may not still exist. IMDb lists several versions as existing, but I've only seen the theatrical cut and the extended TV edit which Lynch took his name off of (rightly so; it's a ghastly mess).

[Zot!]

eXistenZ and Lost Highway all were butchered and look horrid on their respective BD releases

Not to argue with your general thrust, but eXistenZ in the "Fast Action Pack" incarnation does not look "horrid" despite being 1080i. It does however lose the 5.1 surround of the individual release. Lost Highway is not currently available in the US, and I could be wrong, but I thought the Franco-Japanese release was serviceable. No argument that a Criterion upgrade would definately be worthwhile in both cases.

[rrenault]

On another note, whatever happened to Truffaut's La Peau Douce? Did they just side it wasn't financially viable enough to release on the main line?

[Minkin]

On another note, whatever happened to Truffaut's La Peau Douce? Did they just side it wasn't financially viable enough to release on the main line?

It will probably arrive soon enough (I'd expect it to be mainline, well at least I hope thats the case vs shoved into a Truffaut Eclipse).
The timing for the Janus vs Criterion releases are all over the place. Some happen mid-theatrical tour (Safety Last), while others could take forever (House). Rashomon took like five years between Janus tour of the new restoration and Bluray, so I guess patience is the key here.

[rrenault]

So for all we know, we may have to wait until 2015 for L'Avventura you're saying? As for The Soft Skin, if it were mainline barebones I could live with that. And is anyone shocked that Jules and Jim has yet to actually get an HD upgrade? Aside from L'Avventura, that seems to be the last true 'gateway' foreignthat has yet to get the HD treatment from Criterion. Or has the critical tide begun to turn, with Jules and Jim being viewed as a secondary work?

[fdm]

Seems to me Truffaut has pretty much fallen off the Criterion (disc) radar.

[PfR73]

I'm also surprised at the lack of upgrade for Jules And Jim & also waiting for them to upgrade the whole Antoine Doinel set. I'd really like to see Shoot The Piano Player get an upgrade too.

[Matt]

Turner Classic Movies is in the middle of a month-long Truffaut retrospective. They work pretty closely with Criterion/Janus and did a month-long retrospective of Rossellini in March, soon after which Criterion announced the Rossellini/Bergman box set. I'm not saying Criterion is going to announce a Truffaut box set on Monday, but you can bet they've got something in the works for imminent release.

[rrenault]

It makes me wonder though. Would TCM ever have the balls to air something like Pierrot Le Fou or Red Desert at 8 P.M.? If they can put The Soft Skin in that spot...I know they've aired Jeanne Dielman and some of the more radical Godardin the middle of the night...

Also, will we ever see blu-ray upgrades of some of the DVD-only releases from the early months and years of their blu-ray program, such as Jeanne Dielman, 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her, The Exterminating Angel, Dillinger is Dead, etc.?

[movielocke]

October predictions:
Scanners
The Brood
Eraserhead
I Married a Witch
Ugetsu upgrade
Throne of Blood upgrade
Shintoho-horror eclipse