Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 5

[MongooseCmr]

I think part of the lack of "excitement" for La Notte is that it looks like a boring release. The art and supplements seem fairly average, despite the films pedigree. Its not a release that says "cinematic masterpiece" even if it is. I felt the same way about Badlands. I don't want to jump on the hate train but there is something really off about a lot of this years releases

[EndsInThemselves]

I'm surprised and just a little saddened to see that nobody really cares that La Notte has gone Criterion...Anyways, I'm surprised that hard to find films like La Notte aren't met with much excitement. Maybe you guys have seen it and don't care for it, but it seems the same happened for other hard to find films like Journey to Italy, Medium Cool, Week-End (1967), Seconds, etc.

None of those were "hard to find." With the exception of Journey to Italy, they'd all even had commercial U.S. DVD releases,

Oh, I guess I felt they were "hard to find" because I only saw them sold by third party sellers or used. Unless I'm missing some special dvd website? Also, the only one Netflix had on DVD was Week-End. Plus, Journey to Italy was on Hulu Criterion but it was awkwardly dubbed in Italian and then subtitled back to English.

So are there any films that are actually hard to find that you hope Criterion picks up? Just curious what people on this forum are pulling for.

[domino harvey]

The reason the griping is louder this round is that all of today's releases bordered on barebones. This used to be a label that went out of its way to commission insightful academic and contextual supplements and this is the first month in memory where every single release just looked lazy

[EndsInThemselves]

I think the other big factor is a lack of surprise and / or novelty. Especially when there's an absence of an Eclipse set (which would often highlight more marginal and unfamiliar material), it's hard to get excited about a month of titles that have already been released by Criterion / on BluRay in another territory / on R1 DVD. I Married a Witch is the only vaguely 'rare' title this month, but it's hardly been hard to see and we've known it's been coming for years, so the reaction is more like "At last!" than "Oh my God!"

So I'm curious, are there any "rare" titles that you are hoping Criterion releases soon or at some point? I had listed in my first posts the films that I'm hoping for.

The reason the griping is louder this round is that all of today's releases bordered on barebones. This used to be a label that went out of its way to commission insightful academic and contextual supplements and this is the first month in memory where every single release just looked lazy

Oh, I see. Do you think it might be because they upgraded the Cassavetes box? Also, La Notte was stalled for a very long time according to the "Forthcoming Criterion" page. It said " “Problems finding elements for release." Does that mean they looked in vain for extras and just gave up?

[AlexHansen]

“Problems finding elements for release." Does that mean they looked in vain for extras and just gave up?

Finding adequate elements for the film itself, to make a transfer with. Not related to extras.

[Jeff]

Oh, I guess I felt they were "hard to find" because I only saw them sold by third party sellers or used. Unless I'm missing some special dvd website? Also, the only one Netflix had on DVD was Week-End. Plus, Journey to Italy was on Hulu Criterion but it was awkwardly dubbed in Italian and then subtitled back to English.

So are there any films that are actually hard to find that you hope Criterion picks up? Just curious what people on this forum are pulling for.

I guess I didn't feel they were hard to find because I bought them all when they were originally released. Many of us buy releases from other regions too. To be clear, I have no problem with Criterion releasing things that were already widely available (especially those that have gone out of print, like many of the titles you cite). I generally get as excited about those releases as I do the stuff that's never been commercially available. As domino says, the problem this month is the seeming lack of effort. I was simply pointing out that the list of films you mentioned aren't particularly rare or difficult to see compared to a lot of others.

In regard to the second part of your question, even though the package is disappointing, I Married a Witch is a great Criterion rescue. Hopefully they'll be doing the same with History is Made at Night too. Those are titles Warner sat on for 20 years. They've rescued a few other previously unreleased studio titles like Bigger Than Life, Ace in the Hole, and White Dog over the years too.

Outside of the studio stuff, there are literally thousands of titles from around the world that people are clamoring for here -- anything by Rivette (particularly Out 1), the World Cinema Foundation stuff (A Brighter Summer Day, Limite), The Devils, The Mother and the Whore. Of course Criterion can release only the films they have the rights to, and many of the films I want most belong to other companies who don't license to Criterion. There are hundreds of films without disc releases they do have the rights to though. Personally, I'd love to see some additional Borzage beyond History is Made at Night and I'd love it if they could release a better version of the French Jacques Rozier set. You don't really need me to list the films that people like and want released though, that's 90% of the content of the whole forum.

[zedz]

Oh, I guess I felt they were "hard to find" because I only saw them sold by third party sellers or used. Unless I'm missing some special dvd website? Also, the only one Netflix had on DVD was Week-End. Plus, Journey to Italy was on Hulu Criterion but it was awkwardly dubbed in Italian and then subtitled back to English.

The discs might have been OOP, but they were readily available up until a few years ago, so a lot of people would already own the discs in question.

So are there any films that are actually hard to find that you hope Criterion picks up? Just curious what people on this forum are pulling for.

Only a few thousand! There are many, many major works by major directors, or masterpieces by filmmakers who should be considered major, that are not available anywhere in decent editions.

So let's see those Oshima ATG films, Gremillon's late silent and early sound films, Fassbinder's TV works, Der leone have sept cabecas, Manoel and the Island of Marvels, L'amour fou, more by Satyajit Ray, La nuit de carrefour, the complete Tous les garcons et les filles de leur age, Sirokko, City of Sadness, the Koker Trilogy, A Brighter Summer Day, Ceddo, The Night of Counting the Years. It just goes on and on. I'm sure most people here could come up with completely different, lengthy lists of truly great and important films that have never had a decent release.

[Moe Dickstein]

The reason the griping is louder this round is that all of today's releases bordered on barebones. This used to be a label that went out of its way to commission insightful academic and contextual supplements and this is the first month in memory where every single release just looked lazy

I love the irony in your case of the fact that according to my sources "Mad World" will be very bonus feature laden...

[onedimension]

The reason the griping is louder this round is that all of today's releases bordered on barebones. This used to be a label that went out of its way to commission insightful academic and contextual supplements and this is the first month in memory where every single release just looked lazy

I do wonder why commentaries have dropped off the map, whether it's the expense or a perceived lack of customer interest. I don't always pay attention to what gets a supplement, but when I finally got around to watching Pasolini's 'Trilogy of Life' I was disappointed not to find any commentaries, and just 2 visual essays..

[domino harvey]

The reason the griping is louder this round is that all of today's releases bordered on barebones. This used to be a label that went out of its way to commission insightful academic and contextual supplements and this is the first month in memory where every single release just looked lazy

I love the irony in your case of the fact that according to my sources "Mad World" will be very bonus feature laden...

Please explain the irony, as I was unaware It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World was announced for October

[Moe Dickstein]

Please explain the irony, as I was unaware It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World was announced for October

The irony is that you are pointing out the lack of bonus features (agree 100%) yet the next big feature laden release, which is theoretically coming next month, is one you were not thrilled about coming to the collection. That's all.

[domino harvey]

Moe, I got it, I'm just giving you a hard time. I'm obviously not the target audience but I sincerely hope that it delivers what you as a fan would like to see in terms of extras. Every film in the collection isn't for every viewer, but they should all be given as deluxe a treatment as possible. Lately, that just doesn't seem to be the case

I do wonder why commentaries have dropped off the map, whether it's the expense or a perceived lack of customer interest. I don't always pay attention to what gets a supplement, but when I finally got around to watching Pasolini's 'Trilogy of Life' I was disappointed not to find any commentaries, and just 2 visual essays..

I wonder if too many bad commentaries spoiled the general public's taste. For every Adrian Martin or David Kalat, there's nine Richard Schickel or Drew Casper commentaries

[Jeff]

It looks like once again it's going to be close to impossible for Criterion to get to everything they announced via the New Year's drawing and subsequent newsletter clues. Based on only those clues, here's what should be coming in November and December:

Frances Ha
All that Heaven Allows
Scanners
Eraserhead
Barton Fink
Zatoichi
The Kid
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

[domino harvey]

Wasn't there a Red River Newsletter clue too?

[Moe Dickstein]

Agree completely Domino, as this month's slate seems pretty blah after a good September lineup.

The commentaries are one of the things that first drew me to Criterion and I'd love to see a renewed dedication to them. I think actually it would be great to see a really in depth article/interview with Becker and the other top people at the label to just get a sense of their direction for things, what do they feel is important in terms of title selection, what kind of extras are worth investing in, what's changed with Eclipse that's cause the release trickle.

About 13 years ago I worked for DVD Angle a now defunct site, and was able to conduct a very lengthy and in depth interview with the CEO and other top people at Home Vision, right around the time they rebranded to HVe. I'd like to see someone do something like that with today's Criterion.

[zedz]

I wonder if too many bad commentaries spoiled the general public's taste. For every Adrian Martin or David Kalat, there's nine Richard Schickel or Drew Casper commentaries

The Casper Schickel Friedkin Syndrome has never really been a problem with Criterion releases, though (thank God!), and their small sector of the 'general public' comprises those most keen on quality commentaries, I'd guess.

I find it perfectly understandable that certain releases are hard to find good supplementary material for - the umpteenth Ozu or Bergman; a studio title by a second- or third-tier borderline auteur; an obscure non-English or French film rescued from obscurity (which is why I was incredibly impressed by how much work went into the extras for Marketa Lazarova) - but when they can't come up with anything to add to a world cinema warhorse like La Notte, it's perplexing, to say the least.

[EndsInThemselves]

Jeff and Zedz, thank you very much for your detailed replies.

Now some speculation.

Criterion Hulu added 6 David Lynch shorts recently:
Six Men Getting Sick
Premonition Following an Evil Deed
The Grandmother
The Amputee Version 1
The Amputee Version 2
The Alphabet

Do you guys think they will be included with Eraserhead or will they wallow in Hulu limbo?

[Jeff]

Wasn't there a Red River Newsletter clue too?

Don't think so. I think it needs some work.

[domino harvey]

Ha, cursory glance tells me I was misremembering Broadcast Gnus

[tenia]

With The Uninvited and I Married A Witch (and, to a lesser point, La Notte), I tend to find too a bit disappointing all these releases with not many extra features, but at a high price point.
I mean, $9 oncost for an audio ITW or a visual essay ? That's a bit steep, and it's sad to see the price being aligned with releases which are much more exhaustive in terms of content (Lonesome, anyone ?).

Don't misunderstand, I'm quite interested in most of the announcement (except, most likely, the Cassavetes, because I already have the DVD boxset and the BFI BDs, which should logically be plenty enough in terms both of PQ and extras), but I always liked Criterion for going a bit away of their "luxury" pricing when it came to bare-bones (or almost bare-bones) releases. Now, I feel a bit ripped off. Or they really need to start a HD equivalent of the Eclipse collection.

I probably won't restrain myself from buying these releases, but I certainly won't pre-order them like I did so far, and wait for a nice price drop before doing so.

[HistoryProf]

you guys are all very very welcome - I finally bought Eyes Without A Face in the last B&N Sale.

[captveg]

Do you think it might be because they upgraded the Cassavetes box?

Personally speaking, I think this holds merit. This upgrade is a massive undertaking - six films when you consider both versions of The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. It makes sense that they'd supplement the month with releases that they could more easily get out the door. Especially since their November releases are typically some of the most stacked, extras-wise.

[HistoryProf]

Yikes. Witch and Uninvited should be $30 if they are that bare bones.

Weak month in my mind all around.

Yes...very distressing that they continue to release these blu ray titles with almost no supplements at the higher price point. I don't like it one bit.

And not getting The Brood makes this guy very very very sad. I thought for sure that was coming and was so damned excited I could burst. my absolute favorite early Cronenberg, and one of the great scary movie experiences of my childhood.

Shitty month.

[rrenault]

So I guess A Woman Under the Influence and Killing of a Chinese Bookie won't be getting stand-alone blu-ray releases?

[mteller]

So I guess A Woman Under the Influence and Killing of a Chinese Bookie won't be getting stand-alone blu-ray releases?

It could happen at some point down the road, like they did for the DVDs. Milk all the box set sales they can get first, then the individual films. I'm holding out on upgrading for this reason. While I love AWUtI (all time top 5 for me) and Faces, I don't have a ton of interest in owning the other ones.