Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[skeets kelly]

well, let's be honest. they really should release more hideo gosha films.

[Vegeta84]

well, let's be honest. they really should release more hideo gosha films.

Without a doubt. These are some amazing films and while I'm glad they are releasing films like Lady Snowblood on blu, these films have had releases of some sort already. Hunter in the Dark hasn't had a single legitimate release in an English speaking country. Sonny Chiba and Tatsuya Nakadai within the same film, fighting in a hen house is a sight to behold.

[sir_luke]

I really want to know the story behind Janus/Criterion owning the rights to I Was a Teenage Zombie. It has a gritty, roughshod indie feel that's kinda nice I guess, but in most ways it's unfathomably bad, and not in a way that is at all enjoyable or memorable. Criterion has put out some bad films over the years, and maybe - maybe - it could be contextualized in some Eclipse set titled "Terrible American Indie Horror Films of the '80s," but that's it. This could not possibly be a mainline release in a million years (no amount of "marajahooby" could get me through a second viewing) and must have been included in some deal because it could not have been actively sought after. Does anybody have any additional information on how they came to have this...thing...on their hands?

[Minkin]

I really want to know the story behind Janus/Criterion owning the rights to I Was a Teenage Zombie. It has a gritty, roughshod indie feel that's kinda nice I guess, but in most ways it's unfathomably bad, and not in a way that is at all enjoyable or memorable. Criterion has put out some bad films over the years, and maybe - maybe - it could be contextualized in some Eclipse set titled "Terrible American Indie Horror Films of the '80s," but that's it. This could not possibly be a mainline release in a million years (no amount of "marajahooby" could get me through a second viewing) and must have been included in some deal because it could not have been actively sought after. Does anybody have any additional information on how they came to have this...thing...on their hands?

I had the opposite take after watching the film - that its small budget charm, humor & troma-esque touches worked to the film's strengths. Its no masterpiece, but its certainly an underseen horror/comedy gem that deserves better attention.

As to how Janus/Criterion ended up with it - when I watched it, I noticed that either Becker or Turell was mentioned in the credits, so one of them was either involved directly or it was some friend's project - that they ended up distributing.

As to the above complaints about the lack of certain films (which is more of a "why don't they release what I want? complaint). Perhaps take a look at this list. Those are just the films that Janus owns and have been put up on Hulu, whereas they certainly own the rights to quite a few more films than that. Criterion could probably release things for the next 10 years, entirely from their Janus catalog (without any new acquisitions). We all have our darlings from that list that we wish they would get around to releasing, but the Janus titles tend to be riskier and require more restoration work - thus they aren't too frequent and many of them are released on Eclipse without restoration. Now is more akin to the laserdisc era, as the last major studio finally penned a contract with Criterion (WB) and pretty much any film can be licensed from the studios - so of course they aren't going to pass up an opportunity to release The Graduate or other major studio work. The suggestions email is a great idea and I'm sure they'd give higher priority to the film(s) if they started getting a lot of email requests - but there's only so many films they can release in a year.

The only sure-fire way to get what you want is to have a situation like that Facebook guy's daily Iranian hostage crisis plea for Week-End.

[sir_luke]

I had the opposite take after watching the film - that its small budget charm, humor & troma-esque touches worked to the film's strengths. Its no masterpiece, but its certainly an underseen horror/comedy gem that deserves better attention.

As to how Janus/Criterion ended up with it - when I watched it, I noticed that either Becker or Turell was mentioned in the credits, so one of them was either involved directly or it was some friend's project - that they ended up distributing.

I often find a lot to enjoy in this type of silly "horror" fare, but everything just fell flat to me, as if the only funny bits happened in the few brief moments when nobody was trying to be funny. There were a couple of good bits here and there (especially the outrageous violence - leg bending and rubber-face ripping) but it was tiring and tedious overall. Still, it looks to have been a group of people just having fun making a wacky movie on a microscopic budget, so I shouldn't be too harsh on it, and I'm glad you got something out of it!

I guess I didn't pay attention to the credits... That makes a lot of sense.

[dwk]

Criterion is back at the Wexner Center on February 26th

In this presentation, Lee Kline and Phoebe Harmon provide a behind-the-scenes look at upcoming releases A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang, 1991) and The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 1962), which screens on Saturday.

The Manchurian Candidate is a new 4K master from the original negative.

[FrauBlucher]

Criterion is back at the Wexner Center on February 26th
In this presentation, Lee Kline and Phoebe Harmon provide a behind-the-scenes look at upcoming releases A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang, 1991) and The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 1962), which screens on Saturday.
The Manchurian Candidate is a new 4K master from the original negative.

This seems to be the new programming strategy for Criterion at Wexner. No longer the random Q and A. I do prefer this.

[jfish226]

A Brighter Summer Day is finally coming!!!!! And the Wexner Talk is on my birthday!

[MongooseCmr]

No longer the random Q and A

But now how will I know if more Wes Anderson movies are coming?

[feihong]

I know they don't list the specs because it isn't screening along with the Manchurian Candidate, but I sure hope the Brighter Summer Day disc we eventually get is also from a 4k master.

[ShellOilJunior]

Chimes at Midnight is also mentioned on the site so a blu-ray release is not far off. What I'm most interested in with that film is what they've done to improve the audio. I've seen the film on video and 35 mm and each featured unacceptable audio quality. For me it was difficult to enjoy the film as I was straining myself to discern what they were saying.

[Drucker]

So it seems like all of their MGM deal blu ray re-releases are new, 4k restorations, right? Manchurian, Graduate, Black Stallion...

[movielocke]

So it seems like all of their MGM deal blu ray re-releases are new, 4k restorations, right? Manchurian, Graduate, Black Stallion...

its the advantage of making studio deals at this moment, 4k masters are being made for insurance purposes and library asset management reasons, not for nor at the behest of the separate home video divisions. So there are great new assets being made ripe for licensing.

[doh286]

According to Ryan Gallagher, Criterion is going to release Tampopo.

[movielocke]

According to Ryan Gallagher, Criterion is going to release Tampopo.

This movie is so fun, I'm sure I'd enjoy it more considering the ramen wave we currently have in L A. It'll be nice to see it better than vhs as well.

[jwd5275]

I really hope that this means that they also have The Funeral (aka Death, Japanese Style)...

[Minkin]

According to Ryan Gallagher, Criterion is going to release Tampopo.

Daffy has my appropriate response

If they picked up Tampopo when Wellspring lost the rights, Wellspring also owned The Funeral and Taxing Woman, thus they likely have those as well. I knew my old Wellspring speculation post would eventually come in handy!

[Buttery Jeb]

If they picked up Tampopo when Wellspring lost the rights, Wellspring also owned The Funeral and Taxing Woman, thus they likely have those as well. I knew my old Wellspring speculation post would eventually come in handy!

Plus Home Vision released Minbo on VHS way back in the day, so that might be a contender as well.

[Jeff]

Great, great news. That Fox Lorber/Wellspring release was nigh on unwatchable. I've been trying to figure out the North American chain of ownership on this for years. Glad it finally ended up in the right hands.

[criterionsnob]

The Rock Box and Classic Hitchcock collector's sets are now up on the Criterion website for release on December 15. I believe these were formerly Costco exclusive releases.

[Noiradelic]

These are a kick in the groin for those who have most of the individual releases. During the B&N sale, they'll work out to $11.90 a film, before coupons. With the Black Friday 30% off code, they'll be ~$8.30 apiece and that's if you're not a member.

[perkizitore]

Are they virtually the same discs of the individual releases?

[dwk]

The Hitchcock set is the same, but in The Rock Box, Monterey Pop is only the Monterey Pop Blu, not the Complete Monterey Pop Festival set (the Jimi Plays Monterey & Shake! Otis at Monterey Blu is available to buy individually, so this isn't a problem) and A Hard Day's Night loses the 80-page booklet that comes with the dual-format release (it has a foldout with the essay by Howard Hampton.)

[criterionsnob]

Wenders, Kurosawa, and Les Blank. Could this be a hint at anything? Isn't that also a photo of Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There in the background?

[Ribs]

Yeah, it's this photo. Is this actually a possibility, though?