Criterion and Warner Bros.

[FilmNerdJamie]

Warner has discontinued A Clockwork Orange and Papillon. Could they be potential Criterion releases?

I feel like all of Kubrick's catalog is Criterion-bound. Not a matter of when but in what order do they happen. Barry Lyndon is debatably a "lesser" film (in that, it's not one that instantly comes to mind like 2001 or The Shining). One could see a more-recognized title being next like The Shining or, as you suggested, A Clockwork Orange.

Take it with a grain of salt, but I'd heard Excalibur was getting the Criterion treatment awhile back from a pal who also informed me of the Silence of the Lamb reissue and Night of the Living Dead last fall. Asked someone at Warner Archives who politely said, "No comment."

[Noiradelic]

Warner has discontinued A Clockwork Orange and Papillon. Could they be potential Criterion releases?

You sure both Blu editions of Clockwork Orange are OOP?

I don't see them doing Papillon, but anything's possible these days.

[flyonthewall2983]

Amazon appears to still have ACO in stock but I don't know whether that's indicative or not if it's OOP at this point.

I'd love it if it all went to Criterion eventually, but I'd say it's a little early as to whether or not it's a certainty (at least with the more popular titles). That said I won't be surprised if WB doesn't do another Kubrick set. They've done like 3-4 already and I imagine the prospect of another one isn't a top priority.

[Ribs]

And also even if it is OOP it is fairly likely just to pave the way to a Warners UHD.

[Big Ben]

A Clockwork Orange would certainly be a money maker I'm sure. I've seen the film twice and the film hasn't aged very well (At all.) with me but I'd certainly be willing to give it another go. I confess I would much prefer Eyes Wide Shut which I only saw on VHS my junior year in high school and it was edited. I shouldn't need to tell you which parts. With Barry Lyndon coming out I certainly don't feel unjustified hoping it comes.

We could of course all be wrong and Warner Brothers will make a "new" release.

[flyonthewall2983]

2001 is one of my absolute top dream discs for Criterion to get. It'd be a chance for the old laserdisc special features to surface, plus I'd imagine whatever new content they would find would be more fascinating than some of the ones on the WB disc (people like Spielberg and James Cameron fawning over it).

I confess I would much prefer Eyes Wide Shut which I only saw on VHS my junior year in high school and it was edited. I shouldn't need to tell you which parts.

What you should tell us is how EWS managed to be shown in HS.

[Big Ben]

2001 is one of my absolute top dream discs for Criterion to get. It'd be a chance for the old laserdisc special features to surface, plus I'd imagine whatever new content they would find would be more fascinating than some of the ones on the WB disc (people like Spielberg and James Cameron fawning over it).

I would imagine this would be a dream come true but I'm unsure whether or not Warner Brothers would let it go. They did find the twenty minutes Kubrick excised though (In a salt mine I think?) which I think would make a great extra. It'd certainly sell.

What you should tell us is how EWS managed to be shown in HS.

Woops! I should have been more specific there. I happened to be a Junior in 2008 and happened upon a copy outside of the school at a shop that was closing. I watched it at home on a pathetically small TV. My state/town isn't exactly bustling with film culture so you take what you can get.

[FilmNerdJamie]

I would imagine this would be a dream come true but I'm unsure whether or not Warner Brothers would let it go. They did find the twenty minutes Kubrick excised though (In a salt mine I think?) which I think would make a great extra. It'd certainly sell.

Did they?!

[flyonthewall2983]

Yeah, several years ago.

[Werewolf by Night]

More info on the found footage

[FilmNerdJamie]

Yeah, several years ago.

More info on the found footage

[jazzo]

I’d love it if they could somehow slip the Soderbergh recut in as an Easter egg.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Should probably be said that WB subsequently issued a terse statement essentially saying they were already aware of the "lost" footage and had no plans to release it. My guess is that the Kubrick estate hasn't come around to the idea yet. If they ever do then there's also the pie-fight ending for Dr. Strangelove that's locked away in a vault in England (and which was publicly screened at least once before the estate intervened).

[Orlac]

I wonder if the missing end scene from The Shining still exists? It was removed less than a week after the premiere!

[colinr0380]

Warner has discontinued A Clockwork Orange and Papillon. Could they be potential Criterion releases?

Take it with a grain of salt, but I'd heard Excalibur was getting the Criterion treatment awhile back from a pal who also informed me of the Silence of the Lamb reissue and Night of the Living Dead last fall. Asked someone at Warner Archives who politely said, "No comment."

Excalibur would be a fantastic release. It still remains the ultimate 'dark, grungy' high fantasy version of the legend (anticipating a whole run of dark fantasy through the early to mid 80s), maintaining a delicate balance between a sense of wonder whilst filling the characters full of horribly human, adult flaws - the kind of flaws that the more magical figures can inspire them to rise above and/or exploit.

Though it needs to appear in a month where Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Lancelot du Lac also get brought out, for contrast!

[MichaelB]

I always assumed that Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a direct piss-take of Lancelot du Lac until I looked at its production history against the Bresson film’s release history and realised that this would be a logistical impossibility - unless one of the Monty Python team was treated to an early screening in France (and why would they have been?), they’d have had to fly down to Cannes mid-production for the world premiere. And Lancelot du Lac didn’t open theatrically in Britain until several months after Holy Grail - for some reason it took more than a year to cross the Channel.

So it really does seem to be a very unfortunate coincidence.

[colinr0380]

Monty Python and the Holy Grail still has one of my (and my dad's) favourite scenes!

Spoiler

From "strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government" to "Help! Help! I'm being repressed!", its wonderfully politically biting!

But nothing beats the always relevant conversation between two peasants: "Who's that then?" "I dunno, must be a King", "Why?","He hasn't got shit all over him"

But really every scene is a gem in its own way!

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

And Lancelot du Lac didn’t open theatrically in Britain until several months after Holy Grail - for some reason it took more than a year to cross the Channel.

There's an interview with one of the Pythons somewhere (probably in The Pythons) in which he claims that the more violent bits of Lancelot du Lac drew laughs at some screenings because they brought to mind the Black Knight sequence.

[Ashirg]

Whatever happened to Linklater's Suburbia?

[MoonlitKnight]

Good question. Forman's "Taking Off" as well (though it's wasn't a Warner title). And wasn't Skolimowski's "Deep End" also earmarked at one point (also not a Warner title but still)? :-k

[FilmNerdJamie]

Excalibur would be a fantastic release. It still remains the ultimate 'dark, grungy' high fantasy version of the legend (anticipating a whole run of dark fantasy through the early to mid 80s), maintaining a delicate balance between a sense of wonder whilst filling the characters full of horribly human, adult flaws - the kind of flaws that the more magical figures can inspire them to rise above and/or exploit.

Though it needs to appear in a month where Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Lancelot du Lac also get brought out, for contrast!

Given that it's one of their stock-catalog titles (and the fact Boorman's other masterworks Deliverance and Point Blank got their due), it's shocking Excalibur hasn't gotten a proper home-video release with top-notch transfer and extras. I say that but I could see Point Blank get the Criterion treatment too.

Would be nice for them to get on that while Boorman is still with us... and, while we're at it, someone please put a camera in front of him and get him to talk about The Exorcist II: The Heretic.

[barryconvex]

I always assumed that Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a direct piss-take of Lancelot du Lac...

I had the exact same thought while watching Jabberwocky...

[matrixschmatrix]

I always assumed that Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a direct piss-take of Lancelot du Lac until I looked at its production history against the Bresson film’s release history and realised that this would be a logistical impossibility - unless one of the Monty Python team was treated to an early screening in France (and why would they have been?), they’d have had to fly down to Cannes mid-production for the world premiere. And Lancelot du Lac didn’t open theatrically in Britain until several months after Holy Grail - for some reason it took more than a year to cross the Channel.

So it really does seem to be a very unfortunate coincidence.

One of the Pythons- Jones, I think- talks about this in the special features for Holy Grail, as he says that Bresson's movie opened in New York just after theirs did, and how he kind of felt awful because he actually really liked the Bresson, but it didn't stand a chance at not being treated as ridiculous due to the juxtaposition.

[starmanof51]

The Pythons had been working on the Grail script for awhile too. There were some bits from early drafts that ended up getting used in the last TV season (I'm fuzzy but I think in the Michael Ellis/Department Store episode. Early Grail draft had descendants of the knights still looking for the Grail and checking out Harrod's, because "Harrod's has everything")

[colinr0380]

Excalibur would be a fantastic release. It still remains the ultimate 'dark, grungy' high fantasy version of the legend (anticipating a whole run of dark fantasy through the early to mid 80s), maintaining a delicate balance between a sense of wonder whilst filling the characters full of horribly human, adult flaws - the kind of flaws that the more magical figures can inspire them to rise above and/or exploit.

Though it needs to appear in a month where Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Lancelot du Lac also get brought out, for contrast!

Given that it's one of their stock-catalog titles (and the fact Boorman's other masterworks Deliverance and Point Blank got their due), it's shocking Excalibur hasn't gotten a proper home-video release with top-notch transfer and extras. I say that but I could see Point Blank get the Criterion treatment too.

Would be nice for them to get on that while Boorman is still with us... and, while we're at it, someone please put a camera in front of him and get him to talk about The Exorcist II: The Heretic.

Not to mention that I'd really like a good Blu-ray version of Beyond Rangoon at some point, though it might be controversial at the current time due to its focus on the currently getting re-evaulated figure of Aung San Su Kyi. (But then that would provide the fantastic opportunity for historical extras and roundtable discussions Battle of Algiers-style!)