Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[hearthesilence]

The former was shot on 16mm, and IIRC they did go back to the OCN for the Blu-ray edition, so it's probably less likely to be a candidate for UHD.

[Ribs]

All were remastered by Universal last year and scheduled for 4K by the studio but only Meaning of Life made it out in the end. I have been wondering if it could be because they were handed back to Criterion.

[yoloswegmaster]

The former was shot on 16mm, and IIRC they did go back to the OCN for the Blu-ray edition, so it's probably less likely to be a candidate for UHD.

Was 'Holy Grail' actually shot on 16mm? I'm trying to find information on it but all I can find is someone on the blu.com forum claiming that it was shot on 16mm and others stating that it was shot on 35. IMDb also states that it was shot on 35mm but that could be incorrect as anyone can change the data.

All were remastered by Universal last year and scheduled for 4K by the studio but only Meaning of Life made it out in the end. I have been wondering if it could be because they were handed back to Criterion.

Did the rights to the other 2 transfer to Universal? I could have sworn that the original blus were released by Sony, and both films still appear on Sony's site.

[beamish14]

All were remastered by Universal last year and scheduled for 4K by the studio but only Meaning of Life made it out in the end. I have been wondering if it could be because they were handed back to Criterion.

Universal? Doesn’t Sony control Holy Grail and And Now for Something Completely Different?

[beamish14]

The former was shot on 16mm, and IIRC they did go back to the OCN for the Blu-ray edition, so it's probably less likely to be a candidate for UHD.

Was 'Holy Grail' actually shot on 16mm? I'm trying to find information on it but all I can find is someone on the blu.com forum claiming that it was shot on 16mm and others stating that it was shot on 35. IMDb also states that it was shot on 35mm but that could be incorrect as anyone can change the data.

I’m almost 100% positive it was 35. I remember Gilliam talking about the (Panavision?) camera breaking as the very first shot was about to be filmed

[Ribs]

Hmm… I could have sworn all three titles appeared on a retailer listing at the same time. All I can see reflecting that at the moment is a post from one of those terrible Social-based rumormonger accounts that lists things found on Blu-ray.com like a rocket. So I may have been confused, sorry! (And I certainly didn’t remember them having different rightsholders) But I do think it probably will happen.

[hearthesilence]

The former was shot on 16mm, and IIRC they did go back to the OCN for the Blu-ray edition, so it's probably less likely to be a candidate for UHD.

Was 'Holy Grail' actually shot on 16mm? I'm trying to find information on it but all I can find is someone on the blu.com forum claiming that it was shot on 16mm and others stating that it was shot on 35. IMDb also states that it was shot on 35mm but that could be incorrect as anyone can change the data.

I’m almost 100% positive it was 35. I remember Gilliam talking about the (Panavision?) camera breaking as the very first shot was about to be filmed

Ah, never mind then, I was pulling from second hand info, probably from the same forum. I did a search and it looks like they used an ARRIFLEX 35 BL Camera.

[Hogfather]

I wonder if they will release 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' and 'Life of Brian' with all these Gilliam 4Ks coming out in rapid succession. I don't know about the former but the latter definitely needs an upgrade.

I'm sure they'll do Life of Brian soon. We know they're sitting on a bunch of HandMade Films right now and they're working with Gilliam pretty closely. I hope he's doing all right, but he just turned 82. I think that more than anything it's just a toss-up between whether it'll be Life of Brian, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, or Brazil next.

Speaking of HandMade Films, I wonder which ones they'll release next. They've already upgraded Mona Lisa and Time Bandits, Powwow Highway, Withnail and I, How to Succeed in Advertising, and The Long Good Friday are all listed on Janus' website, and all those films are on the channel along with Track 29, A Private Function, The Raggedy Rawney, and The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne.

[rrenault]

I already have the French UHD of Rules of the Game (and the old Criterion blu-ray with all the supplements), so I'm presuming I won't need to purchase Criterion's UHD on day one.

[Buttery Jeb]

Out of curiosity, has there been any details from A24 regarding Blu-ray/UHD releases of either Pi or Stop Making Sense? I'm somewhat hoping they'll work with Criterion on those films, somewhat like they did with Uncut Gems (albeit working thru Lionsgate).

[andyli]

I already have the French UHD of Rules of the Game (and the old Criterion blu-ray with all the supplements), so I'm presuming I won't need to purchase Criterion's UHD on day one.

It remains to be seen how Criterion's SDR transfer fixes issues from ESC's faux-HDR. This could potentially be a selling point.

[rrenault]

I had the impression the reaction to ESC's UHD of 'Rules' was mostly positive given the state of the source material. It's listed as a reference UHD on here at least. In either case, if Criterion's release is DNR'd at all I doubt it would be an improvement over the ESC.

[andyli]

I can't find the link but I seem to remember some more knowledgeable forum members pointing out the ESC edition's HDR grading was not from the source restoration. This along with the fact that BFI passes on the opportunity to release it on UHD gives me the impression that there were issues that kept the film from receiving a reference-quality release.

[rrenault]

I can't find the link but I seem to remember some more knowledgeable forum members pointing out the ESC edition's HDR grading was not from the source restoration. This along with the fact that BFI passes on the opportunity to release it on UHD gives me the impression that there were issues that kept the film from receiving a reference-quality release.

I was well aware there've always been issues with the source materials for this film. The section I've bolded is precisely why I'm surprised it's such an early UHD release on Criterion's part. I feel and fear Criterion may be partly going down the road of simply caring about the optics of having such and such film "On 4K UHD", regardless of how much of a difference it makes over a 4K-sourced blu-ray. Companies like Arrow, BFI, Carlotta, and even Kino it seems will only do 4K releases where there's a technical justification for doing so.

[ryannichols7]

I didn't feel it was necessary to give Pasolini 101 its own roundup, though I'll treat it a little bit differently below. an interesting month, so let's cover it

The Rules of the Game - first confirmed just over a year ago that Criterion co-financed the new restoration; UHD already released in France

Time Bandits - rapid succession of Gilliam UHD upgrades; first HandMade Films title to be upgraded to UHD; otherwise a surprise

The Servant - rumored to be with Criterion since 19 May 2020; UK UHD came out September 2021

Medicine for Melancholy - confirmed via the NYT article I will not link to here (2020) and known to be worked on for almost two years. a staple of guessing threads otherwise

Pasolini 101 - countless Janus tweets/posts about Pasolini and his 100th, including one seemingly confirming the rights situation for Medea. otherwise, completely unknown that this was coming, mostly just a lot of wishes!

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DVD to Bluray/UHD upgrades this month:

0236 Mamma Roma

Bluray to UHD upgrades:

0037 Time Bandits
0216 The Rules of the Game

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May had us all happy. for June, they lead us on with the announcement of Pasolini 101, which I'll cover last. before we get there - It's well worth nothing that all of these titles were basically known to be coming. while Time Bandits is moreso a surprise, Criterion's recent fixation on its director (who now has more UHD releases from the label than any other director, not including Kieslowski's trilogy) doesn't make it all too shocking. the other three were frequent staples of our guessing threads - Rules of the Game is another marquee upgrade of a long-held Janus catalog title, one that Criterion had a hand in restoring. but again, much like the May UHDs, there is no HDR to be found here. but this may be okay given the restoration, so I don't feel the need to sound the alarm here for this reason (the cover art is another story). either way, the new restoration should be quite a step up from the 2011 Bluray, if the French UHD is anything to go by. worth noting the BFI passed on releasing this title on UHD, whether that was due to sales projections or the materials remains to be seen. Medicine for Melancholy has long been known to be coming and I'm frankly glad to see it no longer be on the guessing thread every month. The Servant is the title where my opinions will come into this roundup post just a little bit (I try and keep them separated) - while it's great that Criterion is finally releasing a Joseph Losey film, and a great one at that, it's indisputably disappointing that they chose not to release it on UHD. while I understand this is probably due to sales projections, I'd have to imagine they had the HDR master available to them and passed on it. they have their own data of how much this film was watched on the Channel over the last year (it's been up there for some time and was part of the "British New Wave" series) so they're the best judges of this, but it is disappointing to see an inferior edition come out after Canal has had their UHD on the market for almost two years. one could make the argument that it wasn't available for them to release on UHD, but I'd be surprised given Mulholland Drive and Le Cercle Rouge were. on the "director approved" front, we have Medicine and Bandits for this month, a surprise to see less than half of the titles released be the case.

worth noting that Time Bandits is the first HandMade Films title to make it to UHD, before several of those titles (Withnail and I, The Long Good Friday, Life of Brian) make it back in print. I wouldn't be shocked to see any of these titles be the first "DVD to UHD" upgrades - it's highly likely Criterion still has the rights to all of these, as Arrow did not port over their UK editions of these films, and Criterion of course brought Mona Lisa back in print. something to keep in mind of in the future.

but the Pasolini 101 set, what a lovely surprise this was. as noted elsewhere, a stroke of genius to call the boxset "101", being a great intro to the director's work and celebrating his 101st birthday. this is a good example of Criterion sitting on things for a little while - while they've had most of these titles on the Channel for ages, they weren't restored. after how the Bergman box was handled (in terms of including older discs for Smiles, The Magician, and others), it's nice to see they went fully all in on using the newest masters for these. while the Masters of Cinema editions served many of us well for some time, these should be a lovely knockout upgrade above each of those discs. I see people frantically trying to offload their Hawks and Sparrows/Porcile discs on eBay currently, to no avail. it's good to see Criterion still had this kind of set in them, and I do hope we see more in the future.

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our roundup winners this month featured a four way tie - Crimlaw25, dwk, guyetgenevieve, CSM126 each guessed one title apiece. while many guessed quite a few of these titles in previous months, they were the ones who guessed them for this month

we'll see you back for the big month of July. no prizes for guessing The Princess Bride on UHD!

[Calvin]

Ashley Clark's Sight & Sound list may (or may not!) provide a clue to some future releases. Four have already been released by Criterion, with the others being:

West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty (Hondo, 1979) - Currently unavailable in the US. Has been recently restored and is coming out on Blu-Ray in France.
Turumba (Tahimik, 1981) - Out on DVD via Les Blank Films, who Criterion have previously licenced from
Born in Flames (Borden, 1983) - Unlikely. Available on Blu-Ray via First Run.
Leila and the Wolves (Srour, 1984) - Recently restored by the CNC
Compensation (Davis, 1999) - Independent film; institutional copies available on DVD via Women Make Movies.
The Nine Muses (Akomfrah, 2010) - Unlikely. Available on DVD via Icarus Filns.

Given they've been recently restored, West Indies and Leila and the Wolves seem like likely releases in the near-medium future and there doesn't seem to be any obvious barriers to Turumba and Compensation getting Criterion releases if he rates them that highly.

[bad future]

Born in Flames (Borden, 1983) - Unlikely. Available on Blu-Ray via First Run.

but picked up by Janus recently, apparently!

[FrauBlucher]

while it's great that Criterion is finally releasing a Joseph Losey film, and a great one at that, it's indisputably disappointing that they chose not to release it in UHD.

You forgot Mr. Klein is in

[Saturnome]

Leila and the Wolves (Srour, 1984) - Recently restored by the CNC

Oh man that would be fantastic to get a release of this film. The Hour of Liberation Has Arrived should be a bonus feature, too. But Criterion doesn't really release this kind of film outside of the World Cinema Project box sets.

[Buttery Jeb]

Born in Flames (Borden, 1983) - Unlikely. Available on Blu-Ray via First Run.

I thought Born in Flames had been confirmed as now being with Janus recently.

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah, they announced its acquisition along with The Watermelon Woman after the rest of the Sight & Sound top 250 were revealed

[Calvin]

My bad! If they've acquired that one, which is already available on Blu-Ray, then it surely only makes the others on Clark's list even more likely.

[FrauBlucher]

The Blast of Silence DVD is now listed as unavailable.

[swo17]

Did they just sell out of current stock during the sale?

[fiendishthingy]

For what it’s worth, I see that a few items on my wishlist that were available yesterday are now saying “on back-order,” so I assume there’s some difference between that status and “currently unavailable.”