Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[domino harvey]

Mademoiselle was released separately by BFI, as was the omnibus bus film. Light Brigade just got an American Blu from Sandpiper last month

[crimlaw]

Ugh. Sandpiper is film Purgatory.

[beamish14]

Laughter in the Dark is in legal hell, which is a shame, as rushes featuring Richard Burton, who was fired and replaced by Niccol Williamson, still exist.

I’m really curious about what can be done with The Sailor from Gibraltar

[Mr.DarjeelingLimited]

Is this the appropriate place to ask the noob question of are there any OOP blurays we can expect to come back soon? I want their copy of Nashville but I don’t want to spend 100$ on Nashville.

The Paramount release is supposed to be nicer for the feature (newer resto) and is less than $15 on Amazon. I would stick with that until a 4k comes along. But if you must have the CC, I doubt it is returning soon, so you’d have to pay the premium.

Alright! Thank you! I’m gonna roll with the Paramount release.

[Stefan Andersson]

It'll probably never happen, but a Criterion of The Shining with both cuts, original audio, and the proper aspect ratio for both cuts would be amazing.

Here is an important documentation of differences between various home video editions of The Shining:
https://archive.org/details/ShiningPhilology

Examples of music remixing differences between dvd and bluray releases starts at approx. 14:56, after comparisons of music and effects between mono and 5.1.

Page linked to above has further relevant links.

[Stefan Andersson]

Mademoiselle was released separately by BFI, as was the omnibus bus film. Light Brigade just got an American Blu from Sandpiper last month

A new release of Mademoiselle might include both French and English language tracks:
https://www.mondo-digital.com/mademoiselle.html

Charge of the Light Brigade has a longer version, once released on VHS in the U.K. (minus 7 secs of horsefalls cut by the BBFC).:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062790/al ... at_dyk_alt
"all of the currently-available Blu-rays contain a shorter cut of the film that was originally prepared for the American market."
https://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/ ... ?fid=55475

[Lowry_Sam]

BFI did a Woodfall films blu ray box set a few years back. I believe the set stopped at Mademoiselle, if I’m not mistaken, and didn’t include post-1966 Woodfall films, like The Sailor from Gibraltar; The Charge of the Light Brigade; Laughter in the Dark; and Ned Kelly. If Criterion could, at the very least, release the same set in 4K UHD, that would be great. However, there’s probably not much of a demand these days for these films.

But the case could also be made that whatever boxset Criterion could cull together from that era would actually be more attractive than a random trickle of individual titles. The most popular titles could always be released as standalones as happened with American Lost And Found: The BBS Story

And there is another precedent for a Kubrick set besides Bergman. AK100 (DVD only) was released in December of 2009, after Ran was slated to be upgraded to blu-ray (May) but pulled because Studio Canal didn't renew the rights & Kagemusha then became the first Kurosawa upgrade to blu (August, 4 months before the box). Because Eyes Wide Shut is Warner Bros., it would most likely be included in a Criterion Kubrick box, the question would be which version(s) would be included & if there's probably still work to be done in restoring any final version. I would guess that an Altman box from the Janus restorations currently touring to celebrate his 100th or a new Kurosawa box from those new 4k restorations are likely to come before a Kubrick box.

[Matt]

I would guess that an Altman box from the Janus restorations currently touring to celebrate his 100th

Are you talking about the series running at BAMPFA, The Jacob Burns Film Center, and The Siskel Film Center? Janus has nothing to do with that other than being the non-theatrical distributor for The Player. A lot of what’s being shown are archival 35mm prints, and Nashville is the only 4K restored film.

[Lowry_Sam]

I can't remember the article I first read about it, but it did give the impression that there were several films getting 4K restorations (inxluding The Long Goodbye, M*A*S*H & Images ) for the 100th birthday celebration & seeing a Janus credit on 2 of the titles I assumed they were behind a similar project to AK100.

[Matt]

I would absolutely love for that to be the case. Even just a 1970-1980 Altman set would be fantastic, but it would involve Warner Bros., Amazon, Sony, Paramount, and Disney all agreeing to it, which seems like an awfully heavy lift.

I'm still waiting on Ozu 100, er...120, uh...122.

[DeprongMori]

Still waiting on some updated Harold Lloyd restorations.

I watched Girl Shy again on the Channel last night and it is a 2002 edition from The Harold Lloyd Trust. It opens with Criterion and Janus logos. We missed the 2024 100th Anniversary for a restoration.

How long has it been since the last Lloyd title Criterion released? Are these films doomed to remain in their present state as streaming-only? (On the plus side, at least they are available in some form.) Are they just not selling well?

[FrauBlucher]

The Kid Brother, March of 2019. More Lloyd is definitely due

[domino harvey]

They just ended their Chaplin drought with a similar span of time, so I wouldn’t abandon hope yet. But if I owned these films and cared about them getting out, I’d really be skeptical of Criterion’s plans to ever make these right. If they had gone to Arrow we’d already have a complete set with a million extras released well over a decade ago

[dwk]

Speaking of Harold Lloyd, I wonder what happened to that set of talkies that was supposedly in the works.

[ryannichols7]

I would absolutely love for that to be the case. Even just a 1970-1980 Altman set would be fantastic, but it would involve Warner Bros., Amazon, Sony, Paramount, and Disney all agreeing to it, which seems like an awfully heavy lift.

I'm still waiting on Ozu 100, er...120, uh...122.

I can't imagine a major Altman release unfortunately for the reasons stated. the trend with these box sets so far is that the licensing comes mostly from one source. some titles can be mixed in (The Serpent's Egg, Satyricon) but it seems Criterion's preference is a single licensor, which makes so much sense anyway

Ozu of course I'm waiting on but I do really not see a Kurosawa box coming. unless it's a very select period of his career and even then, at this point we have individuals of four different titles and I'm sure Throne of Blood and The Hidden Fortress will get standalone upgrades too. they couldn't release a complete Kurosawa, and even that Toho period hasn't been fully restored yet. maybe I'll be wrong on this, but I'm not counting on it. Ozu is far more likely given it's almost all Shochiku and the select few that aren't already did get 4K restorations

[yoloswegmaster]

I was on the Les Blank website and I noticed this message on the page for Burden of Dreams:

The newly remastered version (4K in 2024) is showing in theaters ONLY until 2026. After the theatrical run, it will be available for purchase for home use.

I guess this means that we can see a upgrade being announced next year.

Still waiting on some updated Harold Lloyd restorations.

I watched Girl Shy again on the Channel last night and it is a 2002 edition from The Harold Lloyd Trust. It opens with Criterion and Janus logos. We missed the 2024 100th Anniversary for a restoration.

How long has it been since the last Lloyd title Criterion released? Are these films doomed to remain in their present state as streaming-only? (On the plus side, at least they are available in some form.) Are they just not selling well?

There was a post by someone on the other forum that said they were at a screening of The Freshman with Suzanne Lloyd and she confirmed that Girl Shy was being released at the end of the year. There was also a post from the official Harold Lloyd page that stated Why Worry? had been scanned for a bluray release and that it was going to feature more Lloyd shorts.

[FrauBlucher]

I was on the Les Blank website and I noticed this message on the page for Burden of Dreams:

The newly remastered version (4K in 2024) is showing in theaters ONLY until 2026. After the theatrical run, it will be available for purchase for home use.

I guess this means that we can see a upgrade being announced next year.

I saw this earlier in the year. It looked terrific

Still waiting on some updated Harold Lloyd restorations.

I watched Girl Shy again on the Channel last night and it is a 2002 edition from The Harold Lloyd Trust. It opens with Criterion and Janus logos. We missed the 2024 100th Anniversary for a restoration.

How long has it been since the last Lloyd title Criterion released? Are these films doomed to remain in their present state as streaming-only? (On the plus side, at least they are available in some form.) Are they just not selling well?

There was a post by someone on the other forum that said they were at a screening of The Freshman with Suzanne Lloyd and she confirmed that Girl Shy was being released at the end of the year. There was also a post from the official Harold Lloyd page that stated Why Worry? had been scanned for a bluray release and that it was going to feature more Lloyd shorts.

I remember seeing this too. Maybe December will be a Lloyd twofer month

[dwk]

New additions to the channel that open with the Criterion and Janus logos:
Magnificent Butcher
The Tit and the Moon
Golden Balls
Volavérunt
Le garçu

[domino harvey]

Le garçu

I’m the one who just bought this (French Blu), so you’re welcome

[beamish14]

New additions to the channel that open with the Criterion and Janus logos:
The Tit and the Moon
Golden Balls

Just wonderful news. Tit and the Moon has never had a home video release in North America. Javier Bardem’s performance in Golden Balls might still be his very best

[Stefan Andersson]

Le garçu

Might Criterion be interested in releasing Pialat´s TV series La maison des bois? Gaumont released it in France on dvd (no subs), but they don´t own it and apparently a bluray release is too complicated:
https://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/viewto ... start=6840 - See post July 10 by 1kult.

I believe the INA owns La maison des bois:
https://www.ina.fr/

[Calvin]

Le garçu

Might Criterion be interested in releasing Pialat´s TV series La maison des bois? Gaumont released it in France on dvd (no subs), but they don´t own it and apparently a bluray release is too complicated:
https://www.dvdclassik.com/forum/viewto ... start=6840 - See post July 10 by 1kult.

I believe the INA owns La maison des bois.

Considering how slow Criterion have been with Pialat films that have readily available HD masters, I can't see them rushing to restore or release a 7 hour TV series by him.

It's something that I'm sure someone like Radiance would release if a French body took care of the restoration first

[yoloswegmaster]

In a interview with Charles Busch, he reveals that Criterion may have picked up the rights to 'Psycho Beach Party':

I believe the Criterion Collection has taken on the movie. I was just looking through their catalogue and, my god, to think of it… [to be] in the same collection as the greatest films by Fellini and Kurosawa and Truffaut. It’s kind of wild. These movies can kind of disappear, and I’m hoping this will lead to Criterion taking on my follow-up picture, “Die, Mommie, Die!,” which I’m very proud of.

[DRW.mov]

He's probably just referring to it being on the Channel. Strand just announced their own blu-ray.

[dwk]

Probably correcr about it just being on the Channel, but at least one of the Araki titles had Blu from Strand shortly before the Criterion set.