Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[dwk]

Some new additions to the Channel that open with the Criterion and Janus logos:
Carita de dielo (1947)
Aventurera (1950)
Take Me in Your Arms (1954)
Pom Pom and Hot Hot (1997)(note Team Error 4444 have announced they are going to release this on Blu-ray.)
People's Hero (1987)

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

More than Pom Pom and Hot Hot, which is fun, I’d love to see someone release the Pom Pom films with Richard Ng and John Shum.

I saw People’s Hero at the New Beverly a few years ago on 35mm. An interesting take on Dog Day Afternoon in which the bank robber himself is moralistic and is struggling to do how much he likes everyone. It’s no masterpiece, but it’s fun and features both Tony Leungs.

[Ned Merrill Streep]

I've seen rumours going around the Criterion is working on a complete David Lynch boxset that will include everything he made, including shorts and TV shows. Does anyone know if there's any truth to these rumours?

[nicolas]

The same forum members who revealed the upcoming Criterion Kubrick set in advance of its release have also teased a Luis Buñuel set. As they've already released five of Lynch's films individually in 4K, it's probably unlikely that they'll do his entire filmography.

[HardNight'sDay]

I've seen rumours going around the Criterion is working on a complete David Lynch boxset that will include everything he made, including shorts and TV shows. Does anyone know if there's any truth to these rumours?

May I please ask where you got your information from? Because I searched on the blu ray.com forums and the r/criterion on reddit, and I see no mentions of it.

[Ned Merrill Streep]

I've seen rumours going around the Criterion is working on a complete David Lynch boxset that will include everything he made, including shorts and TV shows. Does anyone know if there's any truth to these rumours?

May I please ask where you got your information from? Because I searched on the blu ray.com forums and the r/criterion on reddit, and I see no mentions of it.

Nowhere official, through word of mouth from one or two people who heard from one or two people, the typical second-hand news thing. That's why I'm asking here if there's any truth to it or if these people are just talking nonsense or misleading themselves into thinking the ongoing 4K restorations are part of something bigger. If I had a more concrete source then I'd be happy to share it! And I don't want to contribute to the rumour mills at all, that's why I'm just looking for clarity.

[HardNight'sDay]

I've seen rumours going around the Criterion is working on a complete David Lynch boxset that will include everything he made, including shorts and TV shows. Does anyone know if there's any truth to these rumours?

May I please ask where you got your information from? Because I searched on the blu ray.com forums and the r/criterion on reddit, and I see no mentions of it.

Nowhere official, through word of mouth from one or two people who heard from one or two people, the typical second-hand news thing. That's why I'm asking here if there's any truth to it or if these people are just talking nonsense or misleading themselves into thinking the ongoing 4K restorations are part of something bigger. If I had a more concrete source then I'd be happy to share it! And I don't want to contribute to the rumour mills at all, that's why I'm just looking for clarity.

Just making sure, Ned. However, I could see David Lynch as the next big director box set after Kubrick.

[mfunk9786]

Criterion is becoming a ubiquitous enough brand that if they can release a set like that, they certainly will. The big question marks will be securing the Twin Peaks TV stuff from CBS.

[denti alligator]

Just reissuing the material they’ve put out, plus Straight Story and Wild at Heart (which we know are coming), would feel like a letdown. Adding all of Twin Peaks and also Dune would be eye raising. Adding everything else (all 21st-Century shorts and animations and web series, music videos, commercials, concert films, Mulholland Drive Pilot, On the Air, Hotel Room, and Industrial Symphony) would be wonderful and hard to pass up.

[Mr.DarjeelingLimited]

I've seen rumours going around the Criterion is working on a complete David Lynch boxset that will include everything he made, including shorts and TV shows. Does anyone know if there's any truth to these rumours?

May I please ask where you got your information from? Because I searched on the blu ray.com forums and the r/criterion on reddit, and I see no mentions of it.

I’ve seen so much ridiculous Lynch boxset is happening comments on reddit that every time I ask for a source it’s just that they put out Lynch films.

[DRW.mov]

Yeah, it mostly seems to be reddit fancasting more than anything. Again, Dune and the TV work (which unlike Fassbinder or Steve McQueen, Lynch isn't the sole directorial voice on...) really make it feel a lot more remote. If 30 discs was a lot on Kubrick, how many discs would something like that be?? If they were to do a box I have to imagine it would just be his features and shorts and even then might not include Dune (but maybe the Duran Duran doc?).
But again, unlike Kubrick or even Wes, they've already issued almost his entirely catalogue on 4K already barring Eraserhead's inevitable upgrade and the one confirmed and second speculated incoming titles. For Kubrick it was about upgrading 5 previous releases to 4K and bringing in 6 new titles, while Wes was about bringing in 2 new titles and upgrading the rest. Lynch already being so well represented on 4K through them already it really would beg the question what could/would they add to give a box purpose. Of course, they could always just repackage all of their Lynch releases into a single box and make a shit ton of money, and hey, they might do that some day, but it doesn't feel like the trajectory they're on right now.
As previously pointed out, it feels like Buñuel, Malick, Kurosawa, etc seem more likely to be coming down the pike soon, restorations and licensing depending.

[domino harvey]

And let’s continue to state the obvious, but where’s the Chaplin set?

[Lowry_Sam]

And let’s continue to state the obvious, but where’s the Chaplin set?

That raises the issue of a complete set vs. just the feature length films. I believe Flicker Alley just repressed both the Essanay & Mutual Comedies. Then there's also the issue of working with the estate & whether the original versions (rather than just deleted scenes as special feature) can be included. There's probably much more work behind a Chaplin box (if it's going to be complete) than just gathering the films together (same for Welles). I think (almost) complete boxes would be easier for a few other directors would be easier to pull off in the short term (Bresson, Antonioni, Pasolini v. 2, 60s Godard, Lynch, Wiseman).

[denti alligator]

I don't think the Chaplin will include the Mutual or Essenay shorts. And I do hope it happens. Maybe the holdout was auspicious in that had it happened earlier it would have been Blu-ray only?

I never understood why they left off the Trilogy of Life and Salo from the Pasolini set. I don't see a vol. 2 coming. Ever. We can purchase the other two as is.

[Finch]

Sweet Jesus and the baby orphans, no Lynch set please. Even a Twin Peaks set wouldn't excite me all that much, outside of better encodes for the entire show and fixed audio for the first two seasons. Since Lynch is gone, there likely isn't going to be an HDR/DV pass on the show. I've already upgraded the two features I love four times (FWWM) and three times (MD) respectively, and I'm a bit burned out from Paramount's not great presentations of the show. The packaging was horrible for the entire mystery and Z-A sets.

Would be a hard pass on an entire filmography set and a maybe on a Peaks set if done right and at half price.

I'd rather see a Sam Fuller at Fox 4K set with fresh restorations of the likes of Steel Helmet.

[DRW.mov]

I'd rather see a Sam Fuller at Fox 4K set with fresh restorations of the likes of Steel Helmet.

Steel Helmet isn't a Fox title.

[FlickeringWindow]

And let’s continue to state the obvious, but where’s the Chaplin set?

That raises the issue of a complete set vs. just the feature length films. I believe Flicker Alley just repressed both the Essanay & Mutual Comedies. Then there's also the issue of working with the estate & whether the original versions (rather than just deleted scenes as special feature) can be included. There's probably much more work behind a Chaplin box (if it's going to be complete) than just gathering the films together (same for Welles). I think (almost) complete boxes would be easier for a few other directors would be easier to pull off in the short term (Bresson, Antonioni, Pasolini v. 2, 60s Godard, Lynch, Wiseman).

Mutual and Essanay would only add two discs each, Keystone would probably be three. Overall a complete Blu set would be maybe 20 discs and entirely unlikely to be 4K, so it would be closer to Varda and Fellini in size.

[A Tempted Christ]

Criterion is still credited as the distributor of the Steel Helmet on iTunes. I assume they also have the other two films from the Eclipse box set as they're part of the same library, so an upgrade in the future is definitely possible.

[CSM126]

All three of the Fuller eclipse films are with Janus, as are Naked Kiss and Shock Corridor.