Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[MovieBuff647]

It's hilarious seeing all these people online say they're not going to buy Wild at Heart until the Lynch set comes out when there is a decent chance it won't be a film set.

Not sure if you saw but a Lynch fan account on Twitter confirmed there is no complete filmography set coming and then someone else in the Criterion thread on the Blu-Ray dot com forums confirmed this was true. The latter individual also added Criterion are well aware there’s demand for them to release TWIN PEAKS in particular but there’s no chance of that happening either as licensing it would be a nightmare for them.

Also, someone pointed out elsewhere Janus recently picked up Dynamic:01 so that's probably what the Lynch thing they're working on is. But I also think it's possible StudioCanal, who have the Germany/France rights to nearly all of his work, are planning something big for those two countries, and it's likely Jennifer got the two mixed up.

All said, Lynch is a top three filmmaker for me—my single favorite of his is probably INLAND EMPIRE, though until recently I might've said TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN (saw both around the same time over two years ago), but I utterly adore both, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, FWWM, and love most of his work generally—and yet I never understood the point of Criterion releasing a Lynch filmography set given they’ve already released most of his work on UHD individually and they sell extraordinarily well even when some of them have superior alternatives from other non-US labels and, if they did release a filmography set, would likely just recycle the same existing discs. The only way it ever made sense to me is if it were a ploy to get Paramount to play ball vis-a-vis TWIN PEAKS and that always seemed like a long shot, especially when Lynch sadly isn’t even alive to sign off on it.

Edit: Missed this, whoops.

To be taken with a grain of salt. From the other forum a person with connections to Criterion, they will not be doing a Lynch box.

Here

Also, on an unrelated note: though I do own a 4K setup, I am a dual format person and thus share the frustrations of Criterion seemingly moving away from that, especially given how great many of their discs have been this year.

Thank you, TFN, I forgot that Chris had put these together. I hope Paramount would be flexible about Rosemary's Baby if Criterion asked for it. Their own UHD has been out for a while and the film deserves the best possible presentation.

I'd love for Criterion to get ROSEMARY'S BABY back but I think it's evident that they're sadly not interested in releasing any Polanski at the moment. They still haven't upgraded KNIFE IN THE WATER to Blu-Ray!

[James Stock]

Yes, I'm well aware a movie set isn't happening and it'll probably be a shorts set. That's why I said that in the first place.

[MovieBuff647]

Yeah I missed that someone else here linked my post from the other site sharing the original source and edited my post to reflect that, apologies.

[MovieBuff647]

Is there proof they passed on Sunrise? I agree that it would be exceptionally foolish to pass on that. Did Disney fund the new restoration or was it from another source considering it’s now public domain?

AFAICT the new restoration (which is actually three restorations: the Movietone version, the Czechoslovak version, and the Dutch version) had no involvement from Disney. It was spearheaded by the San Francisco Film Preserve with funding from a Minnesota nonprofit aptly called the Sunrise Foundation for Education and the Arts. I imagine the film's public domain status is the reason this project happened in the first place.

Also BFI were involved.

[MovieBuff647]

DOCTOR ZHIVAGO has a 4K DCP! This is one I can see coming from WBHE, Warner Archive, or Criterion.

https://www.academymuseum.org/programs/ ... c983b6d891

[Walter Kurtz]

That would be impressive if WA or Criterion landed the ninth largest grossing film in the history of domestic cinema, adjusted for inflation. Impressive but unlikely.

[Zot!]

That would be impressive if WA or Criterion landed the ninth largest grossing film in the history of domestic cinema, adjusted for inflation. Impressive but unlikely.

Even more impressive when you consider it is hardly domestic at all. But the audience that saw this in 1965 is probably not buying 4Ks, so its previous box office performance has likely faded into antiquity.

[Walter Kurtz]

"Domestic" meaning US and Canada box office. I'm certainly not being provincial considering I saw fifty French films last year and only four "domestic" ones. "Domestic" meaning its pretty difficult to get global box office numbers for 60 year-old films . And how the hell would you inflate 50 different countries much less measure purchasing power parity. Yeah, that's a thing. But thanks for letting me know that Alec Guinness and Julie Christie and Ralph Richardson and Omar Sharif and Tom Courtenay aren't Yanks. Damn. And Guinness is my favorite beer! I thought I was being patriotic. And it is a pity, isn't it, that old people go and die on us. But fear not, I will not let this film fade into antiquity along with our venerated elders. I shall keep eternal vigil over the greatness of the Doctor Zhivago domestic box office!

[Zot!]

I am unclear what point you are trying to make, but mine was that, yeah, it is impressive that a for-all-intents-and-purposes "foreign" film holds this ranking. My other point was that I am doubting that this film still holds quite the same blockbuster qualifications today, and would not be shocked if Criterion released it, like they once have with Lawrence of Arabia.