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Anyway, they definitely need to be on the ball with encoding - the current BD looks pretty great as is.

The laserdisc extras doesn't sound like anything to be excited about, if that's what they'll include.

I had seen High Hopes not to long ago. There is nothing that jumps out at me.

I'm guessing this is a case of the studio doing a new remaster (for insurance purposes perhaps) and then passing it off to a third party for whatever reason. I'd assume Sony prepped Strangelove for a 4K Ultra Blu ray and weren't necessarily interested in reissuing a regular blu ray, but Criterion saw that the remastering was done and, hey, easy release for them.

I dunno, just guessing.

CC seems to have a special relationship with Grover Crisp who heads the Sony restoration department. This could've been in the works for years.

You're all so much better at this than me, but is Jon Amiel's 1989 film "Queen of Hearts" a possibility? It was released on MGM mod DVD a few years ago, but I'm really fond of the picture, and a bluray would be welcome.

FrauBlucher wrote:With the clue of Dr Strangelove forthcoming, what could Criterion do for this release that would be different or better than the Sony release...

Include the original "pie fight" ending footage as an extra. I don't think we've gotten a clear answer as to whether the footage even exists (Jan Harlan has alternately claimed that all unused footage was destroyed and that he has the excised pie fight footage in the archives), but that would be a major coup for Criterion and convince me to buy the film yet again.

That's a nice speculation but for me the angel on the bomb clearly means it's the "Exterminating Angel", not "Strangelove".

I thought of Kings and Queen, too, when I first examined the drawing.

I don't know if it's been said, I'm sure it has, but under the McCabe drawing the little shoots of grass look like M's. There's two close together that don't look like any of the others.

bergelson wrote:That's a nice speculation but for me the angel on the bomb clearly means it's the "Exterminating Angel", not "Strangelove".

It's an overlapping clue, as they've done many times before in the New Year's drawings. The angel participating in nuclear annihilation is for The Exterminating Angel upgrade, but the very fact we understand that a being riding a bomb means annihilation is due to the iconic image in Strangelove. The artist could've depicted "exterminating" in other ways. Strangelove has been rumored before. The Sony BD is OOP. Criterion wasn't going to turn down a get as big as this, especially if there's a new 4K transfer. I'm sure they'll develop at least one substantial new supplement to help justify the release.

Plus strange love and 2001 were both laserdiscs and criterion seems to be eager to bring a lot of those titles back to the collection, adventures of Robin Hood may also be likely.

While I could easily see the three kings as a clue for Wenders' Kings of the Road,

Wenders's film has, at most, two kings.

Maybe one of those kings represents Stars In My Crown. I mean, I sure hope so. There's no excuse for Criterion to go through all this trouble to secure a deal with Warner Bros. only to ignore their classic catalogue in favor of post-1970s films.

Kings Row could be a possibility.

Roger Ryan wrote:

FrauBlucher wrote:With the clue of Dr Strangelove forthcoming, what could Criterion do for this release that would be different or better than the Sony release...

Include the original "pie fight" ending footage as an extra. I don't think we've gotten a clear answer as to whether the footage even exists (Jan Harlan has alternately claimed that all unused footage was destroyed and that he has the excised pie fight footage in the archives), but that would be a major coup for Criterion and convince me to buy the film yet again.

The BFI has a copy that was screened at a Kubrick retrospective in 1999, after which they were contacted by his estate and told not to do it again. It does seem that the footage is (or was) accessible to researchers—an HTF poster claims to have viewed it in 2008, and Ken Adam (in the book Ken Adam and the Art of Production Design) mentions watching it sometime around the turn of the century in the company of an unnamed writer, who I suspect is Ed Sikov (his Mr. Strangelove describes the scene in such detail that I'm pretty sure he actually saw it). But Jan Harlan said as recently as 2014 that it shouldn't be released, so I wouldn't hold my breath for a home video appearance.

FrauBlucher wrote:The laserdisc extras doesn't sound like anything to be excited about, if that's what they'll include.

The first pressing of the laserdisc also had an early, pre-Southern draft of the screenplay, but when Kubrick found out he had Criterion recall the unsold copies and remove the script from the second pressing. Of course that wouldn't be a very compelling extra today, given that the same draft is now online.

I doubt it, but I hope you're right!

I'd expect a Criterion Strangelove to finally include Pablo Ferro's theatrical trailer in HD, as well as include both a variable ratio presentation and the original theatrical widescreen framing.

FlickeringWindow wrote:I'd expect a Criterion Strangelove to finally include Pablo Ferro's theatrical trailer in HD, as well as include both a variable ratio presentation and the original theatrical widescreen framing.

To include the variable ratio presentation would be completely unnecessary and only further complicate matters re: The Kubrick Aspect Ratio Debate.

The Sony BD had a great transfer and a solid crop of special features. My guess is that the Criterion will feature a new and improved (whether it be big or small) transfer, port over most of the old extras, and contain some new, more scholarly ones. It isn't necessary by any means, but considering Kubrick is my favorite director and Strangelove is one of my favorite films, I'll take it.

Though I can't help but wish Criterion instead went after some of the WB Kubrick titles, specifically Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut.

Regarding the man/island in the drawing - could it be a double clue for both Shindo's The Naked Island and Bunuel's Robinson Crusoe?

Kings Row could be a possibility

Though they would have missed using an obvious visual pun for that one.

Last year's clue pretty much gave us permission to think obvious (a rose? The Rose, a bridge? The Bridge, a river? The River)---the three kings of la strada probably just reference the Russell, the Wenders's, and the Fellini.

My out-there, wishful speculation is that the blown-up nature of the clue is actually a clue for Blowup. Alongside McCabe, I could finally say farewell to my remaining snappers!

Would others say the man on the island could be praying? His hands look kind of held up in a position of prayer. Besides The Naked Island, I think it's also a clue for The Naked Prey.

The road could always be for the Cormac Mccarthy "the road."

The guy on the island is obviously a clue for the mid 90s Martin Clunes film Staggered where he wakes up naked on a Scottish island on his wedding day.

I think the three kings might also be a hint for Pasolini's The Gospel According to Matthew.