Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[Minkin]

I've suspected Criterion bought the rights to it for some time now. It was being repped by MK2 around the same time as Eraserhead (did MK2 also rep Dawn of the Dead as well?). I assume they've been waiting for this restoration to finish before announcing it (anyone know the status of it?). Criterion seems to be one of the few companies willing to risk investment on a PD title, so I'd like to think this rumor is true, and we'll get an October release.

[ianungstad]

Pretty sure this is bogus.

This came up a few years ago and it was revealed that the Weinstein Company has the "rights" to Night of the Living Dead through till 2018.It's public domain so many entities have it on offer but the Weinstein Co. still has it for sale digitally. Their dvd was released via Genius Products way back in 2008; I assume since Genius no longer exists it's technically out of print but still seems to be available pretty cheap. If any other company makes a play for the film; it would be a 2018 release unless something has changed.

I always assumed it was one of many of the Weinstein's zombie lines (zombie as being abandoned but they still have the rights) such as Dragon Dynasty or the Samuel Bronston pics.

[ryannichols7]

The Cannes Classic lineup has been announced

Upgrades:
Masculin féminin
Ugetsu monogatari

Speculation:

Decakolog - already confirmed
A Man and a Woman - certainly must be part of the WB deal
One Eyed Jacks - New Years Clue was most likely for Jellyfish Eyes, but this was often mentioned.

Most everything else looks like something Criterion would release, so who knows which will come to fruition.

when does WCP announce their newest restorations? It used to be Cannes, then switched to Venice/Berlin, now I'm not sure. They did add a new restoration recently that I hadn't previously noticed: Raid into Tibet (1966)

would be extremely shocked if Masculin feminin and Ugetsu aren't upgraded by the end of the year. pretty surprised CC hasn't upgraded Ugetsu when MOC did years ago!

Election does seem like a pretty obvious thing for Criterion to release, no? there aren't too many major contemporary directors they haven't put at least one movie out from (Sofia Coppola is a glaring omission..come on, her whole catalog is easily licensable!)

[jwd5275]

...the exclusive streaming home for the Criterion Collection library, which includes such classic titles as "Seven Samurai," "A Hard Day's Night," "A Room With a View," "My Life as a Dog," "Mad Max" and "The Player."

Apparently Criterion has rights to Mad Max

[Ribs]

For god's sake, we have the same press release they have. Scream/Shout has Mad Max, and they are part of the Filmstruck library. It means nothing.

[Minkin]

For god's sake, we have the same press release they have. Scream/Shout has Mad Max, and they are part of the Filmstruck library. It means nothing.

I haven't seen any mention anywhere of Shout having anything to do with Filmstruck. Plus they licensed Mad Max from MGM, so Shout would never have streaming rights.

The complete quote from the press release is:

Among the hundreds of critically acclaimed and award-winning titles to be featured on FilmStruck are Seven Samurai, A Hard Day’s Night, A Room With A View, Blood Simple, My Life As A Dog, Mad Max, Breaker Morant and The Player.

Granted, they don't specify that the titles are from Janus/Criterion, but its rather bizarre to include 7 Janus/criterion titles (including three very recent acquisitions: Player/Blood Simple/My Life as a Dog) and 1 from MGM. I suspect MGM isn't renewing rights or the producers/director are taking their rights elsewhere (see: Blood Simple). The Narrator Returns mentions seeing a clip from The Road Warrior on the Insie Llewyn Davis disc.

[domino harvey]

I think we can all agree that America is in desperate need of another Blu-Ray release of Mad Max

[Ribs]

The Llewyn Davis doc featured clips from Road Warrior and A Serious Man, yes, but the credits at the end clearly separate those from those of the two they actually own the rights for (Llewyn Davis & Blood Simple).

[RyanGallagher]

They didn't exactly clear things up with their tweet, but:

[Jeff]

I'd agree that Janus has probably acquired the U.S. rights to the original Mad Max from the original Australian producers. A.I.P. and their successors Orion and MGM have had the U.S. rights for 37 years, but MGM hasn't been able to afford to renew their licenses for overseas acquisitions for a long time, and as they run out, they come up for grabs (see also: Persona).

They didn't exactly clear things up with their tweet

I'm guessing the poor new intern handling Filmstruck's social media accounts might not have necessarily come from the Janus/Criterion crew, and may not have the answer to that question.

[Minkin]

Yeah, this certainly has to be with Janus. Neither Shout nor MGM are mentioned in the press release (which mentions much smaller companies like Icarus + Flicker Alley) and I don't think they'd make such a glaring mistake or confuse titles around in a press release. MGM has been letting things go left & right as they focus on anything but catalog titles (again, see: Blood Simple). It isn't too much of a stretch to expect Criterion to jump on those rights (not like Shout would want to spend all that money just to re-release their own blu with the credits on the back changed).

Mad Max could stand to have a new restoration (it looks like Shout just re-released the MGM blu's transfer, with some minor differences).

[TraverseTown]

For further speculation, the FilmStruck sizzle reel on their website features clips from about 3 dozen Criterion-branded films and also the following: Battleship Potemkin, Metropolis, Blood Simple, Living in Oblivion, and Mona Lisa.

Any chance these are coming to Criterion any time soon? Blood Simple was a rumored title, no?

[The Narrator Returns]

The first two are from Kino, who have been confirmed as a fellow licensee to the streaming service. Living in Oblivion was just released by Shout! Factory, although they're not included in the deal as of yet.

[Ashirg]

Shout! Factory's Living in Oblivion discs are copyrighted to Lemon Sky Productions, whoever they might be...

[CSM126]

The Night of the Living Dead rumor reminded me of something… has anyone picked up the rights to Dawn of the Dead since Anchor Bay lost it? I know Shout released Day of the Dead, but Dawn is still in limbo it seems. I'd buy a Criterion edition of that, and it would make an obvious back-to-back spine pair with Night.

[dwk]

I'm pretty sure that Dawn of the Dead (and Martin and The Night Flier, the two other films that New Amsterdam Entertainment own) are still available. Instead of properly restoring the three main cuts of Dawn, Richard Rubinstein apparently spent a fortune converting the theatrical cut to 3D and subsequently is asking a fortune for the rights.

[dwk]

No Mad Max.

[Minkin]

No Mad Max.

That still sounds like a confused intern: "No, TCM is in charge of Filmstruck, not Criterion." Guess we'll see what happens - in either case, it doesn't sound like it will be with MGM/Shout any longer.

[ianungstad]

Not sure if this has already been mentioned but Chantal Akerman's I YOU HE SHE is playing rep. theaters courtesy of Janus.

http://www.filmstreams.org/film/je-tu-il-elle/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jwd5275]

Isn't it already released on Eclipse?

[chrisandy]

Did anyone attend the Blood Simple. screening?

[jwd5275]

Yes. The Coen brothers and Barry Sonnenfeld had some great stories, especially about Emmet Walsh. The film looks great, however Becker and Turell didn't reveal anything, if that is what you are asking.

[chrisandy]

Yes. The Coen brothers and Barry Sonnenfeld had some great stories, especially about Emmet Walsh. The film looks great, however Becker and Turell didn't reveal anything, if that is what you are asking.

Thanks - any stories you're able to share?

[Roger Ryan]

Yes. The Coen brothers and Barry Sonnenfeld had some great stories, especially about Emmet Walsh. The film looks great, however Becker and Turell didn't reveal anything, if that is what you are asking.

This may have been impossible to discern, but was the original cut screened or the later "Director's Cut"? The Coens' later (preferred) edit is about three minutes shorter than the version that circulated between 1984 and 1998. While it's logical to assume the "Director's Cut" was the one screened at the Castro on Saturday, the listed running time was for the earlier, longer version. This IMDb entry lists the material that was removed/altered for the "Director's Cut".

[jwd5275]

Probably the Director's Cut since none of the scenes listed in the IMDb entry were in this cut.

As for stories, they said that the whole film was story-boarded but they couldn't show anything to Francis McDormand because the artist inexplicably always drew her nude. Also the directors and Emmet had a disagreement with the directors because he believed that his character wouldn't pick up his hat after it was knocked off in a certain scene, the whole theater erupted in cheers when the scene came and he picked up his hat.