criterionforum.org

Mystery BD!!!
Will you be playing the Twitter game with this one Nick?

peerpee wrote:No MoC releases in May.

But what about April? Any releases in that month?

No MoC releases in April or May -- but a number of Eureka DVD/BDs, which have MoC involvement, will be released April/May/June/July.

We're working hard on METROPOLIS, THE WORLD BD, THE BURMESE HARP BD, PROFOUND DESIRES BD, LE GRAND JEU DVD, LA PLANETE SAUVAGE BD, three confirmed mystery BD titles, and a host of other titles for Xmas and into 2011.

I thought that LA PLANETE SAUVAGE BD was coming out in May! Will 'The World' be released in July/August or later?

Nothing has been 100% scheduled yet. We schedule when we have a solid checkdisc. We're aiming for August for THE WORLD. This may change, but we're confident we can stick to that at the moment.

Metropolis I cannot wait for and I'm sure the rest of titles will go down well with lots of people too.

How feasible is a definitive Caligari BD looking right now?

I'm going to be getting each of those titles, keep up the good work!

Can we not get a couple of small hints for the three surprises?

Until we've got finished checkdiscs, we won't be announcing any titles, especially as we're 4-5 months away from those releases. Giving hints pretty much means they'll get guessed right away -- unless I'm ultra vague and unhelpful.

No releases in April OR May? I am saddened but my kevyip and wallet both take sighs of relief.

Debaser wrote:Hey,
Slightly random, but I was wondering if there was a chance of any Frederick Wiseman docs being released by MoC? Or is it impossible to obtain the rights? They don't seem to be available anywhere.

http://www.zipporah.com/films" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

How about the Griffith films released under the MoC banner? Also, i would like to see some Russian silents joining the collection as well.

Any chance of an MOC version of Make Way For Tomorrow?

Criterion released their disc only last month and I believe Nick is keen to avoid overlaps with CC's schedule. They have tried to licence Make Way from Universal for a long time but Uni wouldn't licence it out. They might be more likely to do so now but I imagine Nick & co want to focus on other titles they can offer exclusively (Profound Desires... etc). And even if Uni said yes this time, it would be more tempting for MoC to release Make Way on Blu 1) because of the excellent Blu sales compared to SD and 2) to tempt people like me who bought (and are very happy with) the Criterion to double-dip. However, I don't think that the available print of Make Way is in a good enough condition to warrant an 1080p upgrade and a full-scale restoration would be prohibitively expensive for MoC I would imagine. If you're region-free, get the Criterion.

Hey, we haven't given up on it.

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:Have you looked into 'Dans la Nuit'- Charles Vanel's directorial debut by any chance ? (http://filmsdefrance.com/FDF_Dans_la_nuit_rev.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)
It could make a great extra for the forthcoming Le Grand Jeu perhaps. There is also a great soundtrack available from Louis Sclavis on ecm as well who incidentally has done music for Die Bergkatze that unfortunately didn't make it onto the Lubitsch box.

I'll ask one more time and then I'll shut up,promise... Any chance that Dans la Nuit will see light through you either as an extra ( Le grand Jeu) or on its own merits?

david hare wrote:If you could source a pristine 35mm interpos and do a 2k scan then go for it!

Amen to that but otherwise I honestly wouldn't bother if I was MoC, especially with a DVD.

Any chance that some African cinema could make it into the series?

I don't dare wish for a Blu-ray of Yeelen.

Seconded. The situation with African Cinema on DVD has remained so dire -- even in the case of the filmmaker who is probably its most widely-known auteur, Ousmane Sembene. With the exception of Moolaadé, is anything of his in print with English subtitles anywhere in the world?

You can rent or insta-play Xala, Mandabi, and Black Girl on Netflix right now.

Gregory wrote:Seconded. The situation with African Cinema on DVD has remained so dire -- even in the case of the filmmaker who is probably its most widely-known auteur, Ousmane Sembene. With the exception of Moolaadé, is anything of his in print with English subtitles anywhere in the world?

Wow, I had no idea those New Yorker DVDs were so OOP. Wish I'd bought them.

Svevan wrote:You can rent or insta-play Xala, Mandabi, and Black Girl on Netflix right now.

Jealous! I tried looking for Xala in vain the other day on Lovefilm and got a terribly tantalising 'reserve' when I know full well that it'll almost never happen in the near future.

Perkins: Unfortunately, the time to buy New Yorker DVDs was definitely February 2009 or before.

Svevan: Thanks for posting that, and it's certainly better than nothing. I've been able to watch all of the New Yorker discs, and I think it's important that these films be in print on DVD. Even the French Sembene box set seems to have gone out of print, and I'm worried about his legacy (in terms of familiarity and access) becoming increasingly marginal and obscure in the years ahead.
The whole situation of "third world cinema" has troubled me for many years. New films keep coming out and then disappearing, for the most part. I won't harp on this, as it's all been said before. If Criterion would announce Limite at least, I'd feel slightly better.

Gregory, are you sure New Yorker won't be releasing dvds again soon?

No, but has there been any reliable indication that they will be? I know there's been word they're resuming their film distribution, but that's different.
Also: most of the Sembene DVD releases came out during a flurry of interest in 2003-05, bookending the release of his final film, Moolaadé. Will there ever be anything remotely like this period of commericial interest in his work again?
Sorry this is off-topic.
EDIT: Now it appears they do have new DVD releases planned. I guess that's a good thing; we'll see. I wonder how many years it will take them (judging from the old rate of releases) to get most of their back catalog to which they still own the rights back in print.