Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 5

[Rustle]

MoC's release of /Tabu/ included one of Luciano Berriatúa's typical 15-minute documentaries about the culture and circumstances surrounding Murnau's filming. Among the excellent snippets were short clips from Walter Spies' /Island of the Demons/ (1933). Wow. Color-tinted exotic Balinese dancing, gamelan performance, etc -- but barely a taste in the doc.

Has anyone actually seen /Island of the Demons/? Is it as fabulous as it appears to be in the Berriatúa short? What a treat if Criterion could snatch it up. I didn't find copies for sale anywhere, just an unclear announcement from Lincoln Center indicating that they may or may not have had a screening at some point.

[ryannichols7]

considering how fast the turnaround was on Nashville, I could see them doing Persona in addition to the Lynch's to start the year.

[flyonthewall2983]

How positive are we that Mulholland Dr. is even going to be released?

[swo17]

considering how fast the turnaround was on Nashville, I could see them doing Persona in addition to the Lynch's to start the year.

I wouldn't call the length of time between newsletter hint and release announcement "turnaround time." I'm sure a lot of work has already gone into a release before they ever tease anything, and when there's a "long" delay à la Grey Gardens (or evidently It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World), it's likely because of unforeseen circumstances.

[jindianajonz]

Fair enough, but would the fact that Persona is on Hulu imply that a lot of the "real" work (preparing a transfer and all that) is already done? I would imagine the only possible hold ups are gathering supplements and waiting for the most opportune release date

[Matt]

That it's on Hulu is an indication of nothing. That it's on Hulu and iTunes in what looks to be a much better transfer than the MGM DVD is an indication that a release is imminent. But it could still be released anywhere between January 2014 and the end of time.

[FakeBonanza]

In fact, the presence of a title on Hulu, and especially iTunes, may have the opposite effect, as Criterion tries to get as much revenue as they can from the digital release. As I recall, the Brood and Scanners were released on iTunes in the summer, and we will not see their release this year.

Persona is a title of siginicant value, which could either make it a priority for release, or conversely, could require a more careful release strategy.

[HerrSchreck]

Just some wishful thinking:

Apparently Warner Brothers let the rights lapse to Watership Down in 2011 and they returned to director/producer Martin Rosen. His other film The Plague Dogs is also out of print. Both of these films are masterpieces. If Criterion wanted to dip their toes into animation; they should scoop the rights up. I posted on the Warner Archive facebook page; hoping that they will confirm that the studio no longer has the rights to Watership Down.

You know, it's interesting. My mother took me to see Watership Down when I was a boy, and I loved it. I can't remember if I saw the movie before or after I read the book, but I clearly recall that I loved the book only just a bit more than I loved the movie back then. Of course it's well nigh impossible to surpass a great book, as the cinema of your mind never constructs displeasing mise en scene vis a vis your own tastes.

Partly out of sentiment, and partly out of genuine desire to revisit something I assumed would easily stand the test of time and entertain me all over again on an entirely different level, I grabbed myself a copy of the movie a couple years ago and watched it.

The first thing that struck me about the whole affair was how grim a piece it was . . . especially considering it's a story about soft furry animated rabbits with cottony tails. There was quite a bit of startling violence in the tale, much of which I didn't remember from watching it way back when. Not that this necessarily made it bad, it was just a little incongruous; like creating a cartoon melodrama about little yellow hens and chicks, very soft to the touch, advancing in waves and firing bazookas at one another over opposing hillsides raining tiny thighs drumsticks and red and yellow feathers float around galore.

That aside, I just didn't find that it held up to my memory of it. I expected to be as moved as I was when I was younger-- I won't spoil anything but there is a very poignant cycle of life thing going on there--and I just wasn't as moved. I had a very flat emotional response to the whole thing, the narrative seemed a bit fractured... and certainly the animation itself was nothing to write home about. The economy of UPA style gone dull muted and bland.

I recall a month later feeling that my flatlining while watching it was a travesty-- I wanted my warm fuzzies for the film to be ressurrected and figured I was just shot, tired or wasted when I watched the first time. So a slapped it in again................. and didn't make it past the middle.

So there's an alternate take on Watership Down, the film. I was quite disappointed. I wished I liked it more since I have such nice memories with the book curling up as a kid in bed sick with the fucking mumps or something under warm blankets, and going with mommy to the cinema to see the toon chomping popcorn and sopping up soda from a cup bigger than me. But no soap, it seems.

[knives]

The book remains great though, Schreck, if you ever plan on revisiting it.

[rwiggum]

How positive are we that Mulholland Dr. is even going to be released?

That's a good question. Is everyone assuming it's coming just because of that projectionist letter they posted on their Facebook page a few months ago?

[HerrSchreck]

Yeah after watching the film again I went around the nooks and crannies of my messy apartment trying to locate my fading old paperback copy, but couldn't find it anywhere. I'm sure I could locate some kind of copy somehow with little fuss, but my backlog it just too heavy right now. Reading Al Speers memoirs now.

[knives]

I know how you feel, I've been meaning to reread Something Wicked This Way Comes, but on my shelf alone I've got about four dozen unread books and am juggling about four at the moment.

[colinr0380]

Have either of you ever read Duncton Wood or its sequels? That is kind of like Watership Down crossed with a multi-volume, multi-generational fantasy saga of a community of moles.

[FrauBlucher]

How positive are we that Mulholland Dr. is even going to be released?

That's a good question. Is everyone assuming it's coming just because of that projectionist letter they posted on their Facebook page a few months ago?

That and bluray.com posting the speculation in their news column without any kind of retraction, forced or otherwise.bluray.com
Plus, a clip of Mulholland Drive being pulled from Youtube with credit of the block going to Universal AND The Criterion Collection.

[flyonthewall2983]

Plus, a clip of Mulholland Drive being pulled from Youtube with credit of the block going to Universal AND The Criterion Collection.

Yes, but wasn't that because there was also a clip of Tenenbaums in that Youtube video? I'd actually be right on top if CC did this because I've been catching the movie a bit on cable lately and my mood towards it has changed drastically from the first time I saw it (my first experience watching a Lynch film) and hating it. Just don't want to get my hopes up.

[FakeBonanza]

It's impossible to avoid getting one's hopes up when it comes to a Criterion edition of Mulholland Drive. It would be a banner release. Getting stacked editions of both Persona and Mulholland Drive in 2014 would be huge.

[Max von Mayerling]

Re: Mulholland Drive - plus it kind of makes sense. We know there is a licensing relationship between Criterion and Universal. And now there appears to be a relationship between Criterion and Lynch. I mean, I suppose we could all end up crying into our underpants, but it's not like it's a WB title or anything like that.

You would think - maybe - that if Lynch is participating in some way (even just approving the transfer), that would entice Universal to license it, if they even cared that much in the first place about the title. (And it doesn't seem like they do.)

I mean, these are also the people who put out their own Fear and Loathing blu & then licensed the title to Criterion. They seem to be pretty loosey-goosey about the whole thing.

[flyonthewall2983]

Fair enough. I think we could also include Lost Highway in that as well although there's been no reason to speculate on that title specifically. Universal also owns that one, and I'd imagine that would be further down the list of priorities for them to release since MD was more critically acclaimed.

[ianungstad]

I think Criterion's deal with Focus is separate than their deal with Universal. I think people assume it's coming because of that jpg Criterion posted and the fact that Focus has shown little interest in putting catalog titles on blu. Hence all the speculation about other Focus titles like The Pianist; Far From Heaven; etc.

[Max von Mayerling]

While I think it makes sense, I'm just speculating (of course), and I could well end up being totally wrong.

[HerrSchreck]

Have either of you ever read Duncton Wood or its sequels? That is kind of like Watership Down crossed with a multi-volume, multi-generational fantasy saga of a community of moles.

No.. I haven't read those titles. But I do love Universal's THE MOLE PEOPLE (huge schrecky smile.. Good God do I love that silly film).

[Mr Sausage]

Have either of you ever read Duncton Wood or its sequels? That is kind of like Watership Down crossed with a multi-volume, multi-generational fantasy saga of a community of moles.

No.. I haven't read those titles. But I do love Universal's THE MOLE PEOPLE (huge schrecky smile.. Good God do I love that silly film).

Sumerian albinos keeping mutant mole-men as their slaves? What's not to love?

[richast2]

A while back there was speculation about Criterion releasing Wim Wenders' Until The End Of The World. Has anyone heard anything new about this? Michael Almereyda, who wrote the original draft of the screenplay, did the visual essay for The Uninvited--maybe they worked with him on something for the Wenders movie at the same time?

[Adam X]

So long as Almereyda's wonderful film Nadja gets released along with it.
PixelVision in 1080p!

[ianungstad]

With all the Stanley Kramer talk recently; here's an interesting possibility....excerpts from an article published in the Hollywood Reporter a few weeks ago:

The UCLA Film & Television Archive and the Hugh M. Hefner Classic American Film Program kick off the celebration Friday when Larry King joins to help host the evening featuring the newly restored version of Death of a Salesman. The film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Arthur Miller who at the time of its release in 1951 was critical of Kramer's version, mainly because it cut some of his dialogue from the play.

Produced by Kramer in 1951, Death of a Salesman was released by Columbia Pictures and was considered a box office flop. That is one reason it never received a home video release. However, it was nominated for five Academy Awards and won four Golden Globe awards. Columbia Pictures' distribution license expired in the 1960s and the rights reverted to Kramer and later his estate.

Five years ago HFPA member Philip Berk, a longtime fan of Kramer's work, approached Sharpe Kramer and discussions began about doing a restoration of his version of Death Of A Salesman. “It’s one of the great treasures of film,” Sharpe remembers Berk saying to her. “It needs to be restored.”

Berk spoke with The Film Foundation founder Martin Scorsese about the idea and he agreed that it deserved to be restored. While he was HFPA president, Berk advocated for the restoration and the HFPA gave a grant of $120,000, working on the project with The Film Foundation.

Grover Crisp, executive vp of asset management, film restoration and digital mastering at Sony Pictures Entertainment, oversaw the restoration of the film as an independent project. The work was done at Colorworks, a company owned by Sony.

Crisp did a 4k scan (ultra high definition) of the original camera negative, restoration work and color correction working closely with colorist David H. Bernstein to ensure that the proper density and contrast was achieved. Some of the image cleanup was done at Prasad Corporation, an outside vender selected by Colorworks.

The audio was restored from the original 35mm magnetic soundtrack at Chace Audio. Despite some scratches and tears on the film’s original camera negative, Crisp says Death of a Salesman was in average condition. The whole project took less than six months to complete. Over the last few years, Colorworks has also restored Lawrence of Arabia, Taxi Driver, The Big Chill and On the Waterfront.

Sharpe Kramer hopes to finally see ancillary market distribution for Kramer's Death of a Salesman, now that it has been restored. She says it will "resonate with an audience which is why the distribution is so important.”