Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 4

[movielocke]

about time for the Hitchcock, if so.

[HistoryProf]

I haven't seen the film in a while, but as we know it's coming in the next couple of announcements... is that still of the fingers from The 39 Steps?

yep....

[domino harvey]

Sweet, my fav Brit Hitch!

[HistoryProf]

So...

Gold Rush
Shallow Grave
39 Steps blu
Samurai Trilogy blu

anything else confirmed?

[swo17]

The amount of entitlement and vitriol on display on Facebook right now is astounding.

[domino harvey]

The amount of entitlement and vitriol on display on Facebook right now is astounding.

Eh, I chuckled at the deluge of stern "Get your shit together, Criterion" messages-- I'm pretty sure they're all tongue-in-cheek

[Ashirg]

It's officially David Cronenberg's fault. They were too busy celebrating his birth.

[domino harvey]

GET HIM

[Saturnome]

And captveg! Just in case.

Yes! 39 Steps, very good news.

[Alan Smithee]

That Cronenberg post was cruel. Still holding out hope for a set of early Cronenberg.

[manicsounds]

so Madadayo is my guess for the bare-bones title.

No way in hell it will be barebones! Considering the Laserdisc had a 2-hour making of documentary, which better be included.

[captveg]

And captveg! Just in case.

I'll take 50% of the blame if I get 50% of the credit tomorrow.

[SpiderBaby]

So...

Gold Rush
Shallow Grave
39 Steps blu
Samurai Trilogy blu

anything else confirmed?

If they count the push back of Harold and Maude, that could be it.

[Drucker]

Does nobody else think it possible they could be doing a Silent Chaplin box set or something? Wasn't this supposed to be year of a million box sets?!

[zedz]

I doubt that, since the Chaplin titles - especially something like The Gold Rush - are like gold dust. They're probably the most marketable silent films in the world, so I can't see any reason why Criterion would want to minimise their profitability. If there's a box set in the works it might be of the shorts.

[sickofsickness]

Today they were going to announced the June titles, but "something came up", and will be delayed, likely until tomorrow. By the time you read this, I imagine they would have been announced.

But in the Facebook comments, someone speculated that perhaps they lost a license. I know this happened with Ran, but my question is how many times is it known to have this happened, where they loose a title either released or announced?

My followup question would be, just thinking, how many films to they attempt to release but are unable to acquire licenses?

[Minkin]

The 39 Steps

Amazing! I've been waiting for this one forever..

I just pray they change the cover, which has always been 'May titles' level of bad.

Might there be any other pre-American Hitchcocks that anyone thinks may join with the others? I seem to remember a mention of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). I know the silents/British-era-films are PD in the US, but does anybody control the prints here? I'm thinking about the BFI restorations - or would that just be Studio Canal for the US as well? (I guess anybody can release them). I suppose I just want a Criterion edition of this.

[Feego]

Well, MGM's edition of The Lodger (1927) has gone out of print, but I don't know who owns the rights to their print. It was a rather nice edition too, with a good clean print and choice of two scores, as well as a commentary and other good features.

[jedgeco]

But in the Facebook comments, someone speculated that perhaps they lost a license. I know this happened with Ran, but my question is how many times is it known to have this happened, where they loose a title either released or announced?

My followup question would be, just thinking, how many films to they attempt to release but are unable to acquire licenses?

I would suspect that substantial work goes into each release before it is announced, work that would never be done until they were 110% sure that licensing issues were locked down, so I would doubt the lost-a-license hypothesis. Ran and Contempt were special cases where most of the work had already been done for the DVD editions and CC was probably in the process of a catalog-wide license with Studio Canal that they expected would be a routine renewal but went south.

[sickofsickness]

I would suspect that substantial work goes into each release before it is announced, work that would never be done until they were 110% sure that licensing issues were locked down, so I would doubt the lost-a-license hypothesis. Ran and Contempt were special cases where most of the work had already been done for the DVD editions and CC was probably in the process of a catalog-wide license with Studio Canal that they expected would be a routine renewal but went south.

Given their reputation, do you think there are many titles they attempt to acquire, but cannot gain permission?

I'm just thinking broadly and hypothetically about the could-haves; what they want to do but will never see the CC light of day?

[movielocke]

I don't know about more Brit Hitchcock, but there were strong rumors of an impending Foreign Correspondant release.

[captveg]

I'm just thinking broadly and hypothetically about the could-haves; what they want to do but will never see the CC light of day?

Well, they're the only third party licensee I know of that has at least been able to get Warner at the conversation table.

[bamwc2]

Because I'm sick, bored, and tired of waiting, here are my calls:

Shallow Grave
The Gold Rush
The Following
Three Cases of Murder

Blus of the following that should never have been released only on SD in the first place:
Z
Empire of Passion

And an eclipse set geared to the Hulu crowd:
Eclipse Series 34: The Morally and Legally Dubious Films of David Hamilton

[Cinephrenic]

And an eclipse set geared to the Hulu crowd:
Eclipse Series 34: The Morally and Legally Dubious Films of David Hamilton

Lol

[cdnchris]

The Samurai Trilogy is listed as Blu-ray on the site currently: http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/40-the-samurai-trilogy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

2 discs.