Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[Matt]

The Doom Generation is coming from Strand, just announced.

[FrauBlucher]

It's been 4 years since we got a Chaplin or Lloyd, and The Cameraman was the last silent film released. That was in 2020. I would think we are due.

[therewillbeblus]

I'm surprised we haven't seen The Sin of Harold Diddlebock come from KLSC at least

[FrauBlucher]

I do wonder if CC licensed a WB silent film.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I'm surprised we haven't seen The Sin of Harold Diddlebock come from KLSC at least

UCLA did a new restoration of it last year. I got sick the day it played and was sad to miss it! Surprised it hasn't been released in any form yet.

[therewillbeblus]

I think it's Lloyd's best film - here's hoping

[FrauBlucher]

Who owns the rights?

[Finch]

Pandora's Box on Blu-ray is taking forever too. MoC haven't released it either yet.

[Matt]

Who owns the rights?

The restoration credits thank NBCUniversal, but I think it was one of those orphaned films that fell into the public domain because the copyright was not renewed. It’s long been available on crappy DVDs from the likes of Alpha Video.

[Beloved Aunt]

Kumar Shahani has shown up on a lot of Criterion releases, in extras, for a director who's not in the collection and who doesn't seem to be on the horizon, WCP or otherwise, for them. I wonder if CC are planning more covertly to have some of his films in. They sound pretty interesting! He's said to be sort of an Indian Robert Bresson.

[Elizabeth Corday]

I am still praying for The Heroic Trio. Although I have no idea if Criterion considers it important enough to get one. I still thought that with the recognition Michelle has plus the fact that Maggie and Anita both have films in the collection, that it is a possibility.

[Close The Door, Raymond]

It's been 4 years since we got a Chaplin or Lloyd, and The Cameraman was the last silent film released. That was in 2020. I would think we are due.

Is "King of New York" and "A Woman in Paris" the only Chaplin titles left as possibilities?

For Lloyd, aren't his silent films more likely than "Diddlebock"? Like Hot Water or Girl Shy?

[dustybooks]

Chaplin’s First National titles that are on the border between short and feature-length — The Pilgrim, Shoulder Arms, A Dog’s Life — still need a Criterion release assuming they still have future plans for him.

[What A Disgrace]

I would like to think Lloyd is a candidate for a big Pasolini style boxed set, especially considering the runtime of most of the remaining features are fairly short so multiple works could be placed onto single discs. I could see Chaplin's First National shorts being collected together, alongside The Chaplin Revue complilation, for a nice two or three disc set. Woman of Paris and King of New York might be a double feature, as they have been previously released. But I can't see Criterion doing a big boxed set of the other nature for Chaplin, unless they were able to wrestle/co-operate with Flicker Alley and the BFI to release a (nearly?) complete collection of his body of work that included his Keystone, Essanay and Mutual films (the former has yet to even be released on Blu, IIRC).

[SeizureMilk]

Personally I think that Why Worry is a better contender for next silent Lloyd after of course Girl Shy, especially considering it's relevance and general popularity, more so than say Hot Water. Going through the sound pictures, I imagine outside of Diddlebock (which honestly seems more like a KL Studio Classics release), the best contender is Movie Crazy or The Cat's Paw. Also anyone know if the compilation films might be included as extras or not? Thank you for reading.

[FrauBlucher]

It wouldn’t surprise me if the next Silent release is an already released Chaplin upgraded to UHD. Say Modern Times or City Lights would be a guess.

[SeizureMilk]

It wouldn’t surprise me if the next Silent release is an already released Chaplin upgraded to UHD. Say Modern Times or City Lights would be a guess.

City Lights is the most likely out of the 2 considering it's place in the Sight and Sound Ballot is a bit higher than Modern Times so there would be more of an audience for City Lights than Modern Times, despite both's popularity. Though Modern Times is most likely second. Thank you for reading.

[Ribs]

Janus participated in a new restoration of the Great Dictator several years ago (want to say Pre-Covid?), so I think if any Chaplin comes to 4K that will be first (admittedly not a silent!)

[yoloswegmaster]

Janus participated in a new restoration of the Great Dictator several years ago (want to say Pre-Covid?), so I think if any Chaplin comes to 4K that will be first (admittedly not a silent!)

Criterion and Bologna had done a 4K restoration that might have been done before the pandemic hit and was first shown at the Ritrovato festival in 2020.

[dwk]

Maybe that Lloyd talkies set that supposedly has been on the works for 8 or 9 years will finally materialize.

[bottlesofsmoke]

They are doing a Lloyd collection on the Criterion Channel right now, which in the past has sometimes been a precursor to a release. Though if it is a Lloyd talkies box, they aren’t streaming Professor Beware or Diddlebock, both of which were different types of production compared his other films and I don’t think are owned by the Lloyd estate.

They’re also doing the Anthony Mann-James Stewart collection and prominently featuring Winchester ‘73, and it is in 1080p, so hopefully that is coming soon too.

I know they are all about upgrading to 4K these days, but they really need to release the First National Chaplin films and especially A Woman of Paris. There’s a lot of fertile ground with the latter film for supplements too, despite being an afterthought these days, it’s a really influential film, particularly for Ozu and Lubitsch, so it would be cool to see something on that from Bordwell.

[Rupert Pupkin]

The Doom Generation is coming from Strand, just announced.

do you think they will release it by their own (if this is the case, apparently, that means blu-ray only and no UHD); or this could be release via Criterion ?
That's too bad for a 4K restoration.

Oh, and by the way, I saw the theatrical release; got the DVD (said-so "uncut"; the WEB release is dramatically cut); but they announce what I would call an alternate cut - a director's cut : "The Doom Generation, restored in 4K with scenes edited for it’s theatrical release in 1995, this version reflects the director’s cut, intended by Araki. The film has been completely retimed and reedited for today’s technological standards. The sound is remastered to compliment today’s new audio standards in a new 5.1 mix."

Thus that means that the original theatrical release from 1995 won't be there ? This Director's Cut is made almost 30 years later...

[Kracker]

Nowhere getting a 4K restoration in a new directors cut so wonder if that box set just might be happening.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/greg ... 235606540/

[SeizureMilk]

I remember that there was an article saying all 3 (TDG, N, & TFU) were being restored and that Araki had potential plans for Criterion to get them so there's a definite possibility for a box set in the near future. Thank you for reading.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

That was mentioned on the previous page. Thing is that Strand has "soft-announced" their own release of The Doom Generation and I'm not convinced Chan Is Missing was anything other than a one-off—there was definitely some weirdness around that one, what with Criterion releasing an old master (the provenance of which even they didn't seem to know) just a few months before a 4K restoration hit theaters, and Strand never bothering to add a page for the film to their website. Araki looms so large in Strand's history that I have to think they'd be reluctant to farm these films out to Criterion. I should add there's an as-yet-unreleased restoration of Splendor that's apparently not with Strand, so my impression is that Araki is revisiting all of his '90s films.

Edit: Actually I think I confused Splendor with another recent restoration and Strand is distributing it as well.