Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 5

[knives]

Has there been any word on Criterion picking up Perceval (or more Rohmer in general)? It would make sense since it seems they renewed the rights to the Moral Tales which are owned by the same company as Perceval.

[Minkin]

Has there been any word on Criterion picking up Perceval (or more Rohmer in general)? It would make sense since it seems they renewed the rights to the Moral Tales which are owned by the same company as Perceval.

I don't believe anything has been officially confirmed other than Wellspring losing the rights to a ton of titles (Rohmer Moral Tales, 16+ Fassbinder films, bunch of Truffaut, etc - see my link below for more evidence) and Janus/Criterion now owning those titles outright.

I made a list about a month back of all the former Wellspring titles I could find. Essentially all of them are OOP, thus highly likely to have been picked up along with the already confirmed titles. Probably won't know 100% certain for them until they end up on Hulu/disc/announced at BAMPFA or something (the only way we've confirmed the known Wellspring rights transfer titles thus far). It's highly likely that Criterion jumped at the occasion to buy all the former Wellspring titles, so they'll most likely turn up eventually (the other Rohmers, Godards, Itami, Nostalghia, etc etc)

[knives]

Hopefully you're right about the all thing as Perceval is just gorgeous even on Wellspring's faded DVD and it would be nice to see Rohmer's earlier television documentary on the story.

[Perkins Cobb]

Getting rid of Eclipse and making the more obscure titles available only through streaming would be a nightmarishly bad idea. Talk about water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink....

I'll watch anything (even Norman Mailer) that Criterion releases on the Eclipse line. You have no such guarantee from me for Hulu-exclusive titles.

I see your point. There's so much stuff on Hulu that its hard to tell which obscure Japanese film is worth your time.

Actually my point, and possibly swo's, was that Hulu is inferior to DVD as a way to watch something, and I would approach it with no enthusiasm at all, regardless of how much I might like to see some of those films. (At a minimum, I would seek out pirated downloads of those Hulu streams; the quality wouldn't be any better, obviously, but the possibility of an interruption would be eliminated.)

[swo17]

I want something I can pop in my Oppo and have it look great upscaled and projected onto a 100" screen. An Eclipse DVD serves this purpose. A Hulu stream does not.

[ryannichols7]

that makes sense, but i just don't see why we really need Eclipse when you could release Bluray boxsets ala the Etaix set

there's no reason the Downey and Gorin sets last year couldn't be on Bluray. same with the Kobayashi this year.

[knives]

Actually there is a very good reason for the Downey's not to be released on the mainline. They had originally been produced for the mainline (hence the extras) before they turned to Blu full time on the mainline. Several of the films were shot on analog tape making it useless to place on Blu and none of the films were restored into HD.

[Drucker]

Etaix is a bad example. There were restorations of the films done recently (in 2010). Surely this is rarely the case for Eclipse titles.

[HistoryProf]

i think they're definitely doing away with Eclipse and instead putting everything on Bluray, or promoting Hulu more

which is a good idea, really

Well I disagree about that. For risky titles the Eclipse set is ideal. If it's between no Gremillion or DVD only, I'd 100% go with the latter for almost anything. And Criterion sure has oodles of titles that are perfectly suited for Eclipse.

Agree completely. I am terribly wary of this "streaming only" model companies seem fond of. Besides, they only have 57 Kinoshita films to choose from for a set...among many others. They could put together some amazing sets if they wanted to. It's distressing that they seem to be satisfied with the streaming service.

Perhaps i'm old fashioned, but I will ALWAYS side with having a physical copy of a film instead of being dependent on some cloud service.

[BillWatkins]

Pardon my ignorance, but was that one of the 600 titles that Warner got distribution for? If so, I would say that pretty much kills its chances for being a CC release.

A user on Bluray.com compiled a list of Paramount titles now on Warner (though maybe this post belongs in "Criterion & Paramount"). It would appear THE ELEPHANT MAN is not an option though titles like NASHVILLE, DON'T LOOK NOW, PRETTY BABY, TARGETS, SECONDS, THE CONFORMIST, THE TENANT, and THE MIRACLE AT MORGAN'S CREEK are still in play. His list shows about 430 of the supposed 600+.

A PLACE IN THE SUN, DETECTIVE STORY, THE TIN STAR, THE RED TENT, and THE DAY OF THE LOCUST are also curiously absent.

[HistoryProf]

Well, that's a major snooze, except for Oharu.

Definitely a major disappointment considering the anticipation for the banner month so many expected. only 3 new titles? blah.

[Drucker]

Honestly, this year has been pretty excellent, so I'm happy to give my wallet a brief reprieve!

[AfterTheRain]

Pardon my ignorance, but was that one of the 600 titles that Warner got distribution for? If so, I would say that pretty much kills its chances for being a CC release.

A user on Bluray.com compiled a list of Paramount titles now on Warner (though maybe this post belongs in "Criterion & Paramount"). It would appear THE ELEPHANT MAN is not an option though titles like NASHVILLE, DON'T LOOK NOW, PRETTY BABY, TARGETS, SECONDS, THE CONFORMIST, THE TENANT, and THE MIRACLE AT MORGAN'S CREEK are still in play. His list shows about 430 of the supposed 600+.

A PLACE IN THE SUN, DETECTIVE STORY, THE TIN STAR, THE RED TENT, and THE DAY OF THE LOCUST are also curiously absent.

Oh, now those would be a dream come true for me if Criterion did manage to get the rights for those!

[Drucker]

A new 35MM restoration of L'Avventura is playing at NYC's Film Forum July 12-25. Don't know if that's a sign of a forthcoming release, or if we're really awaiting a new 4K restoration...

[AfterTheRain]

I don't if Criterion has acquired the rights to this, but one film that would certainly be ripe for discovery is the 1948 Polish film Border Street; it's an account of the Jewish plight during early Holocaust Warsaw. If they haven't acquired it, I'd just like to throw it out there for some consideration.

[ptatler]

Any hope for Criterion ever doing Shinoda's SILENCE?

[Matt]

Yes. It's currently on their Hulu Plus channel.

[ptatler]

Yes. It's currently on their Hulu Plus channel.

Ah. So it is. Far out.

[Cinephrenic]

They have many Shinoda films.

[atcolomb]

A new 35MM restoration of L'Avventura is playing at NYC's Film Forum July 12-25. Don't know if that's a sign of a forthcoming release, or if we're really awaiting a new 4K restoration...

This and other early dvd releases i wish Criterion would re-release on blu-ray. Like to see Andrei Rublev and Picnic At Hanging Rock get new transfers.

[Drucker]

Unfortunately, they indicated the elements for Andrei were a mess last year at the Wexner talk, so don't hold your breath for that one in the mean time. But hey, ten years later and we're getting the Apu Trilogy. Don't lose hope!

[ryannichols7]

Any hope for Criterion ever doing Shinoda's SILENCE?

definitely hope this one hits the mainline as a bluray.

[ptatler]

Any hope for Criterion ever doing Shinoda's SILENCE?

definitely hope this one hits the mainline as a bluray.

Maybe they'll time it with the release of Scorsese's version, if that really happens this time.

[Rustle]

Considering the BFI releases, can someone remind me why Cassavetes blu rays don't figure prominently in our recent discussion of possible box set upgrades or in Jeff's 01/02/13 think list?

[Jeff]

Considering the BFI releases, can someone remind me why Cassavetes blu rays don't figure prominently in our recent discussion of possible box set upgrades or in Jeff's 01/02/13 think list?

I didn't think of them simply because Criterion hasn't hinted at them or given an indication that they're imminent. That said, I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see them at any time. Criterion supplied the high-def masters that the BFI used, so they're ready to go.