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Brian C wrote:With the exception of To Sleep with Anger, this is a very 2002-ish Criterion lineup - Bergman, Visconti, Clouzot, RWF. All that's missing is a Kurosawa.

Aren’t we way overdue on dersu Uzala, madadayo, rhapsody in August and a bunch of Kurosawa upgrades? So little Kurosawa lately... almost as though there’s going to be an “Akira Kurasawa’s Cinema” released in November (ten years after ak100).

Well, it's not like Ingmar Bergman's Cinema stopped them from releasing his works individually ahead of (or after) that release...

DarkImbecile wrote:Well, it's not like Ingmar Bergman's Cinema stopped them from releasing his works individually ahead of (or after) that release...

Right they are still releasing individually, but only because work on the set wrapped up. But for a long stretch of time, work on the set did kill off Bergman releases for a lengthy period.

Between the 2014 Persona and 2019 Shame there were no new Bergman spines, and between the 2015 cries and whispers and 2018 Virgin Spring there were no new upgrades, and the three upgrades that have happened in 2018 were in conjunction with the box set (prepared for the set, but released on their own once the set was finished).

These long gaps, unprecedented for criterion and Bergman, indicate the timeframe they were working on the set.

We’re currently seeing a similar long gap on Kurosawa, with the last spine Dreams in 2016, and the last upgrade ikiru in 2015.

So you'd be expecting to see a handful of new or upgraded Kurosawa titles announced this year ahead of a November box release, I assume?

movielocke wrote: Thu Nov 15, 2018 9:48 pm Aren’t we way overdue on dersu Uzala, madadayo, rhapsody in August and a bunch of Kurosawa upgrades?

I would love a Dersu Uzala release asap, but it will probably have to go through a Janus tour first before a CC release. That may go for Madadayo too.

I wish there was as high of a demand for s similar Ozu set. With FilmStruck going away, I don’t see Criterion releasing a lot of his lesser known films. And a lot of his masterpieces are just tossed on Eclipse sets (and who knows if those will be upgraded ever).

And they seem to be going slow on his films too. I’ve heard Flavor of Green Tea over Rice night be coming soon, but Floating Weeds and Early Summer are long overdue.

As far as career-spanning boxes go, Ozu would go to the top of my list because the lesser titles are lesss likely to see individual releases than Kurosawa. Second would be a Wajda set comparable to the Polish release (upgraded to Blu-ray of course) for the same reason, but not sure of how many titles they could snatch from Kino.

Lowry_Sam wrote: Fri Nov 16, 2018 9:12 am As far as career-spanning boxes go, Ozu would go to the top of my list because the lesser titles are lesss likely to see individual releases than Kurosawa. Second would be a Wajda set comparable to the Polish release (upgraded to Blu-ray of course) for the same reason, but not sure of how many titles they could snatch from Kino.

I could die happy if they did a complete Satyajit Ray box. (I wouldn't complain if they left out Chiriyakana)

Speaking of Satyajit Ray what may be next. It seems like Criterion has been doing one or two of films a year.

Actually I was mixing up Wajda & Kieslowski (who would be my 3rd choice for a career box), who Kino possibly still had rights to several titles. Ray would be welcome too. But I’ve been saying for some time now, that comprehensive boxes ala Demy & Tati, should be the way forward for foreign language & silent directors as fewer people buy hard media and those who do are more compelled to buy several of the same directors work.

Criterion's Demy box only has like half of his films

If Criterion truly has a new deal with StudioCanal, I would think Fellini has a really good shot at a career box. His 100th is in January 2020 as well.

by FrauBlucher » Fri Nov 16, 2018 12:34 pm
Speaking of Satyajit Ray what may be next. It seems like Criterion has been doing one or two of films a year.

I'm hoping that Home and the World and The Stranger gets an individual release. On the other
hand, I wonder if Criterion has considered revamping their Eclipse sets as blu-ray releases. I don't know how
financially viable that would be, but provided decent materials are available, it would be a way of getting
out more films in some kind of high-definition format...especially if FilmStruck is definitely shutting down.

His films aren’t even in the collection yet (besides Mystetious Object), but Apichatpong Weerasethakul might also be getting a boxset soon as most of his films were on FilmStruck and Criterion producing a documentary on him for it.

kcota17 wrote: Fri Nov 16, 2018 5:51 pm His films aren’t even in the collection yet (besides Mystetious Object), but Apichatpong Weerasethakul might also be getting a boxset soon as most of his films were on FilmStruck and Criterion producing a documentary on him for it.

I think all his films other than Mysterious Object are owned by Strand Releasing, who have never licensed to Criterion.

FrauBlucher wrote: Fri Nov 16, 2018 4:34 pmSpeaking of Satyajit Ray what may be next. It seems like Criterion has been doing one or two of films a year.

Just wishful thinking but I would love Days and Nights in the Forest.

It's about one or two a year, but unlike with Bergman or Kurosawa they started on him pretty late so there's still so much left unreleased.

FrauBlucher wrote: Fri Nov 16, 2018 4:34 pm Speaking of Satyajit Ray what may be next. It seems like Criterion has been doing one or two of his films a year.

I'm off on the 'one or two a year." Just checked and CC have a long gap in between Hero and the Apu Trilogy ...

Hero 2/2018, then approximately 2 1/2 prior is the Apu Trilogy 11/2015, Late Ray Eclipse 1/2014, The Big City and Charulata 8/2013, and finally The Music Room 7/2011 was released.

My gosh, releases seem to blend in as to when they're released. (except for Lloyd and Chaplin )

So, ten films in little over 7 years is actually a pretty fair output.

Still leaves around 2/3 of his films unavailable. Honestly, I still don't have a great sense of his filmography as a whole.

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote: Fri Nov 16, 2018 5:55 pm

kcota17 wrote: Fri Nov 16, 2018 5:51 pm His films aren’t even in the collection yet (besides Mystetious Object), but Apichatpong Weerasethakul might also be getting a boxset soon as most of his films were on FilmStruck and Criterion producing a documentary on him for it.

I think all his films other than Mysterious Object are owned by Strand Releasing, who have never licensed to Criterion.

True, but if we are to believe the article that stated Japon, Battle in Heaven, Silent Light, and Post Tenebras Lux are gradually going to be added to the collection, then it should be noted that at least Post Tenebras Lux was once distributed by Strand Releasing.

Though Bergman has had a continued worldwide relevance that makes him a one of a kind phenom, I do think this [sales success] bodes well for future releases of this kind-- as many have already speculated, I suspect Kurosawa would be the next most likely candidate for this treatment for a variety of reasons

And in the long term (once the cycle of restorations has been completed), Fassbinder. These kind of big productions are much more feasible if the issuing label only has to deal with one or two rights holders and there's already a comprehensive restoration programme in train. Satyajit Ray strikes me as another contender in this respect.

domino harvey wrote: Mon Nov 26, 2018 8:28 pm Though Bergman has had a continued worldwide relevance that makes him a one of a kind phenom, I do think this bodes well for future releases of this kind-- as many have already speculated, I suspect Kurosawa would be the next most likely candidate for this treatment for a variety of reasons

That reminds me that I am still waiting on Criterion to release Madadayo outside of that original Kurosawa boxset! :-"

Bergman, Fassbinder & Ray all have foundations supporting their work, so that is definitely a variable for both doing restorations & securing rights (particularly for a region free release). There are plenty of directors who would warrant such a comprehensive treatment, but the work involved is far greater without institutional backing. I think Criterion might hold off on Kurosawa a bit because they already did a box & most of his titles up to par would receive stand alone editions anyway, though it’s a shoe-in because of the work they already invested. I would hope Fellini is next up so we could get better discs of La dolce vita & 8 1/2. A blu-Ray upgrade of the Polish Wajda box would also be nice. Bunuel, Almodovar, WKW, Ozu, Kieslowski, Chaplin, Antonioni & maybe Mizoguchi could all be equally successful if comprehensive enough & at the right price point. Hitchcock, Godard, Lang & Kubrick probably have too many rights issues (not to mention already existing boxes). Borzage, Wyler, Naruse, and a bunch more might be popular here, but probably not sell as well because of lack of exposure.

Didn't Kiarostami's son say that Criterion were prepping a big box set of his work for 2019?