'Forthcoming' Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.1

[criterionaficionado]

may '09 eclipse release is korda's films from the '30's. can't wait for this 1 as well as shimizu eclipse...may is looking really good/very expensive as i will dip into savings for the entire month's releases.
now i just want my marienbad fix taking care of...hopefully june?
on a bitter note, i emailed mulvaney on the possibilities of "greed" (1924) getting cc treatment. response was basically a flat out no. "wedding march" coming though, most likely 2010? sorry if this info is a repeat from earlier forums, i tend to have short term memory lapses.
i am also very excited about moc releases coming up between this month and may '09. boy, i'm never going to save any money...as far as riskier projects, moc is at the forefront (cc's painleve box release an exception of course off the beaten track that has raised my excitement to level 10). between cc and moc releases, the next few months are looking brighter for us cinephiles who were a bit disappointed with last year's cc output (blu-ray releases aside). just received both bunuel's yesterday, and they are awesome, with great packaging as always.
lastly, my wish list for cc/moc for this year and next (some will never happen, but hey it is my wish list right?!?!);

germaine dulac boxset a la german release but with eng subs though
michael snow collection a la stan brakhage (including wavelength 1967)
greed 1924
the big parade 1925
docks of new york 1928
los olivados 1950/i pray almost daily
las hurdes 1933/i also pray for this
la femme du boulanger 1938--great film
mortal storm 1940--needs rediscovering/great film
story of late chrysanthemums 1938--waiting/wishing for cc release/maybe eclipse?
bruce conner box-will never happen, but would this not be the release of the year?
hotel terminus 1988-required viewing
housekeeping 1987--how come no dvd release of this movie yet, very odd indeed, great performance lahti!
ceddo-1977/never will happen, as debated in earlier discussion, african films=no profit for cc/i agree
india song 1975--duras flick needs as much attention as jeanne dielman flick from 70's
the mother and the whore 1973-maybe even an eclipse set of eustache
the emigrants 1971/the new land 1972--same packaging of yojimbo/sanjuro release--i'd donate blood for it!
the best intentions 1992--great story/only cc/moc can do this film justice
bergman box: magician/face to face/after the rehearsal/from the life of marionettes/the touch/rite/etc.
a special day 1977--ettore scola should be in the cc/great film, marcello-sofia, enough said.
enjo 1958--no dvd as of yet, not acceptable.

i could go on and on, but i would be repeating the sentiments of many others in this forum (de sica, petri, rosi, rossellini, fellini, etc--italian giants). i apologize for leaving out others equally deserving of mention (kurosawa/oshima/godard/gremillion/resnais/rivette/ozu/mizoguchi/karel reisz/scorsese/charles frend/fritz lang/lean/rocha/duarte, etc... again, i apologize for my rambling. au revoir.

[ianungstad]

Whoa, did you really need to write all that with the caps lock key on?

[criterionaficionado]

i just was not paying attention so please accept my apologies for posting my entire message in caps...

[Jeff]

I used a software tool to make it all lowercase, which isn't much better, but at least it's not quite as much of an eyesore.

[Matt]

Wow.

[Tommaso]

What is it in the Dreyer box that you DON'T want, causin youto hope the box would be cracked a la Cassavetes? If a "Dreyer Eclipse" would be capital, the existing CC box is manna.

Absolutely agree of course, but a broken-up box would at least enable first-time buyers of these films to go for the BFI "Gertrud" for correct OAR, and would indeed enable CC to put out the latest resto of "Day of Wrath" on its own. One of the reasons why we will probably never get a new version of Cocteau's "Blood of a poet" with French intertitles and some work done on the scratches is that the films in that box are not available on their own, too.

As to a Dreyer Eclipse set, it would probably indeed contain "Presidenten", plus perhaps "Der Var Engang", "Master of the House" and hopefully "The Bride of Glomdal" (which would force me to buy the set for that last film alone). "Love one another/Die Gezeichneten" has been recently restored by the DFI, and I sincerely doubt that they will give it to CC or anyone else cheaply. Instead, I'm hoping that they will release it in their Danish Silent Classics series, which somehow seems to have been put to sleep in the last year though... Otherwise, filmmuseum remains an option, in the year 2014 or so.

[Alain3000]

JM's response to a question about South Korean cinema(60s/70s)

Q: Does Criterion have any future plans to release a title or more from the South Korean cinema of the 60s/70s on DVD?

Regarding South Korean cinema of the 60s and 70s, we have no plans yet, but we're investigating. Feel free to check back, and thanks for your e-mail!

Best,
Jon Mulvaney

[criterionaficionado]

hi jeff,
thanks for putting my post in lower case. but, what did you mean by "eyesore"?

the mulvaney response regarding s korean film from the 60-70's left me thinking perhaps "housemaid" (1960) will eventually get a release? excellent movie i caught in college 10 years ago and i haven't been able to track it down since.

an eclipse set of dreyer would be like heaven, but based on JM response, i highly doubt it.

[Jeff]

hi jeff,
thanks for putting my post in lower case. but, what did you mean by "eyesore"?

Large blocks of capitalized text are unpleasant to look at, and they stand out prominently from the rest of the page.

[ksmred2]

JM's response to a question about South Korean cinema(60s/70s)

Q: Does Criterion have any future plans to release a title or more from the South Korean cinema of the 60s/70s on DVD?

Regarding South Korean cinema of the 60s and 70s, we have no plans yet, but we're investigating. Feel free to check back, and thanks for your e-mail!

Best,
Jon Mulvaney

Oh my god... I will be so happy to see Korean films make it into Criterion collection.
Kim Ki-young should be the first director to have a Criterion, and maybe Im Kwon-taek.

[HerrSchreck]

Incidentally, since Criterion has stated that they don't have the rights to The Dead, do we know who does?

If it's still part of the Vestron library, it's at Lionsgate.

I thank heavens I still have my Vestron vhs, and the Kino John Huston & The Dubliners VHS. I put the two together and I've got my own budget version CC 2-disc set of The Dead.

It really is an incredible film.

[Fan-of-Kurosawa]

I respectfully disagree about the Korean films. I adore Korean cinema (I have more than 130 Korean films) but most of the great (and not so great) Korean films are already out on good R3 dvds with eng subs. Take for example Im Kwon Taek. The Im Kwon Taek Collection from Taewoon is magnificent and very cheap. My opinion is that Criterion should concentrate on Japanese films (like it does now) because most Japanese R2 dvds don' t have eng subs. (especially the old classic films).

[TIVOLI]

Like Fan-of-Kurosawa, I am enthralled by the experience of having seen so many outstanding films from South Korea. However, I disagree with his (or her) idea that the best of these works should not be issued by Criterion because they are readily available, cheaply, in R3. Part of the greatness of the Criterion label is its ability to influence our tastes and viewing habits. Unfortunately, the brilliance of a Kim Ki-young or an Im Kwon Taek is unknown to most people, so a release would "legitimize" their work in the eyes of many.

[criterionaficionado]

hi Jeff,
thanks for clarifying. i gotta say though that your explanation is not consistent with your initial post commenting on my intial post prior to your ridding the caps, which implied more of an insult on the statements made by yours truly and not just the caps. Anyway, water under the bridge.

i agree strongly with Tivoli about 60s/70s s korean cinema and its under representation in region 1. kim ki-young would make a great addition to CC. unlike japanese cinema, which has a large volume of representation in CC, s korean films are non existent in CC. kim ki-young's 1960s film "housemaid" would make a great, much needed addition to CC.

[ryan11]

kim ki-young's 1960s film "Housemaid" would make a great, much needed addition to CC.

I read somewhere that Housemaid is being re-mastered. I've got a feeling it might be via the official Korean Film department, or a similar organization. As I recall, this film will definitely be available in the future in a much better form.

As I think about it, Martin Scorsese might be championing or funding the restoration.

Page down to see the article.

.....and a remake to boot!

[tubal]

I asked Jon Mulvaney if Criterion would be releasing Roberto Rossellini's war trilogy and this is the answer I got:

I believe we do have plans for the War Trilogy, but to the best of my knowledge a specific street date hasn't yet been scheduled for this release.

[GringoTex]

I asked Jon Mulvaney if Criterion would be releasing Roberto Rossellini's war trilogy and this is the answer I got:

I believe we do have plans for the War Trilogy, but to the best of my knowledge a specific street date hasn't yet been scheduled for this release.

I'm assuming he's referring to Rossellini's 2nd war trilogy?

[tubal]

I asked Jon Mulvaney if Criterion would be releasing Roberto Rossellini's war trilogy and this is the answer I got:

I believe we do have plans for the War Trilogy, but to the best of my knowledge a specific street date hasn't yet been scheduled for this release.

I'm assuming he's referring to Rossellini's 2nd war trilogy?

Yes. Sorry to be unclear. I asked about the trilogy of Rome, Open City, Paisan and Germany Year Zero as opposed to the earlier "fascist" war trilogy of A Pilot Returns, The White Ship and The Man with the Cross.

It would be great if these came out this year.

[htdm]

kim ki-young's 1960s film "Housemaid" would make a great, much needed addition to CC.

I read somewhere that Housemaid is being re-mastered. I've got a feeling it might be via the official Korean Film department, or a similar organization. As I recall, this film will definitely be available in the future in a much better form.

As I think about it, Martin Scorsese might be championing or funding the restoration.

Page down to see the article.

.....and a remake to boot!

I seem to remember Darcy Paquet also stating that the DVD will be released by KOFIC.

[pauling]

Hi Mike,

To the best of my knowledge, we have no plans for "La Caza" at this time. Thanks for your e-mail!

Sincerely,
Jon Mulvaney

The unfortunate response to my question about adding this wonderful Saura film to the collection.

[Cronenfly]

No on a CC of Barfly:

To the best of my knowledge we have no current plans for "Barfly." Thank you for writing in!

Best,

Jon Mulvaney

[Murdoch]

Another Mulvaney e-mail:

We hope to release some Satyajit Ray films, however I do not have information about specific titles or release dates at this time. Feel free to check back, and thank you for taking the time to write in with suggestions!

Sincerely,
Jon Mulvaney

[Cash Flagg]

...And another:

....definitely more Naruse and hopefully some more Altman. I do not have information about specific titles or dates at this time, but feel free to check back, and thanks for your e-mail!

[Jeff]

...and hopefully some more Altman.

Hmm...a pleasant surprise. In order of likeliness:

Brewster McCloud - A potential Warner acquisition that has never been released on DVD. Warner was disappointed with laserdisc sales, and has not been in a hurry to work on this. It's cult classic status makes it likely Criterion fodder.

I can already envision the finest supplement: Anderson vs. Anderson: A Debate on Why Brewster McCloud is Awesome -- P.T. Anderson and Wes Anderson contemplate whether it is the presence of Robert Altman or Bud Cort that accounts for McCloud's awesomeness (discussion ends with broken noses and torn corduroy)

Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean - I'm pretty sure that Viacom owns this, making it a Paramount property. It's one of the better received pieces from his stage play adaption phase. It has never been released on DVD.

Streamers - Another respected play adaptation. Does anybody know who owns this? It was independently produced, and his been bounced to every random home video company under the sun. It has never been released on region one DVD.

Countdown - Another Warner property. This one is from before Altman was Altman. It has never been released on DVD.

HealtH - Fox produced Altman's epic commercial failure, but I'm pretty sure they divested themselves of all rights and interests shortly after release. Who owns it now? It has never been released in any home video format.

Cookie's Fortune - The best piece from Altman's southern trilogy. The late USA Films produced the film and released a DVD, with commentary by Altman, but it's out of print now. Universal owns the rights.

Most of Altman's other films are readily available on DVD with director commentary. Of course, since they now apparently have licensing agreements with all seven major studios, upgraded editions of any of his films are theoretically possible.

[ianungstad]

I've asked both Mulvaney and Paramount Home Video about Welcome Back to the Five and Dime...got no's from both. Brenda at Paramount pretty much confirmed to me that it was not licensed to criterion and collecting dust in the vaults. Same goes for Looking for Mr. Goodbar. Sucks. Mike at Sony also said that they've put California Split back into print and that it's not out of prin. Brewster McCloud or Cookie's Fortune seem to be the most likely IMO.