Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 4

[med]

Westerly is Stillman's own company, but yeah, it's highly unlikely that any one company can make that kind of deal. Stillman may have wanted it, but he doesn't own the rights to either Barcelona or Disco.

[htshell]

You guys realize you are second-guessing the person who made these films about how he has said (multiple times) they're going to be released? I'd think Stillman has more of a window into how his films are going to be released than someone on a message board.

[med]

This second-guessing is based off

However, he does recall a deal being struck when The Last Days of Disco was licensed that it had to be included in a boxed set of all three of his first films.

which is a demand no individual company is in a position to make, given that each film is owned by an entirely different outfit.

Then one must consider that the above quote was passed on second-hand from the same guy who inadvertently started the Certified Copy non-issue, so grain of salt and all that.

[zedz]

Isn't it possible that Criterion includes contingency clauses for potential secondary releases like this in a lot of its contracts? They wouldn't want to have to renegotiate rights for every film whenever they put together a 'collectors set' like that Bergman one, for instance. And since they seem to like Stillman's films (no accounting for taste and all that. . .) I'm sure they'd love to be able to put those first three features together at some point if the opportunity ever arose, so it would only make sense for them to allow for that possibility - however remote - when negotiating rights for the initial release.

[Jeff]

Remote possibility? Sure, maybe. They've never released a box containing films from multiple studios though. Seems like a royalties nightmare. I'm sure that Stillman was misremembering or misunderstanding the situation. Criterion may have asked for his permission to do it at some point, but the chances that Uni and Warner would agree seem slim.

[Minkin]

They've never released a box containing films from multiple studios though.

I thought there were quite a few: Robeson, Renoir, Rohmer boxes - off the top of my head (also makes for great alliteration)

[dwk]

I'm pretty sure the Rohmer box was licensed from the same company, but the Robeson and Renoir boxes you mentioned, along with the Orphic Trilogy (a reason they don't want to do boxes that have films from multiple studios), Post War Kurosawa, The Delirious Fictions of William Klein, and Kenji Mizoguchi's Fallen Women, all contain films licensed from multiple studios. (I think the Robeson set has films from six different companies.)

[Jeff]

Major studios (Universal, Sony, Disney, Fox, Warner, Paramount, MGM) though? Seems like a different ballgame.

[zeroman987]

Major studios (Universal, Sony, Disney, Fox, Warner, Paramount, MGM) though? Seems like a different ballgame.

Studio Canal is one of the biggest studios in the world and that (Orpheus) already bit them in the behind. I wouldn't put it past Paramount or Universal to do a massive pullout if the sales are phenomenal and the contract is up.

[dwk]

Major studios (Universal, Sony, Disney, Fox, Warner, Paramount, MGM) though? Seems like a different ballgame.

I think the issue of royalties is the same, but I can see how the major US studios could prove to be a bit of a headache to deal with and the threat of a title going OOP, causing the box to go OOP, causing the need to produce new packaging would be too high to make a multiple studio box worth doing.

[bainbridgezu]

Regarding Tristana:

We recorded this on the DVR from TCMHD and while it wasn't pristine by any means, it was pretty darn watchable.

Having now seen the entire broadcast, I'm glad to say that I agree with you: the film looks much better than I first thought; I don't imagine that Criterion would have too much trouble creating a release from the same source (if anything, their gorgeous treatment of Belle de jour clouded my expectations).

[zedz]

Remote possibility? Sure, maybe. They've never released a box containing films from multiple studios though. Seems like a royalties nightmare. I'm sure that Stillman was misremembering or misunderstanding the situation. Criterion may have asked for his permission to do it at some point, but the chances that Uni and Warner would agree seem slim.

You do realise that Criterion (or any other company) can include contingency clauses in any of their contracts without necessarily having concrete plans to act on them at the time the contract is signed? It just seems like a no-brainer inclusion in any rights agreement to me, just like future-proofing for formats that might not have been considered at the time - just ask The Stone Roses about that one!

It may be very unlikely that Criterion will have access to all three Stillman films at one time, but wouldn't they be kicking themselves if this turned out to be the case and they hadn't made contractual provision for it?

[Calvin]

Have there been any rumblings about Criterion releasing any more Naruse?

[felipe]

This has probably been discussed before, but are there any chances of Criterion releasing other Todd Solondz films?

[mfunk9786]

... are there any chances of Criterion releasing other Todd Solondz films?

They want to get the rights to Happiness but can't. No word on any others, though I'd love to see Palindromes pop up somewhere down the line.

[ianungstad]

Poster on Facebook mentioned that he ran into the director of Overlord recently at Barnes and Nobles and was informed that it's getting a blu upgrade in the near future.

[krnash]

Poster on Facebook mentioned that he ran into the director of Overlord recently at Barnes and Nobles and was informed that it's getting a blu upgrade in the near future.

'Twas me. Ironically, he reserved a copy of his own movie and I didn't put the facts together that it was under the name "Cooper" until he introduced himself after I raved about the film. Luckily I didn't talk about it the other way!

He told me that the blu is in the works and then gushed about the way Criterion has treated him and his film.

[knives]

That's nice to hear. One can only hope that they're interested in releasing other titles if they have such a warm relationship.

[aox]

Overlord would be an interesting upgrade. I like the film, but out of the 600 films in the mainline, it's about 300 on my list of titles I want upgraded.

[sickofsickness]

A while back (2010), it was announced that Criterion was going to treat Christopher Nolan's first film "Following"

IFC released a special new trailer, and I also received an email response from Jon Mulvaney on the matter:

Yes, we do hope to release this film in the not-so-distant future but have no exact date set yet...

We try to announce our upcoming releases as far in advance as possible-- both on our website and in newsletter form. I recommend checking out the "Coming Soon" section of our website as well as our e-newsletter. I'm including direct links for you below.

I hope this helps, and feel free to write again should you have further questions!

There is much speculation over at NolanFans, and since the current DVD has pretty excellent features, I/we can only imagine what Criterion has in store for us. There is a theory that the release is being withheld until Summer 2012 to tie in with the release of The Dark Knight Rises (by Nolan)...but the only real thing that I hope for (and someone in the Facebook comments on a Criterion post said this would happen, but I remain skeptical) is the inclusion of the 3 short films Nolan did prior to Following (Larceny, Tarantula and Doodlebug); the latter is available online and on Youtube, but the former 2 remain unseen.

Does anyone have any other information or thoughts. This is probably the most excited I've been for a video/dvd release.

[felipe]

... are there any chances of Criterion releasing other Todd Solondz films?

They want to get the rights to Happiness but can't. No word on any others, though I'd love to see Palindromes pop up somewhere down the line.

They can't because Lionsgate isn't willing to license?

BTW, I'd love to see Palindromes on the collection.

[mfunk9786]

Correct.

[eerik]

Does anyone have any other information or thoughts. This is probably the most excited I've been for a video/dvd release.

From April 2011:

He talked at length about the major restoration of Nolan's Following and that's what's holding that up.

[Bruce]

Sorry if this has been discussed previously, but is there any realistic hope of Criterion releasing more Altman on Blu this year? I'd love to see Blu upgrades of Short Cuts and Secret Honor for example. Regarding the 70's titles, I assume there's no chance of getting McCabe And Mrs Miller from Warner, but they could perhaps get Images, The Long Goodbye and Thieves Like Us from MGM, Nashville from Paramount and California Split from Sony, all studios that have on-going relationships with Criterion. So a box set of Altman in the 70's would be an enticing prospect!

[SternDiet]

I believe there was a strong rumour that Criterion was going to release 'The Long Goodbye', but I don't know if that's true. I hope so.