Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol. 5

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#601 Post by knives » Thu Mar 14, 2013 6:42 pm

I believe GKids (or whatever it is called) is planning to release that one.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#602 Post by Mr Sausage » Thu Mar 14, 2013 6:49 pm

rossbrew wrote:Mother, Jugs, and Speed?
Hah! Man, that joke takes me back.

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Kirkinson
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#603 Post by Kirkinson » Thu Mar 14, 2013 6:54 pm

Minkin wrote:And for some further random speculation. When Ian mentioned Princess Mononoke was potentially on the tables (Disney too scared to release it themselves), I wonder if Castle of Cagliostro might also be considered as well (I'd imagine Disney also finding this too violent, etc).
Not that this necessarily has anything to do with whether Criterion would or would not release it, but does Disney have any rights to Castle of Cagliostro? That's not a Ghibli film, so it wouldn't have been part of any package deal Disney made, and Manga Entertainment still controlled it in the USA in 2006 when they released their last DVD version.

ianungstad
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#604 Post by ianungstad » Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:14 pm

knives wrote:I believe GKids (or whatever it is called) is planning to release that one.
Gkids told me that Disney had licensed Only Yesterday and Princess Mononoke to a third party company but wouldn't specify who. I did not get the impression that GKids planned to release these films themselves. (though wouldn't rule out that possibility) They indicated that Only Yesterday should be released in North America this year.

I posted some speculation that it may be related to a potential Disney deal that Criterion had in the works; due to the Wes Anderson upgrades and speculation over tweets from Spike Lee regarding 25th Hour. Criterion hasn't released or even hinted at any new Disney titles to the collection. So who knows.

The rep from GKids also said that they had tried to get the rights to Fantastic Planet and the other Rene Laloux films but were beat out by another company. That was apparently awhile ago, so whoever bought those films have been sitting on them for awhile now.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#605 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:53 pm

beamish13 wrote:If MONONOKE is a possibility, they simply must release ONLY YESTERDAY, which is the only Ghibli film that neither Disney nor any of its sudsidiaries has ever touched, and it's absolutely brilliant.
Actually Buena Vista Japan (a Disney subsidiary) had no problem with releasing Only Yesterday in Japan. ;~}

beamish13
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#606 Post by beamish13 » Thu Mar 14, 2013 8:17 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:
beamish13 wrote:If MONONOKE is a possibility, they simply must release ONLY YESTERDAY, which is the only Ghibli film that neither Disney nor any of its sudsidiaries has ever touched, and it's absolutely brilliant.
Actually Buena Vista Japan (a Disney subsidiary) had no problem with releasing Only Yesterday in Japan. ;~}
You're right. They're also sitting on OCEAN WAVES in the States, too.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#607 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu Mar 14, 2013 8:52 pm

beamish13 wrote:You're right. They're also sitting on OCEAN WAVES in the States, too.
Disney never bought US rights for Ocean Waves (as I recall).

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movielocke
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#608 Post by movielocke » Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:09 pm

Kauno wrote:
ShellOilJunior wrote:I have a hunch Summertime is getting a blu-ray upgrade.

It's the lowest # Spine (still in print) that hasn't been upgraded to blu.

Plus, it's June.
This time preferably with subtitles.
And more importantly hopefully in the right aspect ratio rather than the wrong open matte of the current DVD edition (Lord of the Flies is also incorrectly presented as open matte).

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Sam T.
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#609 Post by Sam T. » Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:13 pm

I'm sick of guessing the same thing every month and always being wrong, so I have no predictions this month. However I do have the following observations.
Ozu Eclipse or a Kore-eda docs eclipse
I've been watching a lot of Naruse on hulu lately, and I've been thinking that if they follow the Ozu paradigm then we're actually overdue for a "Late Naruse" Eclipse. I hope Naruse gets a second before Ozu gets a third, much though I love them both.
664/665: The Early Works Of The Kuchar Brothers + It Came From Kuchar documentary
That would be awesome, but as a longtime Kuchar enthusiast I found "It Came From Kuchar" kind of a disappointment. George and Mike are really fun to watch, but nobody else interviewed has all that much to say, and the only material that makes it essential is the long clips from hard-to-find Kuchar films. I think if Criterion did the world the favor of a Brakhage-style anthology for the brothers, "It Came From Kuchar" would have served its purpose in stoking demand and could disappear. It's not really interesting enough as a film unto itself to merit a spine number.

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Lowry_Sam
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#610 Post by Lowry_Sam » Thu Mar 14, 2013 10:20 pm

"It Came From Kuchar" would have served its purpose in stoking demand and could disappear. It's not really interesting enough as a film unto itself to merit a spine number.
I haven't seen it yet, but included it because it has a higher imdb rating than any of their works (but of course w/ fewer than 10 votes to 200 votes per title doesn't bode well for reliability). But it actually looks to be available on dvd (IMDB shows it isn't) & if it's just a bunch of talking heads (John Waters, Guy Maddin, Atom Egoyan) talking about how much they were influenced by them, then more of the originals would certainly be preferable to a mediocre doc. I've been wanting to see more of their work since picking up the Sins Of The Fleshapoids dvd during Borders' going out of business sale (which looks to be out of print now).

I've always been a bit baffled by Criterion's choice of experimental/shorts. I picked up both Brakhage & Frampton sets in part because of the praises they received here, but was a bit underwhelmed by them both (particularly that these were chosen over my faves like Anger, Kuchar Bros., Quay Bros... which I not only like better, but would also probably sell better). Not sure if it's a high brow/low brow thing (which I would tend to doubt) or a need to push the less commercially viable (that others are not likely to pick up) when putting together a (very occasional) experimental set.

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#611 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:16 am

swo17 wrote:
jwd5275 wrote:Autant-Lara Eclipse
This please. Or at least Douce on Blu-ray. At least that.
Douce will be on blu from Gaumont next year and probably with english subs. Gaumont are having an onslaught on A-L this year and next but that will leave (I think from Pathé)
1946 : Sylvie et le fantôme
1949 : Occupe-toi d'Amélie
1951 : L'Auberge rouge
which would make a killer Eclipse set. Not a fan of farce usually but Amélie is so breathtakingly shot it made me gasp and giggle simultaneously. Horrible analogy I know but think Guitry fused with Ophuls.

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jwd5275
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#612 Post by jwd5275 » Fri Mar 15, 2013 10:05 am

That's great to hear since he is definitely due a renaissance. I believe Janus has had the rights to Sylvie et le fantôme since the beginning of time (it shows up featured in those old 70s catalogs). Also would love to see a release of La traversée de Paris since I think it it one of Jean Gabin's best roles

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ryannichols7
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#613 Post by ryannichols7 » Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:00 am

Babette's Feast
Eraserhead
Bitter Rice
Madadayo (w/ making of doc, retrospect on the end of AK's career...not barebones, pretty much)
Red River
Lord of the Flies (redux)
Wild Strawberries (upgrade)
Autumn Sonata (upgrade)

mteller
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#614 Post by mteller » Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:11 am

Lowry_Sam wrote:...and on April 1st a special announcement on their Facebook page for

The Last Days Of Disco Companion Box:
Roller Boogie
Skateville USA
Can't Stop The Music
Thank God It's Friday
Xanadu
I would love Xanadu on Blu-Ray

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Askew
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#615 Post by Askew » Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:52 pm

The Wild Strawberries page no longer has a still on it so it looks like we may finally get the upgrade. I hope they release it with Autumn Sonata as well, because I don't want to wait another two years for it like we with Wild Strawberries.

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krnash
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#616 Post by krnash » Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:38 pm

Well, good news bad news. I posted Askew's observation on FB. Official response from Criterion- sounds like Wild Strawberries IS coming, but we're going to have to hang on until Monday.

"You'll have to wait until Monday for the announcement but you may be on to something..."
Last edited by krnash on Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

boywonder
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#617 Post by boywonder » Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:21 pm

krnash wrote:"You'll have to wait until Monday for the announcement but you may be on to something..."
Dang, what are they? Paranoid cuz it is the ides of March!?

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Cinephrenic
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#618 Post by Cinephrenic » Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:37 pm

Soothsayer says Oshima set.

Soothsayer
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#619 Post by Soothsayer » Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:57 pm

I did?

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Cinephrenic
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#620 Post by Cinephrenic » Fri Mar 15, 2013 10:38 pm

lol

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manicsounds
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#621 Post by manicsounds » Sat Mar 16, 2013 10:53 pm

So why are the announcements delayed? Usually the 15th of every month...

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jwd5275
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#622 Post by jwd5275 » Sat Mar 16, 2013 11:21 pm

I suspect they were having IT issues since the website kept crashing on me Friday morning...

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DeusEx
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#623 Post by DeusEx » Sun Mar 17, 2013 6:12 pm

Lowry_Sam wrote:I've always been a bit baffled by Criterion's choice of experimental/shorts. I picked up both Brakhage & Frampton sets in part because of the praises they received here, but was a bit underwhelmed by them both (particularly that these were chosen over my faves like Anger, Kuchar Bros., Quay Bros... which I not only like better, but would also probably sell better). Not sure if it's a high brow/low brow thing (which I would tend to doubt) or a need to push the less commercially viable (that others are not likely to pick up) when putting together a (very occasional) experimental set.
Personal taste aside, I'm not sure there's anything baffling about Criterion's choice of Brakhage and Frampton for experimental sets. They're among the most foundational filmmakers for the American avant-garde, and are generally pretty well-liked and well-studied among people who like that sort of thing. Anger is certainly part of that conversation too, but there already is a pretty comprehensive DVD collection of his stuff (albeit out of print, I think). The rest of the North American tradition is a weird nut to crack as far as commercial releases go - not just for market reasons but because of artistic temperament. I could imagine Criterion wanting to put together a Bruce Conner set, but I've heard his estate is pretty adamant about avoiding dvd (except for the institutional dvd collections he issued himself). Michael Snow allegedly wants no part of any kind of commercial release. Ditto the Markopoulos estate. Bear in mind this is a generation that took the primacy of the celluloid experience pretty seriously, and may see DVD or BD as an unacceptable compromise on their aesthetic. Someone like James Benning or Ernie Gehr might be more amenable, but their profile isn't as high as Brakhage and Frampton and their "bafflement" factor has to be at least as high.

I have no particular opinion about the Kuchar or Quay brothers, but my impression is that they would fill a different niche than did the "experimental / avant-garde" selections that Criterion has made so far (i.e., the Brakhage and Frampton sets). It's not always a question of "choosing over" but of choosing to fill different gaps, or of having a choice to begin with (it probably helps that those two filmmakers are as well-archived as they are, relative to their peers).

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Gregory
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#624 Post by Gregory » Sun Mar 17, 2013 6:42 pm

DeusEx wrote:Anger is certainly part of that conversation too, but there already is a pretty comprehensive DVD collection of his stuff (albeit out of print, I think).
The excellent BFI dual-format is in print and is even all-region.
The rest of the North American tradition is a weird nut to crack as far as commercial releases go - not just for market reasons but because of artistic temperament.
That's true in some cases (a few of which you've already mentioned), but there's also a whole lot else that's been released already.
It's not always a question of "choosing over" but of choosing to fill different gaps, or of having a choice to begin with (it probably helps that those two filmmakers are as well-archived as they are, relative to their peers).
Well said.

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The Fanciful Norwegian
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Re: Forthcoming Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.

#625 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Mon Mar 18, 2013 1:15 am

DeusEx wrote:Someone like James Benning or Ernie Gehr might be more amenable, but their profile isn't as high as Brakhage and Frampton and their "bafflement" factor has to be at least as high.
And Benning wasn't even an option until fairly recently -- he was opposed for ages to video releases of his work. It's only within the last few years that he's relented, apparently because he feels DVD and large-screen TVs can at least approximate the experience of a film projection. Here's hoping Criterion takes advantage of his change of heart, though the Filmmuseum releases are excellent outside for the occasional windowboxing.

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