Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

[dwk]

Criterion is going to release Lost in America and they seems to have Straw Dogs back!

[goblinfootballs]

Criterion is going to release Lost in America and they seems to have Straw Dogs back!

Also artwork for Stalker in that photo.

[ianungstad]

Early last year someone linked to a photo taken in the Criterion office that had a bunch of mock covers for 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days and that still has yet to be scheduled. It seems the cover for the Straw Dogs reissue is pretty set in stone but they're playing around with different fonts.

They almost certainly picked up the 3 OOP Hitchcock titles as well. Looks like Criterion cherry picked the titles they wanted and the rest went to Kino.

[domino harvey]

I think they're ditching the white border on the old design. Too bad, I always liked that choice

[domino harvey]

They almost certainly picked up the 3 OOP Hitchcock titles as well. Looks like Criterion cherry picked the titles they wanted and the rest went to Kino.

When Mister Lime bragged about how they could outbid Criterion, I wonder if that's what happened with the Paradine Case? I have a hard time believing Criterion would pass on any Hitchcock, even a bad one like that

[Ribs]

I'll just quietly hope they're releasing a box of the first three Albert Brooks movies because the idea they would choose anything other than Real Life to start is crazy to me

[FrauBlucher]

They almost certainly picked up the 3 OOP Hitchcock titles as well. Looks like Criterion cherry picked the titles they wanted and the rest went to Kino.

When Mister Lime bragged about how they could outbid Criterion, I wonder if that's what happened with the Paradine Case? I have a hard time believing Criterion would pass on any Hitchcock, even a bad one like that

Mister Lime has to save some face.

If true, here's hoping Criterion can improve on the MGM versions. While the PQ wasn't terrible there was definitely room for improvement.

[domino harvey]

I'll just quietly hope they're releasing a box of the first three Albert Brooks movies because the idea they would choose anything other than Real Life to start is crazy to me

They have relationships with the studios that put out all of Brooks' films, but I don't know how many they'd want to license

[Ribs]

Huh, I thought Real Life was with WB too, so I guess this makes a little more sense. I'll just cross my fingers they've got Defending Your Life on the cards too.

[domino harvey]

It was Paramount originally, not sure if it was one if the titles that made it to WB. I'd love to see a box of all the Warner titles or even just Modern Romance from Sony, but let's not kid ourselves, this is prob all we are getting

[The Narrator Returns]

They won't be able to use my "The Criterion Collection has heart" jingle in commercials if they don't release Brooks' first two movies...

[dwk]

They almost certainly picked up the 3 OOP Hitchcock titles as well. Looks like Criterion cherry picked the titles they wanted and the rest went to Kino.

When Mister Lime bragged about how they could outbid Criterion, I wonder if that's what happened with the Paradine Case? I have a hard time believing Criterion would pass on any Hitchcock, even a bad one like that

Unless there was some legal snag, it seems that, if they were so inclined, they could've also licensed The Paradine Case and released it on DVD back when they picked up Rebecca, Notorious, Spellbound and Straw Dogs but didn't.

I fully expected Kino to be re-releasing Straw Dogs. So I wouldn't be surprised if Ian's speculation is correct and Criterion just picked up the four ABC titles they released on DVD. Heck, it may not even be a situation of Criterion cherry picking the best titles but of Disney offering these four (assuming they got all four) back to them.

[bradass]

If anyone is going to SCMS in Chicago later this month, it's the prime opportunity to ask one of the producers about upcoming releases. Criterion always has a booth set up with the book vendors.

[Paupau]

Is Ne change rien also a possibility?

[Minkin]

I fully expected Kino to be re-releasing Straw Dogs.

I assume you meant to say Criterion?

Did the Twitter picture change? Its currently just an image of a guy standing in the Criterion closet. I assume the original picture was of somewhere else in the office - which included that infamous wall of cover art that we saw in the Apu Trilogy video (I think Eric Skillman once described this wall - that its so employees can see the progress on cover art and add any insight). Might someone re-post the original image (if they still have it cached)?

So through the jumble of speculation above, the only things confirmed by the original picture (as I need to update the forthcoming list) are:
Lost in America
Straw Dogs
Stalker
?

[knives]

Is Ne change rien also a possibility?

If you mean the Costa, no. It is with Cinema Guild on a very nice disc.

[ianungstad]

https://twitter.com/Ahesbert/status/838862209300250625" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's actually 4 different images. Click the one in the top right, you can see all the mock covers on the wall.

[Saturnome]

What are the posters in the last image? They're great, I'd love to see the Kate Beaton Five Easy Pieces in full.

I find it strange that 4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days is yet to be released. The cover art should be among the last things worked on most releases.

[dwk]

I fully expected Kino to be re-releasing Straw Dogs.

I assume you meant to say Criterion?

Did the Twitter picture change? Its currently just an image of a guy standing in the Criterion closet. I assume the original picture was of somewhere else in the office - which included that infamous wall of cover art that we saw in the Apu Trilogy video (I think Eric Skillman once described this wall - that its so employees can see the progress on cover art and add any insight). Might someone re-post the original image (if they still have it cached)?

So through the jumble of speculation above, the only things confirmed by the original picture (as I need to update the forthcoming list) are:
Lost in America
Straw Dogs
Stalker
?

No, I meant Kino, who recently announced their big deal with Disney that includes the ABC titles. So Criterion actually having Straw Dogs is a surprise.

Here is the original image (I originally posted a link to the tweet because I was on my phone and couldn't get the url for the image)

[hearthesilence]

Whoah, Albert Brooks' Lost in America is being prepped for the collection! (looks like three, maybe five proofs for the possible cover)

Hope there's more, specifically Real Life, Modern Romance and Defending Your Life.

[Minkin]

I'm just going to blame Opera for everything today. Opera can be weird sometimes and doesn't like certain websites - as Twitter only showed the image of him in the closet, not the other three. Chrome fixes that issue.

Sorry DWK, I read it as "Expect" not "Expected" - thus, not seeing the image, I thought you meant that Kino was going to release Straw Dogs.

The illustrated posters in that fourth image - I think are from Criterion's stint at hosting movies for the yearly ATP festival. Usually ATP highlighted several titles that we otherwise didn't know about (like Being John Malkovich), but some turned out to be red herrings / released elsewhere - like Ne Change Rien.

By some odd coincidence, Straw Dogs was one of the films that played at Criterion's ATP lineup, and now six years later it turns out to finally be released. So take that Midnight Cowboy for overly long speculation!

I also wonder what the cover next to Othello is (where his head is blocking most of it). Sorta looks like Janus' The Lure poster.

[Malickite]

Straw Dogs coming back with an upgrade is brilliant news. I hope it retains all the extras (and then some). The Commentary by Stephen Prince is one of my favorites.

And it looks like we'll probably get Stalker with it, so that's a solid month for me.

[Emak-Bakia]

The illustrated posters in that fourth image - I think are from Criterion's stint at hosting movies for the yearly ATP festival. Usually ATP highlighted several titles that we otherwise didn't know about (like Being John Malkovich), but some turned out to be red herrings / released elsewhere - like Ne Change Rien.

And I can confirm that this is correct. I shamelessly pulled a number of these posters off the walls at the festival at the end of the weekend (oh how I miss ATP in the US.) There is some gorgeous artwork among them! I've framed a few of them, but, one of these days, I'll have the wall space to hang up every one of them.

[zedz]

I'm just going to blame Opera for everything today. Opera can be weird sometimes. . .

Can you imagine how disappointed I was when I figured out that Opera was a species of web browser?

[captveg]

Interesting comment from MisterLime when asked about Criterion having Straw Dogs:

Straw Dogs was part of a much smaller package we bid on and lost. I cannot mention of the other titles in that small package without announcing another label's upcoming releases.

So, I would guess that the titles Criterion previously licensed for DVD release from Disney from the ABC Pictures/Selznick library (Straw Dogs, Spellbound, Notorious, Rebecca, Indiscretion of an American Wife/Terminal Station) were what this "small library" consisted of. It would also explain why MGM/Fox never released more titles from the greater ABC Pictures/Selznick library when they had it on the last go around - they didn't have the larger library, either, but just this "smaller package".