Criterion Random Speculation Vol.1

Message

igor s. · #51 Post by **igor s.** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 4:42 pm

DrewReiber wrote:Ok, for speculating on possible releases timed to theatrical films?

How about a 12 Monkeys/La Jetee pack for November to coincide with Brothers Grimm? Or maybe a later one to coincide with the DVD release?

How about a Casino/Italianamerican 2 disc Scorsese set to coincide with the DVD release of The Aviator?

sorry to say but universal has nought your hopes:

dvdtalk wrote:My friend received a holiday tchotke from Universal Home Video that came with a snazzy press release announcing the following titles due in 2005. Some of these are already common knowledge, but others are brand new announcements to me. Here is the list (no other details available):

12 Monkeys
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (season 1)
American Pie 4
A-Team (season 2)
Back to the Future (SE)
Backbeat (SE)
Balto 3: Wings of Change
Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason
Casino (Anniversary Edition)
Coal Miner's Daughter (Anniversary Edition)
Columbo (season 2)
Friday Night Lights
In Good Company
Kicking and Screaming
Knight Rider (season 2)
Kojak (season 1)
Las Vegas (seasons 1 and 2)
Leave it to Beaver (season 1)
Magnum PI (season 2)
Meet the Fockers
Miami Vice (season 1)
The Motorcycle Diaries
Murder She Wrote (season 1)
Ray
Seed of Chucky
The Big Lebowski (SE)
The Deer Hunter (SE)
The Jerk (SE)
The Sting (SE)
To Kill a Mocking Bird (SE)

-igors s.

ben d banana · #52 Post by **ben d banana** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 4:56 pm

the jerk special edition, to which i proclaim "fucking finally!"

Cinephrenic · #53 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:57 pm

Why not Edward II from the fine films catalog? How about Blue and Caravaggio?Are these not eligible? I think it's about time for some decent Jarman into the collection. Fill me in.

Narshty · #54 Post by **Narshty** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:52 pm

cinephrenic wrote:decent Jarman

I'm familiar with each word separately, but together they somehow don't seem to make sense.

Cinephrenic · #55 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 9:07 pm

Ok I was being a little biased there, but you can seperate the two.

clutch44 · #56 Post by **clutch44** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 12:58 am

I recently asked Jon about:
Q:Any chance that Frank Tashlin will be added to the collection. A box set
that included The Lieutenant Wore Skirts, The Girl Can't Help It, and Will
Success Spoil Rock Hunter would be nice.

A:I'm afraid we do not hold the DVD rights to any of the titles you mention.
Best,
JM

So unless "Jon" is being really an asshole about the relationship between CC and Fox, it appears that either Fox or Criterion have no interest in having a Tashlin film(s) in the CC.

yumitree · #57 Post by **yumitree** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 1:34 am

um... american pie 4?
back to the future (se)?

#58 Post by **Jeff** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 1:15 pm

clutch44 wrote:So unless "Jon" is being really an asshole about the relationship between CC and Fox, it appears that either Fox or Criterion have no interest in having a Tashlin film(s) in the CC.

Which is a shame really. It's not Fox...from my above post, you can see that at least Girl is being made available. Criterion just isn't interested.

yumitree wrote:um... american pie 4?
back to the future (se)?

I'm guessing direct-to-video crap (as opposed to the previous theatrical crap), and BTTF packaged separately from its sequels.

DrewReiber · #59 Post by **DrewReiber** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 1:16 pm

Jeff wrote:I'm guessing direct-to-video crap (as opposed to the previous theatrical crap), and BTTF packaged separately sequels.

But wouldn't we have heard about it by now? They DID do Bring It On Again, though. Hmm.

The Fanciful Norwegian · #60 Post by **The Fanciful Norwegian** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 11:09 pm

Why not Edward II from the fine films catalog? How about Blue and Caravaggio?Are these not eligible? I think it's about time for some decent Jarman into the collection. Fill me in.

Caravaggio and Blue are both Zeitgeist. They haven't licensed anything to Criterion since Taste of Cherry. So my gut tells me "probably not." Edward II is still with Fine Line AFAIK so that's still a possibility.

cafeman · #61 Post by **cafeman** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 5:59 pm

Can anyone tell me what is wrong with the current 12 Monkeys DVD? From where I`m looking, it`s one fo the finest DVDs out there.

The Fanciful Norwegian · #62 Post by **The Fanciful Norwegian** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 6:32 pm

cafeman wrote:Can anyone tell me what is wrong with the current 12 Monkeys DVD?

It's out of print, mainly.

Sai · #63 Post by **Sai** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 9:50 pm

Because I somewhat believe in Goebbels' statement that a lie can become true if only told often enough: Criterion is going to release Kin Dza Dza!

justeleblanc · #64 Post by **justeleblanc** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 1:46 am

Sai wrote:Because I somewhat believe in Goebbels' statement that a lie can become true if only told often enough

In that case...

CRITERION & KEN RUSSELL, CRITERION & KEN RUSSELL.

It seemed to work for Rumsfeld.

Derek Estes · #65 Post by **Derek Estes** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 2:20 am

There have been rumors for awhile that Criterion might release a John Ford boxed-set (as most of us know). Titles often rumored to be included are...
Young Mr. Lincoln
Drums Along the Mohawk
and
Steamboat 'round the Bend

I have a hard time with finding any kind of strong connection these films would share, to make a sensible boxed-set.
I could see a boxed set of the 3 Will Rogers films,

Dr. Bull
Judge Priest
and
Steamboat 'round the Bend

Or, a set or films featuring Lincoln,

The Iron Horse
The Prisoner of Shark Island
Young Mr. Lincoln

I think that a set that included Young Mr. Lincoln & Drums Along the Mohawk would seem incomplete without The Grapes of Wrath ,which Fox has already released beautifully (not to mention My Darling Clementine!). With The Grapes of Wrath the set could show the scope of Ford's American epic, from the Revolutionary War to The Great Depression, all using the same actor, Henry Fonda. Without it, I don't know what could be included to tie these films together. Unless, they've been able to get the rights to any of the films Ford made with studios other than Fox, and combine them in a set. I still can't think what they might be, but it would give them more to work with.

I think Young Mr. Lincoln may be released separate from any box, but I could be wrong.

Another Fox Ford title that I think Criterion may pursue is Pilgrimage . It is one of Ford's most highly regarded obscure films. And, Criterion has been pretty savvy regarding the releasing Fox's more obscure films like 3 Women, and Thieves Highway.
These are only guesses

DrewReiber · #66 Post by **DrewReiber** » Sun Dec 26, 2004 3:12 am

Derek Estes wrote:I think Young Mr. Lincoln may be released separate from any box, but I could be wrong.

Yeah, I seriously doubt it. Criterion has formed quite a habit recently in combining strong titles with lesser known ones for directors, in order to heighten their sales value. I don't mind, though, because their sets are so great in quality and reasonably priced for their label. I would love to see a Welles set, but I doubt they have enough titles. Maybe Bunuel...

Derek Estes · #67 Post by **Derek Estes** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 3:51 am

DrewReiber wrote: Criterion has formed quite a habit recently in combining strong titles with lesser known ones for directors, in order to heighten their sales value.

True. But, the other sets have so far had a constant theme, like the Dionel films, Cassavettes' independent films etc. It just seems like the titles rumored wouldn't make sense in a box. And, recently there are other directors like Altman, Dassin and Becker that Criterion have been been releasing the films of separately, and each have included films that are lesser known, 3 Women and Thieves Highway are even in the higher price range!

I'm not saying they won't put these films together in a box (I really wouldn't be suprised if they do), but I have a feeling they may have something bigger in mind, that may include multiple releases, during the next year or two.

Narshty · #68 Post by **Narshty** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 7:08 am

hektor wants to know:

With Bogdanovich giving a helping hand to a few Criterion DVD - Introductory series, reading the comment of The Rules of the Game - what is the likelihood to see a Bogdanovich movie in the series.

#69 Post by **Jeff** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 8:49 pm

With Bogdanovich giving a helping hand to a few Criterion DVD - Introductory series, reading the comment of The Rules of the Game - what is the likelihood to see a Bogdanovich movie in the series.

Well, I wouldn't expect any of his narrative films. Most of the decent ones belong to major studios who don't play with Criterion. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if his documentary Directed by John Ford doesn't show up as a supplement sometime soon. It lasts 99 minutes and is narrated by Orson Welles. I think Bogdanovich himself owns the rights, but the numerous clips may pose something of a problem.

pzman84 · #70 Post by **pzman84** » Mon Dec 27, 2004 9:20 pm

I know that Beatrice Welles sued Universal when they were about to release Touch of Evil with a documentary on restoring the film. And I know that she sued Warner Brothers claiming she had some of the rights to Citizen Kane. Is it that Criterion is holding out releasing F for Fake and possibly Mr. Arkadin (aka Confidential Report) because they don't want to get sued by her? Criterion does not have the legal staff that either Universal or Warners has and she has a history of suing for no good reason. (She is trying to sell her father's Oscar. How wrong is that!)

exte · #71 Post by **exte** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 1:48 am

DrewReiber wrote:I would love to see a Welles set, but I doubt they have enough titles.

I was thinking the same exact thing today, and thought it would be great to get all of these in one box.

Chimes at Midnight
Touch of Evil
Othello
The Lady from Shanghai
The Stranger
The Magnificent Ambersons
Citizen Kane

THX1378 · #72 Post by **THX1378** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 5:27 am

I forgot about how sue-happy Beatrice Welles is. Didn't she sue also over Othello also? Isn't Warner Brothers working on The Magnificent Ambersons?

Cinephrenic · #73 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 11:27 am

I dislike the fact that she is capitalizing on her father's successes.

rwaits · #74 Post by **rwaits** » Tue Dec 28, 2004 1:56 pm

I see that Burden of Dreams is on the way. Anyone think there's a chance we might see Fitzcarraldo as well??

Cinephrenic · #75 Post by **Cinephrenic** » Wed Dec 29, 2004 12:04 am

I think it will be Fitzcarraldo that we will be seeing with Burden of Dreams as an extra.