Criterion and Warner Bros.

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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Arthur House
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 3:20 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#651 Post by Arthur House » Wed Aug 02, 2017 3:34 am

FWIW, I picked up the 2-Disc Bringing Up Baby at Movie Exchange the other day, so if that one happens soon, you know who to thank.

I also got The Trouble With Girls, so if an Elvis phantom page ever comes up...

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#652 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Aug 11, 2017 10:38 pm

There needs to be more Amercan Fritz Lang films in the Collection. While the City Sleeps , Beyond a Reasonable Doubt and Clash by Night are hopefully in play. You would think that WAC would've upgraded them already if they were to stay with WB.

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#653 Post by domino harvey » Fri Aug 11, 2017 11:09 pm

Gurl, Fury should be WB's top Lang priority, not those hot messes

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#654 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Aug 11, 2017 11:33 pm

I'm not really a fan of Fury. But if that's what they choose to take off of WB's hands, so be it.

Robespierre
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:31 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#655 Post by Robespierre » Sun Aug 13, 2017 1:41 am

How long will the WB licence last? I'm only inquiring because I'm curious if any of these CC editions will go OOP in coming years.

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Omensetter
Yes We Cannes
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#656 Post by Omensetter » Sun Aug 13, 2017 10:36 am

I'm not certain how many members here have answers regarding specific licenses, their length, and their parameters (or if they can even divulge such information) but I wouldn't assume it'll last long even if there's good indication (The Philadelphia Story, the home video market) that it'll continue into the new year. The titles Criterion is caressing (Blowup, Barry Lyndon) are must-owns, but if there is any concern about their twenty-whatever titles going out-of-print then, you know, I would just start stockpiling, which means you'll have to own a copy of Woman of the Year.

Someone mentioned in another thread (in the interest of time management, I won't search for it), that Warner straight-up offered them Mildred Pierce while they were inquiring about a different title. It seemed like a credible source when I read it.

Robespierre
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:31 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#657 Post by Robespierre » Sun Aug 13, 2017 2:08 pm

I've already bought the titles I'm most interested in (still on the fence about The New World). I mainly ask because I wonder if there's an opportunity for a profit to be made here on OOP Criterions... :-k

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Brian C
I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 11:58 am
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#658 Post by Brian C » Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:26 pm

Yeah you should probably buy about 30 of each

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:25 am
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#659 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Sun Aug 13, 2017 3:37 pm

And throw them straight into the trash. If you looking for market speculation on Blu-Rays to make money, you're doomed in this capitalist jungle.

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Omensetter
Yes We Cannes
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#660 Post by Omensetter » Sun Aug 13, 2017 6:01 pm

Buy a buncha Blowups straight from the Criterion website and help give Zabriskie Point a fighting chance of emerging from Warner's catalogue over whatever next year's In-Laws is.

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Ribs
Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2014 1:14 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#661 Post by Ribs » Sun Aug 13, 2017 8:06 pm

If you read up further in the thread, there's pretty good evidence that titles like Barry Lyndon and Philadelphia Story are from a second batch of titles that were likely not part of the original agreement, which probably means things are fairly stable for a few years (and also I'm foolishly willing to believe that Warners will actually extend licensing through to Indicator, which probably would also mean the Criterion titles are safe for the time being).

And, personally, I've picked up every single Warners title so far just by happenstance (not out of an obligation, just I've loved the title selection), and feel the choices overall seem like sure bets as far as being leading sellers for their respective months.

Robespierre
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:31 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#662 Post by Robespierre » Mon Aug 14, 2017 12:06 am

Every Melville movie, L'annee derniere, Third Man, Howard's End, Pierrot, etc. all go for absurd prices online. If I can make even 20$ profit on any OOP title that's a win. I mean it's peanuts individually but it'll eventually add up. On a related point, I have a sealed edition of the Animego blu ray edition of Shogun Assassin if anyone is interested in sliding 120$ my way :wink: .

Considering I hate both Blow-up and Zabriskie Point, I won't be doing that.

Tha's pretty encouraging news, Ribs. And same here, I've picked up nearly all the WB titles because they actually interest me (aside from TNW which I'm on the fence on, Breaking Point which I have not seen, and Blow-up which I hate). I'll preorder any further Kubrick title and Gun Crazy the day they inevitably announce them.

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DRW.mov
Joined: Thu Sep 15, 2016 2:43 pm
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#663 Post by DRW.mov » Mon Aug 14, 2017 3:46 am

What's the over under on their relationship eventually yielding Lina Wertmüller's The End of the World In Our Usual Bed In A Night Full of Rain? I'm sure WB has all but forgotten they have it and it would be wonderful to get Wertmüller in as a director. It's also an incredibly underrated and underseen film.

Noiradelic
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 12:45 am

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#664 Post by Noiradelic » Mon Aug 14, 2017 5:21 pm

Omensetter wrote:I wouldn't assume it'll last long even if there's good indication (The Philadelphia Story, the home video market) that it'll continue into the new year. ...if there is any concern about their twenty-whatever titles going out-of-print then, you know, I would just start stockpiling
There's no reason to think that any of the WB-licensed Criterions will go OOP. Criterion isn't in the limited-edition business -- they've always held onto titles for as long as they could. None of the titles obtained during the licensing streak that started over 4 years ago have been pulled. You mentioned the home video market, and, yes, physical home video licenses aren't going to become more valuable to WB over time: precisely the opposite. It's not like they're going to yank back Badlands and then license 2001 or Kane, as some here have speculated could eventually happen.

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Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#665 Post by Luke M » Mon Aug 14, 2017 5:53 pm

Noiradelic wrote:
Omensetter wrote:I wouldn't assume it'll last long even if there's good indication (The Philadelphia Story, the home video market) that it'll continue into the new year. ...if there is any concern about their twenty-whatever titles going out-of-print then, you know, I would just start stockpiling
There's no reason to think that any of the WB-licensed Criterions will go OOP. Criterion isn't in the limited-edition business -- they've always held onto titles for as long as they could. None of the titles obtained during the licensing streak that started over 4 years ago have been pulled. You mentioned the home video market, and, yes, physical home video licenses aren't going to become more valuable to WB over time: precisely the opposite. It's not like they're going to yank back Badlands and then license 2001 or Kane, as some here have speculated could eventually happen.
Right. The upside to physical media’s slow death is seeing Criterion release films you never thought they’d get.

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Omensetter
Yes We Cannes
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#666 Post by Omensetter » Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:40 pm

Noiradelic wrote: There's no reason to think that any of the WB-licensed Criterions will go OOP. Criterion isn't in the limited-edition business -- they've always held onto titles for as long as they could. None of the titles obtained during the licensing streak that started over 4 years ago have been pulled. You mentioned the home video market, and, yes, physical home video licenses aren't going to become more valuable to WB over time: precisely the opposite. It's not like they're going to yank back Badlands and then license 2001 or Kane, as some here have speculated could eventually happen.
Oh, I completely agree. My comments came from assuming another person was concerned about titles going out-of-print.

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aox
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#667 Post by aox » Fri Aug 25, 2017 12:44 pm

Has there been any mention of The Wild Bunch as a possibility?

Noiradelic
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 12:45 am

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#668 Post by Noiradelic » Fri Aug 25, 2017 5:56 pm

As that's a popular western and the Blu-ray's in print, I'd put that in the "later rather than sooner" (if at all) category. They may have Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

flyonthewall2983
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#669 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Sat Aug 26, 2017 12:14 am

I would think it would be due a new release soon anyway (or at least in time for it's 50th anniversary in two years) because it was one of the first Blu-ray releases WB put out, and a new 4K restoration of it wouldn't seem out of the question.

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#670 Post by hearthesilence » Sun Oct 01, 2017 4:15 pm

Drucker wrote:At least that has a release somewhere in the world! (BFI) I'm dying to see Crime de Monseiur Lange!
If someone else besides Studio Canal puts this out on BD, I hope they do their own master because the new restoration flat out sucks. If we're lucky, there's a raw transfer available that doesn't have the awful grain management I saw at the restoration's NYFF screening this afternoon.

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kcota17
Joined: Fri Feb 28, 2014 9:05 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#671 Post by kcota17 » Sun Oct 01, 2017 5:50 pm

Yeah it'll be interesting to see what they do with early WB blu-ray titles like The Wild Bunch, 2001 and The Searchers. They'll all most likely just get 4K releases from Warners.

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Drucker
Your Future our Drucker
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Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#672 Post by Drucker » Sun Oct 01, 2017 5:54 pm

Was The Searchers restoration that produced the original blu-ray not 4k? I'm intrigued by it and North by Northwest. There are a ton of posts about their last restorations, how millions were spent to do them, and after all that the releases were still a bit disappointing. Comparing both blu-rays to the 35mm releases I've seen I actually don't believe they fare too poorly, which makes me wonder if they are merely victims of a terrible encode and perhaps some 2008-era grain management that looks bad, but the underlying restorations already look great.

FlickeringWindow
Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2013 12:27 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#673 Post by FlickeringWindow » Wed Oct 04, 2017 11:37 am

Drucker wrote:Was The Searchers restoration that produced the original blu-ray not 4k? I'm intrigued by it and North by Northwest. There are a ton of posts about their last restorations, how millions were spent to do them, and after all that the releases were still a bit disappointing. Comparing both blu-rays to the 35mm releases I've seen I actually don't believe they fare too poorly, which makes me wonder if they are merely victims of a terrible encode and perhaps some 2008-era grain management that looks bad, but the underlying restorations already look great.
The Searchers was 4K circa-2004 from the 8 perf 35mm color separations since the camera negative was too faded.

North by Northwest was 4K (likely scanned in 6/8K) circa-2009 from the 8 perf faded camera negative plus the 8 perf B&W yellow separation to replace the missing color on the negative.

Both are VC-1 lower bitrate encodes on Blu, though.

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tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:13 am

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#674 Post by tenia » Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:05 pm

The NxNW scan was indeed 8K and downscaled to 4K for restoration.
As for the result, I think they are just results of the time. I'm quite sure that if Warner was to perform the same type of workflow now on these, the results would be better because the experience in digital restoration and scanning are better now.
I don't know if the 2015 BFI 4K restoration of Doctor Zhivago is a clear improvement over what Warner did in 2010, but that would be another movie I tend to compare (digital PQ wise) to NxNW and The Searchers and which would need to be improved upon too. I saw the Warner restoration in theaters 2 years ago, and it just wasn't good enough anymore.

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yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Re: Criterion and Warner Bros.

#675 Post by yoloswegmaster » Fri Nov 17, 2017 10:36 pm

Warner has discontinued A Clockwork Orange and Papillon. Could they be potential Criterion releases?

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