Criterion Random Speculation Vol.4

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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jbeall
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:22 am
Location: Atlanta-ish

#276 Post by jbeall » Thu Feb 21, 2008 11:18 am

keeproductions wrote:
davidhare wrote:
the difference is as vast as that between a bus station crack-whore mental patient and Mother Teresa. Or something.
And I'm still not sure which one we are.
Hard to tell. Personally I'm more of an atheist who likes beer and sex. This middle ground reflects my attitude towards the two forums as well. I lurk on both sites but definitely come here more often. I come here for interesting information and insight. I go there to feel better about myself.

I do find it hard sometimes to resist the fan-boy urge to crow about my collection, but just a quick trip to a relevant thread on .com eliminates that pretty quick. Just the sheer banality and superficiality of it all is embarrassing. So I come back here where 90% of my measly posts are met with silence so deafening even the crickets uncross their legs.

Oh well, keep up the good work. I'll keep learning and lurking. This truly is a great forum.
I'm an agnostic who likes beer and sex, and I agree with you completely. But I'd rather post to deafening silence here than lurk on .com. I go there once in a blue moon when someone here links to a particularly ridiculous post, but this forum provides enough--more than enough!--insight and information, and merely lurking here won't lower your IQ (at least not as much).

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Morbii
Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2004 3:38 am

#277 Post by Morbii » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:40 pm

Since we're all talking about the other forum, here's a doozy:
I know some higher ups from Criterion must read this forum...why doesnt one of them exchange some communication with us here instead of observing and lurking, this is probably the better of the 2 Criterion forums so why not start a profile... I think it would be good for everyone.

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arsonfilms
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2005 12:53 pm
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#278 Post by arsonfilms » Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:04 pm

I think we may be getting a little off base in this thread...

...but that won't keep me from chiming in.

I used to lurk on the .com board before I discovered the existence of this one, but immediately stopped reading it when this one proved to be so much better. That said though, I can certainly see how someone might prefer the other board: We can sometimes be overly critical, high minded and we've got a lot of members who are knowledgeable to an intimidating extent. The other board is very much the "lite" version for people who might unashamedly gush about the tastiness of merlot-in-a-box, or take the AFI top 100 as gospel from heaven. There's certainly nothing wrong with any of that, and I can certainly concede admiration for such naked enthusiasm, but it just happens to be a little simplistic for my taste.

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tavernier
Joined: Sat Apr 02, 2005 7:18 pm

#279 Post by tavernier » Thu Feb 21, 2008 3:07 pm

arsonfilms wrote:The other board is very much the "lite" version for people who might unashamedly gush about the tastiness of merlot-in-a-box, or take the AFI top 100 as gospel from heaven.
Nailed.

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starmanof51
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 3:28 am
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#280 Post by starmanof51 » Thu Feb 21, 2008 4:51 pm

new titles in process of going up - so far Malle's The Lovers, The Fire Within, and Thief of Bagdad.

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Cronenfly
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm

#281 Post by Cronenfly » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:00 pm

starmanof51 wrote:new titles in process of going up - so far Malle's The Lovers, The Fire Within, and Thief of Bagdad.
Links to covers forThe Lovers,The Fire Within, andThe Thief of Baghdad, to tide people over until the specs are up on the site and reasonably sized covers are available for the cover art thread.

Another month I'm not too interested in personally; I wouldn't have minded so much if it wasn't such a long wait, but the buildup lead me to expect more. Oh well; maybe Eclipse will be something really good.
Last edited by Cronenfly on Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:08 pm, edited 5 times in total.

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Doctor Sunshine
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:04 pm
Location: Brain Jail

#282 Post by Doctor Sunshine » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:01 pm

To refocus a bit, my being as impatient as anyone else here, perhaps more so, led me to send off an email to Mulvaney and got this reply:
Thanks for your email! The May titles should be posted to our "Coming Soon" section within the next day or so. Please keep checking back! There will be Criterion titles released in May. I hope this helps, and please feel free to write in again if you have any other questions.

Sincerely,

Tamara
To further refocus this thread, I think it'll be, uh... Beethoven.

ebkaram
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:46 pm
Location: New York City

#283 Post by ebkaram » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:58 pm

This is my first posting, so I hope I've chosen the right place, since no one in the NYC area has so far mentioned this information. Film Forum here is going to be showing Violent Saturday for a week starting Feb. 29, and it's described as "A Criterion Pictures release of a Twentieth Century Fox film." Am I right in assuming that means Criterion has it in the works for eventual release? It stars Victor Mature, Sylvia Sidney, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine, and apparently is a film noir. The director is Richard Fleischer, who did The Narrow Margin. Does anyone know whether Violent Saturday is any good? Could it be a prequel to Never on Sunday? :wink:

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Cinephrenic
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:58 pm
Location: Paris, Texas

#284 Post by Cinephrenic » Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:03 pm

No, Criterion Pictures has nothing to do with Criterion Collection. It is a sub-company of some sort of 20th Century Fox. This has been brought up several times throughout the years (including myself), so it is safe to say it's not coming from the CC.

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Gregory
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:07 pm

#285 Post by Gregory » Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:05 pm

EDIT: I had posted saying the same thing about Criterion Pictures not being affiliated with The Criterion Collection, but too late.
Speaking of Richard Fleischer, I would love to see Mandingo in the collection.

ebkaram
Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:46 pm
Location: New York City

#286 Post by ebkaram » Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:08 pm

Thanks for clearing that up. I'll check out the FAQ closely.

bergelson
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 5:48 pm

#287 Post by bergelson » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:54 am

Hi,

Perhaps it's not the right place but is it just my own subjective feeling that Criterion's croft so far this year is quite disappointing. Call me spoiled or even grateful but I mont more Bunuel, Antonioni, Visconti, Siodmak, Wajda, Von Sternberg, Kobayashi, Naruse, Ichikawa, Imamura, Rosi, Germi, Melville, Franju and so on or new, and to me, natural candidates for the collection such as Oshima, Zurlini, Petri, Wojciech Has, Nemec, Kawalerowicz, Schorm, Yoshida, Berlanga, Rocha (to name a few).

Instead, we are getting all kinds of special editions of films that had already been released in very acceptable releases in the past (Ice Storm, Thief of Bagdad) or the last announced titles by Malle which are nice but for me Eclipse titles). In addition, it neems that the quantity of releases is dwindling as well.

Don't get me wrong, they are still, without a doubt, the best DVD company around and I'm looking forward to every new annoucement but lately, I feel a withdrawal, at least from my taste.

Just my two cents from Israel.

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cgray
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2005 2:21 pm
Location: Erie, CO

#288 Post by cgray » Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:13 am

ebkaram wrote:Thanks for clearing that up. I'll check out the FAQ closely.
Thanks for bringing that up, tho. Welcome to the forum!

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Awesome Welles
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2007 6:02 am
Location: London

#289 Post by Awesome Welles » Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:14 am

Agreed on all counts, it seems Criterion are playing safe of late with reissues being rumoured, more Malle, which I guess must sell well? The Last Emperor, The Naked Prey, Blast of Silence it's all fine but it seems like they're trying to open up their market and expose new buyers to the collection. Perhaps times aren't as good as they used to be. But like you, bergelson I would like to see many, if not all, of the filmmakers you mentioned getting releases, especially people like Yoshida (without any English friendly releases), Kobayashi and Franju (very popular), Rocha (huge Brazilian name in need of further exposure). So its not as if these directors are so obscure their saleability would be difficult, many of them have great marketable things going for them, not to mention word of mouth.

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Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

#290 Post by Tommaso » Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:00 pm

FSimeoni wrote: Perhaps times aren't as good as they used to be.

Yes, an indication is not only WHAT they release, but how LITTLE compared to former years. Again just three releases in May. Also consider how little response such titles as "Sawdust and Tinsel" and "Drunken Angel" have gotten on this forum yet, two titles where I was sure that they would excite quite a stir and rather wholesome sales. It seems that with quite a few other great companies around now (MoC, BFI, arte, filmmuseum, to name just a few) the cake gets more split-up. More great discs to buy, but not more buyers. That said, I'm quite happy with the Malles, not to speak of Powell this month.

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kaujot
Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 6:28 pm
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#291 Post by kaujot » Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:15 pm

Just saw something weird. I was looking at the "Shelf of Oscar-Winning Features," and to the side of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie it says:
Available individually or as part of a BOX SET Objects of Desire: Five French Films by Luis Buñuel
I've never heard of this boxset before, nor have I seen it in a store. Is it something out of print, or something to come?

(The link is set to take to the release page 0, so it doesn't link to anything, really)

Addendum: I just looked at Bunuel's page on Criterion's site, and the "Five French Films" are all the Bunuels previously released except for Viridiana (Obviously).

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lacritfan
Life is one big kevyip
Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:39 pm
Location: Los Angeles

#292 Post by lacritfan » Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:31 pm

Dear Criterion -
I know February is too early to be writing in your yearbook but I figure what the heck.
I know spring quarter really sucked for you this year but I still think you're awesome!
Have a bitchin' summer! (...please?)
Your friend, lacritfan

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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
Location: Denver, CO

#293 Post by Jeff » Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:37 pm

FSimeoni wrote:Perhaps times aren't as good as they used to be.
Tommaso wrote:Yes, an indication is not only WHAT they release, but how LITTLE compared to former years.
I think that the dearth of titles (and their value to some members) over the past few months is more likely to be indicative of a backlog in the Criterion production schedule. I'm sure that factors like distributors from other regions have impacted Criterion to some degree, but I don't forsee a sea change in the Criterion business model or the market for their discs. They've had very dry spells before, and I've heard predictions of their decline a dozen times in the past ten years. Some of the popular and/or important titles still expected in 2008 include Bottle Rocket, The Furies, Kobayashi's Human Condition Trilogy, The Earrings of Madame De..., Mishima, People on Sunday, Trafic, Vampyr, Wise Blood, Face to Face, My Dinner With Andre, White Dog, Europa, and collections of shorts by Scorsese and the Maysles. That's just a sampling of the stuff that's already in the works. There's probably plenty that we're not even aware of. I'm sure that by the end of the year, just about everyone will have found plenty of Criterion titles that appeal to them.

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El Manchego
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2007 1:33 am
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#294 Post by El Manchego » Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:40 pm

kaujot wrote:Just saw something weird. I was looking at the "Shelf of Oscar-Winning Features," and to the side of The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie it says:
Available individually or as part of a BOX SET Objects of Desire: Five French Films by Luis Buñuel
I've never heard of this boxset before, nor have I seen it in a store. Is it something out of print, or something to come?

(The link is set to take to the release page 0, so it doesn't link to anything, really)

Addendum: I just looked at Bunuel's page on Criterion's site, and the "Five French Films" are all the Bunuels previously released except for Viridiana (Obviously).
Assuming this is accurate, hopefully this indicates that we will later see a release of "Four Mexican Films plus Tristana," but maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part (I would love to have two big Criterion Bunuel boxes on my shelf).

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fdm
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:25 pm

#295 Post by fdm » Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:49 pm

Jeff wrote:I'm sure that factors like distributors from other regions have impacted Criterion to some degree, but I don't forsee a sea change in the Criterion business model or the market for their discs. They've had very dry spells before, and I've heard predictions of their decline a dozen times in the past ten years. Some of the popular and/or important titles still expected in 2008 include Bottle Rocket, The Furies, Kobayashi's Human Condition Trilogy, The Earrings of Madame De..., Mishima, People on Sunday, Trafic, Vampyr, Wise Blood, Face to Face, My Dinner With Andre, White Dog, Europa, and collections of shorts by Scorsese and the Maysles. That's just a sampling of the stuff that's already in the works. There's probably plenty that we're not even aware of. I'm sure that by the end of the year, just about everyone will have found plenty of Criterion titles that appeal to them.
Not mentioned so far is that they are spewing out gobs of Eclipse titles as well...

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Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

#296 Post by Tommaso » Fri Feb 22, 2008 4:09 pm

fdm wrote:Not mentioned so far is that they are spewing out gobs of Eclipse titles as well...
Point taken. And of course the Eclipse titles are all far more relevant than the main titles... but we had that discussion before.

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Jeff
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
Location: Denver, CO

#297 Post by Jeff » Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:16 pm

fdm wrote:Not mentioned so far is that they are spewing out gobs of Eclipse titles as well...
Yep. That's 15 additional 2008 titles released or announced so far, including some big ones from the likes of Kurosawa, Ozu, and Lubitsch.

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Thomas J.
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2008 7:32 pm
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#298 Post by Thomas J. » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:58 pm

fdm wrote:Not mentioned so far is that they are spewing out gobs of Eclipse titles as well...
It's ironic that the films by big-name filmmakers are getting released on Eclipse, and the more obscure titles are being released on the main line.

criterionaficionado
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:16 pm
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#299 Post by criterionaficionado » Fri Feb 22, 2008 10:45 pm

i was very disappointed with the may releases (although "Thief of Bagdad" is a welcome addition). does criterion need to release movies that are already available on DVD in more than acceptable versions already? Having said that, I will still purchase these titles because overall I am a big fan of Malle films. I already have these films in a Region 2 format from the UK hence my slight annoyance.

I would like to see CC release edgier movies. Taking risks can be like a double edged sword, but if the CC would just be like they were a few years ago in terms of the films they were releasing, I think the rewards could be limitless. Without great risks, their can be no great rewards (granted their can be greater losses as well). I just don't want CC to get to complacent and/or comfortable. I want them to remain at the top of their game and continue the tradition that has made CC the best DVD producer in the world.

Some of my dream directors i wish they would focus more on in the future; Rossellini, Oshima, Gillet, Eustache, Rivette, Kim Ki-Young, Michael Snow, Brakhage, Germi, Rosi, Pontecorvo, Monicelli, Risi, Mizoguchi, Melville, Bresson, Franju, Sembene, Etc.Sorry for the big wish list...I just needed to vent a little so apoligize if these suggestions were already made previously.
take care...

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Tommaso
Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am

#300 Post by Tommaso » Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:11 am

Thomas J. wrote:It's ironic that the films by big-name filmmakers are getting released on Eclipse, and the more obscure titles are being released on the main line.
It's not so much a question of 'big names' vs 'small names', as of course Godard, Ang Lee, Teshigahara and Malle are big names as well. It's just that "No regrets for our youth" seems to me a far more important film than "Antonio Gaudi". All the Eclipse releases of this year, with the possible exception of the Klein films, should have been no-brainers for an inclusion in the main line, with the extra treatment these films clearly deserve.

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