Criterion Random Speculation Vol.4

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
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#601 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Apr 23, 2008 7:16 am

From the comments on Glenn Kenny's blog about wished for DVDs:
Lazarus, a little while ago I attended a Los Angeles screening of "Bluebeard's Castle" and "The Tales of Hoffman" -- Thelma Schoonmaker, Michael Powell's widow, was in attendance.

During the Q&A, she did say that "A Matter of Life and Death" was forthcoming on Criterion. I think I recall her saying that it's being held up until Martin Scorsese can schedule time to record a commentary track.
Fantastic if it happens! =D>

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kaujot
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#602 Post by kaujot » Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:07 am

If true, I wonder what they did to get the rights.

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HerrSchreck
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#603 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:10 am

I've had the Columbia VHS of the complete cut of the film (w nude boy in the dunes) for years. I'm surprised it's taken this long to get Stairway (my preferred title) out... although I must say I love the film most for

1) it's avant conception-- visuals, trippy ideas & toggling between B&W and color (I wonder how many times this had been done in sprawling feature films prior to this.. not counting silents like Ben-Hur, Ten Commandments or King of Kings with 2-strip technicolor scenes used as prestige & punctuation in these 90% b&w films),

2) another peek at the wonderful Roger Livsey.. and his cool roofcam.

3) The melodrama and story up to

The coutroom scene, which is one of the rare moments in my own aching opinion (every time I watch it I want it to work like it did when I saw it on PBS as a young kid) that a gloriously executed piece of key P&P cannot be saved by their magnificent mise-en-scene. Very rare moment in prime P&P where the piece de resistance has not dated well with age. Also rare in that I have no use for Massey in a performance, a man who I enjoy for his strangely warm & dapper cold elegance and very surely felt performances, from most anything like The Old Dark House to Things To Come to pop-ins like Langs excellent Woman In The Window. The whole concept of the love story, and the "technicality" that Niven is trying to slip thru viz Marius Gorings character/heaven's goofup to stay alive, suddenly klunks into the anglo-american to & fro, which today doesn't seem to flow with much sense. Even back then, with the circumstances of strained relations (the motive behind the film, in a sense) due to the presence of huge numbers of US servicemen, the segue into that topic in the courtroom... with the film suddenly being "about" US/anglo relations without any warning... must have seemed rather abrupt.

That complaint aside, it's still such a sentimental favorite of mine there'd be no way I could resist owning it in digital on a CC (I'm pretty sure it's the first P&P I ever saw.. and I recall always scanning the tv guides as a kid hoping and praying it'd come on again so I could see that way cool staircase once more and dig that spaced-out plot in the first 2/3rds; I recall asking my all parents and uncles & grandparents afterwards "Did you ever hear of a really wild movie called.."). Many CC releases may be up for grabs via other PAL releases from other fine labels around the world... but for me once CC releases a P&P, you've gotta own it. Red Shoes, Blimp, IKWIG, Canterbury Tale... some of the finest DVDs out there. I'm sure Stairway won't disappoint.

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kaujot
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#604 Post by kaujot » Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:38 am

HerrSchreck wrote:The courtroom scene, which is one of the rare moments in my own aching opinion (every time I watch it I want it to work like it did when I saw it on PBS as a young kid) that a gloriously executed piece of key P&P cannot be saved by their magnificent mise-en-scene. Very rare moment in prime P&P where the piece de resistance has not dated well with age. Also rare in that I have no use for Massey in a performance, a man who I enjoy for his strangely warm & dapper cold elegance and very surely felt performances, from most anything like The Old Dark House to Things To Come to pop-ins like Langs excellent Woman In The Window. The whole concept of the love story, and the "technicality" that Niven is trying to slip thru viz Marius Gorings character/heaven's goofup to stay alive, suddenly klunks into the anglo-american to & fro, which today doesn't seem to flow with much sense. Even back then, with the circumstances of strained relations (the motive behind the film, in a sense) due to the presence of huge numbers of US servicemen, the segue into that topic in the courtroom... with the film suddenly being "about" US/anglo relations without any warning... must have seemed rather abrupt.
It's been several years since I first saw it, and I don't remember any faltering in the court scene. Though, in truth, I was lucky enough to see it projected onto a screen and may simply have been saved by the mise-en-scene.

All that said, regardless of whether the courtroom segment holds up or not, I'll be buying this no matter who puts it out. I'd buy a movie if it starred Roger Livesey peeing against a wall whilst reciting his grocery list. (Incidentally, wasn't this his last P&P film? There was Blimp, IKWIG, and Stairway to Heaven, but I can't come up with any more.)

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HerrSchreck
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#605 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:47 am

So this thread doesn't devolve, more discussion on a Stairway/Matter of.. thread, with more discussions of the political issues resident in the film, w contributions from others who have problems w the "court in heaven" sequence.

How about Livsey peeing on his grocery list while reciting "The Wall" by Floyd? It is, after all, some of the least intriguing of Pink Floyd albums...

jaredsap
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#606 Post by jaredsap » Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:21 am

Person on Glenn Kenny's blog wrote:During the Q&A, she did say that "A Matter of Life and Death" was forthcoming on Criterion. I think I recall her saying that it's being held up until Martin Scorsese can schedule time to record a commentary track.
Doug Cummings on 1/29/08 wrote:At LACMA, Schoonmaker mentioned that Sony's A Matter of Life and Death is done but that they're waiting on Scorsese to record a commentary.
Huh?

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colinr0380
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#607 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:45 pm

Hmmm...perhaps they got the company wrong and just assumed it would be Criterion?

jaredsap
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#608 Post by jaredsap » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:01 pm

colinr0380 wrote:Hmmm...perhaps they got the company wrong and just assumed it would be Criterion?
Quite possibly.

Apparently Schoonmaker did say that THE SMALL BACK ROOM is coming from Criterion so perhaps the person on Kenny's blog just confused the two.

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Tommaso
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#609 Post by Tommaso » Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:51 am

jaredsap wrote:Apparently Schoonmaker did say that THE SMALL BACK ROOM is coming from Criterion so perhaps the person on Kenny's blog just confused the two.
Or they come together on a double-disc-set? Wouldn't be the first time, considering "Thief of Bagdad"/"Lion has wings" and "49th Parallel/"The Volunteer".

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souvenir
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 12:20 pm

#610 Post by souvenir » Fri Apr 25, 2008 6:42 pm

Someone at the Turner Classic Movies message board is reporting that Sirk's Magnificent Obsession is headed to Criterion:
Just picked up an interesting piece of information. Criterion has licensed the Douglas Sirk classic drama MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION from Universal. This one stars Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. One wonders why Universal has not released this popular title on its own. But then Universal is very strange about releasing titles from their vast Paramount-Universal library. The Criterion DVD is rumored for release next year.

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Jeff
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#611 Post by Jeff » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:23 pm

davidhare wrote:I also assume, given the heated words here and elsewhere they will present the title in Academy Ratio.
It would be ideal if they included both 1.37 and 2.00 versions. If they only include one, somebody's bound to bitch about it.

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

#612 Post by Morbii » Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:24 pm

Jeff wrote:It would be ideal if they included both 1.37 and 2.00 versions. If they only include one, somebody's bound to bitch about it.
Somebody's bound to bitch about it even if both versions are included!

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cgray
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#613 Post by cgray » Sat Apr 26, 2008 10:00 am

I don't mean to derail a Magnificent Obsession conversation, so please continue.

Finished watching Yi Yi for the Xth time the other day. It is such a wonderful film and, regrettably, the only Yang I have seen. I don't know the studio status of his other films, but could any of these be in the works? If anybody has any good recommendations for ways for me to see more of his stuff, please pm. I'm region free.

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The Fanciful Norwegian
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#614 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Sat Apr 26, 2008 12:24 pm

Being region-free isn't much help in this case -- AFAIK the only other Yang films available in legit DVD editions are a Taiwanese release of The Terrorizers and a mediocre Japanese release of Mahjong (under the title "Couples"). No English subs on either, but some poor fansubs (just a smidgen better than a straight machine translation) exist for Mahjong. For everything else you'll have to track down bootlegs or old VCDs/laserdiscs/VHS tapes -- it's possible to see Yang's entire feature filmography, with English subs, as long as you're not obsessed with legality.

Edit: Looks like A Confucian Confusion was also released in Japan; it's apparently OOP, along with Mahjong. No English subs on that either, but there was an English-subbed VCD.

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

#615 Post by Cronenfly » Sat Apr 26, 2008 6:50 pm

souvenir wrote:Someone at the Turner Classic Movies message board is reporting that Sirk's Magnificent Obsession is headed to Criterion:
Just picked up an interesting piece of information. Criterion has licensed the Douglas Sirk classic drama MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION from Universal. This one stars Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. One wonders why Universal has not released this popular title on its own. But then Universal is very strange about releasing titles from their vast Paramount-Universal library. The Criterion DVD is rumored for release next year.
Universal is being really weird about how it's handling its Sirk in R1; I assumed that Written on the Wind and All That Heaven Allows were going to end up in a barebones boxset with the rest of the Universal-owned Sirks (a la The Lady Eve and Sullivan's Travels in the Sturges set), more or less an R1 NTSC version of the R2 Universal Sirk box. I guess they decided to do the double-film set of Imitation of Life, license a few to Criterion, and say screw it to the rest? I guess Universal could still release a barebones set of all their Sirk, but it seems pretty late in the game for that to happen if they're only licensing Magnificent Obsession to Criterion now (or even if it's just now that Criterion is choosing to release it).

Universal must be very happy with Criterion's work on their library (or the profits from their licensing fees), given the especially large number of Uni titles as of late. I hope this means that an Arkadin-like set of Touch of Evil isn't too far off.

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

#616 Post by Cronenfly » Sat Apr 26, 2008 7:19 pm

davidhare wrote:
I hope this means that an Arkadin-like set of Touch of Evil isn't too far off.
We can all pray (or whatever one does) for this but unless we hear something directly from Rosenbaum I don't think it will happen, sadly. Universal in their bloody minded wisdom seem to believe that the 98 revision is the definitive version, superseding both previous ones, and that's the end of it. And there's always the possibility youknowwho is lurking in the shadows waiting for some kickback or other.
Yes, probably best not to get one's hopes up (certainly not without word from Rosenbaum or another reputable source), but it seems to me that if anyone's going to be able to do it it's Criterion, and they've done stellar work with films Universal has never known what to do with/always handled stupidly, like Videodrome and Walker. Whether this means they could sweet talk Universal into letting them release all the cuts of Touch is, of course, another matter entirely (though one would think Universal would realize how lucrative the multiple-cut bandwagon can be with a film like this, given the success of the Blade Runner re-release, et al) but I remain (very) cautiously optimistic, Beatrice and all the other BS be damned.

PimpPanda
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2008 10:47 pm

#617 Post by PimpPanda » Sat Apr 26, 2008 7:33 pm

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote:AFAIK the only other Yang films available in legit DVD editions are a Taiwanese release of The Terrorizers and a mediocre Japanese release of Mahjong (under the title "Couples").
Yes, I've seen them all now but I wouldn't have been able to if it wasn't for eBay and downloading. The Terrorizers was actually once shown on television a few years ago and you can watch the conversation about the film and Yang that was shown after the showing of the film on youtube.

Perkins Cobb
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#618 Post by Perkins Cobb » Tue Apr 29, 2008 5:38 pm

I've heard from a reliable source that Universal is working on a Touch of Evil package that would include all three cuts of the film.

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Awesome Welles
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#619 Post by Awesome Welles » Tue Apr 29, 2008 5:57 pm

Perkins Cobb wrote:I've heard from a reliable source that Universal is working on a Touch of Evil package that would include all three cuts of the film.
Are you serious? That would be heaven.

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Person
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#620 Post by Person » Tue Apr 29, 2008 6:22 pm

Perkins Cobb wrote:I've heard from a reliable source that Universal is working on a Touch of Evil package that would include all three cuts of the film.
Liar and slave!

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Cronenfly
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#621 Post by Cronenfly » Tue Apr 29, 2008 6:51 pm

Perkins Cobb wrote:I've heard from a reliable source that Universal is working on a Touch of Evil package that would include all three cuts of the film.
Only bad thing about that would be Charlton Heston's doubtlessly being plastered all over the packaging to the exclusion of all the movie's other, more worthwhile attributes. But if (and, granted, I may be off-base in saying this) it takes capitalizing on Chuck's death to get this out then that's no problem with me.

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miless
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#622 Post by miless » Tue Apr 29, 2008 6:52 pm

Person wrote:
Perkins Cobb wrote:I've heard from a reliable source that Universal is working on a Touch of Evil package that would include all three cuts of the film.
Liar and slave!
Beatrice, is that you?

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Person
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#623 Post by Person » Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:43 pm

miless wrote:Beatrice, is that you?
It's a line from Macbeth. I enjoy using it (sparingly) when I can. :D

criterionaficionado
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#624 Post by criterionaficionado » Tue Apr 29, 2008 8:21 pm

i do not have a problem with CC potentially putting out movies that have already been released on more than adequate dvd formats (i.e. spy who came in from the cold, touch of evil, gray's anatomy, bottle rocket, etc), not to mention others already in the catalogue. i feel though, and i've stated this before, that CC should focus more on yet to be released great films. one such idea would be 'the magnificent ambersons' by orson welles. or, how about the picture of dorian gray . i know CC most likely has rights issues to such films. but, doesn't anyone think (like myself) that CC should expend its energies on those films have yet to be released on dvd period? having said that, i still will purchase any movie CC decides to release due to the superiority and clarity of the film after CC has worked its magic!

another suggestion for CC (and a long shot at that of course) i would like to make is germaine dulac's films to make it somehow to CC with english subtitles (unlike the dvd boxset that was released in germany). i would love to see CC go all out with such an original/off the mainstream choice...
later. :D

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