Who the hell is Sasha Frere-Jones, anyway?

It pains me to say that I actually agree with you. Frere-Jones's stuff is really terrible. Just awful.

I'm pretty shocked that 2 or 3 Things got the short end of the stick. None of those extras look worth replacing the Madman disc with the excellent Adrian Martin commentary, though I'm sure I'll cave and buy the Criterion eventually

Agreed! I was hoping they would port over the conversation between French film scholars Freddy Buache and Dominique Païni from the French DVD of 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her as they did on Masculin féminin. That French DVD also has an additional interview with Godard on the set of the film as well as Marina Vlady's interview which they do list on the upcoming DVD. Alfred Guzzetti's book would have been a nice addition as well!

What could Sasha Frere-Jones possibly have to say about Godard? Anyway, SFJ is the pop critic at New Yorker. There was a recent controversy over an article written about race in pop music that was soundly thrashed by Carl Wilson amongst others. I think I'd prefer Denby on Godard if I had to choose from that lot. Howard Hampton would have been a better choice even. In any case, I look forward to the DVD, but that Madman one sounds better.

The archival interviews come from the French R2 disc and are 8 minutes [Vlady] and 26 minutes [Godard]. Trust Criterion to do the right thing and track these down. I always prefer archival extras to newer interviews, etc.

Well the R2 UK Nouveaux Pictures of 2 OR 3 THINGS is a nasty overly contrast boosted transfer, so the Criterion double whammy of MADE IN USA & 2 OR 3 THINGS now persuades me to pick both up...

It's something of a hobby horse for Sacha "Me So Funky" Frere-Jones, who also accused Stephin Merritt of being a racist because he preferred show tunes to gansta rap.

Well, I may have missed all the hoopla somewhere else on the boards, but Two Or Three Things I Know About Her and Made In The USA are being Criterioned on July 21st 2009. Isn't that exciting? Everyone? Brody and MacCabe pontificate in one of the extras. I cannot wait to fill the gaping holes in my Sixties Godard Experiencing, he said, whilst still begging for Weekend and My Life To Live.

The hoopla's over here.

Sigh... Shoot me now.

When I click on that I get a big red notice "you cannot view this" (work, filtering, etc). Maybe that's a good thing.

Why does this thread exist?

Anyway, you are not a big fan of these twins, Domino. What makes them lesser Godard iyho?

Kids in the Hall, salt.

Ugh, I forgot about SFJ's role in Merrittgate. Was it him or Jessica Hopper who called Merritt a "rockist cracker"? I wonder if Godard is a racist by any of SFJ's standards?

I'm totally with you on this one. I saw the sketch ("Anticipation") on youtube some time ago and was knocked out. Perhaps it'll pop up on the Vivre sa vie disc, along with (please god please ) the "Anna!" tv musical.

This is turning out to tbe a bumper year for Godard fans, with some of his lesser-seen films being reissued in worthy editions.

After Une Femme Mariée from MoC, we'll now have these 2 other titles. I have very little recollection of Made in USA; it may one of those films that is better appreciated restrospectively, in the context of a filmmaker's oeuvre as a whole. Although I don't believe watching once again the few examples I have seen from his Dziga Vertov and über-maoist periods would make me better appreciate them, even after I have had better access to what came before and after these interludes.

I do however have very fond memories of 2 ou 3 Choses, with Vlady making a nice break from the then nearly omnipresent Karina. I look forward to seeing if it holds up, as I often mention as being part of my shortlist of Godard favorites.

I don't know if I would call them "interludes", especially when looking at the aesthetic effect they had on the rest of his career.

Those of you new to MADE IN USA will be pleasantly shocked when you see how colourful it all is. The Universal [PAL] DVD is spot on with reds, yellows and blues echoing the pop art influences of the day. 2 OR 3 THINGS is not as vibrant [The R2 & R4 versions look indentical to me]. This could have something to do with the film stock and/or processing. Both films were made at the same time but were post-produced nearly a year apart. Godard did consider these as a pair and the trailers of each film are identical in syle: using silence and captions. I suppose the NTSC transfer of USA will still be beautiful but the PAL will always have the edge having more information lines.

In order to help nudge Criterion into reconsidering their extras for these discs, I've written a review of Anticipation, Godard's short from The Oldest Profession. It really should be included as an extra on one of these discs, since it fits perfectly both chronologically (it was made just a few months after these 2 films) and thematically. It's a great little film, and deserves to be have a higher profile in Godard's 60s oeuvre.

I couldn't be more supportive of a concerted nudging!

sevenarts, great review (as with your recent pieces on two of the Dziga Vertov group films) and great idea suggesting this short (hopefully with the correct colour filters) be used as an extra for the upcoming releases.

After years of searching I finally found Anticipation on YouTube this week, so I'm very glad to have your analysis on hand.

Strangely, Made in USA is not listed on Amazon.com yet, whereas 2 ou 3 Choses has been for a week I believe. Has it been delayed?

Of course, none of them is yet to be seen on Amazon.ca. Let's hope there isn't a Canadian distribution rights issue with these as there was with Marienbad.

One amusing thing about Amazon.ca: they slappped the cover image of Made in USA on their listing for the now-cancelled Ran Blu Ray, which has not been removed yet.

They are re-using the same UPC that was for canceled Blu-ray of RAN, so Amazon is confused...

The word back from Criterion regarding Anticipation:


So that's a shame, but I'm glad to hear that Criterion had at least made the attempt.