Criterion Random Speculation Vol.4
- HerrSchreck
- Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am
- What A Disgrace
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm
- Contact:
This is how I came to understand it. I could be quite wrong.
- Sony bought MGM, but MGM still has some authority over its affairs.
- MGM was not happy with Sony's distribution and technical treatment of their back catalogue.
- So MGM tried letting Fox have a try at it, and Fox seem to be more up to it.
- Sony bought MGM, but MGM still has some authority over its affairs.
- MGM was not happy with Sony's distribution and technical treatment of their back catalogue.
- So MGM tried letting Fox have a try at it, and Fox seem to be more up to it.
- miless
- Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:45 pm
- HerrSchreck
- Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:46 am
The whole thing is nerve wracking, as there's some great UA stuff in there, not to mention the genuine mgm titles, and of course well-beloved Midnite Movies too. I'm always afraid the next piece of catalog whoredom is going to come down with "Due to low sales and margins, the Midnite Movies line will be discontinued. We thank our loyal consumers for their support over the years, and we hope to have better news for you in the future. Our apologies-- and ponds of tears-- but..."
Thankfully Fox have stepped up. They've actually been getting down righteously... Witchfinder General, Man of the West, not to mention the Fox line on its own, Big Trail, Ford @ Fox, coming Borzaage... they've been diddling up quite a nice mambo lately. They keep it up they're going to zap by WB, which is seriously pissing me off w the silents-- lies lies lies.
MGM is in good hands now, it seems. At least for the time being.
Thankfully Fox have stepped up. They've actually been getting down righteously... Witchfinder General, Man of the West, not to mention the Fox line on its own, Big Trail, Ford @ Fox, coming Borzaage... they've been diddling up quite a nice mambo lately. They keep it up they're going to zap by WB, which is seriously pissing me off w the silents-- lies lies lies.
MGM is in good hands now, it seems. At least for the time being.
- Jeff
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
- Location: Denver, CO
From Jameson281, our own inside man at MGM:justeleblanc wrote:I still dont understand the relationship between MGM and Sony. Aren't they now the same company?
MGM is owned by a consortium made up of Sony, Comcast and various companies that put up financing to buy it. When MGM was unhappy with Sony's distribution of its product, it dumped them as distributor and talked to various companies to take over that work. Fox made the best offer. So they are distributor only; they "own" no part of MGM.
- justeleblanc
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 6:05 pm
- Location: Connecticut
- CSM126
- Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 8:22 am
- Location: The Room
- Contact:
Why would Criterion (or anyone else) do something as dumb as snatch up the rights to two movies that used to be available in special editions just to downgrade them to barebones editions?justeleblanc wrote:Does that make both of these Wenders titles Fox titles, and thus possibilities for an Eclipse set?
- Jeff
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
- Location: Denver, CO
I don't think so. I'm pretty sure that Fox can't license MGM product, since they are a third-party distributor themselves. I'm betting that MGM and Fox's distribution rights to the two Wenders titles have just expired and reverted back to his own production company. Maybe Jameson can step in and set us straight.justeleblanc wrote:Does that make both of these Wenders titles Fox titles, and thus possibilities for an Eclipse set?
- fdm
- Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:25 pm
A couple of other Wenders titles that were supposed to be put out by Anchor Bay eons ago, that didn't subsequently make it into their box either (far as I know), were The Goalie's Fear Of The Penalty [1971] and State Of Things [1982]. Perhaps these could make it into a Criterion/Eclipse box of some sort.
(They were also going to put out Subeila's Man Facing Southeast in early 2003, supposedly).
(They were also going to put out Subeila's Man Facing Southeast in early 2003, supposedly).
- What A Disgrace
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm
- Contact:
Amen.CSM126 wrote:Why would Criterion (or anyone else) do something as dumb as snatch up the rights to two movies that used to be available in special editions just to downgrade them to barebones editions?justeleblanc wrote:Does that make both of these Wenders titles Fox titles, and thus possibilities for an Eclipse set?
Eclipse is going to our brains, man.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
- Tommaso
- Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am
Problem (or not) is that Wenders has already recorded excellent audio commentaries to nearly all his films, and most of them in both English and German. There are also excellent interviews with him (in German) on the arthaus Wenders discs, which would only need subtitling probably. So apart from these new discs being entirely English friendly, I doubt there will be any improvement over the Wenders-approved arthaus discs and transfers. Unless they go BluRay, of course.
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- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:37 pm
- Antoine Doinel
- Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2006 1:22 pm
- Location: Montreal, Quebec
- Contact:
How about this for a box title: Wenders Of Desiredomino harvey wrote:If Criterion did get those Wenders titles, they'd have him record new commentaries, add supplemental interviews, and then package them with a third unavailable movie and make it a Wenders box. Big "if" there, but that's how I'd imagine it going down.
- Cronenfly
- Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm
I can't see them boxing these two titles together, seeing as they have nothing to do with each other beyond being released one after the other. As well, any other titles (even Faraway, So Close) would sit very oddly together indeed.
My guess is that the rights have reverted for both these titles to Wenders' Road Movies, and he's licensing these titles to Criterion same as he did all the ones Anchor Bay has released.
I'm with Jeff that Criterion releasing these two titles isn't really worth their time, but I'm sure some people thought that about Mishima too (although the old R1 DVD of that had more issues [burnt-in subs, lacking the Scheider V/O most notably] than the old R1 DVDs of Wings/Paris, and I think Mishima had more room for new, worthwhile supplements than either of these will). It doesn't help that I'm not the biggest fan of either film/Wenders in general, but I really can't see the point in Criterion releasing these (beyond putting them back in print in R1 [which I suppose is reason enough, as there was no way the old editions would stay in print now that the rights have reverted back to Wenders], Criterion being interested only in Wenders' more popular titles as opposed to the more marginal ones actually in need of a R1/any release, etc). I would much rather see them release the DC of Until the End of the World (thanks for dropping the ball on that one, Anchor Bay) or Kings of the Road, say, if they're going to release some Wenders, but alas and alack...
However, I look forward to the new supplements if they involve Peter Falk or Harry Dean Stanton in any capacity...maybe Criterion should release it as a boxset, with Crazy Old Man-themed supplements (and a Swimminghorses cover, of course). Stanton and Falk could interview each other, box perhaps, exchange life philosophies...all (cruel) joking aside, it would take something like that to get me to upgrade on these titles (though others' mileage may vary).
My guess is that the rights have reverted for both these titles to Wenders' Road Movies, and he's licensing these titles to Criterion same as he did all the ones Anchor Bay has released.
I'm with Jeff that Criterion releasing these two titles isn't really worth their time, but I'm sure some people thought that about Mishima too (although the old R1 DVD of that had more issues [burnt-in subs, lacking the Scheider V/O most notably] than the old R1 DVDs of Wings/Paris, and I think Mishima had more room for new, worthwhile supplements than either of these will). It doesn't help that I'm not the biggest fan of either film/Wenders in general, but I really can't see the point in Criterion releasing these (beyond putting them back in print in R1 [which I suppose is reason enough, as there was no way the old editions would stay in print now that the rights have reverted back to Wenders], Criterion being interested only in Wenders' more popular titles as opposed to the more marginal ones actually in need of a R1/any release, etc). I would much rather see them release the DC of Until the End of the World (thanks for dropping the ball on that one, Anchor Bay) or Kings of the Road, say, if they're going to release some Wenders, but alas and alack...
However, I look forward to the new supplements if they involve Peter Falk or Harry Dean Stanton in any capacity...maybe Criterion should release it as a boxset, with Crazy Old Man-themed supplements (and a Swimminghorses cover, of course). Stanton and Falk could interview each other, box perhaps, exchange life philosophies...all (cruel) joking aside, it would take something like that to get me to upgrade on these titles (though others' mileage may vary).
Last edited by Cronenfly on Sun Jul 13, 2008 8:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
- Cronenfly
- Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm
A paired release seems very likely to me given how often Criterion does this (e.g. The Fire Within/The Lovers, Fires on the Plain/The Burmese Harp, Thieves' Highway/Night and the City, etc), but you're right domino that these two titles are big enough to stand on their own (and you're also right that the clout of the films in the marketplace, especially as Criterion titles, probably overshadows the lack of the need for Criterion to re-release them, especially taking into account how relatively low-key the past releases were).domino harvey wrote:Perhaps they would just do a two spines in a row for the films, or maybe not even release them at the same time-- both films are as popular as Days of Heaven and their release would be noticed by the press and consumers, regardless of the quality of the past release.
- Cinephrenic
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:58 pm
- Location: Paris, Texas
That sure in hell would be nice, but hate to dissapoint you, but we all know that spine numbers mean nothing anymore:
spine#50 And the Ship Sails On
spine#100 Beastie Boys Video Anthology
spine#200 The Honeymoon Killers
spine#300 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
spine#400 Stranger Than Paradise
Not that i'm aluding that these films are not important or anything, just nothing spectacular.
spine#50 And the Ship Sails On
spine#100 Beastie Boys Video Anthology
spine#200 The Honeymoon Killers
spine#300 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
spine#400 Stranger Than Paradise
Not that i'm aluding that these films are not important or anything, just nothing spectacular.
- HelenLawson
- Joined: Thu Jan 17, 2008 3:20 pm
- Location: San Francisco
- psufootball07
- Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:52 pm
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
- Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm
About a year and a half ago I think. We've been expecting that one forever! But now that Criterion likely has rights to Made in USA, they'll probably hold off on releasing it until they can do both back to back, as they're sister films.psufootball07 wrote:Didn't 2 or 3 I know about Her make its way around the country with a Janus logo a while back?