Criterion U.K.

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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rapta
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:04 pm
Location: Hants, UK

Re: Criterion U.K.

#651 Post by rapta » Mon Mar 29, 2021 3:27 pm

It's likely they'd only let things go OOP if there isn't a perceived demand for another print-run of said title, or they let the license expire. That's the case with other UK labels too, such as Eureka, Arrow and BFI who have each let a handful of titles go to other labels who decide they can do something with them (e.g. Funeral Parade of Roses was MoC on DVD, then BFI upgraded it to Blu-ray with more extras; likewise PTU was Third Window on DVD, and Eureka just announced it on Blu-ray).

I imagine Criterion are fast-tracking or prioritising titles that were already in the UK market to essentially 'plug gaps' left by other labels licenses expiring. And to take full advantage of their license period of course. They already released Diabolique as early as 2017 after Arrow's license had expired. I imagine they may do the same for others eventually (e.g. surprised we haven't seen a Criterion UK edition of either F for Fake or Salesman yet, as they apparently bought up rights for those just before they launched in the UK).

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reaky
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:53 am
Location: Cambridge, England

Re: Criterion U.K.

#652 Post by reaky » Mon Mar 29, 2021 4:14 pm

The Criterion UK F for Fake is sitting on my shelf.

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rapta
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:04 pm
Location: Hants, UK

Re: Criterion U.K.

#653 Post by rapta » Mon Mar 29, 2021 7:03 pm

reaky wrote:
Mon Mar 29, 2021 4:14 pm
The Criterion UK F for Fake is sitting on my shelf.
Woops, so it is! Must've been thinking of a different film (not sure what though...).

torgones
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2021 4:48 am

Re: Criterion U.K.

#654 Post by torgones » Tue Mar 30, 2021 6:28 pm

Thanks for the responses - Salesman would be an ace addition! While Criterion UK moves at its own pace, we’ve racked up some nice cult documentaries.

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Pavel
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2020 2:41 pm

Re: Criterion U.K.

#655 Post by Pavel » Tue Apr 27, 2021 5:56 am

July titles:
Pariah
Mirror
Bringing Up Baby

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Criterion U.K.

#656 Post by Orlac » Tue Apr 27, 2021 11:48 am

Ooh, very pleased about Bringing Up Baby. Not seen it since 1999! And I watched it purely because it was in The Illustrated Dinosaur Movie Guide (I was 12, give me a break!)

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Pavel
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2020 2:41 pm

Re: Criterion U.K.

#657 Post by Pavel » Thu May 27, 2021 5:59 am

August titles:
Blow Out
Deep Cover
All About Eve

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TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Criterion U.K.

#658 Post by TMDaines » Fri May 28, 2021 7:17 am

Meh.

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

Re: Criterion U.K.

#659 Post by yoloswegmaster » Sun Jun 27, 2021 8:59 pm

September releases:

Beasts Of No Nation
Original Cast Album: Company
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Billy Beta
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 9:32 am

Re: Criterion U.K.

#660 Post by Billy Beta » Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:19 pm

Any ideas on what could be released this month in the UK? I'll throw out some wants...

Ratcatcher
The Damned
La Piscine

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L.A.
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Criterion U.K.

#661 Post by L.A. » Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:28 pm

Billy Beta wrote:
Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:19 pm
The Damned
Yes, please!

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Pavel
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2020 2:41 pm

Re: Criterion U.K.

#662 Post by Pavel » Tue Jul 27, 2021 7:08 am

October titles:
Love and Basketball
The Damned
La dolce vita

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TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Criterion U.K.

#663 Post by TMDaines » Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:23 am

Damn.

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rapta
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:04 pm
Location: Hants, UK

Re: Criterion U.K.

#664 Post by rapta » Tue Jul 27, 2021 10:07 am

Curious how they got La Dolce Vita for the UK. That could mean Cult Films no longer have the rights, to that and other Fellini titles (and maybe other Italian classics too).

Really hope Criterion can negotiate a UK edition of Uncut Gems through their Netflix dealings, despite it being a Lionsgate license in the US. Also hope we can get Ratcatcher here as Ramsay is one of the greatest directors working today (probably my vote for best British director at least) and her earlier works don't get enough love (how many more years before Morvern Callar gets the same kind of treatment?).

Hopefully the November announcements will include at least one of those, and otherwise I imagine we'll get High Sierra and maybe Devi (if Mr. Bongo no longer have it, which is probable). I also assumed they would have announced Ashes and Diamonds by now since the Arrow release is OOP, and maybe La Piscine too, but I guess they might have trickier rights than I imagined.

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reaky
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 8:53 am
Location: Cambridge, England

Re: Criterion U.K.

#665 Post by reaky » Tue Jul 27, 2021 10:13 am

Well, Criterion UK have form in announcing releases while someone else still holds the rights. Sometimes they go ahead, more often they’re cancelled. We’ll see.

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Criterion U.K.

#666 Post by dwk » Tue Jul 27, 2021 10:29 am

I would have expected High Sierra but it apparently isn't getting a Canadian release. So who knows what funky thing is going on with the rights to that release.

It seems that elements for Morvern Callar are missing, so it is safe to assume that will not be coming from anyone for the foreseeable future.

La dolce vita is an odd one, as, in addition to Cult Films release in the UK being in print (it is in print, right?), the US release, licensed from Paramount, is OOP. (Can someone with the Cult Films disc check and see who they licensed the film from.)

I just had another La dolce vita question, is the release going to be the solo release or will it be the disc from the boxset (which adds two docs: "Second Look" (30:57) and "Once Upon a Time: La Dolce Vita" (52:03))?

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rapta
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:04 pm
Location: Hants, UK

Re: Criterion U.K.

#667 Post by rapta » Wed Jul 28, 2021 10:27 am

dwk wrote:
Tue Jul 27, 2021 10:29 am
La dolce vita is an odd one, as, in addition to Cult Films release in the UK being in print (it is in print, right?), the US release, licensed from Paramount, is OOP. (Can someone with the Cult Films disc check and see who they licensed the film from.)

I just had another La dolce vita question, is the release going to be the solo release or will it be the disc from the boxset (which adds two docs: "Second Look" (30:57) and "Once Upon a Time: La Dolce Vita" (52:03))?
The Nouveaux Pictures disc (aka Cult Films) from 2014 says it was licensed from "Riama Film - Gray Films / S. N. Pathe' Cinema". I imagine the 2020 reissue is just the same release in newer packaging.

I imagine the Criterion UK release is a direct port of the original Criterion US release, rather than the box set version, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong!

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Criterion U.K.

#668 Post by dwk » Wed Jul 28, 2021 10:41 am

Thanks rapta.

I did notice that La dolce vita no longer appears on Cult Films' site (the only Fellini films that still show up are 81/2 and Boccaccio '70.) So it appears they did lose the rights.

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

Re: Criterion U.K.

#669 Post by yoloswegmaster » Tue Aug 24, 2021 8:47 am

November 2021:
Devi
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Thin Red Line

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Criterion U.K.

#670 Post by dwk » Mon Sep 27, 2021 9:33 pm

Looks like the December 2021 releases will be:
Le Samourai
One Night in Miami...
Menace II Society (there is no UHD listed on Amazon, so it looks like it will be Blu-ray only on the UK.)

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rapta
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:04 pm
Location: Hants, UK

Re: Criterion U.K.

#671 Post by rapta » Tue Sep 28, 2021 1:08 pm

Very happy to finally own Le Samouraï. Has been impossible to find on UK shelves for my entire film-buying life, IIRC. The more Melville, the merrier!

Also quite glad we're getting Menace II Society as I sold the now-OOP UK BD a while ago and regretted it (and it sold for £20-30+ since then). Guess some will be a little peeved there isn't a UHD being released here but hey, this edges us closer to getting Citizen Kane and maybe they'll port the 4K UHD here too (obviously less risky).

Lastly, glad we're going to be getting the Amazon licenses in the UK. In that case I will definitely ignore the recent Sony Blu-ray of Sound of Metal and wait for the Criterion edition! Slight shame they haven't managed to figure out releasing Uncut Gems over here though (you'd think they could've persuaded Netflix to let them, at least in the UK and Canada, as they've been seemingly cooperative until now).

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Criterion U.K.

#672 Post by dwk » Tue Oct 19, 2021 4:06 pm

It appears that UK release of La Dolce Vita is licensed from Paramount.

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rapta
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Location: Hants, UK

Re: Criterion U.K.

#673 Post by rapta » Sun Oct 24, 2021 1:23 pm

Listings for January lineup seem to be up over at Rarewaves:

Down by Law
Hiroshima Mon Amour
In the Realm of the Senses

I guess those last two might be from Argos Films? Suppose we will also get Empire of Passion too then, but since I already have that I'd be more excited for Muriel or Night and Fog. We'll get there eventually!
dwk wrote:
Tue Oct 19, 2021 4:06 pm
It appears that UK release of La Dolce Vita is licensed from Paramount.
Hmm, that's definitely curious. I wonder if they're trying to license those expired Paramount titles in the UK then? Might bode well for a UK release of Days of Heaven (finally), and maybe even The Parallax View, Election, Downhill Racer, The War of the Worlds, The Furies, Riot in Cell Block 11, and Moonrise.

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: Criterion U.K.

#674 Post by colinr0380 » Sun Oct 24, 2021 6:40 pm

It will be interesting to see if the version of In The Realm of the Senses is going to have the re-framed shot to obscure the action in one moment (as previously passed by the BBFC) or the first ever release of the uncut version (which Criterion released in the US) in the UK.

Calvin
Joined: Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:12 am

Re: Criterion U.K.

#675 Post by Calvin » Mon Oct 25, 2021 2:04 am

I thought that the BBFC passed it fully uncut in 2011 for the old Optimum release?

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