Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

News on Criterion and Janus Films.
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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#251 Post by dwk » Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:23 pm

Boosmahn wrote:
Sun Aug 23, 2020 4:42 pm
Also: The Lure.
Oh yeah. I think my point remains, but they have released about half a dozen non-English language films, over the last 15-20 years.

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criterionoop
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#252 Post by criterionoop » Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:54 pm

The issue that starts to arise from just putting a spine on a film solely because it is directed by an African American Director is that it becomes tokenism. Not every single film directed by/about African Americans is going be a masterpiece. Speaking from my own viewing experiences, not every Mexican movie I’ve seen is a masterpiece, and not every gay movie I’ve seen is worthy of a spine number, so I won’t be banging the drum to have CANTINFLAS (2014) or ANOTHER GAY MOVIE (2006) join the collection.

But where realistically feasible, it would be good for them to release films directed by black filmmakers (not solely by African Americans, but but international black directors As well). If I remember correctly, I believe there was an article stating that Ngozi Onwurah’s WELCOME II THE TERRORDOME was being prepped for the collection (which I had never heard of, but would be interested in viewing).

It was also interesting seeing responses to the New York Times’ follow up asking for names of titles that should join the collection. If MOONLIGHT and GANJA AND HESS are the only titles that most people can cling to, then Criterion isn’t the only one that needs to educate themselves on Black/African/African American cinema.

Bressonaire
Joined: Mon Dec 02, 2013 4:49 pm

Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#253 Post by Bressonaire » Sun Aug 23, 2020 6:13 pm

Lee employs a satirical sledgehammer because, as a black man, the stakes are much higher for him than for your typical, white political film-maker. Lee has embraced bluntness and didacticism as trademarks of his style (see: characters staring into camera) as a way of emphasizing the importance of his movies' themes. He doesn't play around. His movies have messages, and he is unapologetic about making sure you get that message loud and clear. That's Lee as an artist.
Well, I’ve never heard bluntness and didacticism elevated as tools of an artist, especially a comic one. Even if they are, they ought to be wielded to produce laughter if one is aiming for satire. They go hand-in-hand. Whatever Lee’s race or life experience, Bamboozled doesn’t show the comic sensibility—or artistry—of Howard Hawks or Marcel Pagnol or Charles Burnett, in To Sleep with Anger. You are surely right that no other person but Lee has had his life experiences, but that's true of every director—of every person, in fact. To suggest that his unique experience justifies expanding the wheelhouse of what is considered comedy to include a bone-dead misfire like Bamboozled seems perverse.

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jwd5275
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 12:26 pm
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#254 Post by jwd5275 » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:56 pm

In an interview this month with The New York Times, the Criterion president, Peter Becker, who owns a minority stake in the company, expressed regret about the lack of Black representation in the collection.
Was this interview ever published or do we only have the excerpts in the article?

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Cash Flagg
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:15 pm

Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#255 Post by Cash Flagg » Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:13 pm

criterionoop wrote:
Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:54 pm
If MOONLIGHT and GANJA AND HESS are the only titles that most people can cling to, then Criterion isn’t the only one that needs to educate themselves on Black/African/African American cinema.
And doubtless most of the pearl-clutchers in Twitterland are only familiar with the latter due to the Spike Lee remake. (And are just as likely to be oblivious to its pre-existing Blu-ray from Kino!)

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Luke M
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:21 pm

Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#256 Post by Luke M » Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:16 pm

criterionoop wrote:The issue that starts to arise from just putting a spine on a film solely because it is directed by an African American Director is that it becomes tokenism. Not every single film directed by/about African Americans is going be a masterpiece. Speaking from my own viewing experiences, not every Mexican movie I’ve seen is a masterpiece, and not every gay movie I’ve seen is worthy of a spine number, so I won’t be banging the drum to have CANTINFLAS (2014) or ANOTHER GAY MOVIE (2006) join the collection.

But where realistically feasible, it would be good for them to release films directed by black filmmakers (not solely by African Americans, but but international black directors As well). If I remember correctly, I believe there was an article stating that Ngozi Onwurah’s WELCOME II THE TERRORDOME was being prepped for the collection (which I had never heard of, but would be interested in viewing).

It was also interesting seeing responses to the New York Times’ follow up asking for names of titles that should join the collection. If MOONLIGHT and GANJA AND HESS are the only titles that most people can cling to, then Criterion isn’t the only one that needs to educate themselves on Black/African/African American cinema.
Not every Wes Anderson movie is a masterpiece but here we are. I honestly think that's the last thing Criterion needs to worry about.

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soundchaser
Leave Her to Beaver
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#257 Post by soundchaser » Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:33 pm

Update: the readers have spoken, and apparently none of them know how to research licensors or previous releases. Anybody who wants to see Daughters of the Dust but hasn’t bought the Cohen release, or Killer of Sheep and the Milestone collection, has no justification for patting themselves on the back here.

ianungstad
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 9:20 pm

Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#258 Post by ianungstad » Sat Aug 29, 2020 1:13 am

Indiewire published the same sort of list earlier this week. 7 out of the 10 films they picked were already available via Kino, Milestone, Olive or Oscilloscope. (Each studio even got a mention in the footnotes) They did list two features that would actually be good suggestions for Criterion to look at; Tongues Untied and Chameleon Street. They also suggested a sort of catch-all short film collection.

At least indiewire tried. That NYT list of suggestions is sad. Almost all big studio titles and a few contemporary Sundance indies. The "honorable mentions" cited fares better.

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hearthesilence
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#259 Post by hearthesilence » Thu Sep 03, 2020 1:23 am

FWIW, Milestone Films just posted this:

In 2019, Milestone co-founders Dennis Doros and Amy Heller spoke at length with New York Times writer Reggie Ugwu for a piece he was working on about “diversity in film preservation.” (The final article was published in late August 2020 and focused mainly on the Criterion Collection.)

After speaking with us, Mr. Ugwu emailed: “I wanted to follow-up on one thing that didn’t occur to me in the moment. We talked about Milestone’s mission to fuck with the canon, and we talked about the work that goes into championing the work of forgotten and underrepresented filmmakers. But I wonder if I could get your thoughts more directly on why the canon needs to be fucked with in the first place. Why do you think it is that canonical film institutions, even those overseen by ostensibly well intentioned people, continue to be dominated by the work of men — especially white European and Asian men — while films by African-Americans and women are overlooked?”

Here is Amy Heller’s full reply from September 2019. She was quoted accurately in the New York Times article, but the complete email may offer some more context.

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PfR73
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2005 6:07 pm

Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#260 Post by PfR73 » Thu Sep 03, 2020 7:28 pm

One film that Criterion actually could potentially release, and one that I wouldn't mind seeing, which I haven't seen brought up in any of these articles/reader responses is Luce. It's distributed by Neon, which Criterion has licensed from recently, and never got any Blu-ray release at all.


Rupert Pupkin
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:34 am

Re: Criterion Discussion and Random Speculation Volume 7

#262 Post by Rupert Pupkin » Sat Sep 26, 2020 12:03 am

RSTooley wrote:
Thu Aug 20, 2020 11:38 am
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is currenlty with Vinegar Syndrome, so a future release isn't likely for that one. I believe Spike Lee confirmed a future release of She's Gotta Have It recently, did he not?
I have just "seen" a WEB 1080 "surfacing" of "She's Gotta Have It" (it opens with Netflix logo (no Criterion logo) - nice grain, but the color segment looks too saturated (it's not as smoothly restored as "Do The Right Thing"). I sincerely hope that Criterion still have the rights and will upgrade it on blu. I like so much the soundtrack (especially the opening piano number) but Criterion rarely does isolated soundtrack like Twilight Time did.
The last time I saw this great movie was from the Criterion laserdisc transfer. "Do The Right Thing" is stunning now on blu-ray (what an amazing transfer). This is a great movie which deserve a Criterion treatment. Stunning black & white an unexpected Jacques Demy-Like color choreography.
It's odd that Mathieu Kassovitz (influenced by Raging Bull, Taxi Driver...) did "Métisse" which is a kind of story like "She's Gotta Have It" and "La Haine" which became culte; and has its own cult-lines like "pif le chien, etc... tu l'as bien niqué le vent...".... That said, each time I see "Do The Right Thing" the ending still remains unexpected and striking as for the first time I was it in theaters.

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dekadetia
was Born Innocent
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#263 Post by dekadetia » Mon Jan 10, 2022 7:39 pm


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

Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#264 Post by yoloswegmaster » Thu Oct 19, 2023 5:55 pm

Free press for Criterion, courtesy of Martin Scorsese (and Leonardo DiCaprio):
We really found out that even though there’s 30 years difference, he has similar sensibilities. You know, he’ll come to me and he’ll say, “Listen to this record,” and it’s Louis Jordan and Ella Fitzgerald. I grew up with it. But it’s interesting. He’ll call me and say, “You know, I had a cold and I was looking at Criterion films, and, you know, I wanted to catch up on some of these classics, and I saw this incredible movie. It’s incredible. It’s a Japanese picture. It’s called Tokyo Story. Did you ever see it?” This was last year. It’s interesting to me that he’s open to older parts of our culture.

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#265 Post by senseabove » Thu Oct 19, 2023 6:07 pm

yoloswegmaster wrote:
Thu Oct 19, 2023 5:55 pm
It’s interesting to me that he’s open to older parts of our culture.
Well that joke writes itself...

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#266 Post by Matt » Thu Feb 29, 2024 8:56 pm

The New York Times is picking on Criterion again: ”Sure, It Won an Oscar. But Is It Criterion?
How the Criterion Collection became the film world’s arbiter of taste.”


It’s actually a really good article, full of tidbits I didn’t know. But, lol:
In September, when I called Michael Bay at his home in Miami, he seemed blissfully unaware that many cinephiles don’t think his films belong in the collection. He was also unaware of Criterion’s continued existence, but told me quite earnestly how “cool” it was that they were still around.
Bay also gamely entertained my questions about the most infamous feature of Criterion’s commentary track for “Armageddon,” in which the movie’s star, Ben Affleck, mentions an on-set spat with Bay over the plot: Why, Affleck wondered, would it be easier to prepare oil-rig workers for outer-space travel than to train NASA astronauts how to drill into and then destroy an asteroid on a collision course with earth? “I told him to shut the [expletive] up,” Bay said.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#267 Post by FrauBlucher » Thu Feb 29, 2024 10:22 pm

Thanks for posting Matt. That was a fun read. Nice to know that the company stabilized and brought back some of the laid off workers. I was surprised the article didn't mention Criterion's foray into the 4K market. The Ghostbusters anecdote was fun but not all that surprising. There must be regular debates in their offices about what should and shouldn't be in the Collection

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hearthesilence
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#268 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Mar 01, 2024 1:07 am

Still have to say it's pretty rich that they gave their recent hitpiece credit for Criterion's efforts to explore underrepresented parts of cinema culture - no way that first batch of relevant titles could have been turned around so quickly.

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tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#269 Post by tenia » Fri Mar 01, 2024 4:11 am

Honestly, and considering how many movies Criterion have rights for and are sitting on, I wouldn't be surprised if yeah, their article fuelled this inflexion in Criterion's lineup (or at least : I wonder how long it would have taken for Criterion to do what they're doing now if not for the NYT article).

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colinr0380
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#270 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Mar 01, 2024 8:41 am

He was also unaware of Criterion’s continued existence, but told me quite earnestly how “cool” it was that they were still around.
I bet Michael Bay would have similarly been rather surprised that print media journalists still exist as well!

So given their apparently close ties to how Criterion does things, how do we go about setting up a grass-roots influencing campaign to get the New York Times really into Naruse to an article writing extent? :wink:

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hearthesilence
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#271 Post by hearthesilence » Fri Mar 01, 2024 11:01 am

tenia wrote:
Fri Mar 01, 2024 4:11 am
Honestly, and considering how many movies Criterion have rights for and are sitting on, I wouldn't be surprised if yeah, their article fuelled this inflexion in Criterion's lineup (or at least : I wonder how long it would have taken for Criterion to do what they're doing now if not for the NYT article).
The point is it was already happening, George Floyd's death and the way Black Lives Matter immediately blew up after that was enough. (It was highly visible on their social media accounts alone.) I know I don't work in film reissues, but when I met Issa Clubb a few times through mutual friends or acquaintances, I found out a few titles he produced took a long while to be finished, in a way that wasn't unusual or met with any obstacles. Even taking licensing and restoration out of the equation, producing extras and even the artwork alone took up enough time, and it wasn't the kind of thing they'd spend time and resources on just to sit on. Maybe Criterion rushed through some releases out of urgency, but that seems very unlikely. The only fast turnaround I can see on anything is a newly released film (anything they now release under Janus Contemporaries) because the artwork, masters and likely what bare extras they have are already available through the film's recent promotion and likely created for the dual purpose of home and theatrical promotion.

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#272 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Fri Mar 01, 2024 11:53 am

FrauBlucher wrote:
Thu Feb 29, 2024 10:22 pm
Nice to know that the company stabilized and brought back some of the laid off workers.
Did the article mention anyone in particular?

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#273 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Mar 01, 2024 1:45 pm

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:
Fri Mar 01, 2024 11:53 am
FrauBlucher wrote:
Thu Feb 29, 2024 10:22 pm
Nice to know that the company stabilized and brought back some of the laid off workers.
Did the article mention anyone in particular?
The workload associated with keeping the service going, however, can be immense. The strain was particularly acute after Criterion laid off 20 percent of its staff near the end of 2022 — a “reorganization,” as Becker called it, from which many staff members have since been brought back to the company as its financial situation improved. Altman, who was among those temporarily laid off and brought back on a freelance basis, nevertheless felt that doing things the hard way was still the correct path forward for the Criterion Channel, just as it had been for the brand’s LaserDiscs and DVDs. “You know all those streaming channels, it’s all the ‘content war,’ right?” Altman said. “I mean, it’s like, Who has the most content? It’s not necessarily the best content. That’s the challenge for Criterion.”

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tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#274 Post by tenia » Fri Mar 01, 2024 3:26 pm

hearthesilence wrote:
Fri Mar 01, 2024 11:01 am
tenia wrote:
Fri Mar 01, 2024 4:11 am
Honestly, and considering how many movies Criterion have rights for and are sitting on, I wouldn't be surprised if yeah, their article fuelled this inflexion in Criterion's lineup (or at least : I wonder how long it would have taken for Criterion to do what they're doing now if not for the NYT article).
The point is it was already happening, George Floyd's death and the way Black Lives Matter immediately blew up after that was enough. (It was highly visible on their social media accounts alone.) I know I don't work in film reissues, but when I met Issa Clubb a few times through mutual friends or acquaintances, I found out a few titles he produced took a long while to be finished, in a way that wasn't unusual or met with any obstacles. Even taking licensing and restoration out of the equation, producing extras and even the artwork alone took up enough time, and it wasn't the kind of thing they'd spend time and resources on just to sit on. Maybe Criterion rushed through some releases out of urgency, but that seems very unlikely. The only fast turnaround I can see on anything is a newly released film (anything they now release under Janus Contemporaries) because the artwork, masters and likely what bare extras they have are already available through the film's recent promotion and likely created for the dual purpose of home and theatrical promotion.
I'm happy to be proven wrong, because from an external point of view like mine, it does feel like Criterion took a long time to go straight to "1 POC/female-directed movie per month" and chronologically, it did came not long but not that quickly after that article. So it did feel like when Becker said in it "we have a blind spot there and we need to change that", that's what happened, which I'm all for, but looked like the article had a non-negligible in the final result.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: Criterion & Eclipse in the Press

#275 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Mar 01, 2024 4:33 pm

My hot take is Criterion were already in pre-production on that "blind spot" and the article was a plant. It was a way for Criterion to get pub to a market group who didn't know who Criterion was and they were ready to fill it. The timing was a coincidence that worked to Criterion's benefit, which it did. It's not uncommon for companies and businesses to plant some stories about themselves to take advantage and widen their market share

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