Criterion Newsletter

[Cinesimilitude]

You're right, per film the boxsets are cheaper.

I'm calling it now, 5 films directed by bergman before seventh seal, and 69.95 (at the most 79.95) msrp on the Eclipse line.

Wrong, 3 DVDs max. 2 per disc. plus 1.

Did I say 5 discs? sorry, i was thinking along the same lines as you, and if that happens, it could be as little as 49.95, I just didnt want to make any assumptions.

[thebedbreakinkid]

aren't you reading into this seven seals business a bit much? can't we just wait and be surprised when criterion announces their upcoming catalog for spring/summer?

[zombeaner]

I'm still really hoping we get the long awaited Third Man remaster. Though, it seems to get pushed farther and farther back.

[domino harvey]

[quote="Le Samouraï"]According to our FAQ the following titles were all released before The Seventh Seal:


[quote]Release dates for Criterion titles

Code: Select all

1998 Mar    

4 Amarcord 
5 The 400 Blows 

Apr    
8 The Killer 
     
May    
3 The Lady Vanishes 
7 A Night To Remember 
10 Walkabout 
     
Jun    
6 Beaty and the Beast 
9 Hard Boiled 
     
Jul   
12 This is Spinal Tap 
13 The Silence of the Lambs 
14 Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto 
15 Samurai II: Duel at Ichijoji Temple 
16 Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island 
     
Aug    
2 Seven Samurai 
17 Salò 
18 The Naked Kiss 
19 Shock Corridor 
    
Sep   
22 Summertime 
     
Oct   
20 Sid & Nancy 
21 Dead Ringers 
23 Robocop 
24 High and Low 
25 Alphaville 
29 Picnic at Hanging Rock 
30 M 
     
Dec   
26 The Long Good Friday 
27 Flesh for Frankenstein 
28 Blood for Dracula 
  
1999 

Jan   
31 Great Expectations 
32 Oliver Twist 
33 Nanook of the North 
     
Feb   
11 The Seventh Seal 
[/quote]

Personally however, I think the idea about new Bergman releases is the most plausible. An eclipse is a shadow and the mentioning of spring fits in with the promise of a new label being launched in the spring of 2007. Whether it will be a boxset or five separate releases time will tell.[/quote]
maybe everyone's right... we know Walkabout, Salo, Shock Corridor, Naked Kiss, and Picnic At Hanging Rock have long been due for a reissue

[toiletduck!]

I know it's been said before, but it bears repeating... this thread has to be every Criterion employee's greatest victory.

-Toilet Dcuk

[godardslave]

I know it's been said before, but it bears repeating... this thread has to be every Criterion employee's greatest victory.

-Toilet Dcuk

A victory over what?
What is the "Criterion employee" winning?

[toiletduck!]

Us.
A "non-stop source" of belly laughs.

-Toilet Dcuk

[godardslave]

A victory over us?
Does everything have to be confrontational?
What happened to "fun"?

I'll stop asking questions.

[justeleblanc]

Wrong, 3 DVDs max. 2 per disc. plus 1.

Did I say 5 discs? sorry, i was thinking along the same lines as you, and if that happens, it could be as little as 49.95, I just didnt want to make any assumptions.

Nah I was just shooting out some artificial authority on the knowledge of the wacky clue. Eclipse as double features could be cool in general.

[Jeff]

What happened to "fun"?

But mocking internet film-geeks who pore over the minutiae of every sentence in the vain hope discerning some obfuscated clue as to what products they might purchase next is fun. Why, it's the very definition of fun.

[mogwai]

EDIT: Well, apparently I'm the only one who finds this an obvious revelation...

You're not. I questioned the connection a couple pages back in this very thread. But it matters not whether the Bergman's, if they are indeed Bergman films, are released on Criterion or Eclipse. I'll be pleased either way.

[toiletduck!]

Ack! So you did... next time I'll put on my reading eyes. I'm just curious to see the official Eclipse pricing structure. Talk about a warm welcome.

-Toilet Dcuk

[fdm]

I'm just curious to see the official Eclipse pricing structure. Talk about a warm welcome.

Noticed that among all of the announced Criterion releases for next year, none of them have been the "cheap" ones. (Hope that's not going to become the norm, as it seems some of them could have been...)

[HerrSchreck]

Which would be a shame because I'm seriously burnt on commentaries (which seemed to be the classic price-point needle swinger, at least inna past-- see otherwise extras-free COUNTRY PRIEST, REDBEARD, et al) and even the vast bulk of extras, unless truly excellent (..GA, LOOKING FOR LULU, etc etc mutatis mutandis).

Methinks we will be seeing more boxes & 40 buck srp's to cover these heavy fold out cardboard covers (vs color copies for amaray slip ins.. which we are seeing less & less) as well as Genuine Industrial Standard Hi End Full Color Softcover Books comprising the inserts (vs the 8-12 pg chap. list / monograph w credits which seem to have gone the way of the do-do, ie "#-o - #-o")

Myself I think some of their most satisfying releases have been in the 29 srp price point: LES YEUX SANS VISAGE, QUAI DE BRUMES, LA BETE HUMAINE, RIFIFI, THE CRANES ARE FLYING, QUAI DE ORFEVRES, PEPE LE MOKO, BALTHAZAAR, LE TROU, ONIBABA, SWORD OF DOOM, FISTS IN THE POCKET etc etc.. SOmetimes a film is so good it's better not to attatch any one individuals' viewpoint to them via commentary, and allow them to tower above human worship on their own terms..

[Cameron]

Maybe Army of Shadows, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, and three other films with "Shadow" in the title? Maybe The Shadow with Alec Baldwin, and John Lone will be included?

Probably not?!.... but I want my Forgotten Ancestors, dammit.

...And I thought we determined the pictures meant nothing.

AH! I want Criterion to release Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors so much!

[Cinesimilitude]

I'm just curious to see the official Eclipse pricing structure. Talk about a warm welcome.

Noticed that among all of the announced Criterion releases for next year, none of them have been the "cheap" ones. (Hope that's not going to become the norm, as it seems some of them could have been...)

I'm guesing the trend will continue with eclipse being introduced.

[colinr0380]

Why, it's the very definition of fun.

Is that definition of fun funny-ha-ha or funny-weird?

[fdm]

(buncha good stuff)

Pretty much my thoughts. Commentaries I pretty much ignore (maybe once in a while being intrigued enough to skim through a bit here and there).

And the books ((not the booklets)) and the pretty packaging I would not miss at all. As an example of reasonable, I found the Antoine Doinel box to be about right (dunno if it even had commentaries), although wish there'd been maybe some additional stuff to watch too.

Would prefer they consider cutting back a bit on the fancy-smancy and keep the product a bit more affordable and down to earth.

Probably off topic, but at least I'm not ranting and raving about there being no undamaged copies of "Veronique" anywhere. (Got one that I suppose has to be close-enough.)

[Derek Estes]

I'm all for commentaries and elaborate packaging. This is much of the appeal of companies such as Criterion and MOC. The element of a keepsake is what makes the purchase worth while as opposed to just renting the film when you feel like watching it, which in most cases would be the cheapest way to see these films, unless you are likely to watch a film more than a dozen times. And I don't feel that commentaries are the end all, be all, of film analysis, but they can often give you an alternate reading of a film that can enlighten or challenge your own interpretation.

[dx23]

More from Criterion:

This year at Criterion, we've had a lot of great releases, and we're already looking forward to what 2007 will bring. There are many treasures in store for the new year, including some of our latest acquisitions, such as John Huston's Under the Volcano, and titles from our laserdisc days, like Robinson Crusoe on Mars.

When we first came up with the idea for the Essential Art House box set as a way to celebrate Janus's fiftieth anniversary and to introduce a wider selection of people, who might not have been fans of foreign film, to many of the great titles of international cinema, we figured that the core Criterion audience was not our market. Well, we were half-right. The response to Essential Art House, the films and the accompanying book, has really been tremendous—we couldn't be more pleased—and much of it has come from Criterion fans. We've been honored that so many have chosen to give the box as a holiday gift—in fact, we sold out of the first disc pressing and have re-pressed all the discs we could to fill out the original packaging run. But barring a sudden surge in sales we should be fine through this holiday season. Essential Art House is available at the Criterion store for $650, with free shipping. Additionally, it's also available from DVD Planet, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and a few other retailers. And if you haven't seen Dave Kehr's story on the box set in the New York Times, we've attached a copy of it to this e-mail for you.

Don't forget, the online Criterion store also has T-shirts, hats, and mugs, all of which make great gifts. The store will be temporarily shutting down for the holidays on December 23, and reopening on January 2. Look forward to some exciting changes early next year, too. If you have any questions, e-mail us at [email protected].

Lastly, if you haven't been to the website in a while, please come and visit. We've started a blog with posts every Tuesday and Friday. There's some fun reading on there, with interesting tidbits and behind-the-scenes information about the Criterion Collection.

Enjoy, and best wishes for the upcoming holidays!
The Criterion Collection

Nice! So the guy on the other thread about Robinson Crusoe was right. Great news indeed.

[fdm]

...renting the film...

I'd rather own them, but I suppose renting/copying them would be a much cheaper option. As in the jazz realm, I prefer to support the companies/people that do good stuff by actually buying their product. Call me crazy.

I used to rent LDs (and the occasional video tape), because they were way too expensive (bought a few though), but haven't bothered renting DVDs yet. Am contemplating it, but I'd rather just pull something off the shelf to watch if/when I feel like it.

[colinr0380]

Under The Volcano sounds interesting:

Under The Volcano is the most grindingly real portrayal of the true devastation of alcoholism ever put on film (I've seen them all from Lost Weekend forward). This is no romantic movie where a guy decides he will go to Vegas and drink himself to death in 6 weeks then meets a devastatingly gorgeous chick who takes care of him the rest of the way. In this film the real horrors of alcohol are convincingly portrayed as the main character loses all track of reality and cannot tell whether his wife is really her or a hallucination. And because of that intermittent fading out and in, he loses the one chance he might have had at redemption. There is no romance here. There is no fabulous girl to have sex with while he's dying. This guy lives in a world so much more terrifying than Nic Cage's world in LLV as to be about two entirely different human experiences.

Not everyone will be able to stand this. It's almost unremittingly awful. But for anyone who is an alcoholic, recovering or otherwise, or who has lived under its shadow as someone related to or in love with an alcoholic, this is textbook stuff. Malcolm Lowery was an alcoholic and died of the disease. He put all he had into this book. No punches are pulled. The benchmark of the genre.

It looks like another Universal-licensed title.

[tryavna]

Under The Volcano sounds interesting:

Under The Volcano is the most grindingly real portrayal of the true devastation of alcoholism ever put on film (I've seen them all from Lost Weekend forward). This is no romantic movie where a guy decides he will go to Vegas and drink himself to death in 6 weeks then meets a devastatingly gorgeous chick who takes care of him the rest of the way. In this film the real horrors of alcohol are convincingly portrayed as the main character loses all track of reality and cannot tell whether his wife is really her or a hallucination. And because of that intermittent fading out and in, he loses the one chance he might have had at redemption. There is no romance here. There is no fabulous girl to have sex with while he's dying. This guy lives in a world so much more terrifying than Nic Cage's world in LLV as to be about two entirely different human experiences.

Not everyone will be able to stand this. It's almost unremittingly awful. But for anyone who is an alcoholic, recovering or otherwise, or who has lived under its shadow as someone related to or in love with an alcoholic, this is textbook stuff. Malcolm Lowery was an alcoholic and died of the disease. He put all he had into this book. No punches are pulled. The benchmark of the genre.

It looks like another Universal-licensed title.

Under the Volcano is, in fact, brilliant! (Both the original novel and Huston's adaptation.) It's essentially an unflimable novel that actually comes off, thanks in large part to a superb performance by Albert Finney. But a lot of credit goes to Huston; this and his adaptation of The Dead (another novel/novella that really shouldn't come off as a film but does) make fine capstones to his career.

[domino harvey]

Under the Volcano is a pretty famous film, I'm surprised a member of this forum had to look it up

[colinr0380]

Sorry, John Huston is another of the areas in which I'm embarassingly deficient! Perhaps I shouldn't mention this in light of the above comment but I actually have not even seen Treasure of the Sierra Madre yet

I keep meaning to see The Dead, since Dubliners was one of the texts I studied while I was at college. We also studied Frankenstein and had to watch the incredibly overwrought Kenneth Branagh version! It's as brilliant a comedy as Young Frankenstein in some parts, but a terrible horror film! Another text we studied was King Lear and I tried to do my part so we got to watch the first half of Ran and afterwards had a discussion of the changes made.