kaujot wrote: Michael Caine is loved by seemingly all Americans. He's sort of like the British version of Morgan Freeman.
Morgan Freeman?? I mean, sure, both are extremely palatable actors who can't possibly rub anyone the wrong way, but Freeman doesn't have the character range that Caine has. I almost feel that Jack Nicholson would be an easier comparison, if he were less cantankerous.
To me, Caine gets many roles (excluding the newest Sleuth), where he simply plays the old mentor to the main protagonist, like Freeman plays in almost EVERY role.
I suppose its because of the type of character that Freeman always plays that makes me want to separate him from Caine. You could certainly make the argument that you do, but there are too many notable exceptions (Sleuth, Flawless, Quills and Children of Men are a few from this decade) to have the comparison really work.
I'm really just nitpicking though, and my observations don't minimize the point of your original post, so I'm really just causing trouble and throwing things off topic. Sorry everyone!
arsonfilms wrote:I suppose its because of the type of character that Freeman always plays that makes me want to separate him from Caine. You could certainly make the argument that you do, but there are too many notable exceptions (Sleuth, Flawless, Quills and Children of Men are a few from this decade) to have the comparison really work.
Though, I would say the role Caine has in Children of Men is very much in the vein of a "Morgan Freeman" character.
Yeah, I really do have to argue that Caine's role in Children of Men was more of a co-conspirator than aging mentor. Morgan Freeman's aging mentor characters aren't even close to Jasper on any level beyond older and friendly, but if thats the criteria, you could say the same thing about Walter Huston in Treasures of the Sierra Madre, or Robert De Niro in Brazil.
I caught this crazy Japanese monster movie The X From Outer Space on AMC last week and had the Janus logo at the front. Could this be a Criterion or future Japanese Monster Eclipse edition? Or does Janus sometimes just mean Janus?
This use to be on the Eclipse forthcoming list, but it was later said by a member to be set for release by another company along with other sci-fi films with Janus logos. But yes, it does have the Janus logo. Criterion might have abondoned the idea after the change of direction for Eclipse. Never know, there might still be a Japanese sci-fi set, but i'm not adding it to the list.
Who owns the rights to Red Line 7000? It would be neat to slide a Hawks film into the collection and as far as I know this isn't available on DVD anywhere
domino harvey wrote:Who owns the rights to Red Line 7000? It would be neat to slide a Hawks film into the collection and as far as I know this isn't available on DVD anywhere
Paramount. I've never seen it, but doesn't it have a rep for being sort of awful?
domino harvey wrote:Who owns the rights to Red Line 7000? It would be neat to slide a Hawks film into the collection and as far as I know this isn't available on DVD anywhere
Paramount. I've never seen it, but doesn't it have a rep for being sort of awful?
From some quarters, it is called mediocre. From others, including Cahiers du Cinema and Jonathan Rosenbaum, its gotten lots of praise.
A Coke to Jeff; American Zoetrope (with Image on the sideline) is indeed providing the rights for Mishima, based on the press release. Wonder if it's a one-shot deal or not...though I can't think of any other Zoetrope properties Criterion could/woud license.
I recently sent Tamara an e-mail asking about Tarkovsky's Nostalghia and the films of Pedro Costa (there's a rumor of a boxed-set floating around), and I got this response:
Hi Miles,
Thanks for your email! To the best of my knowledge, we don't have any plans for more Tarkovsky at this time. We currently do not have any of Costa's films in the collection, but please check back again about those. And feel free to let me know if you have any other questions!
Sincerely,
Tamara
Pretty much what I was expecting regarding Nostalghia, but I'm really excited by her response regarding the Pedro Costa material (stating the obvious that none is in the collection, but telling me to check back later). It's probably quite a ways off... but it's looking promising.
kaujot wrote:According to Tamara, as far as she knows, "we don't have plans for Sleuth at this time."
Bummer. I'm dying for a (new) DVD of the original.
The man who produced the movie will not release the rights. I worked with Rosemary Mankiewicz when I was compiling the interviews for the Mankiewicz book I edited and she told me it is a terrible and complicatred situation. There are ownership problems with THE HONEY POT. hey are nhot all released yet, at least Mankiewicz's 18 other films are with the studios.
kaujot wrote:I assume it's a rights issue for Nostalghia? Anyone have any info on that?
I've asked before and they said that 'they do not own the rights'
(the reason why I've asked is because it was part of the, now dissolved, Fox Lorber library, and several titles from that disintegration have found their way to Criterion).
I'm about to plunge on the AE Apu Trilogy at amazon for 56% off, which is a decent deal, even with dying dollar ... but isn't there a chance that Criterion will release these? I don't want to buy and then find them announcing a box set later this year.
I was wondering if it would be appropriate for Criterion to release a DVD with videos from a youtube channel. Youtube is new TV and Criterion did release Fishing with John. I personally nominate "Church of Blow" series. There are 42 short episodes that would perfectly fit on a DVD.
I'm not much of a youtuber. Are there any other great channels out there?
I think the idea of a Youtube comp is kind of dumb... I'd rather see R.Kelley's complete Trapped In The Closet (which is up on youtube)...
but, it'll never happen. Why would people pay $30 for something they could see for free, and in its intended format?
And a majority of shit on YouTube is of such low image quality to begin with, it would be pointless.
miless wrote:I think the idea of a Youtube comp is kind of dumb... I'd rather see R.Kelley's complete Trapped In The Closet (which is up on youtube)...
I really wish Criterion would release a line of DVDs focussed on director's little seen short films. I know there are plenty shorts by PTA, Spielberg, Burton, Kubrick Arronofsky and many others just lying around outthere. I know for a fact PTA owns the rights to all of his shorts. It couldn't be too hard to compile them. I am excited for the Scorsese shorts, but I would love to see some expansion into a world of films that are notorious for being rarely seen.
LightBulbFilm wrote:I know for a fact PTA owns the rights to all of his shorts. It couldn't be too hard to compile them.
I've heard PTA is not proud enough of THE DIRK DIGGLER STORY or CIGARETTES & COFFEE to allow for their distribution, hence their absence on the DVDs of their heirs (BOOGIE NIGHTS and HARD EIGHT, respectively). THE DIRK DIGGLER STORY is really amateurish (as you'd expect from a 17-year-old filmmaker), but CIGARETTES & COFFEE is quite good and worth tracking down. Wholphin keeps hoping to release PTA's Elliott Smith-starring short, but PTA has thus far been unable to find it. What I really want is a disc with PTA's wonderful Fiona Apple music videos ("Fast As You Can", "Limp", "Paper Bag").
LightBulbFilm wrote:I really wish Criterion would release a line of DVDs focussed on director's little seen short films. I know there are plenty shorts by PTA, Spielberg, Burton, Kubrick Arronofsky and many others just lying around outthere. I know for a fact PTA owns the rights to all of his shorts. It couldn't be too hard to compile them. I am excited for the Scorsese shorts, but I would love to see some expansion into a world of films that are notorious for being rarely seen.
This is a nice idea but in the end most of these filmmaker's shorts just aren't that good. It is often interesting to see their talents developing, but not much else. I'd much prefer them as supplements on appropriate features.
chaddoli wrote:This is a nice idea but in the end most of these filmmaker's shorts just aren't that good. It is often interesting to see their talents developing, but not much else. I'd much prefer them as supplements on appropriate features.
Zeitgeist had previously announced a new DVD release of Careful (confirmed in the new Criterion newsletter) and Irma Vep in spring 2008. Could the latter have been acquired by CC too? I'd welcome it by either company, having only seen the worst DVD transfer ever, but remaining a fan of the film.
Most of youtube content isn't even good. but there are some really talented people, like the one i mentioned above.
It doesn't have to be from youtube, just like someone mentioned- a compilation of short films. It's just that for many artists out there youtube is the only place to show their work i think. It's good when they get a lot of views, but what about the ones that are equally talented but suck at self promoting? just a thought.
