'Forthcoming' Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.1

[Jeff]

Mulvaney e-mailed me as well, to let me know to expect more Costa-Gravas in late 2009/early 2010.

I would say that The Confession (which Criterion has reportedly licensed from Paramount) is up first.

SInce the Rialto release hasn't happened yet, I wouldn't look for Z until later in 2010.

[Tommaso]

Warner's owns Greed, I believe. I also believe it was supposed to come out last year?

It was supposed to come out in late 2006, if I remember correctly, alongside the American Sjöströms and other gems from that period. Well, nothing happened since then and I'm almost giving up hope. Despite all the issues with the Ford and Murnau-Borzage, I more and more admire Fox for at least doing something.

[ptatler]

For what it's worth, in response to this inquiry:

Any plans for more Bresson in the collection? Specifically Angels of the Streets, The Trial of Joan of Arc, The Devil Probably, and Four Nights of a Dreamer? Perhaps you'd even consider reprinting his Notes on the Cinematographer with one of the releases?

... I got a vague communique from Jon Mulvaney:

Hi Philip,

We are going to release more of Bresson's films, however the titles and street dates have yet to be determined. Please feel free to check back, and thanks for your e-mail!

Sincerely,

Jon Mulvaney

[swo17]

I believe we already know that A Man Escaped is coming.

[ptatler]

I hope so. Though I'd love to see the others mentioned above given priority. The New Yorker discs for Man Escaped, Argent, and Lancelot aren't too bad (if lacking in extras). I'd love to see Devil the most I think.

[dadaistnun]

Mulvaney e-mailed me as well, to let me know to expect more Costa-Gravas in late 2009/early 2010.

Is State of Siege a possibility?

[Awesome Welles]

Mulvaney e-mailed me as well, to let me know to expect more Costa-Gravas in late 2009/early 2010.

Is State of Siege a possibility?

That would be great, it's a very good film that for me would really benefit from contextual information and special features. It would also be nice to see The Confession and Special Section

[domino harvey]

I hope so. Though I'd love to see the others mentioned above given priority. The New Yorker discs for Man Escaped, Argent, and Lancelot aren't too bad (if lacking in extras). I'd love to see Devil the most I think.

Well, L'Argent had a very entertaining commentary by the guy who wrote the BFI book on the film

[Matt]

Mulvaney e-mailed me as well, to let me know to expect more Costa-Gravas in late 2009/early 2010.

Is State of Siege a possibility?

Probably not. I think it's still owned by Sony, one of the last holdouts on licensing anything to Criterion.

[jaredsap]

Is State of Siege a possibility?

Probably not. I think it's still owned by Sony, one of the last holdouts on licensing anything to Criterion.

We do not have the rights to STATE OF SIEGE. Also, we are not a Criterion holdout. We licensed BOTTLE ROCKET to them and...

[Matt]

We do not have the rights to STATE OF SIEGE. Also, we are not a Criterion holdout. We licensed BOTTLE ROCKET to them and...

Thanks for setting the record straight. I apologize for the error.

I hope the "and..." is referring to Hot Stuff, I hope I hope I hope.

[Jeff]

We do not have the rights to STATE OF SIEGE. Also, we are not a Criterion holdout. We licensed BOTTLE ROCKET to them and...

Aw, Jared... you tease! If you can't hint at titles, could you at least give us a number of licensed films (beyond Bottle Rocket)?

[jaredsap]

We do not have the rights to STATE OF SIEGE. Also, we are not a Criterion holdout. We licensed BOTTLE ROCKET to them and...

Aw, Jared... you tease! If you can't hint at titles, could you at least give us a number of licensed films (beyond Bottle Rocket)?

I should only say more than one and there's diversity and it's all cause for celebration.

[Jeff]

I should only say more than one and there's diversity and it's all cause for celebration.

This fantastic news now has a thread of its own. Please discuss potential Sony acquisitions there.

[ianungstad]

I got an email response from Mulvaney stating that The Last Days of Disco will be out by the end of the year. No surprises there. I asked about Cry of the City. He said he asked around and nobody seemed to know anything about a release. Is it about time we take that off the list? It's been years and nobody has ever heard anything about it since that blurb in The Sentinel article. As a Fox title, it seems unlikely to me.

I also heard a rumor from someone who would be in a position to know, that they've been trying to grab Blue Collar by Paul Schrader from Universal. I'm assuming Mishima did well and they are trying to pick up more Schrader.

[Cronenfly]

Given the reams of Universal titles Criterion has licensed, it's always seemed to me a foregone conclusion that CC would release Blue Collar eventually. I can't imagine Universal re-releasing it themselves, and if more Schrader's on Criterion's radar now thanks to Mishima, I'm thinking we'll be seeing this sooner rather than later (assuming CC doesn't have trouble scaring up supplements).

[King Prendergast]

Blue Collar has been making the rounds recently. First at Harvard Film Archives for a retro on PS, and last week at Lincoln Center for the selections from Positif series.

[Fesapo]

In memory of Tati's birthday, TCM played many of his films last night, including Jour de fete which had Janus logos at the beginning, how long has this been waiting to come out? Has it been since they first released the Hulot films that they have had this on their "to do list"?

I was wondering the same about Jour de fete so I asked Jon Mulvaney for an update on its status, as well as that of Parade. He wrote,

Hi Greg,

I believe we do intend to release "Jour de fete" at some point, but I'm not sure about "Parade." Please feel free to check back, and thanks for your e-mail!

Best,

JM

So, Jour de fete - as we've known all along - is still on the release horizon, but the uncertainty regarding Parade was disappointing.

- Greg

[Cash Flagg]

So, Jour de fete - as we've known all along - is still on the release horizon, but the uncertainty regarding Parade was disappointing.

In the meantime, BFI will be releasing Parade on April 27th.

[Cronenfly]

It very well may come to nothing, but I noticed that MGM's disc of Egoyan's The Adjuster has gone OOP (which looks to have a fine transfer but no extras), as has Alliance Atlantis' Canada-exclusive release (which has a number of fine extras but a godawful transfer). I'm thinking that the rights have reverted back to Egoyan's Ego Film Arts (as in the case of Wings of Desire reverting back to Wenders' Road Movies), so perhaps a two-fer of it and Exotica (from Miramax) is on the horizon...

[domino harvey]

A ton of MGM titles have gone out of print in the last year, I wouldn't draw too many conclusions yet

[Cronenfly]

You're right, domino, and are justified in adding a grain of salt to my rumor-mongering (especially as we haven't even heard a definitive peep about Exotica yet, which seems much more likely to come first if Criterion indeed has any Egoyan plans at all). That said, Egoyan controls the home video rights to a fair chunk of his work (re. Ego Film Arts providing the licenses for the Essential Egoyan Zeitgeist box), just like Wenders, so it's not too much of a stretch to see the The Adjuster ending up with Criterion as Wings of Desire has, and even though I personally am in no hurry to see The Adjuster (re-)released, it and Exotica are the last two of Egoyan's features to not have decent R1 SEs. My assumptions are predicated on Criterion having any sort of interest in Egoyan's work, of course; for all we know, Egoyan is to Cronenberg as Rivette is to Truffaut in CC's eyes.

[ZLow]

Hey everyone,

Tonight, Criterion Collection exec. producer Kim Hendrickson spoke at the Wexner Center in Columbus, OH, as part of a "DVD release party" for Simon of the Desert. Hendrickson confirmed several releases for the coming year (none of which are really surprising, but still cool to hear straight from someone inside CC).

- Godard’s “Made in USA” is coming this year. She also mentioned “Two or Three Things I Know About Her” and made it sound like it’s coming. A new print of “Vivre Sa Vie” also just toured theatrically and it’s probably a safe assumption that might be on the roster soon as well.
- Resnais’ “Last Year In Marienbad” will be released in May on DVD and Blu-Ray.
- Ackerman’s “Jeanne Dielman” will be released this year (a new print by Janus is currently making the rounds theatrically).
- A Shohei Imamura box set, probably containing the already confirmed “Pigs and Battleships,” is due (in May?).
- Josef Von Sternberg’s “Underworld” and “The Docks of New York” were also mentioned.

Furthermore, she said they’d love to do more Linklater and more Malick since they’ve established relationships with them and their studios, and that Paul Schrader was “fun and easy to work with." New deals have apparently been made with Warner Brothers and Fox. She didn't elaborate on what's being picked up, but when asked if it could include “classics from the 30’s,” she said yes (whatever that means).

Finally, she said the long rumored “Silent Eisenstein” box set may never come to fruition because solid Russian film elements are so hard to find.

So there you have it.

[ksmred2]

Please let it be Local Hero.

[Alain3000]

I'd like to see Je T'Aime, Je T'Aime as one of the films picked up from Fox in this new deal.