'Forthcoming' Lists Discussion and Random Speculation Vol.1

[Forrest Taft]

Dersu Uzala?

I´d be kind of disappointed if it turns out to be Kagemusha, the DVD is good enough for me. Either way, this will be region locked disc, so I´ll have to pass.

[med]

Well, if licensing issues w/ Japan are the problem, it's either going to be Dreams or Kagemusha, since WB has the former and the latter was licensed through 20th Century Fox. And it's probably going to be the latter, because there aren't a lot of people who consider Dreams "great."

[Napier]

because there aren't a lot of people who consider Dreams "great."

I do. The Van Gogh scene with Scorsese is excellent. Beautiful color schemes too. It would certainly make a great Blu-ray.

[oldsheperd]

"Late" hmmm, perhaps 'Rhapsody in August"

[swo17]

I am going to go out on a very thin limb and say High and Low.

[domino harvey]

Well, black and white are colors

[Fiery Angel]

I am going to go out on a very thin limb and say High and Low.

If CC's peeps think of Kurosawa the same way they do Godard, then H&L could be considered "late"....

[swo17]

I said it was a very thin limb.

[Doctor Sunshine]

A long time ago they said Dreams was one of the most requested titles, more than Bottle Rocket even, if I remember correctly. It'd probably be one of the first things they'd try to get from Warner Brothers if only to shut everybody up.

[ianungstad]

This is making it's way across various message boards:

In other Bluray news, Kevin and the cast are currently recording new material (another documentary perhaps?) for a “Chasing Amy” Criterion Bluray, making it sound like this dream will finally become a reality. Kevin has in the past revealed he wanted to repackage all the great Criterion stuff that already existed along with new stuff on top of that.

I don't know how reliable newsaskew is, as I don't follow or really like Kevin Smith. It seems that with this, Benjamin Button and Cronos, Criterion are trying to appeal to fans outside of traditional art house cinema for sales to help expand the Blu Ray collection.

[Tommaso]

Well, when I read your post I thought you had fallen for an April's Fool joke, but as the site you linked is dated March 29, it must be true.
I guess the next thing they'll release is a BluRay of "Koko".

[redbill]

I can't see that anyone has posted this yet, but on criterion's twitter page, they recently posted this, soothing the pain of the Ran cancellation:

Another late, great, colour Kurosawa BLU-RAY is on it's way-it hasn't been announced, but stay tuned!

Since they specified "BLU-RAY", I would think its one that already out on cc DVD, thus Kagemusha..

[med]

because there aren't a lot of people who consider Dreams "great."

I do. The Van Gogh scene with Scorsese is excellent. Beautiful color schemes too. It would certainly make a great Blu-ray.

It's certainly beautiful to look at and I'm sure it would look wonderful in the blu-ray format. And it's far from a bad film, but it strikes me as the most superficial of the 20 or so Kurosawa films I've seen. (I've not seen anything pre-NRFOY, so I've nothing to say re: those.) As for Dreams vs. Kagemusha on blu, it seems more likely they would dip into the vaults at this time rather than go for a brand-new release.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Well, if licensing issues w/ Japan are the problem, it's either going to be Dreams or Kagemusha, since WB has the former and the latter was licensed through 20th Century Fox. And it's probably going to be the latter, because there aren't a lot of people who consider Dreams "great."

Madadayo is already out on BD in Japan, although that was previously issued by Wellspring so there may be U.S. rights issues. I kinda hope it does turn out to be the mystery title, just to see the reactions.

And I agree it's probably Kagemusha, but I think you're reading a bit much into the "great" part. It's not like Criterion is going to use "mediocre" or "second-tier" to describe any of their Kurosawa releases.

[Tommaso]

Madadayo is already out on BD in Japan, although that was previously issued by Wellspring so there may be U.S. rights issues. I kinda hope it does turn out to be the mystery title, just to see the reactions.

I would be very happy about a CC "Madadayo" as long as they release a standard dvd of it, too. I still don't know about the R4 disc from Madman, but the various R1, R2 and R3 discs are seemingly all equally horrible. This is of course far from the level of his best films and could be described as second-tier (if not mediocre), but as a final farewell of a great director it deserves better than what we have at the moment. I think I prefer it a lot over "Rhapsody in August", which apart from featuring Richard Gere also collapses into didactic sentimentalisms to a degree that not even Wenders reached with "Land of Plenty".

[Fan-of-Kurosawa]

I have the R4 release of Madadayo from Madman. Unfortunately, it is not a good release. It is not anamorphic (on the case it says that it is but it is not) the colors are wrong (everything is kind of yellowish-greenish) and the disc has no extras at all.
So yeah, we definately need a better release.

[Zumpano]

I saw the Janus logo before TCM's showings of Jacques Feyder's films last night (Carnival in Flanders, Knight Without Armour). There may have been one before "Visages d'enfants", but I didn't catch the beginning.

So we can assume...Eclipse Box Set?

[zedz]

I saw the Janus logo before TCM's showings of Jacques Feyder's films last night (Carnival in Flanders, Knight Without Armour). There may have been one before "Visages d'enfants", but I didn't catch the beginning.

So we can assume...Eclipse Box Set?

Sounds likely, but Visages d'enfants (great film!) is already out on HVE.

[Scharphedin2]

Dersu Uzala?

I´d be kind of disappointed if it turns out to be Kagemusha, the DVD is good enough for me. Either way, this will be region locked disc, so I´ll have to pass.

Would Dersu Uzala even be within the realm of possibility? Criterion released the film on LD, but obviously Kino handled the title on DVD.

If indeed it did turn out to be Dersu Uzala, that would probably push me over the edge and purchase a Blu-Ray player.

[jbeall]

I saw the Janus logo before TCM's showings of Jacques Feyder's films last night (Carnival in Flanders, Knight Without Armour). There may have been one before "Visages d'enfants", but I didn't catch the beginning.

So we can assume...Eclipse Box Set?

Damn! I already bought the BFI La Kermesse Heroique (Carnival in Flanders), which is not a bad edition at all. Oh well, if they release a Feyder Eclipse set I'll buy it anyway.

[Daze]

Visages d'enfants did not have a Janus logo.

[Cinephrenic]

La Kermesse Heroique (Carnival in Flanders) is probably coming from Criterion, no Eclipse because most of his other output is out on DVD.

[Jonathan S]

no Eclipse because most of his other output is out on DVD.

Apart from the set of three silents, the German version of Anna Christie and The Kiss (in the new Warner Archive DVD-R series), are there any other Fedyers in R1?

[George Kaplan]

I believe there is, or was once, a DVD of KNIGHT WITHOUT ARMOUR.

[Cinephrenic]

I believe there is, or was once, a DVD of KNIGHT WITHOUT ARMOUR.

It is probably coming in the next Alexander Korda Eclipse set, as he is the producer of the film.